Untitled
Chapter 6
Creepy Crawlies
Ben spent the rest of the afternoon watching Ruby while his mum shopped in the market. He pushed his sister around the shop in a battered trolley, not overly impressed with the items on the shelves. In fact, he really couldn't find anything that he particularly recognised; it seemed that it was mostly American food, and the rest was labeled in Spanish. He did throw a box of Cheerios into the shopping basket because this morning at the hotel, his choice of breakfast was a chocolate muffin or a meat pastie.
They were all planning to go and see their new rental home when his dad finished work that evening. The next day, Ben and his mum would start cleaning and sorting out the rooms. That way, they would be out of the hotel by the following night. Ben was trying extra hard to be cooperative since he had gotten back from his aborted fishing adventure. His mum had, of course, gone ballistic about his shoes which were presently stationed on the tiny hotel balcony with paper stuffed in them, drying out. Scoring points keeping Ruby amused in the food market was a start, but he knew he would have to toe the line at the new house tomorrow. At least he had an excuse not to actually participate in the housework as he was a great deal more valuable as a babysitter than a cleaner.
Frank turned up around 4:30, just after Ben had given up trying to get online from any Wi-Fi hotspots around the hotel. He had resorted to playing Magic Ball 2 on the laptop when he noticed his dad climbing out of an ancient pickup truck on the street outside. He surreptitiously pulled the newspaper out of his trainers, hoping to not have to go through that conversation again and ran outside to meet him.
"How was your day?" his dad asked. "Good, thanks. Do you have internet set up at your office yet?" "No, the telephone company is coming in on Friday to hook us up." Ben's face fell. That was two more days away. How was he supposed to survive until then? "Come on, get your mum and sister. Let's go look at our new house." Driving west from the ferry dock, they headed along the coast road before turning right at the edge of town, onto a steep, rough track. The old truck began to crawl upwards. From the open bed of the vehicle, where Ben was sitting, he had a spectacular aerial view of New Town and the harbour spreading out below. He could see where he had met Isaac on the rocks and the beach he had been aiming for that morning. As they climbed, he watched the blue ferry leaving the dock and heading back out to sea again. With miniature passengers sitting on the top deck, the ferry looked like a toy far below them. On the peak of the mountain, Ben could see a complete three hundred and sixty degrees around him. The island, with its many shades of green, dense forest, appeared to float on a carpet of still, blue ocean.
Sailing off the far side of the island was a yacht with three masts and lots of sails. He thought this may be a schooner. He had seen a similar one at home, used as a sail training ship. The school kids that crewed her slept in hammocks and ate around huge wooden tables where there once stood loaded cannons. The proud schooner could have easily been a pirate ship. He thought of Captain Jack Sparrow again, with that useless compass that only pointed at what the owner most desired. If this place had internet and Pizza Express, that's where his compass would be pointing right now.
Driving along a ridge, high on the hilltop, the family could see amazing bays on both sides of the pickup. Thousands of metres below, Ben could pick out the vibrant colours of the coral reefs that lined the seabed. In some cases, the reefs protected the bays by forcing the swell to break away from the beaches, creating flat, perfect, turquoise lagoons that were just begging him to dive into their crystal clear depths. Ben physically ached with the need to get down to one of those beaches and swim. He didn't want to see any stupid apartment.
Being thrown against the rear window of the truck was not fun. His dad really should have given him some warning before he braked like that. Straightening himself up and rubbing his shoulder, he saw the reason for the emergency stop—goats! Loads of them wandering around in the middle of the not very wide road.
"You okay back there?" shouted his mum.
"Yeah, fine. Aren't they supposed to be in a field somewhere?"
"I don't know. I think they're probably allowed to roam around on Kamaria."
"Great. Maybe someone should teach them to look both ways before they cross the road!" (Ben was the only one that thought this amusing). Every now and again, there were residences along the way, set back in the trees with people sitting around on old chairs or wood piles, unwinding at the end of their day. A man with a machete was chopping the tops off a pile of coconuts as they drove by. There was a group of young children crowding around him, presumably waiting for their share of the fruit. None of them wore shoes. Neither had Isaac, now that he thought about it. Ben liked coconut. At least the ones in Sainsbury's anyway. But they were brown, and these things were bright green. He figured he'd climb a palm tree tomorrow and pick one himself to try.
