Chapter 1

It all started at college with plans for a summer field trip. The group was slow to assemble. My professor was one leader and he would take his wife. The other professor was divorced but was bringing a girl friend. There was room for eighteen students and we wound up with ten guys and eight girls to fill out the group. I knew one girl from a class project last fall and two guys and a couple of girls who had been in classes with me at one time or another over my three years in college.

We flew commercial jets to Samoa. From there, we boarded a two-engined propeller plane to take us to Malokawi [Ed. I don't think it exists and it doesn't matter.] We never made it. No storm, no warning, just bad luck or poor maintenance. First the compass and GPS both went out. About twenty minutes later, the left engine coughed. Less that a minute later, it coughed, sputtered, and quit. We were now flying on one engine! I had never been in a propeller plane before and I quickly thought that somewhere else felt like a much more pleasant place to be! I hadn't realized how much I liked the plane when the right side engine coughed. I quickly realized that things could be worse!

Sure enough, they became worse. The second engine failed and we became a glider headed for earth or water. I looked out my side and saw nothing but water over the right wing. I looked over and Nola looked at me like she was going to cry. I said, "Is there any land in that direction?"

"N-no." She replied. Nola had been my project partner last September. I had found her bright and reasonably attractive. She had rebuffed my every attempt to date her but had become a friend. It was a little surprising because I was rarely rejected and particularly not for a date.

Over the speakers and from the front, I heard, "Strap in. We will be landing."

Someone said, "More like crashing, I think.'

Professor Landry said, "I don't think that helps."

We came lower and lower. I knew the plane wasn't going to fly without engines though I had hoped it would stay up longer than it now appeared. I think the pilot was going to try to slide down flat. I felt one "skip" and then a crash. I saw a wave roll over the wing and realized that he reversed the wind path landing into the wind and waves! We'll never really know because both the pilot and copilot died in the plane's crash.

Water was pouring in through the front and we quickly moved to the rear and exited the plane. We had two life rafts opened in the water. All the women went on the rafts and we men spread out hanging on the sides of the rafts. The only other not coming out of the plane was Professor Mockson. His girl friend made it out though her arm was broken. Thankfully, a simple fracture was all she had.

There was some rope in the rafts and we used it to tie ourselves to the rafts and tie the rafts together. The sun was hot and it was only about noon. None of the women could see any land so we made no attempt to control our drift.

Nola said, "Professor Landry, when will they start looking for us?"

He said, "I don't think the crew got a 'Mayday' signal out. They were due to return to Samoa this afternoon. It will probably be tomorrow before it's realized that there is really a problem. We're going to have to figure on two days or so before we're found and another three or more before a ship can get to us unless there's one in the area."

'Wally, that's not specially encouraging." His wife said.

He replied, "Andrea, that's true but we're all adults and lying won't help."

She seemed to give a mental shrug and said, "Ladies, go over the contents of the rafts. Let's figure out what we have and plan to take care of it."

We found two small first aid kits and two quarts of old water. We had already worked with the rope. Each raft had rope on the sides and I wrapped my arms around the rope to keep my head clear of the water and rested for a bit. I pulled my shirt over my head to cover my face. It was a good tee shirt, light in color and thick. I felt cooler as soon as I did that. I figured the view, namely the side of the raft, wouldn't change much in the next few hours. Professor Landry was the only one with a hat. He always wore a floppy brim hat outdoors. A few of the other guys did the same. The girls kept their shirts where they were. I really didn't blame them. They had breasts to cover and those were more tender than their faces.

The sun finally sank behind the horizon and it was time for the short tropical twilight. At least, that was what I was told. I had pulled my shirt back into its normal place. I looked to my left and gave a shout. "Look!" I pointed my free hand. "I think there's some sort of land over there!"

Everyone was excited until Professor Landry said, "Pipe down! We need to swim that way. What little current there is will take us by the island. Andrea, you and the girls direct us and we'll kick."

She looked at me and said, "Mr. James, do you know the scissors kick?" I nodded. She said, "Then, start kicking! Wally and you, kick under the raft. Try not to kick the bottom too much. You, scissor kick. You two, kick and move us that way." She pointed. The raft started to move. She looked at the raft behind us and gave similar instructions. Our raft was a little bigger and more of us were hanging off it.

