Chapter 35-Help is On the Way

Two days had past and the normal food was growing lower. We tried to make the best of it though and went swimming all the time. Cerant even showed us to his wing of the house. He had kept us out before because he wanted to keep his privacy. Madeline had also pushed him to keep us out as well. I began to wonder if Kyle had gone in there to meet with Madeline, since none of us would go in. The room that had belonged to his parents was the most personal of all, but he revealed it to us. It was basically a shrine to them. The walls were literally covered with snapshots of their life. He filled it with fresh flowers every day in a million different sparkling vases. Two urns stood in the center of the room with expensive lengths of cloth surrounding them. There were many cabinets around the room that he explained contained a lot of their old belongings. It was a beautiful but sad tribute. Both Kat and I made sure to hug Cerant as we left it.

That day, the six of us(including Hugh) had lunch on the edge of the cliff that we made the sign on. One of us could be found there nearly every moment and most of the time, more than one. Mitch was the only one that was really there by himself very often. It wasn’t because he didn’t like being with us. He simply didn’t have someone who was as close to him as the rest of us did. He had Kyle before but Kyle was dead now. I still cried every night. I didn’t think I would ever get over such a feeling of betrayal. It was probably 10 times worse for Mitch. He seemed to lose a bit more of his humor every day. I wondered if that was partially due to not having a significant other, or even missing the one he wanted. I had come up to him before and tried to initiate a conversation to help counsel him but he shut himself away. He needed to get off this island the most.

We were having a small lunch that was mainly comprised of fruit and a bit of other food that had been stored in dried form. There was also plenty of water to drink but I think we were all getting sick of it. Cerant made a face at his food and said, "I think I’m going with you guys for a bit when I leave. I’m also taking you all out to the best restaurant in every town we visit."

"I better come to," said Hugh with a grin.

"No way," said Cerant with a grin. "You’re staying here to starve."

"I’ll just turn all your art into food," he replied with a grin.

Cerant winced and nodded. "You drive a hard bargain but okay," he said.

Suddenly Mitch’s eyes grew wide and he rose shakily. He was staring out in the direction of the sea. I stood up and turned to look in the direction he was staring. I scanned the bright blue horizons before my eyes landing on a shape moving toward us. "A boat!" I cried.

Everyone quickly jumped to his or her feet and we rushed to the very edge of the cliff. We all jumped, shouted, waved our hands, and did anything we could to possibly catch them if the lettering didn’t. It grew closer and closer when something about it suddenly struck me. It seemed familiar. I couldn’t immediately recognize the boat but perhaps it was the person standing on the bow. I inched as close as I could to the side and put my hand up to my forehead. The wind blew my hair and dress back slightly as I squinted, trying to make out as much as possible. The figure was large. He, she, it was very tall and very wide. I decided it was a he and that he also had dark brown skin. He grew closer and closer before I suddenly gasped and said, "Someone wake me up. I must be dreaming. That boat is so the Roam and the person standing on the bow is so Ted."

"I can’t wake you up," said Kat beside me. Her eyes were sparkling as she stared out into the sea. "Because I’m dreaming too," she finished. Joseph shouted with happiness beside me and Mitch was speechless. He was staring out at the boat with a look of utter joy. As it drew closer, Lindsay had rushed up onto the bow and she and Ted waved to us. When we could see the back of the boat, we saw that John, Terry, Trisha, Morgan, Brad, the Skipper, and Kios were all on deck shouting and cheering at us. Ted’s large face looked like the epitome of happiness as he beamed with his cheeks puffed out and his eyes scrunched out from a smile a mile wide.

"Hey!!" shouted Joseph beside me toward the boat. Mitch started break dancing right on the grass. Kat was jumping up and down, her light hair bouncing in the sun. I just kept waving my arms until it felt like they were going to fall off and tears of happiness slipped down my cheeks. Cerant and Hugh were happy but seemed to be confused as to why we were so estatic.

"They’re our friends," I said through my tears and laughs.

Cerant’s face lit up. "Come," he said. "Let’s meet them at the nearest beach." He grabbed Kat’s hand and then we began running along the edge of the cliff. All of us made sure to make it overly clear where we were going to the people on the boat. They laughed and nodded to us, moving the boat in the direction we were going.

It felt like it took an eternity to run to where we were going. It was an eternity of happiness though. Joseph was beside me and he kept swinging me in the air and twirling me around. Kat was switching between dancing with Mitch, Cerant, and Hugh. They reached the cove with the beach before us and dropped anchor. The three teens and Ted had all abandoned ship already though. Brad and Morgan were splashing water everywhere as they raced for the shore. Ted was carrying Lindsay on his shoulders and simply walking with a huge grin.

