Escaping the Lost Island (working title)

Chapter 5

The mood of our group began to change over the next several days. Petty fights which used to pop up all the time became a rare occurrence as everyone started to grasp the idea that the little things didn't matter anymore. We all were working towards a greater goal that required all of our focus and energy: finding a way to escape.

"So how did you and Rita get back here in the first place?" Anna asked Toby one day. "I mean that couldn't have been an accident."

Toby looked over at Rita who was sorting coconut shells with Alex. "When I first left the island, I was really just trying to go in one direction, thinking if I did that, I'd eventually find land. It wasn't going well and when I washed up on the beach near Rita's village, I was barely conscious. Rita's father discovered me and brought me back to the village with him. He and his family welcomed me, but the others seemed suspicious of me. I became friends with Rita and one day when we were alone, I told her my story. It turns out she knew the island I was talking about, she and her father had happened upon it by accident a few years ago. So I asked her if she could take me back there (when I described the writing to her, she said she knew the language on the wall) and eventually she said yes."

"Wait wait wait," Isaac interrupted. "Her family just let her go? Just like that? Why wouldn't you guys bring a rescue crew?"

Toby grimaced. "If it had been that easy, I would have brought the whole Navy; you guys know that. Unfortunately, things got a lot more complicated. See, there's this rivalry between Rita's people and a group of descendants who live near them-"

"Why?" Anna interrupted.

Toby turned to her. "Why what?"

"Why is there a rivalry?" 

"I'm not exactly sure how it started, but I'm sure Rita could tell you. Its no joke though, this rivalry. When I arrived in Rita's village, they were preparing to go to war and I gradually figured out that many of them thought I was a spy from the other side, even though I look nothing like them. Anyways, one night when we were coming back from making our trip preparations, the men were gearing up to go to war. Rita and I tried to stop them but that just made them angry at us. So they fought in the battle and when they returned, we learned that Rita's father was killed. For some reason, the people blamed me for his death, claiming that I was some sort of evil spirit come to ruin them. Rita overheard all of this and early the next morning, we took off. "

We stared at him. "Dude," Isaac said after a minute. "That's some intense stuff!"

"Wait," I said, my brain still processing his explanation. "They'd be looking for you, right? Or at least for Rita. Couldn't someone come here looking for her?"

Toby slowly shook his head. "I doubt it. They wanted me gone and now that she's run off with me, I don't think they'd be too fond of Rita either. Besides, Rita and her father were the only ones who knew about the island, they had come across it by accident. And now that her father's dead..."

I nodded, disappointed. "No one knows it even exists."

"Well maybe Rita could get us back there," Anna pointed out. "If she could get here then she should remember how to get back, right? Even if there are problems, we have a lot better chance against an angry village than staying on this island."

We all took a moment to ponder Anna's suggestion. "Okay yeah," Toby said finally. "But how do we all get there? The last raft we built could only  fit four people tops."

Anna's face fell. "Yeah that's true.."

"No wait a minute," I stood up and everyone looked at me. "I think Anna's on to something here. If we can build three rafts to hold four, we can send Rita on the front raft and she can lead the way back."