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A NORMAL VACATION
Part Two
By Katherine Bare
"Yes...Yes...It's a small boat, about twenty feet long perhaps.
Yes...No, I really don't know where they would have gone. They were
just going to go exploring... Yes. I see. Thank you." Dr. Benton
Quest hung up the telephone with a sigh. Turning, he crossed the room
and entered the villa's living room. "Race?"
The big, white haired bodyguard turned from his anxious pacing.
"What? Did you call the Coast Guard?"
"Yes, I did. But they said that the storm's too strong and they
can't risk their men searching when they don't even know which
direction to look." Then, noting the murderous look rising on his
friend's face, he added somewhat feebly, "They did say that they'll
start searching as soon as the storm dies down some..."
"Fur on a catfish! You know that tiny boat could be wrecked by then,
Benton! Those government bureaucrats - care more about their own skin
than the job they're supposed to be doing!" Scowling fiercely, he
returned to his pacing, muttering to himself about no-good cowards.
"Do not fear, my friends." Hadji spoke up for the first time. "Jonny
and Jessie are both good sailors. And they have survived greater
challenges than a storm. I feel certain they will be fine."
Dr. Quest glanced over at the green - faced young man lying limply on
the couch. "Hadji, I'm sorry. I almost forgot. How are you feeling?"
"Rather badly, I am afraid. But I will recover, thank you."
But Dr. Quest had already turned back to the window, staring out at
the rain lashing the glass and the palm trees whipping wildly in the
wind. "If it were people, I wouldn't be so worried," he said, almost
to himself. "But out there, in that tiny sailboat..."
"Yeah," Race agreed, still pacing. "Jonny and Jessie are both good
fighters. But Mother Nature... Benton, we gotta get out and search
for them!" he cried, wheeling around, fists clenched.
"Yes," Dr. Quest agreed. "But.." he held up a hand as Race whirled,
"Not now."
"Are you crazy?!"
"Race, much as I hate to admit, getting ourselves killed won't help
the kids. We have to wait until the storm dies some."
"He is right, Race." Hadji added.
Race scowled angrily, but finally snarled, "You're right. I don't
like it though. And I am going to go get the chopper ready!"
"Good idea." As Race left, Dr. Quest turned back to the window.
Pressing his face to the glass, he peered through the rain, as if he
could part it like a curtain and see his son by will alone. "Please,"
he whispered softly. "Please, let them be safe..."
Meanwhile, out on the stormy ocean...
CRASH! Jessie Bannon was hurled onto the deck of their tiny
sailboat. She lay there a moment, dazed, the wind knocked out of her.
Then the water pouring down on her brought her back to her senses.
She scrambled to her feet, only to be flung down again as the boat
smashed against the rocks once more. Gritting her teeth, she clung to
a handhold and pulled herself upright. Frantically she looked around.
Jonny - where was Jonny? She staggered as the violent waves slammed
the boat against the rock yet again. She glanced in that direction,
and paled. The bow of the boat was nearly smashed to bits. We're
breaking up! she thought, gasping. We're not going to last much
longer... Jonny! Oh God, where is he? Please don't let him have
drowned... Rubbing the water from her eyes, she peered desperately
through the driving rain. "Jonny!" she screamed. "Jonny! Where are
you? JONNY!" No no no no... He's not dead, he isn't, not Jonny...
A shout caught her attention. "Jess!" Jessie spun and saw, through
the rain, a bobbing figure with a bleached - blond head struggling
with the tossing waves. A wave swamped it, and it disappeared for a
moment, but then bobbed up again. "Jess! HELP!"
"Jonny!" Jessie gasped in relief. Thoughts whirled through her head.
They were breaking up... they couldn't stay on the boat. They'd have
to try and swim for it... Deciding, she tugged up the top on one of
the benches, revealing a storage compartment, and yanked out a life
buoy. "Aaack!" she exclaimed as the boat struck the rocks again,
flinging her to the deck. "Not again!" Desperately she rolled to her
feet and looked for Jonny. He was still there, but being drawn
farther away. "Jonny!" she shouted. "Hang on!" And then, clinging
tightly to the buoy, she leaped off the boat and plunged into the
storm - tossed ocean.
