Page 14 of Stranded

“They were sitting on a table in the middle of the room. I guess it was a little convenient, now that I think about it,” King says, frowning down at it. “Someone’s going to be upset we took these, aren’t they?”

“Maybe,” I say, my eyes sweeping the surrounding trees. “Over here.” I motion to a spot in the trees that looks thinner than the rest. “Looks like a path. It’s not as well used as the other one, but it gives us somewhere to start.”

We move quietly through the slightly overgrown path for a few minutes before King speaks. “There, see the green things? Those are guavas.” We each reach up into the tree and pluck some from the branches. I pull out my pocket knife, flick it open, and cut one in half.

“You have a knife? Thank fuck!” Bower exclaims as he watches me cut into my fruit.

“Yeah, at least we have some sort of weapon,” I murmur, my eyes continually sweeping the jungle around us. “Let’s see if there are anyother fruit trees around here,” I say, and we all walk around the guava trees in different directions.

When I get to the back of them, something through the trees catches my attention, and I push through a couple large plants aside to get to it.

“Fuck,” Bower curses, coming up behind me.

“Is that…” King’s voice trails off, unable to say it.

“A grave,” I say, finishing for him.

Someone has obviously been buried in the ground in front of us. The grave itself isn’t too noticeable, and it’s clearly been here for a long time. But there is no denying the wooden cross at the head of the raised ground.

“Is there something on it?” Bower asks as I move closer to look at the worn words on the cross. I lean down and rub some of the dirt off it, trying to read out the carved words. “There doesn’t seem to be a name. It just says ‘beloved father’.”

“When did he die?” King asks, staring down at the cross. I move some more dirt to get a better look.

“It doesn’t have a date.”

They lean in to look for themselves.

“Do you think this is the person who built the hut?” Bower asks.

“Maybe, but the bigger question is who buried them, and where are they now?”

Chapter eight

Darla

Isit silently in the tree, watching them stare at my dad’s grave.

I didn’t want them looking at it.Ididn’t even like looking at myself, but I still visited him at least once every few weeks. Being here didn’t remind me of all the good times my dad and I spent together, it reminded me of how it ended.

He was too good of a man to end up buried in the woods, where nobody but me, and apparently these three strangers, would ever visit. But I didn’t have a choice, Ihadto bury him.

The men get to their feet and silently move away, making me relax a little. I don’t follow them, not yet. It’s been a while since I came here and I feel like it’s as good a time as any to talk to dad.

“Eep!” I lift my head as Mo-Mo drops down from a branch, still clinging to it with his left arm and leg, while his right is reaching out towards me with a couple of flowers in his fist.

I smile sadly as I take them from him. “Thanks, Mo-Mo.” This wasn’t the first time I’d come here, and he often came with me, it made it a little easier to have company.

I make my way down the tree, then slowly kneel down beside the grave marker.

“Hey dad. It’s been a while, I know. Things have changed a bit recently. As you just saw, I’m not alone here anymore. But don’t worry, they don’t know I’m here. I’m going to keep myself hidden until they’re rescued, then it will just be me and Mo-Mo again.”

“Eep!”

I tilt my head up and smile at my furry friend, who’s sitting on a nearby branch, watching me.

Looking back down, I place the flowers on the grave. “I miss you, dad. I love you.” Wiping the stray tear from my eye, I stand up and take a deep breath. Then I put my game face back on, knowing I can’t stand around here all day, I have some spying to do.

I climb back into the tree and head in the direction the men went. I’m not really sure where they’re going, but I have an idea that they didn’t know either. They were just walking blindly through the jungle, looking for food. It only takes me about ten minutes to catch up with them, since it’s faster for me to move through the trees than it is for them to move through the untouched jungle.

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