Jeremy was indeed the happiest of them all. He was one last semester of courses short of being allowed to participate in the next big expedition. In less than a year, he said, he might already be on a ship again.

While Victoria could understand his excitement to some extent - due to her fiancé’s similar interests - she stared at him just as ( Read more... )

They didn’t remember who’d had the initial idea, but exactly one year after coming home, the five of them met again. There had been many changes in their lives - some favorable, some not so much.

Samuel and Heather had gotten married four months earlier and were getting by on their little farm.

Richard had had a hard time paying for Jeremy’s ( Read more... )

When they parted ways the following morning, Victoria left with the expedition leader, Jeremy was carrying a recommendation letter from the group for the capital’s university, and Samuel promised Heather he would look for a land-based job and come visiting soon.

They’d all made connections, knowing they’d stay in contact somehow - whereas Richard ( Read more... )

Since none of them had any money, the explorers insisted on making sure they’d be able to get home safely - but it would take a while to arrange for their transportation. So the five spent one last evening together.

Before they parted ways that night, Richard lowered his voice and said: “We’ll never tell anybody about what happened with the mad man ( Read more... )

None of the explorers were happy to leave - quite unlike the other five, who wanted nothing more than to go home. Jeremy might dream of future expeditions, but those should happen on his terms, not as a result of a shipwreck.

As excited as they had been to be back, they arrived in port on a gray and rainy day. After the tropical weather they’d been ( Read more... )

Despite the explorers spending every waking minute with cataloging all their findings, Victoria had somehow managed to become friends with the expedition leader. The others supposed it was the obvious influence and the familiar arrogance of the rich that had drawn her in.

Jeremy had started to join some expeditions for very different reasons. One ( Read more... )

They soon found out that the explorers had been granted a month to map the island and to search for any signs of prior inhabitation and useful resources. At the end of that month, a ship would come to bring them home. And their fourth week was almost over.

While the explorers got busier every day, wanting to get as much done as possible before they ( Read more... )

It turned out that there were more than twenty people on this island - explorers, if they were to be believed. At the very least, they were good at finding not only things but people, too. The ones who had been looking for the lost necklace had spotted the five hidden castaways within seconds.

The explorers insisted they were friendly and that they ( Read more... )

The necklace was proof that other people had to be near. Considering that the feathers were all still intact, it couldn’t have lain on the ground for long. And Richard had found footprints a little further down the track that were still fresh. They decided to follow the prints to see if they had managed to find civilization.

“It has to be here ( Read more... )

It took them another six hours to reach the land. By that time it was almost dark and they decided to set up camp on the beach for the night. No fire, Richard demanded, not even to dry their clothes. After all, who knew what was beyond the treeline?

Their paranoia kept them from getting any restful sleep that night and all of them were glad when ( Read more... )