Turning down a left hand track, the vehicle bounced and groaned over a narrow lane. They followed tight, switchback corners, the view below now completely obscured by impenetrable trees and shrubs. After several painful minutes in the back of the truck, Ben's jaw dropped in sheer wonder as the most gorgeous bay appeared.
"Hey, are we going down there, Dad?"
"Yes, I think so. I hope I turned in the right place. This map David drew seems a little vague. Look out for a house on the right hand side, Ben."
"Okay," Ben said, but he couldn't take his eyes off the beach. Reef filled the bay, dotted with stretches of sandy bottom as it wound its way to shore. He could make out every type of blue imaginable in the water together with the washed out purples, oranges and yellows of living coral resting beneath. The beach was lined with tall palm trees all bending the same way—pointing their heads towards the lapping shoreline. Behind the pale sand, low scrubby bushes gave way to rock faces that etched the boundaries of the oval bay.
The truck was nearly on the beach when his mum yelled, "There. Is that it?"
"You mean, we're living here?" Ben squeaked not quite in control of his excitement. His dad veered off the track onto an even narrower one that actually was a driveway to a squat, rather neglected house. It had the now familiar veranda all the way around the front, with a hammock hanging precariously from the roof at one end. The windows were small and shuttered closed, but the door was open. Actually, there was a framed mesh, extra door that came first, which was shut. Ben and Ruby had discovered the delights of mosquito bites in bed last night, and she was nursing some nasty inflamed bumps today. He guessed this screen was to stop the buzzing insects. His dad double-checked the map and description on the paper in his hand (there were no addresses on Kamaria and apparently no postman either). Having done the trip personally now, Ben could well imagine why any mail for him was not going to be personally delivered to this particular gate.
Pulling open the screen door, his dad walked inside. The rest of the family followed. It was not like his home in England, that was for sure. This place was a bit tatty. Flowery patterned, thin curtains drooped from grubby elastic stretched over windows that were made up of narrow pieces of glass that overlapped, flattening onto themselves. A rusty fridge and cooker stood in a kitchen area, and some cane settees faced each other around a rather scratched-up coffee table. Three doors led off the main room, two bedrooms and a bathroom.
"It smells weird," Ben muttered to himself.
His dad threw open a back door that led down two steps to an overgrown yard, littered with broken stuff, including what looked like a very old outboard motor with no propeller or engine cover.
As Ben peered over his dad's shoulder at the back garden, a scream came from behind them. They swung around to see his mum clutching a cupboard door in the kitchen. The cause of the outburst, a very large, black cockroach, ran across the tiled floor towards the front door, followed in hot pursuit by Ruby. The insect neatly ducked the bottom of the screen door and disappeared. Although the screen didn't seem to be very effective at keeping insects at bay, it did stop the toddler.
"My heavens, that was disgusting."
"It was just a cockroach. They don't hurt you. It's to be expected. The place has been empty for months. We'll get some spray tomorrow and fumigate."
Ben checked out his room, it smelt the same–musty. There was nothing in the room except a double bed and a built-in wardrobe. He turned the handles on the side of each of his windows and the panes of glass sprang away from each other letting in some air. They faced the west side of the bay. Not a bad view, he thought. His parents' room was bigger and had an extra single bed for Ruby. At least it was to be them that would share with her.
Bored of the house, Ben stepped back onto the front porch gazing over coarse grass and scrubby bushes that gave way to almost white sand that, in turn, disappeared into the sea. On the horizon was an orange glow, enclosed by a pink and blue sky so big it threatened to squash him. This aerial display, he was to discover, was caused by the daily process of the sun going down.
"You can see why this is called Sunset Cove, can't you?" asked his dad from somewhere close behind him.
Penny Johnston locked the door on the way out. Ben wasn't sure why she had bothered as there was no other living sole around and nothing to steal. Maybe she was trying to keep the cockroach from returning to its cupboard.