I tore across the sand and sent it flying away from beneath my feet. I wore a light blue sundress and it whipped around me as I rushed toward the shoreline. I was the first to reach Brad and Morgan, and I threw my arms around them as we met. The three of us sat there and hugged until Mitch jumped up and threw his arms around us too. Soon, Joseph and Kat were also there and they joined in the group hug. Cerant and Hugh stood apart, smiling, since they didn’t really know them. Then Ted had reached the shore. He set Lindsay on the ground and she quickly threw her arms around Mitch.

"I was so worried," I heard her whisper to him. "We were all so worried."

"I know," said Mitch. "I’m sorry, I’m sorry."

Ted, meanwhile, grabbed Kat, Joseph, and I and lifted us all from the ground. He hugged us tightly to him and swung us back and forth. Tears were pouring down his large, elated face and he said, "I’m so glad to see you again! We thought they had got you!"

"No, n-o," I shoved out though I was being crushed. "Far from it."

"Happy to see you too," said Joseph with his face against Ted’s arm.

"Ted?" asked Kat. "Think you might let us breathe?"

"I so sorry!" he said and quickly dropped us to the ground. I felt myself thud against the sand and began laughing.

The rowboat from Roam had been nearing shore and now it brushed up onto the store. We received another onslaught of hugs as the three adults, Kios, and the skipper Joseph came on shore as well. "You kids scared us so bad!" said John.

"We were pretty scared ourselves," replied Mitch with a grin.

John laughed heartily and then Trisha picked up the conversation. "When you disappeared," she said. "We immediately began searching. We sent out notices of your disappearance and these two young men found us to offer their help. We weren’t sure whether they were members of the Modab but Ted convinced us otherwise."

Ted crossed his arms in a huff. "I am no member of Modab!" he bellowed with a grin.

We all stepped back a bit and smiled. "No one could mistake you for one dude," said Mitch. I looked over at him and he had an arm around Lindsay’s shoulders. They hadn’t released each other since they arrived.

Ted pointed at Mitch with a smile. "He knows what he’s talking about," he said.

I noticed that Kios was looking around with a puzzled expression. "Where’s the other boy?" he asked. "Kyle was it?"

All of our expressions suddenly turned somber and we sighed. "What’s wrong?" asked Terry.

I glanced around. No one seemed to want to be the one to tell them about it so I began. "Well," I said. "To explain everything I’ll start from where you last saw us. We were running from the modabs.." I explained everything from start to finish to them. Everyone took seats and watched me intently. Ted did especially. His eyes were wide and when I finished he took a handkerchief from his pocket.

"That is so sad!" he said, wiping his tear-filled eyes. "I can not believe he did that." He bawled and beside him, Trisha rubbed him on the back though she looked sad as well.

Brad nodded and then looked at me. "You’re one brave chick," he said.

"Yeah, totally," added Morgan.

I blushed slightly and chuckled. "Thanks," I said.

Ted walked over and gave me a big hug. "Your words were so beautiful!" he said through sobs. "I wish you were my friend."

"You are my friend Ted," I said.

He suddenly stopped sobbing and beamed at me then mussed my hair. "Thank you friend," he said proudly.

"That’s one amazing story," said John after a moment. "I’m guessing you guys want to get out of here? You, of course, meaning all 6 of you. I don’t know you two gentlemen but if these four trust you, I do."

"Thank you," said Cerant, nodding to him.

"It would probably be a good idea to notify police," said Joseph, he swallowed after a moment. "We never moved their bodies." Quiet grew over the group and I felt a slight shiver run up my spine.

"What if they think" I said. "We murdered them?"

"They’ll probably want to investigate.." said Joseph, his voice trailing off.

"We could be here for months," said Mitch.

"We’re never going to get home," said Kat, tears falling out of her eyes.

Cerant shook his head purposefully. "Don’t worry about it," he said. "I have connections. I won’t let them turn you into criminals."

"Thank you," I said, giving Cerant a hug. "For everything."

He nodded to me and there was silence for a few moments. "Please," Cerant said to those who had just arrived. "Let me show you around my home. Then we’ll get our stuff and be on our way."

"Okay!" said Ted with a grin on his face. He picked up Kat and I and began following after Cerant. I laughed as we bounced toward the house for possibly the last time.