Lady of the Snakes

Chapter 5

Jack immediately said, “I'm going.”

Ralph glared at him. “I'm the chief, so I'm picking people. You can come, and I will too.”

After a five-minute argument, Ralph, Jack, Piggy, Roger, and Bill began to head up the mountain, and Nora turned to Simon, the oldest boy left. “Do you want to take half the group and go…” Here her confidence and leadership ran out, and she looked to Simon to finish her sentence.

“Collect sticks?” He glanced at her.

She sighed gratefully. “And we can get big leaves to lay on.”

This was the way the next hour was spent, in the woods, collecting sticks and logs and leaves and twigs, until there were three large huts on one side of the beach and one smaller one about ten yards away. Simon hadn't even blinked an eye when Nora had carefully mentioned that she and the little girls would need a separate shelter, he had just nodded and began to build one.

Now they were putting big leaves in the huts to step on so as not to get sand everywhere, when Simon held up his hand for them to stop.

“What is it?” Nora asked.

“You smell that?” They all sniffed at the air like curious dogs. “It's smoke.”

“They must have started the fire.” Nora glanced at the opening in the hut. “Oh my Lord!”

There was an enormous cloud of smoke hanging over the forest, and she thought she could see flames licking at the tips of trees.

“Is anyone still in the forest?” She asked Simon frantically.

He poked his head out of the hut and shouted, “If you can hear me, come to the biggest hut!”

Children came running from all parts of the beach. Simon did a head count. Turning to Nora with a pale face, he said, “We’re missing three.”

“Who?”

“That boy who talked about the beast, the one with the mark on his face. And...the red headed one, Radley, and the dirty one, what was his name….”

“Cecil.” Nora turned to the forest. “We have to go and rescue them!” She moved toward the forest.

Simon grabbed her arm. “Nora, no! They could be anywhere. Just call for them, stand at the edge of the trees and call for them.”

Nora tried to calm herself, to control her rapid breathing. “Yes.” She moved to the edge of the forest and shouted at the top of her lungs, “Cecil! Radley! Come back to the beach! Get out of the woods!”

The smoke and heat quickly made her throat dry, and she had to stop shouting. Simon continued it, and soon all of them were shouting for the little boys to come back, come back.

They never returned. However, when the flames had died down, the five boys who had been up at the top of the mountain came running down.

“We made a fire-” Bill panted.

“But it lit on to something else-” said Roger.

“And I-we were really worried-” Ralph put his hands on his knees to catch his breath.

Piggy gasped at air for a minute before finally finding it. He said, “Is everyone here? No one in the forest?”

Nora wanted to scream, to run at the boys and beat them with her fists for their stupidity, but she made herself stay calm. She made her expression as steely as possible and looked at them.

“No. Three of them went into the woods, and they haven't come back. The boy who talked about the beast, and Cecil, and Radley.” Her throat tightened.

Ralph drew in his breath and held it. Three boys were missing. They were probably dead. And he had just let it happen, had been so careless as to not take control over the fire. He knew Nora would have gone running into the woods if she could have, but he could tell that Simon hadn't let her. She looked upset, but was trying to keep a stoic face on to not reveal any weakness.

Cursing himself inwardly, he said, “The fire’s gone out. We can search for them, but-”

“I don't think they're still alive.” Piggy said quietly.