Lady of the Snakes

Chapter 3

Nora glanced over at her sisters. Bess was continuing to build her sand castle. Ada was playing something with one of the boys. They would be fine, she told herself.

Piggy stirred. "I'll come."

Ralph turned to him. "You're no good on a job like this."

"All the same--"

"We don't want you," said Jack, flatly. "Three's enough."

Nora felt her fists clench. She hated both of them. Why was it her fate to become stranded on an island with these two despicable boys?

“If she goes between us then we can talk over her head.” Jack suggested to Ralph. They were both about half a foot taller than Nora, which meant that she had to take slightly bigger steps than them to keep up. She glanced back, and saw Piggy staring sadly after them. Waiting until they were out of sight of the others, she turned and punched Ralph in the stomach, hard.

“OW!” Ralph doubled over. “What was that for?”

“Why are you being so hateful to Piggy? He asked you not to call him that! And when you get the first chance, what do you say his name is?”

Jack began to snigger. Nora whirled around to face him. “And you, Jack Merridew, are even worse! You're the most arrogant, mean, controlling…”

Someone placed two hands on her shoulders. Ralph. “Nora! Nora, calm down!” He was speaking softly and gently, like one might to a skittish horse. This only served to infuriate Nora further.

“Don't touch me!” she cried, and writhed out of his grip. Through her fury, an image flew into her mind of her father, struggling in the policeman’s iron grip-Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Nora calmed down. “Alright. Alright. Just stop being hateful to him.”

As they turned the corner, the rocks they had been walking on became a mountain. Taking a step onto the craggy rock like it was a step, Jack motioned for them to follow him. “This should be the easiest way to go up the mountain, I think.”

They began to climb the rocks, edging along the narrow paths in the steep mountain-face, deep in the plant world and with extreme caution.

“What made this track?”

“Men?” Ralph peered into the forest.

Jack shook his head. “Animals.”

“Come on.” They kept moving up.

When they had at last reached the top of the mountain, Ralph turned with shining eyes to the others. “Wacco.”

“Wizard.” gasped Jack, surveying from this lofty point the entirety of the island. They could now see that it was about two miles long and nearly ½ a mile wide at the widest point.

“Blimey.” Nora said, using her hand as a protection against the late afternoon sunlight which always hits your eye the hardest.

There was a loud squeal. Ralph thought he had heard it before-at the farm next to the school, where there had been pigs…

Jack rushed after the sound, Ralph ran after, and Nora hurtled down behind the boys with a distinct feeling of dread at what would happen next-there, tangled up in a mass of creepers was a piglet. Nora gasped. She knew very well what a pig looked like but this was not that. It was brown, and more furry, with the start of tusks protruding from below its snout.

With a flash of light on metal, Jack pulled a knife from his pocket and raised it above the piglet. Dear Lord, he's got a knife. Nora stifled her urge to scream. No, no, no! You are not going to become one of those girls who screams at the slightest fright.  

Then she noticed that Jack’s face had grown pale under all his freckles, and that his trembling arm had been holding the knife above the piglet for quite some time now. He lowered his arm and put his knife away. “I was choosing a place.” He said. “I was just waiting for the moment to stab him.”

Ralph had not realized he had been holding his breath. He let it go and glanced at Nora. She looked sick. He was quickly coming to the conclusion that when one has not been told one’s whole life that one was going to have to kill when one was older, then one would almost certainly not like killing other things. Especially-he glanced at the piglet-small, innocent things.

He put his arm around Nora. She shoved him away. “What do you think you're trying to do?” she said impatiently.

Jack smirked at him. It's clear you've been away from girls for too long, Now this is how you-

Ralph interrupted Jack’s incoming move on Nora. “I'm hungry.” This news made all three stomachs stand up and take notice.

“Come on!” Nora cried, running ahead. “We should get back to the beach and call an assembly.”