Forbidden Passage Read online

  In the confusion, everyone seemed to have forgotten about them. And nobody tried to stop them as Jane, Carter, Vanessa, and Buzz turned to sprint out of the village and back toward the beach.

  CHAPTER 4

  The path through the woods wasn’t as easy as Buzz expected.

  “Which way?” he asked, as they came to a fork. On the way in, it had seemed like a straight shot. Now, there were turns and divisions none of them had noticed before.

  “Just keep moving!” Vanessa said.

  Soon, they reached a point where there was no path at all. The jungle grew thicker here, forming a wild barrier between themselves and the beach.

  “Can you see the water?” Buzz asked.

  “I think so!” Carter said, pushing through. “This way!” He’d veered on a diagonal, crashing through some low, thick brush. There wasn’t any time to make a plan. The only thought now was, Get to the beach.

  Jane had also disappeared into the brush. Buzz could see the tall snake plants rustling back and forth where she was making her own path. Vanessa was right behind him. And the entire time, the sound of the plane was growing more distant.

  With a final push through a brambly thicket that tore at his ankles, Buzz came to the top edge of the beach. The ground changed underfoot, from packed earth to soft sand, and he dug in with each step to get out into the open as fast as possible.

  “Do you see the plane?” Carter asked. He was already standing in the sun with his neck craned toward the sky. “Is it there? Do you see it?”

  Vanessa and Jane were looking up, too, but Buzz scanned the beach instead.

  He looked for the dinghy, but it was nowhere in sight. The spot where they’d left it was just empty sand.

  There were no footprints, either. The beach had been combed clean, as if they’d never been there at all.

  “You guys—LOOK!” Buzz said.

  Vanessa whirled around. “Where’s the boat?” she asked.

  “It must have washed away,” Carter said.

  “I don’t think so,” Buzz answered. The driftwood they’d tethered it to was still there on dry sand. Only the boat was missing.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Carter said. “Here! We can use this!” He pounced on a fallen tree and started pushing it toward the water. It wasn’t a lifeboat, or even a raft, but it was something.

  “He’s right!” Jane said. “We just have to get out there so they can see us!”

  Buzz reached under the log with the others and heaved his end off the ground. There was no time to talk about their dinghy, or the sand that now appeared strangely undisturbed. Besides, there was no need. With any luck, they’d be off this island and headed away from here sooner rather than later.

  Hopefully, he’d never even have to find out what that combed-clean beach and missing boat meant. Because they sure didn’t feel like good things.

  Carter was first in the water. Even with the rush, it felt good to cool his skin after the hard run through the jungle and the push to get their makeshift float into the ocean.

  “Kick!” Carter yelled as they all grabbed on. “Everyone facing the horizon!”

  It was the only way they were going to get themselves out far enough to be seen by a passing plane.

  “How far do you think we have to go?” Jane asked. She was on Carter’s right, blinking away the salt water that washed in their faces. Her arms curved like two big claws over top of the log, holding tight.

  Carter looked out again. The heaviest surf was well off the shore. He could see it straight ahead where the ocean water turned from a light sky blue to a dark, aqua green. He didn’t want to think about how far it might be to open water. Or what they’d have to do to get there. The current had already begun to work against them, and the log tossed in the first low swells.

  “Just kick as hard as you can!” he called.

  With the next wave, all four of them rose sharply up and back down again with the log. Carter felt a familiar swoop in his stomach—the same kind he’d felt all night long as they blew across the ocean in the dinghy.

  He looked over his shoulder. At least fifty yards of water now stretched between them and the beach. But the ocean wasn’t getting any calmer in this direction. If they wanted to make it to open water, they were going to have to power through the white wall of a surf break, straight ahead.

  There was no going around this one. All Carter could do was duck his head, kick as hard as he could—and then try to kick a little bit harder.

  Vanessa coughed up a mouthful of water. The sea spray wouldn’t stay out of her eyes, and her throat was raw from swallowing salt.

  Overhead, the plane was nowhere in sight. She couldn’t hear it anymore, either. Not over the sound of the ocean. All she could do was hope it would circle back around, and that the four of them would show up against the water’s surface when it did.

  As soon as they got past the heaviest surf, they could stop kicking so hard. But not now. Not yet. Vanessa ignored the cramps in her feet and calves and kept on kicking.

  “We’re getting there!” she shouted to the others. “Just keep—”

  Her words were cut off by a wave breaking over their heads. Vanessa felt her arms dragged off the log, and she flipped, sucked backward by the pull of the water.

  As she came upright, the rolling surf had filled the ocean around her with foam and bubbles, too dense to see through. She felt someone brush against her and grabbed on.

  “Vanessa!” It was Jane’s voice. Jane was a better swimmer than Buzz, and at least as good in the water as Carter. She pointed over Vanessa’s shoulder, where both of their brothers were still holding on to the log, maybe twenty feet away. They were kicking and trying to get back to the girls, even as another wave rose and crested behind them.

