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... )

Richard had been arguing with Samuel about returning to the island for half an hour already when Heather suddenly jumped up and made the raft wobble precariously. About to scold her for her sudden move, they stopped upon seeing her expression.

“Sorry,” she said sheepishly, but then her excitement won. “I think I just saw land, over there.”

“You think ( Read more... )

Once they had left the island, all their hopes lay in Samuel and his ability to navigate. And, of course, they prayed his estimate of the direction the shipwreck had come from was correct. They had enough food and fresh water with them to last three days - four, if they were careful. But it meant they’d have to go back to the dreaded island if they ( Read more... )

It did float!

They all had a rather unpleasant night, though. One of them guarded the raft, another the crazy man - and none of the others could sleep, because the guy kept on shouting his incoherent tales from dusk to dawn.

When the sun rose over the horizon, he went back to telling them how they all would die, playing with their fears. For once, ( Read more... )