Chapter 3: Teamwork
7.25pm - Day 2
1 day, 55 minutes since the start of the exam
Evening began to fall on the island as Johanna and Billy continued their down-stream path towards the beach. They were a good way across the island now; Jo had been right in saying that they could reach the beach that night, provided the river they travelled down stayed this peaceful.
Looking back the way they had come Johanna noticed that there was a steady decline from the place they had fought off their feline attackers. This island's highest point was obviously somewhere behind them. Despite the beach in front of them being lower down than they were, they could not yet see it because of the tall trees ahead of them.
They then began to notice that the banks of the river had got steeper on either side, and instead of the regular bracken and weeds that had grown there before, masses of thorns prevented them from leaving the raft for the present. The raft had also picked up speed noticably. Not yet alarmingly so, but it had definitely got faster.
Not far up ahead, the two travellers noticed a split in the river. The path to the left took them off-course for the northern beach, but they could see the banks there began to get less thorny and steep; if they travelled that way they would surely soon come to a place where they could land. The path to the right kept on course for the beach, but the water that way was travelling faster, and the river was narrower; it would be difficult to navigate that way, and impossible to leave the raft, since the thorns there were so thick they even overhung the river. They would receive a fair amount of cuts and scratches from them if they took that route.
With the raft picking up more speed and already drifting towards the right-hand path, the pair would have to decide quickly which way they wanted to go, and act still quicker to make it happen.
Further North...
'I made it!' A spiky-haired, teanned figure had burst from the jungle onto the Northern Beach of the island, run exultantly five meters before his legs gave way beneath him and he fell face-first onto the sand. But Huw Howell didn't care - he had made it to the beach! And, as he looked up, he noticed that all six boats remained - he was the first one there! Jumping to his feet he ran towards them, joy filling his heart. He had built upon the advantage leant him by being the second to leave the beach and had not rested in the last day. His pace had been slow but steady, and had managed to avoid all other competitors, even, he was relieved to say, that creepy guy who had stolen a lift to the island from him.
Huw had already decided hours ago what to do when he reached the beach. As a seasoned sailor he had surmised that the boats would be too big for one man, even one as skilled as himself, to handle alone. Therefore he would wait on the deck of the ship, hidden from sight, watching the beach. If he saw someone who looked trustworthy approaching, he would ask them to join him. If he saw someone didstinctly untrustworthy, he would shoot on sight with the harpoon he carried.
He never thought someone else would have the same idea as him...
Tossing his bag and harpoon up onto deck, he pulled himself up after them.
'Welly-welly-welly-welly well,' he heard a voice greeting him. He recognised that voice. Alex de Lamont looked over at him, a cheerful look on his face, from where he lay on the stern, hands behind his head, cane by his side, bowler hat tipped nearly over his eyes. 'We meet again, my sailor chum! And under such fortunate circumstances, I have need of you!'
Huw was speechless. Alex went on. 'As you will know, I cannot get to the island alone. I am no sailor, and this boat is too big for little old me to sail alone. So, I am here to gather a crew that can get me there! I will be your Captain, and you my navi. What say you to this?'
'Er, um, f-fine.'
'Good, then come and meet the crew. You are not the first here by a long stretch.' Alex rose and put his arm genially round Huw's, and lead him to the bow of the boat, where three men lay, side-by-side, all tied up and gagged. There eyes seemed to scream terror at Huw. 'Fellas, meet our saviour. He'll get us all safely to that island. Our friend here is an expert sailor. What's your name, friend?'
'H-Huw Howell,' he stuttered.
'Huwy, meet Nobsy, Pigsy and Oofy.' Alex pointed in turn at each of them men with his cane, referring to them by the affectionate nicknames he had given them on their meeting. 'Now, Huwy, get some rest with these three. You look like you haven't slept in days! We leave tomorrow am!'
Elsewhere in the forest
Aster and Carolie had been making good progress through the forest for the past twelve hours; walking four hours at a time, separating each leg with half hour breaks, a whole hour for lunch. Aster's trapping skills would have come in useful in securing the area they rested in, but she was too whily to even admit she had them. At any rate, they had not been attacked while resting, so it made little difference.