The return journey was less interesting as it was dark. Ben rode inside the pickup cab, squashed up between the front seats and the rear window. His mind had switched off. He only vaguely listened to his parents' conversation while he daydreamed about pirates.
"I like it, but it's a bit cut off, isn't it?" his mom asked. "Once you leave for the office with the car, we are stuck."
"You can come with me in the mornings if you want the car then come back at the end of the day and pick me up."
Penny was uncertain about being so cut off from civilization. She was none too sure about the local wildlife, either. Ruby had a bad habit right now of putting everything in her mouth. Penny couldn't bear to think about what would have happened if Ruby had caught that grotesque roach.
"What if we have a problem? What if the kids are taken ill?"
"Look, this place is getting its wireless communication sorted impressively quickly. I will have two cell phones for us by tomorrow night. The cottage hospital and the single ambulance are going to respond in just the same way wherever you are. We discussed this before we left home, remember? We agreed to think of it as an adventure. The children are going to spend every day playing on a safe beach. Ruby can learn to swim, and Ben will love exploring the cove. You did say you wanted some peace and quiet, right?"
"Okay, okay, we'll try it. Maybe I'll write that book I've always talked about."
The next morning, Ben still woke up early but full of ideas about exploring Sunset Cove. Even if he had to drag Ruby along while his mum did the cleaning (and boy, did she have some cleaning to do), it would be fun.
Pulling on his shorts, he padded over to the unopened box of Cheerios on the counter. Ripping the cardboard at the top of the cereal packet, Ben tipped a large portion of cheerios into the milk waiting in the bowl. While watching Ruby play with her favourite plastic truck, he absentmindedly scooped up an overflowing spoonful of his breakfast and opened his mouth. As the spoon was about to disappear into the gateway to his starving stomach he glanced at the bowl. The contents were moving.
During the same split second that his lips closed around the loaded spoon, insects flew from the Cheerios box in front of him. Fortunately for all concerned, Ben was standing next to the narrow balcony, and as he spat the contents of his mouth in a style not dissimilar to a firehose on full blast, he managed to direct most of it out the open door.
"Ben! What are you doing?"
"The Cheerios are alive! Look!" Pointing at small black creatures making their escape from the innocent looking box still standing on the counter, Ben continued to spit imaginary insects from his mouth.
"Frank! Look at this." She yelled at her husband.
"What is all the fuss about? I'm trying to shave and get to work." Grimacing slightly as he peered into the offending cereal box, he admitted, "Oh I see, I think they may be weevils."
"That's just charming. You can't even get a decent breakfast in this dump!"
"Ben, calm down, they are harmless. In the olden days, the crews on the galleons used to find them in their dry biscuits and eat them as desperately needed protein."
"Thanks, Dad, but if I discover myself in need of extra protein I'll boil an egg." Penny threw the box in the bin and washed her hands.
Chapter 7
SunSet Cove
Having picked up more stuff from the market in town, Ben and Penny loaded the truck with supplies and swimming gear and belted Ruby inside the cab. They used the same directions as yesterday afternoon, but this time, being much earlier in the day, the sun was brighter and the colours even more vivid as they retraced their route to the family's new summer home.
Knowing that he would have full responsibility of keeping his little sister happy while his mum worked in the house, Ben mused over the idea involving palm trees and a bungee cord. Trouble was, he hadn't noticed any elastic in the shop in town, so that wasn't going to work. It couldn't be that difficult to keep Ruby amused in this setting. She liked to dig holes, and she could make a giant sandcastle. That would take her all morning.
