Chapter 5

“Well, it wouldn’t have been any use anyway, Elspeth. We’re so far away from the nearest mast,” said Frances as Jenny examined her mobile phone, the only one between the five of them. The battery had been removed by person or persons unknown. It was late afternoon and Jenny had belatedly remembered that she had brought her mobile with her, despite a mutual agreement to leave them all behind.

Now that she had recovered from the rigors of her barefoot experience with the car, Frances had recovered her composure. The five were lying beside the pool, three bikinis clad and two nudes. The sun still shone and the sky was still blue. There was plenty to eat and plenty to drink. Mrs. Maloney was bound to come back fairly soon. A mood of acceptance had settled over them all. Despite Frances’s earlier fury, the magic of this remote retreat was once more exerting its influence over them all.

“I wonder what we will have lost in the morning...” speculated Jenny.

“We won’t,” answered Frances. “We will none of us sleep alone again. I’ll share with Jenny and Elspeth and Harriet can sleep with Dorothy. That should fix it!”

Jenny doubted this, but held her peace. She declined to give up her privacy and nothing any of the others said could change her mind. Whatever the others did, she knew how she was going to react to this bizarre situation!