Nola looked down at me and said, "Kick, Paulie. Please get us to land." It took most of an hour but we could now easily see the island. It had palm trees and, according to Nola, there was a hill behind the flat part at the ocean.

We were starting to tire. Nola looked down at me and realized that I was about exhausted. "Paulie, stop a minute." I stopped. She did something that I later found out was removing her shoes and shorts. Her tee shirt came off next leaving her in bra and panties. She eased into the water beside me and said, "Crawl into the raft. I will kick for a while."

The other women quickly took up the idea and, moments later, progress resumed as we guys lay in the raft catching our breath. Twenty minutes later, the ladies were tiring but I felt better. I followed Nola's example and stripped to my briefs. I joined her in the water. Most of the other guys did also.

Professor Landry was still exhausted and his wife joined him on the raft. She gave directions as we slowly got closer. She saw the reef and the hole and directed us to and through it without incident.

By the time we landed, it was full dark. She said, "Everybody help drag the rafts above the high water line and tie them to a tree." We did that, stumbling with exhaustion and the dark. She then said, "Everyone lie down and get some sleep. I lay down with Nola on one side with her back to the raft. Someone else was at my back but, at the time, I neither knew nor cared who it was or whether or not the person was male or female. When you're twenty-one, that means you're really tired!

At some point, Nola snuggled up to me and I put my arm around her and we slept that way until dawn. I woke with a start having heard a scream.

I sat up pulling my arm out from under Nola and waking her, too. She grunted and sat up to hear the second scream. I stood and looked around. One of the girls was sitting and screaming. I tried to figure out what was wrong but saw nothing. I got to her first and shook her. Nola was next to me and, when she didn't react to my shake, Nola slapped her face smartly. She stopped suddenly, hugged my neck, and began to cry. After a moment, she pushed away from me. I stood back up. I heard her say quietly, "Thank you. I woke up in the wrong place and the wrong time."

Nola chuckled, "We all did." I smiled at her. I liked women who chuckled rather than giggled. She smiled back and her face lit up with a beauty I hadn't noticed before. I headed back to the raft to find my clothes and shoes.

My body felt grungy with the dried salt. I wasn't enthusiastic about putting on my clothes but my briefs were exactly that, brief. Once, a girl friend had told me I was blessed. However, it always seemed to show a little much and boxers simply didn't keep it hidden. The rest of the package was okay. I ran and, at six feet, two inches tall, was lean and tanned for our area. On top, I had dark brown hair with deep red highlights and green eyes. I had never had trouble with women to the point where I had to fight them off, figuratively, at times. Nola had not been one of those. She looked me over like a vegetarian looking at steak. We had worked on a project together last year and I had liked her for her sense of humor, intelligence and work ethic. At that time, that didn't recommend her to my mind as a hot date. It didn't matter since she rejected my overtures to go out. It struck me that she might be a better partner in this situation than some of the others that I dated.

I reached the raft and found my shorts, tee shirt, and shoes. All were a little damp still but I had a feeling we were in for a hot day.

Nola came up beside me and dressed quietly and without fuss. Her shoes, like mine, were practical sneakers with good soles. She said, "What's on your mind, Paulie?" She had picked up my nickname from my mother phoning me during that project. I didn't encourage its use but she said it warmly and not demeaningly as had happened on other occasions with other girls.

As I laced my shoes, I said, "We need fresh water to drink and to wash. That's first. After that, food would be nice. Then, we need a sign for boats and planes. I don't know how far off course we were before we crashed and then drifted."

"Wow! That's a lot of planning for so early in the morning! I remember your planning meant our project did well, too. I guess that means inland for water?"

I shielded my eyes and looked up and down the shore. I said, "Since I don't see an inlet, inland is our hope. We will have to be careful. We don't know where we are or how big this island might be. That means we don't know what might be on it." I pulled her up, noticing again how tall she is. I looked her in the eyes and noticed those startling light blue eyes, too. I said, "Would you come with me?"

"Yes. Thanks for asking." We left the area heading inland almost directly in away from the ocean. It was cooler in the palms though the ground was more crowded. I was glad my sneakers had good soles. We walked slowly trying to observe what was around us and looking for signs of human habitation. I saw nothing, not even much in the way of animal tracks. As we continued to walk, the character of the plant life changed. The plants gave way from the palms of the coast to real trees though I didn't recognize the species.