After they arrived and unpacked everything out of the truck, including an ice box full of cold drinks, Ben held Ruby's hand as he wandered over to a big log that used to be a coconut tree and sat on it. Ruby could walk pretty well, although she always seemed top heavy, falling flat on her face every now and again. Sitting on his perch with Ruby on her hands and knees in the sandy dirt in front of his feet, he noticed activity close to the dive bombing sea birds. Something was emerging from the water, small triangles flashed around the edges of the darker blue area. If you blinked you missed them, but they were definitely there. Then he saw it, a big fish rolling around a floating pelican. The shiny triangles were fins and tails belonging to these monsters– they must have been at least a metre long, each. Ben realised as he stood on the log for a better view that the birds were feeding on the same breakfast as the prowling life below the surface—bait fish. Memories, mostly embarrassing ones, of yesterday's encounter with Isaac and the net came flooding back. As he watched, the drifting pelicans digested their brunch whilst the boobies continued to dive. They were so fast and streamlined as they simultaneously pierced the sea in search of live food swimming below that they reminded Ben of the Red Arrows display team with their perfect synchronization.
Along the coastline to his left, Ben could make out the pink rooftops of a couple of big houses on the hill and just one small dwelling on the opposite side of the cove. This one was almost on the sand and had what looked like a fishing boat moored close by. The sun was getting stronger. His mum had insisted in plastering Ben with sun block earlier, and judging by the burning sensation on his exposed skin, that was probably a better idea than it had seemed at the time.
The backdrop to the perfect beach was the now-familiar low, untidy shrub and a kind of grass that prickled your feet. Behind this, palms swayed in the hot breeze before dense, dark green trees took over, leading up the mountain. It reminded him of the Treasure Island movie he'd seen. He began to wonder what secrets that thick, mysterious, undergrowth was hiding.
Torn between swimming in the inviting, clear, cool sea and exploring the uninhabited land behind him, Ben walked back to the house with Ruby who was dragging a stick she'd picked up. Getting wet was definitely up first. Apart from his accidental entry off the rocks yesterday, he hadn't had a swim since he'd arrived. He found his new surf shorts and persuaded his mum that Ruby needed a cold drink. While she had that, he would just go for a quick dip.
Ben ran the width of the beach and dived underwater. It felt so good. He swam, ducking under the surface like a young seal, and then lazily treading water, gazed towards the place where the dark blue of the ocean met the pale blue of the sky. For the first time, his mind registered a small island interrupting the perfectly straight line of the horizon. Half closing his eyes against the intense morning light, he could see no buildings or signs of life. Maybe that was Treasure Island.
Turning to look back at his house framed by palms and smaller, round-leafed bushes, he could see his mum waving at him. It wasn't a 'Hi, hope you're having fun in the sea' wave; rather, it was a 'Come and get on with your babysitting job' kind of wave. So, reluctantly, he waded out of the shallows, feeling the powdery sand shift between his toes with each slow step. As he walked to his front door, he noticed a dog bounding around further along the cove, seemingly on its own.
Retrieving Ruby and some plastic buckets and spades, he trudged back down to the water's edge and began showing her how to make sandcastles. Each one he made, looking so perfect when he carefully lifted the bucket clear of the molded sand sculpture, Ruby promptly jumped on. His little sister definitely had a destructive streak in her. After the first dozen crushed castles, he turned his back to collect some more water in the bucket when a high pitched scream struck his ears. Jumping out of his skin, he turned back to see that Ruby had been frightened by a wet, hairy nose planted unceremoniously on the back of her neck.
The dog Ben had seen earlier had obviously decided to join in the sandcastle demolition project. It was quite tall, but not as stocky as Ben's old retriever Painter. Its short coat was uncannily close in colour to the surrounding beach. A long tail held high wagged at the children as his handsome white-cheeked head panted and seemed to laugh. Ben knew to be wary of strange dogs, and he looked around again for the owner, but there was no one in sight. The animal sat down next to Ruby as she ignored him and returned to the hole she was digging. Speaking quietly, Ben offered his hand for the dog to sniff, the dog responded then jumped up and trotted off towards the sea. Ben watched as he waded in waist deep (if dogs have waists) and then stood very still as if in a trance staring at the water just below his snout. Looking comical as he remained completely motionless, evidently braced for something, the dog struck, thrusting his head underwater and frantically wagging his tail. His head emerged dripping but without any sign of a prize. For ages the dog continued his game in the shallows. Curious to catch a glimpse of what the canine eyes could see, Ben got closer, but all the boy could imagine, after studying this display for a while, was that he was trying to eat shadows.
