The Transient Wife

Chapter 15

"Stupid!" she cursed herself over again. Scrambling out of the cave, dread dawned on her once more. As expected, her companions were gone—all of them.

"No signal, no food and no water—except the whole salty ocean of course," she muttered angrily. "Philip will definitely kill me—that is if they come rescue me and find me alive. But will he look for me? I bet he'll jump with joy. Then he'd call back home with a feigned broken heart to announce to his family that his wife of one week died because of stupidity during their honeymoon..." she continued to ramble on until she reached a shaded area with trees. She frowned when she realized she did not need that much of shade. The sun was starting to go down.

She checked her watch and gasped in horror. They left the resort by twelve pm, arrived at the island by one...and now it was freaking four o'clock in the afternoon! She had been inside the cave for what, two hours? Cassandra groaned. Note to self: keep watch of your watch.

Her only hope for now was when another batch of island hoppers came here.

Of course! Tourists come and go around here. Ha! My dear husband will be very disappointed if I turn up alive.

One hour passed, still no signal and no island hoppers. It was another hour more that she realized why no one came near the island. The water was freaking going up! The sun was halfway gone behind the horizon. This time, Cassandra allowed herself to panic.

She fumbled through the small body bag she brought along with her. Ever since she watched Cast Away, she made it sure she always had a lighter with her. When she found it, she gathered twigs and fallen branches and began a fire. The strong wind made it difficult, and after many attempts, the fire finally grew large enough to eat through the dry branches and leaves. Cassandra smiled to herself. Tom Hanks will be awfully proud of me.

An hour later, she felt her stomach grumble, but she had to wait and continue to feed the fire. The sun had long been gone and what was left were the wonderful hues of orange, red, and violet of the sky.

*****

Philip had been pacing around their room for almost an hour. He had inquired the front desk and his wife was not seen around the area since they left.

He checked his watch. She should have been here an hour ago.

Shit. He should not have let her go alone.

He quickly dialed Henry Bell and impatiently waited for the call to connect.

"Yes?" his friend's voice asked from the other end.

"She's missing."

"What do you mean she's missing?"

"Send your men out here this instant," he ordered.

"Calm the fuck down, Philip. What happened?"

"She went on an island hopping tour alone and she hasn't been back since."

"How many hours has it been?"

"Five or so."

"Did you check with the front desk?"

"Yes. They said the hopping tour ends before sundown. The sun is fucking setting now, Henry, and she's still not here." He stopped pacing. "Send your men here."

"You know you're at the other side of the world, right? I do have contacts there but they cannot be there in a flash. Have you checked if her boat has arrived yet?"

"I'm about to."

Henry was silent for a short while. "Okay, since we have to take this seriously, go down there and find her boat. If she is still missing by then, alert the coast guards. Start a search. I'll call in on some people and ask to hold all boats and planes in the area as long as they can."