The odd pair had come across several corpses of their rivals, at which Aster had pretended to be disgusted, while Carloie had remained unmoved. They had once been attacked by an irate dinoceros (a large tri-horned beast) onto whose territory they had wandered. Aster had pretended to be defenseless, which meant Carolie had had to come to her aid. This also gave Aster a chance to see the weapon her companion used; a crossbow with which she had shot this dinoceros in the eye, giving them chance to escape via its blindside.
During the half-day they had been together, Carolie had not mentioned Aster's brother again. They just kept moving forward to their destination, not wondering why he had not come to finder his sister, or questioning their decision to leave the spot he had left her at.
Now they had stopped inside the mouth of the cave to rest again, although it had only been an hour and a half or so since their last break.
'We are nearly at the beach,' Carolie said. 'We could get there in about two hours. But, this part of the journey is the most dangerous. People will be lying in ambush there. We should be even more wary from here on. I propose that we rest here for the night, and make our way to the beach in the morning. If we go there now we will not be able to sail because of the lack of light, and if we slept on the beach we'd be sitting targets.'
The two set themselves up for the night in a matter of minutes and then began to explore the cave. It stretched back a hundred yards or so, and was very dark down that end. Carolie pointed out a hole in the roof at the back of the cave. 'This reminds me of a lair belonging to the Nestic Spider that I came across in the south of France. The Nesctic Spider, as you may know, is man-eating, and can grow up to six feet in height. It will find a cave and dig a hole in the roof. During the day, it sits in its hole upside down, looking down into the cave. During the evening, when some unsuspecting creature has wandered in to rest, it comes out of its hole and proceeds along the top of the cave to the cavemouth. Across the mouth it will spin a huge web, trapping the person in. The only way to escape is to do so while the spider is away, through the hole like that one there.
If you do not escape by the time its finished its web, the spider will go back to its hole, drop down through it, and eat you. If you run, you find yourself trapped in by the web. You see the Nestic Spider's cunning? Why, passing this exam would be easy if you only had half the cunning of the Nestic Spider.' Aster had noticed that while Carolie had been talking, her voice had taken on a new hardness and cruellness that hadn't been there before. It might have scared many people.
'I noticed a strand of spider web on the mouth of the cave,' Carolie continued casually, slipping a tiny blade out of a small bag. Calmly she stepped forward and jabbed it into Aster's arm. Almost immediately she felt a numbness spread across her arm, and in a matter of seconds it had spread to one side of her chest.
'It's feeding time for the Nestic Spider,' Carolie taunted cruelly. 'She should be back any moment. You have about two minutes before that venom spreads through your entire body, but you mentioned being a medic, so perhaps you have some antidote? At any rate, I wonder if you can escape. You've piqued my interest, little girl, and I want to see if I'm right about you. Escape this and I will be very impressed.'
The Frenchwoman climbed up the rock and out of the hole at the top. 'Be careful who you trust,' she called down. 'And perhaps I'll see you later on.'
Some twelve hours earlier
‘I’m not his girlfriend,’ Kasumi told Lucian, immediately clearing up that misunderstanding. Lucian shrugged and looked back at his defeated opponent. His swing had clean cut Bansho in half and his blood stained the ground. ‘My name’s Kasumi Kyoko,’ she said, ‘and this is Damian Dreft.’ She indicated her new-found partner. ‘A swordsman I see, like myself. Don’t think I’m just some damsel in distress who can’t look after herself. I’d like to fight you sometime. But now’s not the time. The smell of that blood might attract wild animals. Let’s move.’
She and Damian started to move, before she looked back over her shoulder. ‘You coming, Mr. Swordsman?’
From his still position on the ground, the barely conscious Turiko looked over at his late-partner, then moved his head slightly so he could look at their enemy. ‘Bastards, you’ll regret not killing me outright…’ The man shifted his left hand down to his pocket. It was slow and painful due to the wound, but he managed it. He took out a stick of dynamite and a single match. The ground in front of him was rough, and he summoned enough energy to strike the match on it. He put it against the wick of the dynamite and laughed weakly as it caught fire. ‘Die, fools!’ he yelled with the last of his strength, holding the stick above his head triumphantly.
Quick as a flash, Kasumi leapt forward, drawing her katana as she went, slicing off the raised arm in one movement. She caught the hand in her own and threw it through the trees, dynamite still clasped within. A minute or so later they heard an explosion, but they were well out of range, and Kasumi had already beheaded Turiko by then.
Sheathing her sword, she looked at Lucian. ‘Now you owe us,’ she said. ‘So will you help us out now?’
