Jeeves and The Strange Island Chapter 2
Now we Woosters do not give up easily, and I imagine that if circumstances had turned out differently, I would have, after a brief rest, gotten up and continued my search. The circs having turned out differently, however, there was no need for me to continue searching. For, you see, I had barely touched the sand when a familiar cough sent me shooting to my feet again. "Jeeves!" I cried, spinning around so quickly I almost became reacquainted with the ground.
Due to the recent trials I had gone through, I suppose I could have started imagining things, but the sight that met my eyes was one that I would have found impossible to picture before that moment. There was Jeeves, standing before me, but he wasn't his usual pristine self. For a start, he was in his shirtsleeves, which is a rare enough occurrence on its own. Add to this the fact that his clothes were looking actually worn, and his hair, which was normally smoothed back, was ruffled, and you can see why Bertram W. was in a state of shock. I just stared at him for a moment, and then my feet seemed to be moving of their own accord and I was by his side, gripping his arm. "Jeeves!" I cried again, this time my tone overflowing with joy. "You're alive! I mean to say, you made it ashore!"
"I am pleased to see that you have survived as well, sir." And he looked pleased. There was that certain thinginess in his eyes that he gets when I've just agreed to travel somewhere or have handed over an article of clothing, and his lips were quirking upwards ever so slightly. The look vanished once he got a proper eyeful of me, however. The poor fellow. My clothes were in a worse state than his. They were even torn in some places, and I knew it must pain him to look at them.
"I'm sorry about the clothes, old thing," I apologized, letting go of his arm. "I'm afraid I was a bit too busy drowning to take care of them properly."
"It is unfortunate sir, but hopefully I shall be able to find the materials to mend them."
The word materials reminded me of something more important than clothes. Despite Jeeves' opinion, there are such things. One of them being the old sustenance, otherwise known as food. "I say Jeeves, you haven't managed to find any food have you, or water for that matter?"
He tilted his head forward, and that simple movement gave me hope. "I have sir." I then noticed for the first time that he hadn't lost his coat but was carrying it and using it as a cloth basket of sorts. Eagerly I attempted to peer into it.
"What have you found Jeeves? I suppose nothing fancy." I let loose a chuckle but it was a somewhat dry specimen. All that shouting I had done combined with the fact that I had not had anything to drink, unless one counts seawater, left my voice sounding a bit rough. "You're not likely to find a steak and kidney pie on an island, what?"
"No, sir," Jeeves agreed. "The occurrence would be an unlikely one. However, this island does seem to be stocked with various types of fruit." He lowered his coat to the ground, and I saw that he was right. Pineapples, bananas and coconuts lay nestled against the black cloth as if they were some strange eggs of some stranger bird. It wasn't the most appetizing meal, but I was hungry enough to eat just about anything. Making a quick decision, I reached for a banana, the pineapples being too prickly and the coconuts looking too hard to get into.
Jeeves stopped me from reaching my goal, however. I sent the man an annoyed look and let out a huff to match it. "Jeeves, what is the meaning of this?"
"I am sorry sir, but if you will allow me…" He picked up one of the coconuts, and from somewhere on his person, drew forth a pocketknife.
I hadn't even known that he carried one. "I didn't know that you carried a knife, Jeeves."
"I find it comes in handy, if I may use the expression sir, in many situations." While speaking, he had been cutting at the fruit, but, no, I suppose it is a nut, what with being called a coconut and all, with his blade. He now handed the finished project to me. "If you would drink from this, sir, I believe you will find your thirst abated."
Cautiously I took the thing. Jeeves had poked a hole in the top, and it was from this, I gathered, that I was supposed to drink. Confident that Jeeves wouldn't poison the young master, I took a sip. I then took several others after that in quick succession, for the taste wasn't bad, and that first sip seemed to remind my body of how thirsty it actually was. I paused in my drinking to give Jeeves a smile that showed my approval. "I say, Jeeves, this isn't half bad… aren't you going to have some?" I asked. For my keen eyes had noticed that he was just standing there, and it seemed to me that it was a bit unfair for him to have done all the hard work of gathering the things without even tasting of his labors.
"Thank you for your offer, sir, but I have already eaten."
"Well at least have a seat, Jeeves," I offered, sitting down myself. It was easier to reach the fruit this way, besides being more comfortable. Knowing that the man has an incredible sense of feudal spirit, I added, "We've both been stranded on an island. I think you can ease up on the old feudal spirit for a bit, Jeeves."
Jeeves still hesitated, giving the ground an unsure look. "Oh, come on, Jeeves," I encouraged. "Our clothes are already dirty. A bit of sand won't hurt them. Besides, I'm going to end up getting a crick in the neck looking up at you like this."
He didn't seemed pleased, but he did sit down, which made conversation a sight bit easier, and I grinned in triumph. I cheesed it at the look he sent me. The last thing I wanted was for Jeeves to go all iceberg on me out here, not when he was the only one who knew how to get food. Wisely, I changed the subject. "Any idea where we are, Jeeves?"
The icy look melted from him, replaced by a thoughtful one, which I, personally, though I can't say the same for everyone, prefer. "I can not say for certain, sir. I know that we are on one of the small islands which dot the Pacific, but beyond that, it is hard to tell. I am sorry, sir."
