Danny looks down at her as she sleeps, his heart twisting in his chest. Honor has always made him feel so loved and safe, but she’s losing interest, slipping away, growing more and more distant with every day. He crawls out of the low shelter and reaches for the empty bottle of vodka, half buried in the sand. He glances at Jessie, curled up on the sand beside the gently flickering fire. Like Honor, she’s still fast asleep. No sign of Anuman, though. His sleeping bag, in the food prep shelter, is empty. He’s not on the beach either. He’s probably in the jungle, foraging for food.
Danny pulls the empty bottle out of the sand and throws it onto a haphazard pile of rubbish near the fire. As it strikes another bottle Jessie jolts awake, her eyes wide and fearful, one cheek smothered with sand and her hair sticking up at all angles. She props herself up on her elbow and stares at him. ‘What… who—’
‘Morning,’ he says. ‘We’re on the island. Remember?’
Jessie stares blearily around, taking in the long stretch of beach and the sea lapping at the shore.
‘Did you sleep out here all night?’ He gestures at the small patch of skin between the hem of her trousers and her ankle bone. It’s pricked with angry red dots. ‘Looks like the sand flies had a feast.’
Jessie groans in despair and rubs at her leg. ‘Great.’
‘Someone’s busy.’ He points further down the beach where Jefferson is sitting cross-legged on the sand with a large green net spread out around him.
Jessie shields her eyes with her hand and blinks into the distance. ‘That’s the net I found yesterday. I think he’s trying to fix it. Do you know if there’s anything to eat? We finished all my Pringles last night and I’m starving.’
‘I don’t know. I think we ate all the fish yesterday. Anyway, look, Jess, I um… I need your opinion on something. Was I out of order last night? With Honor. Because, if so—’
He’s interrupted by a rustling from the jungle. Anuman appears between the trees, his arms loaded with bananas, mangos and coconuts.
‘Oh my God!’ Jessie leaps to her feet and charges over to their host. ‘Talk about heaven!’
Danny trudges after her, stomach rumbling. An idea forms in his mind as he reaches out and takes a bunch of bananas, a mango and a coconut from Anuman’s towering pile. Maybe he could prepare a fresh fruit cocktail for Honor. If he borrowed Jeffers’ knife he could chop it all up and serve it to her in half a coconut shell. It would be worth it for a smile. She might even look at him the way she used to. He reaches for another piece of fruit but, as he does, Jessie lets out a little shriek of surprise.
‘Jess?’ He looks from her to their guide and immediately spots what’s wrong. The whole right side of Anuman’s face has suddenly sagged, as though his skin has melted, pulling down the side of his mouth and eye. Their guide’s arms go slack and he drops the fruit. Danny jumps back as a coconut lands beside his foot.
‘Anuman! Are you OK?’ he asks as another coconut falls to the sand, then several bunches of bananas and half a dozen mangos. Anuman stumbles towards him, lips moving. Nothing he’s saying makes sense. It’s a series of nonsensical sounds.
‘Anuman?’ Jessie says, her voice high and tight. ‘What is it? What’s wrong?’
She leaps forward, grabbing the older man as he tips to the side. ‘Help me!’ she shouts but Danny can’t move. He feels as though someone has screwed his feet through the sand and deep into the earth.
‘Danny!’ Jessie cries as she awkwardly lowers Anuman onto the sand. His eyes are closed and he’s not moving. ‘We need to get him back to the mainland. Now! I think he’s having a stroke.’
Danny doesn’t reply. He feels as though he’s watching the scene before him play out on a movie screen.
‘Danny!’ Jessie shouts again. ‘You need to help me carry him down to the boat. Now!’
Danny takes a step backwards. He can’t do it. He can’t even look at Anuman.
‘Jeffers!’ Jessie shouts. ‘Jeffers, help!’
But Jefferson is already speeding down the beach towards them, his green fishing net abandoned and flapping and twisting in the breeze.
Chapter 7
JESSIE
Anuman is small and light but it takes for ever to carry him across the sand to the boat, tethered at the shore. The sand is dry and my feet keep slipping as I walk sideways, crab-like, bearing the weight of his legs while Jeffers holds him under the armpits. Meg speeds past us shouting something about looking for a medical kit. Honor and Milo are back in the shelter, arguing about what we should do. Milo thinks we should abandon our stuff and just leave, while Honor thinks we should pack it up and take it with us. Danny seems completely oblivious to their argument. He’s still standing by the spot where Anuman fell, staring into space. Meg reaches the boat and clambers inside. It rocks back and forth as she slithers into it then she’s up on her knees, scrabbling around looking under the wooden seats. As we draw closer she shouts something but I can’t make out what she’s saying. I’m worried about Anuman. He hasn’t moved or opened his eyes since he collapsed and now his mouth is hanging open. We need to get him in the boat and back to the mainland as quickly as we can. There’ll be a hospital there, and people who can help him.
‘Is he still alive?’ I ask Jeffers as we wade into the sea.
I’m too scared to look at Anuman’s chest in case it’s not moving.
‘I don’t know,’ Jeffers says. And there it is, my worst fear, reflected back in his eyes.
Somehow, we manage to lift Anuman’s limp body into the long, narrow boat, then Meg scoots over to the diesel engine at one end as Jeffers shouts instructions at her. I remain in the sea, watching. When Milo shouts my name I turn to see him and Honor sprinting down the beach towards us, waving their arms frantically. Back at the shelter Danny still hasn’t moved.
Jeffers is watching him too. ‘He needs to get a move on or we’ll have to leave him behind. We need to get going now.’
I want to tell him that I’ll go and get him but I’m shaking so much that when I open my mouth to speak, my teeth chatter together. Even my heart seems to be vibrating in my chest. And I can’t breathe. I can’t get enough air in my lungs. I feel hot and faint and like I’m going to die.
‘Oh God,’ Jeffers says under his breath then, louder. ‘Jessie! Jessie, it’s OK. Take deep breaths. You’re having a panic attack. Meg, just pull the starter cord.’
‘I can’t find it!’
‘Oh for God’s sake. I’ll do it. You look after Jessie.’
I hear a splash as Meg jumps out of the boat and then she and Honor peer into my face asking me if I’m OK and Milo’s got his arm around my shoulder and I just want them all to go away. There’s not enough air. I can’t breathe. And I’m so hot. I’m so hot I feel faint.
‘Um… guys.’ Jefferson’s shout cuts the incessant pounding of my blood in my ears. ‘It doesn’t look like we’re going—’
He doesn’t finish his sentence. Instead he drops to his knees and disappears from view.
‘Jeffers?’ Meg says. She takes a step away from me, heading back towards the boat.