7

Jim sat by Lou, lost in thought, praying. Staci told him it was pointless, but he carried on nonetheless.

Over the next few hours, Lou’s fever raged. Finally in the late afternoon, her fever broke. Her eyes flickered open. “Are you still there?”

Relief flooded him. “I could say the same for you. How are you feeling?”

“Better than I was.”

“Why didn’t you say something? Ailsa made something to help. But next time, please say something. I can’t do much to heal your leg, but at least I can make sure you rest more.”

Lou sat up, shifting slowly backwards to lean against the tree. “I didn’t want to be a burden. The sooner we get to this air base, the sooner we can call for help, right?”

“You’re not a burden. If you were, we’d’ve tossed you overboard weeks ago. And we’ve had this conversation. For better or worse we stick together. It’s the only way to get through this and get home.”

“Yeah.” Lou tilted her head. “What about the earthquakes?”

“Nothing really noticeable since you told them to stop. I guess they were listening.”

“Funny. We should keep going. We need to find that base. See if they located your parents yet and call someone to get you guys out of here to see them or find them.”

Jim frowned, tempted to call her on that, but decided against it. Now wasn’t the time to pick a fight. “We will. Tomorrow.”

“No, now. We’ve wasted enough time.”

“Tomorrow.” Jim gave her one of his looks. “I won’t argue, but you will do as you’re told for once.” He lowered his voice. “Your leg is infected.”

“Then the sooner we get help the better, right? And that ain’t gonna happen sitting here.” She scowled. “But fine, if that’s what you want.”

He nodded. “Yes, it is.”

“Where are the others?”

“Gathering firewood and something to eat. They should be back any minute, so I’ll get the fire going with what wood we have.” He gave her one of his long looks and noticed her shift uncomfortably. “And I want you to eat something this time. You’re losing weight again, and I don’t want Staci following your example and skipping meals.”

Lou half smiled. “Staci, skip a meal, what planet are you on? Staci, like you, could no more skip a meal, than Deefer could stop barking or the sun could stop shining.”

“I mean it.” He hardened his voice. “You need to eat to fight this infection.”

She sighed heavily. “Fine. You win. I’ll eat. But just a little bit. Too much turns my stomach and then I lose the whole meal, which kind of defeats the object of the exercise.”

~*~

Lou sat with her back against the tree.

Jim stoked the fire.

The cup of water next to her had been vibrating for the last hour or so, the concentric circles getting bigger and bigger. So much for the tremors having stopped—it seemed they didn’t listen to her either. But then no one else did, so what difference did it make?

The ground beneath her began to move noticeably. She glanced at the others, but they didn’t comment. She rubbed her leg, then stopped as that just increased the pain level. She glanced up at the volcano, blinked twice, thinking for a moment she saw smoke issuing from the crater. But the next moment it was gone, so maybe she’d imagined it. The steep slopes were silhouetted against the setting sun. It’d make a lovely photo and she reached for the waterproof bag, wincing as it was just out of reach.

Staci glanced over. “You OK?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Could you pass me the camera, please? I want to take some shots of the volcano.”

Staci reached for the bag and then staggered as the ground moved. “Great, the tremors are back.”

“They have been for a while,” Lou said. She held her hand out for the camera. “At least the last hour, if not longer. But they’re getting stronger again.”

Staci’s eyes widened. “Does that mean we’re in trouble?”

“I hope not.” Lou took several pictures of the volcano. “Like Jim said, we can’t outrun it. Well, I can’t. And I wouldn’t expect you guys to stay here if she does blow her top.”

Staci gasped.

Lou took her hand. “We’ll be fine. Now go get your dinner, Jim’s dishing up.”

“OK.” Staci rose and went over to the others.

Jim came over with two plates of food. “Grub’s up.”

Lou inhaled deeply.

Staci sat on a fallen tree with Ailsa.

Lou looked down at the plate. “Smells good.” She really didn’t want it, but she’d told Jim she’d eat.

Jim sat beside her. “Maybe you could help cook one day,” he said.

“Maybe.” She glanced at him for an instant. Was he sitting here to make sure she ate? She took a small bite, fixing her gaze on the volcano. “If you all want food poisoning.”

“You ain’t killed anyone with your cooking yet.”

“There’s a first time for everything. Besides, I’ve never cooked on an open fire.”

Jim stretched his legs out, tucking into his meal with his usual gusto. “Nor had I. It’s not that hard. Just like using a gas hob, only not so easy to turn it up or down.”

Lou closed her eyes as the ground moved again. “Tremors are getting worse. I’m no expert. But I’d say they were starting to swarm. And I’m sure I saw steam or smoke at the crater.”

He paused. “So have I, a couple of times now.”

