Chapter 34-The Waiting Begins

"What do you mean?" I asked Mitch. He glanced over at me with a curious expression.

"Our queen of smarts didn't figure it out?" he asked. "We're stuck here."

That struck me oddly. I knew it to be true but I couldn't figure out why. "Why?" I asked.

Mitch scrunched his eyebrows together and stared at me. He seemed to be ready to say something but Joseph cut in. "Mitch," he said. "Can it." He turned to me. "There aren't any phones," he began. "No phones, no boat, no any way of contacting people to get off?"

"Of course!" I said. "Sorry, it just seemed to slip my mind. What're we going to do?"

We looked around each other. Each person seemed to hope that the next face they looked at would have the answer, but no one responded. Everyone looked at Cerant last and our eyes stayed on him. He put his hands in the air and said, "What? You think I know what to do?"

"Well," I said. "Can you think of anything we may have forgotten to try?"

"Swimming to another island?" Cerant asked jokingly. No one laughed. He sighed and shook his head. "Sadly, no. I don't know why the phones aren't back yet."

"They probably sabotaged them," said Joseph, his voice full of anger.

Cerant nodded to him and sighed. "Someone will have to come along eventually," he said.

"Yeah but will they stop?" asked Kat.

He glanced at her with a calculation expression. "Well, we'll have to let them know," he said.

"How?" she asked.

A smile had spread on his face and he said, "We'll take care of it in the morning. For now, I think we all need to get some sleep. I'll leave you pondering what Cerant could be formulating."

I found myself extremely curious as to what he could be working out but I was too exhausted to stay up any longer. Everyone else gave him curious glances but Joseph, Mitch, and I all stood up and began walking wearily toward the guest wing. Kat stayed to talk with him before going to bed. I hugged both of them goodnight and followed after the other two. I chose to sleep in my original medieval room since Kat was back and her room no longer haunted me. I wasn’t sure where she was going to sleep. It may not even be in this wing.

I pulled on my beloved white nightgown and slipped beneath the silken sheets. I had forgotten how good that felt. It was probably a combination of the sheets and my relief at being alive to be in them that made this feel so good. My eyes fluttered shut and I quickly slipped away into sleep.

After what seemed like only moments, my eyes opened slowly. The morning light greeted them through the slit windows on my wall. I was groggy but strangely refreshed. I stood with a yawn and walked out into the living room. It was completely empty but the double doors were open and I could hear voices outside. The recent events had made me grow cautious so I slowly approached the doors and peeked outside.

The other five island residents were all out on the lawn laughing and eating. Joseph rose as he saw me and came over, kissing me softly on the lips. "Glad you joined us," he murmured. "There isn’t much food but we managed to make a breakfast. We didn’t want to wake you."

I smiled and nodded. "I needed some sleep," I replied. "I’m happy there’s still food though. I’m starved."

We walked over to the ground and settled down on the grass. I arranged my nightgown around me and picked up a piece of toast. It had a slightly old taste but was good, especially with as hungry as I was. Everyone had greeted me then no one said anything as they watched me eat. I glanced around nervously. "Do I..have something on my face?" I asked.

Joseph chuckled and hugged me. "Nope," he said. "Just enchanted by your beauty. That could just be me though."

"Would you beat me if I said that was my reason?" asked Mitch with a grin.

Joseph mock threatened him and then we got down to business. "Well," said Cerant. "I’ve been waiting for Mel to come before I reveal my plan. So here it is." He leaned toward all of us an explained his idea.

30 minutes later found Kat, Joseph, Mitch, and I on the top of a cliff, peering down. "Are you sure this is safe?" asked Kat. Below us, Cerant was holding a large bucket of paint. He was wearing a mountain climbing harness, which was attached to a length of cord that the four of us were in charge of.

"No," he shouted. "But it’s worth a shot."

"He better not break his neck," muttered Kat.

Cerant had made a huge red line as he dropped down the side of the cliff and was now climbing half way up it. Once he reached the halfway mark, he began drawing a red line to the side. Then, he climbed all the way up and dropped down, making another red line. His objective was to spell out the word "HELP" in glaring red letters on the side of the cliff. It was an amazingly simple idea. I hoped beyond hope it would work. It would require someone ever passing by. That had to happen eventually. "It has to," I whispered.

Kat looked over at me with a worried expression. "Work?" she asked knowingly. I nodded to her in agreement and she sighed, nodding her head. "I’m hoping the same thing myself," she admitted.

"I think everyone is," said Mitch.

The four of us sighed collectively but quickly went back to watching Cerant. He had finished the H and begun on the E. "At this rate," he called. "I’ll be done in no time."

"The sooner you’re up here," said Kat. "The sooner I can breath again." He flashed us a grin and a thumb’s up. We raised and lowered the line a dozen more times before he was finished and we all headed back to the house.

"Now," said Cerant. "The waiting begins."