Calypso's Mast

Chapter 28 - Venom

It rained hard all afternoon and all night. There was no pig hunting. Visibility was down to a few metres, so they went hungry.

Banning looked in the duffle bag to make sure there was nothing in it. He put the bag out in the rain to clean it out. They lay snuggled together in the shelter to keep warm. With little clothing it was hard to stay warm in the wet weather.

The timber underneath the shelter was wet from the rain spray. Banning tried to start a fire but abandoned it after half an hour because the wood was just too wet. Inside the shelter, though, it was dry and protected from the wind.

Pitcher lay on her side using a mass of stripped palm leaves for a pillow. Banning was snuggled up behind her on his side and had his arms around her, keeping her warm. Every now and then he would softly peck her on the back of her neck and whisper something beautiful in her ear. It was like this, in the warmth and security of the arms of this wonderful man, that she blissfully fell into an exhausted deep sleep, just as it was getting dark.

When she awoke, it was still dark, with a band of light appearing in the eastern sky. The rain had stopped and her left arm was dead. She had been lying on her left side and somehow, because of the way she was laying, the blood flow had been cut off to her arm. She sat up and could feel the pins and needles starting. She knew that when the blood finally reached her hand again, it was going to be painful. Her hand felt completely numb. She gritted her teeth. Sure enough, the rush of blood back into her limb hurt like hell and it was everything she had, to not cry out from the pain as flow was restored to her hand.

As the pain subsided, she reached around for Banning. He was gone.

"Mitchell. How do you always seem to be gone when I wake up?" she muttered, annoyed.

She had no idea of the time. After a few moments she slid across to the edge of the platform and jumped down. Dawn was just starting to ascend and she walked down to the beach to find Banning sitting in the sand looking out to the east.

"You ok?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm just thinking."

She sat down beside him in the wet sand and slipped her arm through his and snuggled up to him.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Life, the universe and everything," he said.

"Oh my. That's profound," she said.

"I guess so. I've been thinking about the submarine, the drugs, the helicopters, the missiles and that plane yesterday and was wondering how all of this fits together."

"Do you normally think this hard, this early in the morning?"

"I'm a morning person. I do my best thinking in the morning. By bedtime, at night, I'm a basket case and my decision making is hopeless," he said.

"Mmmm," she snuggled against his shoulder with her eyes closed. "I'm not. I'm at my best in the evening. You go ahead and I'll go with whatever you come up with."

"I haven't come up with much. I simply don't understand a lot of what is happening."

"I'm sure it will become clear with time," she said.

"Maybe. One thing is for sure. That sunrise is gorgeous."

"Yes," she whispered.

In the east, out over the water, the sun was edging up to the horizon and bathing the clouds in a multitude of colours. She snuggled in a little more and he put his arm around her.