“Jim,” she said seriously. “I want you to promise me something.”

His brow furrowed. “I’m not leaving you here. So don’t even suggest it.”

“Listen to me. If that thing blows, and I mean really blows, I don’t want you to wait for me. Take Staci and Ailsa and run. We both know I can’t keep up on a good day, and me running anywhere for the rest of my life is out of the question. I won’t have you or them die because of me and my stupid leg.”

“Lou…” Exasperation tinged his voice and the scowl she loved so much crossed his face.

But he was Ailsa’s now, whether either of them wanted to admit it or not. Not that he’d ever been hers, other than in her mind.

“Promise!” she said fiercely.

“OK, OK, have it your way.” Jim paused for a moment as he ate. “That’s if they want to leave you. And you know full well that they won’t do that. At least, not willingly.”

“Don’t give them a choice.” She finished what was on her plate. “It might never come to it, but I don’t want anyone dying for me.”

Jim glanced at her. “You realize that Jesus already did that, right? All you have to do is acc—”

Lou shook her head. “Don’t preach at me, Jim. I don’t want or need it. I just need you guys to be safe, and if that means leaving me here, then that’s what you do. I’ll write a disclaimer in the log if it’ll make you feel any better.”

“Oh, really?”

She scowled back. “Yes, really.”

“Something along the lines of I, Lou Benson, being of sound mind, do hereby insist that Jim, Staci, and Ailsa leave me behind to die in the case of a natural disaster…”

“Words to that effect, yeah.” She held out a hand. “Give me the logbook, and I’ll do it now.”

Jim sighed, pulled the logbook from the bag and handed it to her.

Lou opened it to the current page. She chewed the top of the pen for a moment. She gave into the temptation and wrote what he’d said word for word. She looked at it for a long moment, once again chewing on the pen lid. The cup beside her moved as the earth trembled again.

Then she leaned back over the page. I know no one agrees with my decision, but if something happens and the others need to run, I want them to do so. If need be, leave me behind. For example, if the volcano blows up, or if there is a chance of rescue—a boat or a plane that can only take three and not four. They can always come back for me later. But I do not want them staying and dying because I made a mistake and got injured. She signed and dated it, and then gave it back to Jim. “Sign it to say you agree.”

Jim shook his head. “No.”

Lou growled and pulled herself to her feet. “Then what’s the point of me doing that? Are you just humoring me?”

“Lou…” He reached out for her.

She shook him off. “Don’t you ‘Lou’ me! It makes sense, Jim, you know it does.” She lowered her voice. “Staci is your sister; you have to take care of her over me. She’s all you have now.”

“And Ailsa? I’ve known her a few days. You…we practically grew up together. You’re like another sister.”

She swallowed, bitterness filling her. “I can tell by the way you look at Ailsa that there is a whole lot more going on than either of you realize. But at the end of the day, I’m crippled and useless and you need to protect those of us who aren’t. It’s what the animals do, right? They abandon their injured to protect the rest of the herd. Survival of the fittest.”

“We’re not animals!” he snapped.

“Sometimes I think we treat them more humanely than we treat each other.” She turned her back on him. “It’s what I want. Please give me dignity and respect my wishes.”

The birds in the trees suddenly took to the air, squawking and swirling, heading over their heads and away, in one movement.

Deefer leapt to his feet and howled.

Lou reached out and grabbed his collar. “Hey, it’s all right.”

Staci jumped up. “What’s going on?”

The ground moved violently.

Staci staggered and lost her balance, landing in a heap at Jim’s feet. He instantly wrapped his arms around her.

Lou looked at the volcano. She grabbed the camera and started snapping quickly.

A jet of red lava shot high into the sky.

The earth shook again, followed by a nonstop cascade of fiery molten rock that surged several feet upwards, before curling over and beginning to creep down the sides of the mountain.

Staci screamed, tears of fright filling her eyes. “Jim…”

“It’s OK.”

“No, it’s not OK. We’re going to die. Just like all those people did years ago. We violated the temple and now Kuriarikan wants his revenge.”

Ailsa nodded. “We should go.”

“And go where?” Jim looked at her. “We can’t out run it.”

Lou tuned them out. The lava belched high, turning the darkening sky blood red. “It really is OK. It’s erupting, yes, but we’re fine.”

Staci turned to her, totally panicked. “You don’t know that.”

“Trust me. I’m doing all this stuff in geography. When it throws out molten rock like that, so long as we’re not in a direct path of it, we’ll be fine.” Lou took some more photos. “And trust me when I say we can out walk a lava flow. Well, you guys could.”

“But look how high it’s going.”

“Once it hits the ground it crawls along. Any volcanologist will tell you the same thing.” She turned back to the volcano.