Jessie gasped as cold water immersed her, and immediately began to
choke. Luckily, the buoy bobbed to the surface almost immediately,
and she clung to it a moment, coughing. A wave washed over her, and
she shook her head, trying to clear her eyes. "Jonny!" she shouted,
and coughed again as salty water filled her mouth. "Over here!" She
kicked hard, trying to ride the waves instead of being swamped by
them. She bobbed up on one, and spotted her friend struggling toward
her. Holding tightly to the buoy, she kicked desperately toward him.
Her shoes - they were so wet and heavy.... She kicked harder. She had
to get to him, before he drowned! But the waves - it was like they
were pulling her away from him. Drawing on every ounce of strength
she had, she fought against the waves. And then, one wave caught her
up, flung her forward, and almost before she could believe it, she was
right next to him. "Here!" she gasped, and thrust the buoy she still
held toward him. "Grab on!"
Jonny gratefully seized the proffered edge and held on tightly.
"Thanks!" he gasped.
"No prob," Jessie replied, panting. Facing each other, the two
treaded water for a minute. Jessie freed one hand long enough to push
wet straggles of hair out of her face. "You okay?" she gasped.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Thought I was a goner for a minute there though,"
Jonny replied. He blinked hard, trying to clear the rainwater and
salt spray from his eyes. "Now what?"
Jessie opened her mouth to reply - and choked as a wave smacked her
in the mouth. "Yuurgh!" she gasped, choking and spitting. "Yuck! I
was going to say, I think we gotta see if we can find a beach!"
"Yeah," Jonny said. He glanced over at the island. "We have to
hurry though - we're being drawn away from that!"
"Right, then. Kick!" The two teens began to kick furiously, but
soon discovered a problem.
"This isn't working, Jess. We're kicking in opposite directions."
Jessie sighed. "You're right. Now what?"
Jonny thought a moment. "Wait, I have an idea. Can you slip under
the buoy so we're facing the same direction and not each other?"
Jessie frowned. "I think so... I just hope I can still hang on." she
muttered to herself. "Well, here goes..." Taking a deep breath, she
loosed one hand and dove under, arching up swiftly. Exploding up
above the waves, she found herself encircled by the life buoy.
"You did it!" Jonny was grinning from ear to ear.
"Yeah." Jessie grinned back and swivelled around. "Now let's go!"
Minutes seemed to pass like hours as the two struggled to reach the
island. Jessie panted, forcing her aching legs to kick as they fought
against the towering waves. Slowly, ever so slowly, they moved closer
to the island. But it was still so far away... Jessie groaned and let
herself go limp. They'd never make it. The waves were to strong.
They were nothing but playthings in the ocean's grasp...
"Jessie! Come on! We're almost there!" Jonny shouted.
"Oh Lord..." Jessie moaned. Weakly she began thrashing her legs,
trying get just a little more motion out of them. Then, all of a
sudden, she felt the tip of a sea-plant brush her feet! Blinking the
spray from her eyes, she saw land, just a few yards away!
"Almost there, Jess! Look!" Re- energized, she began kicking with
the last of her strength. Just as she felt she could kick no longer,
a wave caught them up and flung them forward. They landed in a tangle
of limbs and life buoy on the cold, clammy sand of the island. Jessie
thought nothing had ever felt so good as that gritty, wet sand beneath
her cheek.
For several minutes they lay there exhausted, gasping, unable to move
despite the rain soaking and the waves pounding at them. Finally
Jonny rolled over and sat up. "C'mon, Jess," he said. "We're getting
soaked. Let's get under some trees."
"As if we could get any wetter than we already are," Jessie gasped.
All the same, she started wriggling out of the confines of the life
buoy. Finally she wearily pushed herself upright. A wave slammed
against her, nearly knocking her down again.
"Whoops!" Jonny exclaimed, grabbing her shoulder. "Gotcha, Jess."