  “LOOK OUT!” Vanessa shouted, but there was nothing they could do. There was the sound of it first, then a cascade of water burying them in the churning ocean. It all happened too fast, even for a quick breath.

  A second time, she came up near Jane, and wrapped an arm around her waist.

  “Over here!” Carter yelled. He was in the water now, this time with no log—and no Buzz.

  “Hey!” Buzz’s voice came from behind. As Vanessa turned, she saw him still clinging to the dead tree. It skimmed across the water, picking up speed on another swell. Before she could get out of the way, the rough bark caught her along the side of the head with a painful, sandpapery scrape that left a ringing in her ear. She reached blindly for Buzz. Her fingers latched onto his arm, but she managed only to drag him off the log as it moved past.

  “We can’t keep going!” Vanessa yelled.

  “What?” Buzz asked, shouting over the waves.

  “Come on!” She started swimming toward the beach, not sure how else to tell them what she meant.

  “Where’s the log?!” Carter yelled. It had disappeared in the confusion. They were all treading water, flapping their arms against the tide.

  “Forget the log!” Vanessa said. “This isn’t working!” They had to get to shore before the surf took them down for good.

  Even stubborn Carter seemed to see that now. It took him a second, and another tumble in a wave, but this time, it washed them all back toward the island.

  This place seemed to have them in its grip. And it wasn’t letting go.

  CHAPTER 5

  For the second time that day, Jane stumbled onto the shore of the new island. She dropped to her knees in the wet sand, heaving to catch her breath.

  It was clear now that they weren’t going to paddle some log into the open water. She was a good swimmer, but none of them were a match for these tides. The ocean itself was enough to keep them prisoner here. And the chances of ever seeing their parents again seemed to be dimming by the minute.

  All at once, a shadow darkened the ground around her.r />
  “Qui êtes-vous?” a deep voice said.

  Jane spun around and fell back. She looked up at the outline of someone towering over her—then heard her brother nearby.

  “Hey! What are you doing?” Carter shouted.

  The tall stranger spun in Carter’s direction. His face caught the sun, and Jane saw that he was a fully grown-up man. This was the first adult they’d found in this place.

  “You speak English,” the man said. His heavily accented voice was calm, even as Carter rushed toward them.

  “Don’t touch my little sister!”

  The man caught Carter’s wrist and stepped back, quickly letting go again. As he did, Carter lurched right past him and landed on the sand next to Jane. Buzz and Vanessa were just steps away. They knelt close together, looking unsure of what to do next.

  “Do not be afraid,” the new stranger said. His huge hand enclosed Jane’s as he helped her off the ground.

  Jane pulled away and moved quickly to stand with Vanessa and Buzz. Carter jumped up, too, fists at his sides.

  “Who are you?” Vanessa demanded.

  “I am Ani,” he said simply.

  His clothes were like the others on the island. A tan animal skin was wrapped around his middle, with woven braids of leaves and straw hanging on either side. He was thin, but muscled like an athlete. And he had a large tattoo around his shoulders, in a pattern of rectangles that formed a keyhole shape on his chest.

  “You must come with me,” he said. “Off the beach.”

  “We can’t! There was a plane!” Vanessa said.

  “Yes, I know,” he said.

  “Our parents might have been up there! Can you help us? Please?” Buzz asked.

  “First, you must come with me,” the man told them. “Right away.”

  “You don’t understand!” Carter told him.

  “I am afraid it is you who do not understand.”

  Everything happened quickly then. The man strode forward, erasing the distance between them. Jane turned to run, but it was too late. In one fast motion, he’d wrapped an arm around her middle and scooped her off the ground.

  The next thing Jane knew, he was running with her toward the woods.

  “Carter!” she screamed. “Buzz! Vanessa! Help me!”

  “Don’t let him get away!” Buzz yelled.

  They ran after the stranger—Ani, he’d called himself—but he was far faster than any of them, including Carter. He carried Jane under one arm as though she didn’t weigh anything at all. Jane screamed again, and reached for them, squirming to get free. It was a helpless feeling for Buzz, watching the gap between them grow. If this guy made it into the woods, he was going to be even harder to catch, if not impossible.

  But then, as the man reached the first line of trees, he stopped. He turned around to face them, gently set Jane down in the shade, and held her by the shoulder until Carter, Vanessa, and Buzz were there.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Carter said, snatching Jane away.

  “Forgive me. I knew you would have to follow if I took her,” Ani told them. He knelt down then and looked Jane in the eye. “I meant you no harm. I needed only to get you away from the shore.”

  “What for?” Buzz demanded. He was more angry than scared now. “And where’s our boat?”

  “Your boat has been taken,” Ani said.

  “What?” Carter blurted.

  “It was not safe to leave it on the beach.”

  “What do you mean, not safe?” Buzz asked.

  “Not safe for who?” Vanessa asked.

  Ani took his time answering. Everything he told them seemed to be carefully considered.

  “The tides are not passable in that direction,” he said, pointing toward the horizon. “You would have died trying.”

  “It’s our boat! You didn’t have any right to take it!” Vanessa shouted at him.