The young dog hung out with Ben and Ruby as they played on the beach, and it splashed around in the warm sea with them each time they needed cooling off. Eventually Penny called from the shade of the house, broom in hand, letting them know that she had made sandwiches. Ben picked up the toddler, threw her over his shoulder and ran up the hot sand, eager for lunch and something out of the cooler. Ruby loved it when her brother carried her like that, and by the time Ben dumped her off his back onto the log she was giggling madly. The dog had followed at a respectful distance; his casual gait making his movements look totally effortless.
"Where did the dog come from?" "He just appeared. He's really friendly. He's been playing with us all morning." His mum frowned. "He must belong to somebody. Don't encourage him around
here. You don't know what he'll do." "He's fine. He'll probably go home soon." Already subconsciously attached to the dog, Ben wondered why he didn't have a collar or anything. The children munched on ham and cheese sandwiches made with strangely
sweet-tasting bread whilst their new companion sat smartly at attention on the sand, gazing longingly at the food. He didn't get close enough to make it look like he was begging, but rather left enough distance to be polite and not to be immediately regarded as a nuisance by the adult. It worked. Surreptitiously, having glanced over his shoulder to make sure his mum was not looking, Ben threw the crusts of a sandwich towards the patient animal. After gratefully retrieving the tidbits, the dog sat again, and wagged his tail, brushing a pattern in the sand.
This would have all gone unnoticed by Ben's Mum if Ruby had not decided to join in and promptly (without looking over her shoulder to check the coast was clear) hurl a whole sandwich towards the dog. Ben couldn't stop her in time, and it would have been way too much to ask the dog not to grab and devour the gift in one slick movement.
"What are you doing? Do not feed that stray!" "Thanks, Ruby. That's me in the doghouse again," the boy muttered. Smelling tension in the air around these new human visitors and sensing it may
well have something to do with him, the young dog trotted off up the beach and lay down under a coconut tree.
That afternoon, Penny managed to get Ruby to lay down for her nap which released her son from his brotherly responsibilities for a couple hours. She knew he was dying to explore further than he could with a two-year-old in tow. Smiling to herself, she watched as he leapt to his feet, spinning in circles as he grabbed his backpack and the flask of iced Coke she'd prepared for him. The screen door crashed in the wake of his delight at being free.
Ben wanted to walk the beach to the right-hand side of the cove. He was vaguely interested in the lone house on that end, wondering who owned the fishing boat and thought he would venture into the backdrop of shady trees on the way. He'd been in two minds as to whether to even bother to bring his trainers as shoes didn't seem necessary but then thought he may want to climb some rocks or something, so he had tied them to his backpack.
Leaving the beach and walking carefully through deep layers of dry and decaying palm fronds, he felt like he was stepping on crispy, cotton wool. He was aware of birds singing although when he looked, he could see none. He wondered if they had wild parrots here; they would be amazing to see. Brown coconuts lay strewn everywhere. When he picked one up, it felt much lighter than it looked. Those were the empty husks. High above his head, he could see large green fruit the size of footballs hanging in clusters at the tops of the palms. Not wanting to be directly underneath when the next one decided to fall, he kept moving. Some of the more normal looking trees had massive black growths attached to their trunks. He hoped they weren't hives built by killer bees. Ben and his friend Tony had seen a movie about them. Although the story was set in Africa, Ben gave them a wide berth to be on the safe side.
Hiking further inside the undergrowth but still heading east, he could see what looked like a pile of old bricks ahead. As he got closer, the sunlight filtering through the canopy above made everything look like a spooky wilderness that hadn't been penetrated for centuries. As Ben's eyes adjusted to the muted light, he realised he was looking at ruins, seriously old, looking like they had been deserted hundreds of years ago. Feeling slightly jumpy now, he stood still and gazed at the scattered walls strewn with bits of old black iron machinery and the remains of glassless windows in the stonework. Everything was covered in creepers that climbed down from the trees and branches that hung overhead like a makeshift roof. He thought of some old black and white Tarzan movies he'd seen on Saturday afternoon TV when he was younger. This Tarzan dude had lived in a jungle and swung from tree to tree using hanging vines like ropes. Not convinced that these Caribbean creepers would hold his weight, he resisted trying it personally. Besides, he then began to imagine that they looked like snakes and made himself shudder.
