Mei woke to faint voices. She opened her eyes and felt stiff and sore from being curled up in the cramped fort all night.
Wiping sleep from her eyes, she put her face to a crack in the boards and looked out. She tried a different space between the old boards, but could see nothing up or down the beach, nor inland. So she looked out to sea.
A small vessel with a single, triangular sail coasted along just off the…uh, coast. She could make out several figures on board, some in blue uniforms. Soldiers. They lined the rail of the ship, studying the beach. Something glinted.
Mei ducked without thinking. Worry bit her. Binoculars? A telescope? Damn. Her fort was right in the middle of the sand. Surely they’d be able to tell how manmade it was. She hadn’t really done enough to disguise it, had she?
Raising herself very slowly, she peered outside again.
The ship seemed to take forever to sail by. The soldiers moved about like they were excited about something. They must have noticed her fort.
She looked out at the beach again. And saw her footprints. She’d been walking all over this beach.
A deep, sinking feeling took hold. She groaned. You’d think she would have learned this lesson already. How lazy and stupid had she been? Of course the beach would be the first thing they’d search and of course it would be easy to pick up signs that she’d been here. Viciously angry with herself, she punched herself in the thigh, wanting to be punished for such an avoidable mistake.
Despair growing, she looked out at the ship again. Would they return to their port and come for her on land? Or would they storm the beach?
The ship sailed on. Maybe they hadn’t noticed her after all? Dare she hope?
Suddenly, everyone on the ship exploded into frenzied action. The sail shifted and the vessel immediately tacked to change course.
Puzzled, Mei searched the sea.
A much larger vessel had appeared on the horizon. From the top of the tallest mast flew a red and gold flag: Spain. And it had every single sail out, trying to catch all the wind it could. Clouds of smoke appeared on the bow of the Spanish ship. Moments later, she heard the boom of canons.
The men on the smaller, English ship ran about like mad. Turning had cost them speed and it looked like the Spanish ship had the advantage.
She hoped to see the English sunk, but they managed to disappear around the end of the island, cut off from her vision, the Spanish ship following shortly thereafter.
She sat back in her shelter and considered. Had the English actually seen her, or was she just feeling paranoid? She wrestled with that for a while and felt an element of anxiousness take root.
Recalling the fact that she wasn’t alone on the island, she scanned the land once more. Deciding it was safe, she climbed out. No jaguar pounced on her, trying to crack her skull open with its big teeth so it could devour her juicy, delcious brains. So, a good start to the day.
She put her hands on her hips and frowned. What now? She cast a glance at the fruit tree and sighed. Her stomach rebelled at the thought of eating more. Well, perhaps she should go for more water. She was dehydrated and feeling groggy and slow. But — there was that jaguar that eats humans.
Feeling discouraged, she gave up for the moment and stumbled to the edge of the ocean where she plopped down in the white sand.
A flash on her jacket caught her attention and she looked down at her apparel. Several decorations had been pinned to the left breast. With perverse pleasure, she removed them, cut them to pieces with her sword, and enjoyed tossing the captain’s medals into the surf. Then she realized that she was polluting and scrambled to her feet in self disgust for her thoughtless actions.
Stepping into the water, she waded through small waves. The ocean was quite calm at the moment. Then a flash of colour in the water made her stop. Because everyone’s first thought the moment anything moves in the water is — shark.
Of course, that was silly. The water was only knee deep and sharks weren’t generally bright colours. She advanced even more slowly though, not wanting to scare whatever it was off. To her delight, she discovered that the ribbons she’d tossed now floated, attracting fish. Several of all kinds and colours darted around or lazed about, taking the occasional peck at the surface.
Her stomach rumbled. Raw fish was a lot more appealing than raw bird. She licked her dry lips and raised her sword.
Mei was certain her presence would simply scare off the fish. But to her excitement, they only moved off temporarily. If she stood still in the water, they slowly returned. Some were even curious enough to investigate her bare shins and feet. It was fascinating to watch!