I waved his apology off. "Don't worry about it, Jeeves. I'm sure if there was any way for you to figure out where we are, you would have done it."
"Thank you, sir."
"I suppose you haven't seen any signs of civilization while looking for the fruits?" Jeeves would most likely have told me by this point if he had, but I didn't think it would hurt to ask, just in case it had slipped his mind.
"No, sir, I have not. But I have only been able to explore a small portion of the island, so it is possible that there might be some settlement here."
Not the most inspiring news, but not the most despairing either. At least there was a chance there was a civilization for us to find. Perhaps we'd even be able to contact our ship and continue our cruise. There was a thought. "Jeeves! They're bound to notice we're not on the ship, and guessing, correctly, that we've been knocked overboard, they're certain to send out a search party. Why, help might be on its way this very minute!"
"Perhaps, sir." The tone of his voice made it clear that Jeeves thought very little of my idea. And I was about to ask him about said tone, and what precisely he meant by it, when I was interrupted by what I can only describe as a red whirlwind.
"We're saved! We're saved!" The aforementioned whirlwind began shouting, and it wasn't until it had paused for breath that I was able to make out that it wasn't a whirlwind at all, but rather a chap, doing his best to impersonate one. Not quite certain whether he was of the friendly sort or not, I leapt to my feet. Jeeves, at some point in the proceedings, had already risen to his, and I took a step closer to him. Safety in numbers, don't you know.
There wasn't any reason to be concerned however, for the man merely smiled broadly at us. "Boy am I glad to see you!"
"You are?" My tone was one of surprise. It was a rare enough event when someone was this happy to see Bertram Wooster. Why he should be so at all, when I didn't even know the man, was beyond me.
"Yeah! We've been shipwrecked. Oh boy, won't the others be glad to see you! Come on!" At this point in the proceedings, he grabbed my hand like he was expecting me to save him from drowning and attempted to drag me off.
I jerked out of his grasp. "I say!"
The Woosters are quite capable of giving out stern warnings, and this one did the job. The red-shirted fellow actually stood still for a moment. "Now see here," I pointed a finger at him. "I don't even know your name, and you don't even know ours."
"Oh," The red-shirted fellow grinned. "I'm Gilligan." He held out his hand, which I cautiously shook. I didn't want him attempting to pull mine off again.
"Bertie Wooster," I introduced myself. "And this is my valet, Jeeves."
The red-shirted fellow, but no, I suppose I can call him Gilligan now, began to jump up and down at these words. "Oh boy, a valet!"
Now, I don't mean to put down valets, or Jeeves, he in particular is a paragon among men, but I couldn't see why Gilligan was so excited about meeting one. Before I could satisfy the old curiosity by asking him, however, Gilligan's face fell, and he stared at us with a confused look that rather reminded me of my old pal Biffy when he realizes he's forgotten something. "What's a valet?"
I shot Jeeves a quick look. The man looked pained, but he was holding up well. "You mean to say you don't know what a valet is?" Even my friends in America were acquainted with the term valet, though some of them did seem to think that it was just another word for a butler.
Gilligan didn't seem at all bothered by his lack of knowledge. He just grinned and shook his head. "No."
"I am Mr. Wooster's gentleman's personal gentleman." Jeeves, being the helpful chap that he is, attempted to explain. "I serve him and tend to his needs."
"Oh, so you're a servant, like a butler right?" Not even giving Jeeves a sporting chance at answering, he turned to me. "Wow! You must be rich like Mr. and Mrs. Howell."
"Mr. and Mrs. Howell?" If I remembered correctly, Gilligan had mentioned others, but not any specific name.
"Yeah, they're real nice folks. And there's the Skipper, the Professor, Mary Ann, and Ginger too. Wait till they hear the news that we've been rescued! Did you come by boat or plane?"
"Plane? Good Lord! I should hope not." The idea of flying that high above anything, let alone the ocean, was repellent to me. This Wooster much preferred the good old fashioned method of traveling by ship.
"Boat?" There was such hope in his eyes, and he seemed so eager that I wondered how long he had been shipwrecked. It couldn't have been that long, for he wasn't that much younger than me, though I suppose there was the possibility that he was shipwrecked as a child. Not that you really hear about too many children being shipwrecked.
I hated to ruin his hopes, but somewhere along the line, he had gotten the wrong idea. "I'm afraid not, old thing. Well, I mean to say, we did come by boat part of the way, but somewhere between then and now, we were swept overboard. So you see, we're just as stranded as you are at the mo."
His hopes were crushed, but Gilligan seemed to be one of those naturally cheerful chaps, for he soon smiled again. "Oh well, the others will still want to see you. We don't get many visitors."
"I imagine not," I agreed.
"Come on! Our camp's not too far away." With that, Gilligan sprang towards the leafy foliage.
I gave the fruit one last lingering look. "Should we follow, Jeeves?"
"It would seem advisable, sir."
"I suppose they will have food at their camp?"
"Most likely, sir."
That being the only decent reason to stay where I was, and there being several others in favor of moving, I nodded. "Right ho, then."