Taken (On Hold)

Chapter 6

The next day, Amy Rose and I go back to the pile of logs I found. Eri remains behind to guard the supplies we already have.

"Sheesh," she mutters, glaring at the logs. "How did I miss this? I scoured practically the entire island, and I didn't find a single thing we could work with! And you found this mountain of logs."

I wink. "We can't all be as talented as me. Don't feel too bad!" She shoves me lightly, and I laugh out loud.

"How many more do you think we'll need?" she asks, purposely ignoring my last comment.

I shrug. "Not sure. But I think if we each take two or three, we'll have plenty. We'll even have extras in case we accidentally destroy one."

She nods sarcastically. "Why wouldn't I be surprised if that happened, with you handling the logs and all?"

"I'm just that talented," I tell her, stooping to pick up two thick logs.

Amy Rose does the same, and the angry look never drops from her face. "These logs, they taunt me," she moans.

I decide not to laugh at her while she's holding two big heavy logs that could potentially be used as a weapon.

Slowly but surely, we make our way back to Eri.

"I'm so glad that's over," my best friend pants, dropping the logs with a loud thud. She swipes sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. "Remind me never to do that again." She's never been too big on strenuous activity.

"And," I add, feigning excitement, "just wait until we carry the whole raft down to the beach!"

Amy Rose pales.

"How do we assemble the raft?" Eri asks. She is kneeling next to our supplies, oblivious to our playful fighting.

I drag my attention from Amy Rose and turn to Eri. "We need to align the logs, like . . . so," I say as I demonstrate with two logs. "And then Amy will tie them all together with the vines."

Amy Rose frowns. "Uh, I'm flattered and everything, but why did you pick me me?"

"Because you got the highest marks out of all the Taide in that knotwork unit we had last year."

She reddens. "Yeah, but . . . that was Celtic knotwork. I'm not sure it applies."

I shrug. "Close enough."

Amy Rose, true to her character, is grumbling the whole time, but she takes the vines and begins tying them tightly around the logs we've already lined up. Eri and I continue to line up the logs until finally our raft is ready.

"That should do it," I say, stepping back to survey our work.

"I hope so," Amy Rose says. "I'm just worried about these vines," she confesses. "Will they hold up?"

"I would think so. They're really thick."

"And," Eri adds, "even if they snap eventually, we'll still be in good shape if they last most of the way. Which I bet they will."

"Okay, good," Amy Rose says, looking somewhat relieved. "I guess we just drag this down to the beach then, huh?"

"Yeah," I say.

"Fun," she says unenthusiastically.

"I can take this side and walk backwards," Eri offers, gesturing towards the back of the raft. "You guys can take the opposite side and direct me. Just don't let me crash into anything, okay?"

"Sure," I agree. Amy Rose and I exchange a glance, then stoop as one to lift our side of the raft.

"On three," Amy Rose says. "One - two - three!"

And we all heave the raft into the air. Gosh, this thing is so darn heavy. Whose bright idea was it to build a raft anyways? Oh, wait. That might have been mine.

We stumble off in the general direction of the beach, trying not to stumble over anything and potentially drop and break the raft.

"I need a break!" Amy Rose gasps a few minutes later. We set the raft down as gently as you can set something that heavy down. She swipes some sweat from her forehead. "Well, I've done my exercise for the day."

"And we're not even halfway to the beach yet!" I say in my most encouraging voice. "You're going to be so in shape after this!" She groans.

"I'm going to go rest on that big rock over there. You can stand there and be tired, or you can join me."

"Go ahead," I say. "I'll stay here, because I know if I sit down, I'm not going to have the willpower to get back up and carry this thing again."

Amy Rose trudges over to the rock and plops down onto it. Eri stays behind with me.

Ten minutes later, Amy Rose is still not done resting, as she's still firmly seated on that rock. "Hey Amy, are you almost done resting?" I ask, my impatience getting the better of me.

She sends me a dark look. "Nope."

"Well, hurry up alread - "

"Look out!" Eri screams, leaping over the raft and tackling me to the ground.

I hit the ground hard and groan. I am so confused. "What - " I barely have time to ask before something whizzes past me and crashes into the raft with a loud booming noise.

Looking at the raft, my eyes can scarcely register what they're seeing.

For the thing that flew past me was a fireball. And now our precious raft is up in flames. It's too late to save it.

"Oh, my gosh," Amy Rose says hoarsely, coming to stand beside us.

I stand speechless for a moment, and we all stare at the raft in horror, unable to draw our eyes from that terrible sight. Then I regain some control and turn to Eri. "Thank you. You saved my life."

She waves it off with a small smile, but it doesn't quite reach her eyes, and I know she is as disturbed by this as the rest of us. "How did this happen?" she whispers. "What does it mean?"

To me, the destruction of our raft sent a clear message.

I take a deep breath before delivering the grim statement. "It can only mean one thing: no one escapes from this island."

And their escape plan didn't work. I'm sure you saw that coming. Things are starting to get dramatic! Hope this was worth the wait, because I'm kind of slow with this book!

-Lucia <3