The window openings were very narrow, but the walls were built about half a metre thick. Was it a hideout or a fort, maybe? He conjured up images of soldiers lying on their stomachs, peering down their musket barrels or even cannons poking out of the openings waiting to fire upon invaders entering the bay. Dropping his pack, Ben plucked up enough courage to step over a low pile of stones and found himself inside the ancient ruin. Creatures scuttled in all directions as he jumped onto what once was a floor. He saw loads of lizards running up the moss-covered stones. He didn't mind them; they were quite appealing, but he was still hoping that the snakes were all in his mind. Inside the old room lay black, conical, metal things that looked like they had been beaten into shape by hand.
Disappointed not to find any cannon balls lying around, he climbed back out, still without any shoes on. That was a mistake. A tiny cactus obviously waiting just for him stabbed the bottom of his bare foot, offloading hundreds of minuscule spines into his skin as he unthinkingly grabbed at it. It was almost sticky. As his fingers closed around the plant, it attached itself to his hand. Hopping on one foot, whilst shaking his hand frantically in the air for a few minutes got rid of the broken piece of cactus but left Ben with spines everywhere. He could see them and realised that sitting down and removing them rather than forcing them deeper into his flesh was a more sensible solution. As soon as he had picked them out of his sore foot he would go back to wearing his trainers that were tied to his—
"Wait a minute, there's only one there!" exclaimed Ben out loud. He looked under and around his bag for the lost shoe, but it was gone. Now what was he supposed to do? Heading very gingerly back to the soft sand, he threw off his pack, the single trainer and his t-shirt and fell into the sea. It eased his aching cactus wounds as he let the buoyant, salty water lift his body and support him. He floated on his back, blinking repeatedly as he watched large sea birds circle high above him amongst white, cotton wool clouds.
Rolling over, he faced the beach and there, right in front of him, were two familiar sights—the dog and his shoe! Having dug a hole, his mischievous four legged friend then dumped the shoe into it and was now industriously pushing the loose sand back into the hollow with his nose. Ben ran out of the water and up the beach shouting. The dog saw him and, wagging his tail, grabbed the half-buried Nike and trotted to the boy. As Ben got close, the dog sat high on his haunches and, looking incredibly proud of himself, presented Ben with his shoe–minus the laces. It was really hard to be angry as the tan-coloured animal wagged a very long, flagpole-like tail.
"Okay, I'm going to call you Sandy," Ben said, "Got any bright ideas about how I get a new set of laces without Mum finding out?"
Sandy woofed at his new friend then trotted off up the beach towards the house with the boat. He gave every impression that he wanted the boy to follow him as he repeatedly looked back over his shoulder. So Ben did.
Chapter 8
Sandy and the Machete
The home appeared to be made from everything except conventional building materials. It wasn't much more than a shack at first glance, surrounded by what looked like the contents of a small scrap yard together with a woodshop and boatyard thrown in. Sandy the dog picked his way through the debris and disappeared from view around the back. Having run out of beach (the rest of the cove ahead was rock face as the cliff rose up to dense forest), Ben paused, just in time to hear a yell a fraction of a second before a yelp, both noises coming from somewhere behind the shack.
Sandy came charging back, dodging a big stick flying through the air. Still motionless, Ben spotted the owner of the big stick in hot pursuit. The big man was attempting to give chase to the nimble animal whilst stumbling and swearing continually as he tripped over everything lying in his path. Sandy had obviously decided that Ben was going to help out as he cowered behind the boy, having first dropped at Ben's feet the object of the ensuing dispute—a lump of cooked meat. Aware that he was now a conspirator in the attempted theft of the guy's lunch, Ben began backing off, only to fall over the quivering dog hiding behind him. Spluttering an undecipherable, explanation about simply minding his own business and not having the faintest idea why the canine had dumped the stolen goods in front of him, Ben's eyes fixed on the hefty machete in the man's fist.
