Wild Fiction

‘Okay, okay, I won’t do it again,’ he paused and looked away, lost in thought for a moment. ‘Does anybody think it strange that those other blokes seemed to get inside the reef with less hassle than us? They didn’t look like they’d had a near death experience when they arrived and I couldn’t see any damage on their boat.’
‘I was thinking about that,’ James replied. ‘There must be a channel through it that’s not marked on the charts. Those two must have gained local knowledge about the island from someone. And did you notice how pale the small one was? They couldn’t have been here for very long. They must know someone who knows about the island and how to access it.’
‘Weren’t they pirates?’ Rebecca asked.
‘Technically yes but actually no. Yes, because they robbed our boat from their boat and then sunk us but no because they don’t do that sort of thing for a living. I think it was a specific one off mission for them.
‘Perhaps they’re ex-cons. Maybe this Betelgeuse bloke met them in the nick and that’s how they got the information they needed. That would also explain why they were after the camera case. Betelgeuse is probably paying them to retrieve it and whatever’s in the safety deposit box.’
‘If that’s the case we’d better get moving,’ Conrad said getting up. ‘When they discover that there’s no key in the box they’re going to come back for it. They may not be as generous with our lives next time.’
‘Where are we going?’ Rebecca asked.
‘To the southern tip of the island,’ Conrad replied. ‘On the map there was a placed marked Perro con un ojo. The charts showed that there’s no reef around that part of the island. If any boats are going to come near this place, then that’s where they’ll come. It’s the only deep-water access to the land.’
It was Conrad’s idea to leave the clothes drying on the bushes. ‘They’ll think we’re still here and waste time looking for us in the jungle,’ he said.
Rebecca tied a piece of cord onto the key, pulled it over her neck, and dropped it down the front of her vest between her breasts. James had managed to find the boat’s binoculars, the ones with the built in compass, and Conrad had salvaged the two largest kitchen knives from the galley. With a knife in each hand and James giving occasional bearings, Conrad slashed his way through the succulent undergrowth. Rebecca trailed the procession with a bunch of knick-knacks wrapped up in a sheet and a foul mouth for the swarms of mosquitoes they encountered.