"Thanks, Jonny," Jessie said, wiping her eyes. She scrambled to her
feet, staggered slightly as the waves ate at the sand around her feet,
and backed away from the pounding surf.
Jonny dashed after her. "Here!" he called. "We can get up under
some cover up there!" He pointed to a stand of trees up on top of a
slope.
Jessie glanced at the grove and nodded. "Let's go!" she called, and
started scrambling up the slippery hill. "Ouch!"
"Jess! You all right?"
"Yeah! Hit my knee on a rock!" Doggedly the two continued slogging
up through the wet mud and plants. Both slipped and stumbled several
times, and once Jonny even fell and slid back several feet.
Eventually, however, they reached the top of the hill and staggered
into the grove. Breathless, they collapsed at the foot of the first
tree they came to. As if on cue, the wind began to die and the rain
to slow until it was no more than an ordinary drizzle. Jessie glared
up at the sky.
"Of course. As soon as we make it onto land, the storm stops. Makes
perfect sense, don't you think?"
Jonny couldn't repress a tired laugh. "That's the way it goes,
Jess," he told her, and laughed again as she snorted. "Hey!" he
yelled as she smacked him. "What'd I do?"
Grinning tiredly, Jessie replied, "You were laughing at me."
"So? Ow!" Jonny yelped as she smacked him again. "That's it!" He
began to push himself up, but an arm collapsed under him and he
tumbled back. Scowling at his snickering friend, he said, "You're
just lucky I'm too tired to go after you!"
"Yeah, whatever." Jessie continued to laugh helplessly, and after a
moment, Jonny joined her. The pair continued to laugh for several
minutes, as much in a release of tension than amusement. Jonny was
the first to regain control of himself.
"All right," he panted, forcing himself to an upright position. "Now
what do we do?"
Jessie calmed down quickly. "Well, we know our dads will be
searching for us," she pointed out
Jonny grinned. "Yeah," he agreed. "They're probably worried sick by
now."
Jessie nodded her agreement. "But the boat is wrecked!" she said
worriedly. "They might think we're drowned with it."
Jonny shook his head in mock reproof. "Jessie, Jessie, Jessie.
You're forgetting about these!" He held up a wrist and Jessie's eyes
widened.
"Our watch-trackers! Of course!"
"Yep!" Jonny nodded agreement. He bent over his. "I just hope they
still work after all that water.." he muttered.
"They should. They're supposed to be waterproof." Jessie said.
"Yeah, but.. Ah-ha! Got it!" The watch emitted a tiny beep and then
began to transmit its signal. "Yes!" he exclaimed.
Jessie bent over hers. "Good. Mine still works, too," she told him,
grinning as it began broadcasting her location.
"All right!" The pair exchanged high fives.
"Now all we gotta do is wait," Jonny was saying. However, at that
moment, Jessie's head swivelled to the side.
"Shh!" she hissed. "Hear that?"
Jonny paused a moment and listened. Not too far away was the sound
of a motorboat, and it was getting closer. He looked back at Jessie,
blue eyes suddenly wary. "Who would be out this soon after a storm?"
he whispered.
"Coast Guard, maybe?" Jessie replied, her voice nervous.
"Then why are they stopping at this island?" Jonny asked, as they
heard the boat stop right at the beach they washed up on. The pair
listened in silence as two male, Spanish-accented voices floated up
toward them.
"Where is he?"
"Not here, tonto! It's too exposed to risk making the exchange here.
You can bet he will be up there, maybe in those trees."
"Then let's go."
Jessie and Jonny exchanged alarmed looks. "They're coming right
toward us!" Jessie whispered.
"Then let's get out of here!" Frantically the pair began crawling
away through the brush as heavy footsteps drew closer and closer.
"Down here!" Jonny hissed, and flattened himself beneath a thick
bush. Jessie scrambled in beside him. The two lay frozen as the
ominous unknowns came even closer, and prayed they wouldn't be seen.
Author's note: Tonto means basically dummy in Spanish, for those who
don't know the language. Well, that's the second part. Sorry it's
taken so long! Comments of all sorts will be appreciated!
(c) Katherine Bare 1998