"Uncle Beck! It's the kid I told you about yesterday. He new here."
Relieved at the sound of a familiar voice, Ben stammered, "Isaac, um, I'm sorry. I was just walking on the beach, and San...I mean the dog, just ran in and grabbed this."
"Yeah, he a beach dog. Always theifing stuff," Isaac said, but he pronounced "theifing" with a hard T sound instead of a TH, so it sounded like he said "teefing." Isaac examined the sand-encrusted, slightly mauled leg of pork. "Chicken feed now, uncle."
The big man continued to mutter incoherent phrases in a language Ben simply could not fathom. This was probably a good thing as he was still far too young to be exposed to the language that he guessed was being spoken.
"So you living in the old place up the beach?" Isaac asked as Ben got up and brushed himself down.
"Yeah, my mum and dad rented it for the summer. You live here?" Ben asked. "My Uncle Beck lives here. Me live over the hill." "So was this where you were going yesterday afternoon with the bucket of baitfish?" "Uncle and me went out last night and caught shark." "Shark?"The word blurted out of Ben's mouth before he had properly engaged his brain. "Yeah and dolphin and..." Before Isaac could finish the sentence Ben screeched this time "Dolphin? You caught dolphin?" "Chill man, dolphin fish not Flipper!" "Oh, right," Ben said meekly. "So if you caught all that fish, why is your uncle cooking pork?" "He sell the fish in New Town, so we eat one of his pigs. That piece the dog thiefed was for my mother." At the mention of Sandy, Ben looked around to see if he was still nearby. The hungry dog was lying down out of range of any potential low- flying weapons, watching the boys intently.
Isaac surprised Ben by inviting him around the back of the dwelling. His huge uncle had already returned to his seat on an upturned crate under the shade of one of the trees with big, round leaves. Clambering over discarded engines, nets, coils of thick rope and what looked like an old cart, Isaac opened a dirty white cooler, containing iced bottles of Presidente beer and cans of orange Fanta. As Ben passed by the door, he caught a glimpse inside the one-room shack which held a single bed, a table and chest of drawers. Outside, half an oil drum held off the ground by a metal frame on legs puffed smoke as it cooked more chunks of meat, all black on the outside, sizzling above the heat of the coals. It smelt great. Conscious of being late for his mother yet again in the presence of this local boy who seemed to have total freedom and be in no hurry to achieve anything, Ben downed the rest of his Fanta and thanked the man for the drink. He considered making an attempt at an apology for the incident with the leg of pork and the machete but decided it was best to let sleeping dogs lie.
The two boys walked along the cove together, not saying much. The beach dog bounded up in their path.
Ben asked, "Do you know who owns that dog?"
"He live with the people at the place your family rent, but they left him behind when they leave island."
"Really? Do you know his name?"
"Me, no. Why? You name him?" Ben immediately felt self-conscious as he knew he had named him but didn't want to seem like even more of a dork than he already did in the eyes of Isaac, so he hesitated before he replied.
"I figured maybe Sandy. What do you think?" Isaac laughed and agreed, "Well, he sure is sandy." "I have to go back. My mum will want me to look after my sister so she can get on with the house." "Sure, man. I have to check my uncle for a ride home." Isaac turned and walked in the shade up the beach. Sandy, who had been shadowing the two friends, chose to follow Ben across to the tree stump outside the dog's old home.
As an afterthought, Isaac turned and called after Ben, "Hey, man, come to my uncle's tomorrow. Me and my cousins go fishing."
Ben opened the screen door to find Ruby playing with a cardboard box and his mum still scrubbing away at the cupboards in the kitchen. Wanting to stay out of the sun for a while, he chatted to his mum about meeting Isaac and his uncle, carefully leaving out the episode with the machete. He told her about the ruins he'd discovered and then about Sandy being abandoned.
Penny had that tired, tolerant motherly look on her face as she let him finish the bit about the dog. Knowing what was coming next, she preempted him. "He has a name now then, this stray?"
"Well I just thought it suited him. He's really good and doesn't jump up or anything, and I think he's hungry."
