The Shipwreck

Chapter 4

The days that followed were filled with awe. Days that turned into months. I would sneak out with no problems and meet her at the temple, every morning. While my father, Henry and the others tried to find more about the island, I got acquaintance with my own island: Bette. She surely was full of surprises; in the first days we talked in our special way, I could tell she was really smart as it took only two times to say something in English that she already memorized it. Sometimes I needed the help of the dictionary, but things were improving nonetheless. After a couple of months her English was kind of fluent.

You are wondering how come none of my travel friends found out about my escapes, truth is they really were a bunch of idiots. Telling them that I was going to take a nap was enough; I just needed to leave the camp through the back of my tent. They had no clue, not even my father. By the time that everyone was back, they would find me in my tent, reading or drawing.

"How is the search going?" I asked my father, one morning.

"Very good, my dear" he replied. "The crew also managed to fix the ship, once we are finished with all this, we can go back and tell everyone what we discovered"

"Great!" going back. Did I really want to go back? Bette was there and she was the only one that made me feel myself. She understood me, we didn't need perfect English to talk to each other, her eyes could tell me anything and I would understand her with no trouble.

I got an example of how not seeing her anymore could have been that morning. I went to our special place but she was nowhere to be seen. It was happening again. When I was little and had the fortune to know a friend that could really comprehend me they suddenly disappeared. Leaving me in the despair of solitude. I couldn't really understand why, I spent the day asking my mother what was wrong with me and she could always try to make me feel better, telling me how beautiful and good I was, and she had this power, this gentle way of making me believe anything she told me and in a matter of time I forgot about all the bad things.

But this time it was different, I could see it in Bette's eyes. She really liked my presence, and I loved hers. Something had happened and I had to figure out what.

The next day I waited for my dad and the group to leave for their daily journey, and packed some stuff to go look for her. During the night I silently crept into my father's tent and tried to copy all the paths he had drawn so far. Now I had a good map to follow if I got lost. I decided to go to the temple - who knew maybe she decided to show up - but nothing. I made my way through the woods. It was amazing. There were oodles of colorful plants and fruits all around. I could sense their flavors and scent. The sounds of the trees and the chant of the birds kept me company. But the noise of my thoughts was so loud that sometimes I couldn't make out any sound around me. I moved carefully, not wanting to wake some beast hidden somewhere. I walked and I walked when, suddenly, I noticed someone lying on the ground. It was her!

"Bette!" I ran toward her unconscious body. "Bette!"

I shook her trying to wake her up. I could see bruises all over her body and face. "Please, Bette, wake up!"

I hurried to the river next to us and took some water. I splashed it on her face. She groaned and frowned. She was waking up.

"Hurt" she whispered.

"Here you are" I cooed.

"Hurt" she kept saying.

"Where?" I tried to find a wound. "Where does it hurt?"

She didn't respond. She came to a sitting position, instead, and looked at me.

"What happened?" I asked.