Recluse Island

Chapter 4

June 1845

When Eugenia Ovechkin awoke on that balmy mid-June morning, she expected it to be the same as all the others since the shipwreck that had left her, and her thirteen-year-old sister stranded on this island.

The only difference was the storm the night before which had forced them to take cover underground in the dugout tunnels, they had discovered shortly after arriving.

The only other occupant on the island - to their knowledge - was fellow passenger Paulette Sauvageau, a twenty-five-year-old widow who, like Eugenia, had agreed to be a mail order bride. Hubert Coxwald ran the local mercantile and from Paulette's descriptions was a very obtuse man with deep religious affiliations and a penchant for using the phrase, "It is God's will." Both women agreed they were better off having never met the men they had consented to marry.

            However, Paulette despised when they had to go beneath the ground as she was extremely claustrophobic and as a result was always the first one out when the storm had passed. Only on that morning, a surprise awaited them when they emerged from their sanctuary.

Paulette spotted the boat first; she had gone off to stretch her legs stiff from sitting for so long. Hidden beneath the dense foliage she watched the unfamiliar men unload supplies from the immense ship even larger than the Sacré-Coeur which had taken them across the Atlantic Ocean but was unable to survive the storm the women had dubbed Medusa.

It was clear this ship had sustained serious damage but what Paulette found peculiar was the number of men laid out on the beach, they were arranged all in a line one after another shoulder to shoulder. From her vantage point they appeared dead but a man who Paulette assumed was a doctor seemed to be attending to them. Very odd indeed, she thought.

            Paulette quickly hurried back to camp to relay this news to Eugenia and Sandrine. They were both in the treehouse by this time. An unexpected treasure really as it provided protection from rain, insects, and animals, a comfortable place to sleep and store their things but most important a place to call home. Though the women still had no idea who had built it or when they were nonetheless thankful for the sturdily constructed shelter that had no doubt saved their lives.

In the treehouse they discovered two knives, a map of the island as well as mats for sleeping and a compass. Lithely Paulette scaled the ladder and entered the small room where she found her two friends drinking coconut juice and nibbling at their bananas.

            "There is a ship here!" she exclaimed breathlessly in French, their native language which they generally spoke except for times when they practiced English from the book Eugenia had purchased before, they left Nantes in the Loire Valley of France called, Pride and Prejudice.

            "What?" asked Eugenia; standing from their makeshift table of bamboo and palm fronds. "Where?"

            "At the main beach. But it looks like the storm last night left their ship incapacitated." Paulette quickly relayed.

            Eugenia forcefully set her coconut down. "Show me."

            The mention of visitors should be a joyous occasion, but Eugenia had learned the hard way things aren't always as they seem. In the early days after the shipwreck the women had discussed at length being rescued but as the days slipped by those conversations steadily puttered off. After five months they gave up hope of ever leaving this tropical paradise.

Eugenia had made her peace by living the remainder of her life here, she was content to a certain point if slightly regretful of all the things she would never do in her life. The most devastating thing is that she would never be a wife and mother. But by that same token she had no idea what kind of life awaited her in Texas and so in some respects she was eternally grateful for that unexpected but deadly storm.