"There was some cheese and meat left over from lunch. It will just go soggy in the ice water until I get this fridge clean. Give that to him—outside. He's not to come in the house. Do you understand, Ben?"
"Yes, Mum, of course. Thanks." Without being able to stop the grin on his face, he took a bowl of water and some scraps out to the tree trunk. Sandy sat and waited until the boy put the food and water on the ground in front of him then tucked in, wagging his tail the entire time.
When the children and their mother closed up the beach house late that afternoon, they left the cleaning gear and cooler and returned for one more night's sleep at the hotel in town, planning on packing up the suitcases and bags of Ruby's toys the following morning. As his mum drove the pickup back up the hill, Ben couldn't see Sandy and was suddenly sad for the dog who was being left alone again. He wished there was a way that he could explain that they would be back tomorrow. Then as the truck climbed higher, he spotted the animal lying under a palm behind the house. Ben resolved to pay closer attention to the shelves in the food market in the morning, determined to find a can of food for his new friend.
Having been brought up to speed with the day's activities and discoveries by his family in Sunset Cove, Frank presented his son and wife with a new cell phone each. He explained that Kamaria's wireless provider seemed to be surprisingly advanced, and their technology made up for the lack of a more traditional landline network. He also had a second surprise for Ben.
"This is an EVDO card," he announced. "What's it for?" "It is short for Evolution Data Only, and it provides a fast, wireless, broadband
internet service directly to your laptop. It'll work all over the island and apparently up to 20 miles offshore, so now you can talk to your friends online whenever you feel like it without plugging in to anything."
"That's so wicked. Thanks. I'll go try it out right now."
That evening, Frank and Penny walked outside the hotel and sat in a roadside bar from which they could see their balcony window. Ben was deep in cyber- conversations with his friends and without taking his eyes from the computer screen had acknowledged that they were going for a drink across the road, and he was in charge of a sleeping Ruby.
Frank explained to his wife, "I thought it was a good idea to let Ben have his own mobile so all three of us can be in contact. If he is away from the beach house, he should have a means of emergency communication and with you. Actually, the deal was perfect as all three cell phones talk to each other for free. But for heaven's sake, don't let him call the UK. It'll cost an arm and a leg!"
"Keeping it dry may be the toughest task for Ben. In the past couple days he seems to have dropped everything he owns, including his new trainers, into the sea. That internet thingy seems to work well though. I think I'll give him my camera tomorrow morning, and he can email his grandparents some shots of Sunset Cove. That'll save me having to call them again so soon,"she said."There's a lot to be done in the house if we are sleeping there tomorrow night—not least of which is some more fumigation!"
Chapter 9
Online Chat 1
Ben says: hey wass up?
Tony says: hi whats happenin
Ben says: just got a card for laptop so i can get online wireless
Tony says: cool bet that was loads of $
Ben says: Dunno think dad is tryin to keep me happy
Tony says: So wass it like?
Ben says:
cool, very hot and the beach is really great we have a beach house in sunset cove a place over the hill from the town noone else lives there except this old guy and I know his nephew his names isaac.
Tony says: u got tv?
Ben says: no only in hotel but its just loads of american adverts
Tony says: its boring here now but my mums got me a job in tescos stuffin ppls bags at
the checkout Ben says:
lol do you get tips? Tony says:
some old bid gave me some coppers yesterday I get 3 quid a hr Ben says:
i would have got 3.50 at the watersports centre if theyd let me stay at home
Tony says: So do u hate it?
Ben says: sometimes but it would be good if it was a holiday
Tony says: later ben
Ben says: yeah later
After catching up with Tony, he noticed that no one else, not even Charlie, was online. Probably, he thought, because it was five hours later at home than here, they were asleep by now. Pity, he felt like telling Charlie about Sandy the dog and other stuff. Ben was lying on his stomach (his back was surprisingly red and sore) with his PC on the bed beside him, vaguely surfing the net—pretty impressed with the speed he was getting. The next thing he knew his parents were waking him and making him get under the sheet to stop the mossies scoring hits on him.