Seeing the eruption close up was incredible. News reports and clips on the Internet didn’t even come close to the sounds and majesty of it.

“We have to go,” Ailsa insisted.

Jim shook his head. “Lou’s right. We’re not in any danger, right now. And if we are I’ve promised I’ll get you guys away.”

Lou nodded. “So how about you guys go and stand over there, and pose for me? Another one for the logbook.”

Reluctantly the two girls stood on either side of Jim, silhouetted against the volcano.

Lou took several pictures and then put the camera away.

Staci sat next to her, still shaking. “So how come this eruption is different?”

Lou wrapped an arm around her. “You mean if the last one killed a lot of people?”

“Yeah.”

“They just are. No one knows why. Some volcanos, like the ones on Hawaii, erupt all the time, others like Mount Etna, alternate between doing this, and chucking rocks and stuff out. Some, like the Iceland ones with the unpronounceable names, just chuck up loads of ash, while others mutter and moan for a long time, and then blow their top.”

“Like Mount St. Helens?”

“Technically that blew its side, but yeah. Maybe the last time this blew and caused that disaster the temple spoke about, that’s what this one did. Depends on how viscous the magma is and how much gas has built up inside the volcano itself.”

“Magma?” Staci asked.

“That’s what they call lava before it reaches the surface.”

Jim laughed. “My, my, you really do pay attention in geography.”

Lou nodded. “It’s my favorite subject, along with history. And I love watching disaster movies. I have so many volcano ones at home…” She broke off. “Anyway, my point is, they don’t all have pyroclastic flows all the time.”

Staci frowned. “What’s a pyro…whatever you said?”

“A pyroclastic flow is the cloud of ash and lava that rolls down the side of the volcano really fast, like at Mount St. Helen’s or Pompeii.”

“Oh, right.”

Lou nodded. “See when the main crater is blocked, the pressure builds up like in a kettle, or a saucepan when making popcorn. If there’s a lot of gas building up inside the volcano, it mixes with the rising magma and explodes violently. The magma becomes ash and pumice and rock. But if there’s no gas, then you get a lava eruption, like this one. It’s just pretty and noisy, but fine.”

Jim grinned. “A bit like Lou, really—the explosive and noisy type, that is. Not the pretty one. Hey, we should call this volcano Mount St. Lou.”

“Personally I think Mount St. Jim would be a better name,” Lou shot back quickly. “Any ash that gets thrown out causes massive problems for any aircraft flying overhead. It means they have to be diverted or grounded. All the planes in Europe were when the volcano in Iceland erupted.”

“OK.” Staci paused. “See this trip has turned into something educational after all.” She looked over at the volcano. “It is pretty.”

A while later, Lou glanced up.

Darkness had fallen completely now, apart from the sky being on fire.

“I’ll take first watch if you like. Write up the log. I’ll wake you at two or three, Jim.”

Jim nodded. “OK, thanks.”

Lou flicked through the log book as the others settled down. She didn’t suppose anyone would sleep much, but then she didn’t intend to either. She picked up the pen.

November 22, day 5 continued. Sometime after dark. Lou writing.

The volcano erupted. Jim was right again; just don’t tell him I said so, because he’s big headed enough at the best of times, without being encouraged. But so long as the lava flow keeps to the left, which it is at the moment, we should be able to avoid it. And we’re far enough away for it not to be a great problem. Not that I can go very fast, but that’s beside the point.

Haven’t written in here for so long, I can’t think of anything to say. Or a way to ruin it. Shocking, I know, but I’m out of practice. I do know a really bad beside the point joke but I’ll save it for later.

It’s not raining. And there’s no ash fall. Which is good. Not sure I fancy camping outside in the rain. Or in an ash fall either.

I see from flicking back over several pages, that Jim said my leg’s infected again. Unless we find a hospital here, and I seriously doubt we’ll find one, or a large supply of antibiotics, it’ll stay that way. That green stuff Ailsa made is pretty good, once you get over the really nasty taste.

My watch has stopped working. Guess the battery died. My leg hurts. Tired again, now. I sleep too much. Love the way Jim doesn’t think I sleep enough. Reckon he must be sleeping on watch then, because some nights I can barely keep my eyes open long enough to lie down.

Oh, as it’s later. Here’s the really bad joke. I know Jim won’t get it. But never mind.

Point. That’s.

Lou closed the book and shifted so she was lying down, watching the eruption. Lava still flew high into the air, the ground vibrating beneath her. The force of nature, destructive, but renewing itself.

Jim would insist on it being a God thing and liken it to the human soul being renewed by fire.

She wasn’t so convinced.

But that was an argument for another time.

Right now she had an erupting volcano to watch, something she wasn’t ever likely to see again in her lifetime. However short that turned out to be.