She was hungry. Very hungry. Could she spear one with her sword? It was probably way too difficult. She’d likely miss because of the way light refracted in the water. Or she might stab herself in the foot. That would not be fun. Still, she had to try.
Feeling like a primitive ancestor in the wilds hunting for her survival, she gripped the hilt of the sword with both hands, tip pointed straight down, safely between her feet. Her heart beat faster in anticipation and hope, but she kept the rest of herself calm. When a bright yellow fish appeared at the edge of her vision, she watched it. It approached slowly. It wasn’t overly large, but it seemed unafraid. Closer it came, closer. She stabbed down. There was solid resistance as the sword tip hit the fish and the blade drove into flesh.
She screamed with glee. Carefully, she tilted the sword so the fish wouldn’t slip off and raised weapon and prey into the air before her. Triumphant, she turned back to the beach.
The jaguar faced her.
Her smile vanished.
The great cat’s golden eyes were on her own. Its head was low, shoulders hunched, one paw in front of the other. The tail hovered low to the sand. It had frozen in the act of charging her, wanting to attack her from behind while she’d been blind. Now it watched for her next move.
She panicked, but remained in place. If she hadn’t turned at that exact moment, she’d already be dead. And if she didn’t do something smart right now, it was still going to pounce.
The two stared at each other.
Her heart felt ready to burst out of her chest. Warily, she lowered the sword a little, pointing the tip at the animal.
The jaguar took a fast step closer to the water’s edge, eyes on the blade for a second, then back to her face.
Her mouth went dry. Did this cat have something against weapons? She pulled the sword back a little.
The jaguar didn’t react.
Something told her that trying to shout at it and scare it off wasn’t going to work. It was not intimidated by her. The fact that it had been hanging around so close by and watching her confirmed that. Could she change tactics and try being nice? She mentally snorted. It was a wild animal, not a house pet. But what did she have to lose, other than her life?
Careful not to move too fast, she raised her free hand to the impaled fish. It still wiggled back and forth, dying by not dead. Easing the fish off the blade and hoping she didn’t drop the slimy thing, she made an underhanded toss and sent the fish towards the cat.
Her aim wasn’t great. The fish landed a meter away from the jaguar, just inside the white bubbles of surf in the sand.
The cat dodged sideways, body tense and its head turned to see what she’d thrown.
The fish flopped around.
The jaguar glanced at her. Then it crept closer to the fish. It sniffed it. Raising its head, it gave her another long, considering but suspicious look.
“It’s a gift. Breakfast,” she whispered. “Eat up.”
The jaguar blinked. Then it lowered its jaws and took up the fish. Padding easily over the white sand, the great cat took up residence about ten meters away and then sat down. It took the fish between its paws and began eating.
She swore. It was not running away this time. If she tried leaving the water, it would attack her in seconds. She saw her pistols on the beach but knew that she’d never make it to them in time if the cat decided it wanted to stop her.
She gazed down the beach. Should she make her way through the water and put some distance between them? She understood now that, between possibly being spotted by the English ship earlier, and the presence of this jaguar, it wasn’t safe here. She had to leave. She bit her lip. She didn’t relish leaving those guns behind though.
The jaguar had finished its meal by the time she looked back. It was staring at her again. And those eyes were so damned intelligent.
She felt something brush her shin and looked down. Apparently, losing one of their members hadn’t warned the other sea creatures off. She met the jaguar’s eyes. Could she catch another? Maybe a few? If she put the cat into a food coma, it might be too lazy to do anything.
She decided to try it. But spearing fish wasn’t easy and her first attempt had been lucky. Still, the fish obligingly stuck around as she struck multiple times with her rapier. And after a while, she caught a second, then a third and fourth fish. The fourth was the biggest, longer and fatter than her forearm. She threw each and every one towards the jaguar. Obviously, her girlish throws didn’t make the fish go very far. But the cat did come down and retrieve her offerings. And she watched him gorge on them. She could practically see his belly bulging from all the free food it was getting.
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