  Ani gave her a stern look. It was the first sign of emotion Buzz had seen on his face.

  “You are welcome here,” he told them, “but it is not for you to say how the Nukula conduct themselves. You are in their home.”

  “The Nukula?” Jane echoed in a small voice. “I read all about the South Pacific before we ever came here. I’ve never heard of them.”

  “That is because they do not want you to have heard of them,” Ani said. “The Nukula are a private people.”

  “Do any of the others speak English?” Jane asked.

  “No,” he said, offering no further explanation.

  “What’s this island called?” Jane asked. She always asked a lot of questions when she was nervous. It was a habit Buzz had noticed a long time ago. For Jane, information was security.

  “The island has no name,” Ani told her. “Not to the Nukula. They have no desire to be known by the outside world. That is why your bright yellow boat had to be removed from the shore.”

  “Well, where is it now?” Vanessa asked.

  “That, I do not know,” Ani said, and gestured into the woods. “Come, please. There is much to discuss back at the village.”

  Buzz felt at a loss for words. On Nowhere Island, the decisions about what to do next were always up to them. Here, it was turning into something even harder. How were they supposed to deal with all of this?

  “We’re not going anywhere until you tell us what’s going on,” Carter said. “Are you going to help us get out of here, or not?”

  This time, Ani didn’t pause. He pushed into the brush, leading the way toward the village.

  “That is what I am trying to do,” he called back. “Now come. There is no other choice.”

  CHAPTER 6

  The feeling in the pit of Carter’s stomach was like a knot and a fist at the same time. He wanted to run—and he wanted to fight. But neither one was going get them anywhere.

  It seemed clear they’d been watched from the moment they got here. The yellow dinghy would have been visible for miles off shore as they approached the island. All those kids with their capture games had been waiting for them, hadn’t they? And now Ani had been sent to gather them up again.

  There was no mistake about who was in control here. The question was, what could Carter, Jane, Vanessa, and Buzz do about it? The four of them seemed to be numb with new information. There were a million things to say, but they barely spoke all the way up the path and back into the village.

  What they found when they got there was a hive of activity.

  With the plane gone, the enormous frond net had been pulled away. A circle of empty sky showed overhead once more. Most of the smallest children were gathered near the tops of the trees, playing in the branches.

  But the older kids were involved in something else, Carter saw. Some of them were wrestling. He recognized the two-arm grip one of the boys had put on him in the water. Some were using stone hatchets and knives to turn long sticks into spears. And others were rebuilding their small fires. Their friends seemed to be cheering them on, as if even the fire building were a game, or some kind of practice.

  Strangest of all, there were now dozens of adults in the village. Where they’d come from, Carter had no idea. But all of their activity stopped as he and his siblings followed Ani into the center of the main dirt yard.

  One group of adults in particular seemed to be waiting for Ani. They stood just inside the largest of all the buildings—a longhouse of some kind. Unlike the raised huts, this one sat on the ground. Inside, half of the rough plank floor was raised like a trapdoor. But from where Carter stood, it was impossible to see what lay underneath.

  “Stay here,” Ani told them, and walked away to speak with the adults.

  “What do we do now?” Jane asked, looking around.

  “I don’t know,” Vanessa said. “I guess we wait.”

  “I don’t like waiting,” Carter mutt
ered. There wasn’t much choice, so he scanned the village instead, looking for any kind of information he could use.

  The huts were clustered in some places, and spaced out in others, where the dense jungle showed through. Besides the path they’d just traveled, half a dozen other trails led away from the main yard in all different directions.

  The buildings themselves were made from timber and bamboo, with steep thatched roofs. They looked like complete houses compared to the little shelter Carter, Vanessa, Jane, and Buzz had struggled to make on Nowhere Island just a few days earlier.

  Coming around full circle, Carter spotted the girl from the beach. She sat in the opening of a tiny hut he hadn’t even noticed before, high up in one of the trees. It was the smallest, and easily the sloppiest, of all the buildings in the village, with a patchy roof that didn’t look as if it would do much against the rain.

  “That’s her,” Carter whispered to Buzz, and pointed up. “She’s the one I saw when we got here.”

  Mostly, her focus was on the older Nukula kids. She watched them from above, as they made fire, wrestled, and created tools for themselves. It was if she were studying them, or sizing them up, though Carter had no idea why.

  The one thing that seemed clear was that this girl was alone. Her hut was barely big enough for a single person to sleep in. And while all the other kids worked in groups, she sat by herself, just watching. Maybe she was even lonely, Carter thought, but it was hard to tell from her stony expression.

  Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that she was a possible ally here. A possible friend.

  Or, at least, not an enemy.

  Jane wanted to memorize everything she saw, and everything she’d learned about this place. Besides wishing to see Mom and Dad again, what she wanted most was her camera, or the paper journal she’d left behind on Nowhere Island. One day this was going to make an amazing story, and she’d be the one to tell it.

  Unless, of course, they never got out of here. But that was more than she could stand to think about right now.