Escape (Island Book 3)
From the book:
Mangosteens.
Will
Greenfield sat up on his raft, working with a knife to cut open a
mountain of the plum-sized fruit.
Mangosteens!
In the world of naming foods, who had come up with that one? It
sounded like a partner in his father's law firm: Berkowitz,
Greenfield, and Mangosteen.
They
were good, though. Actually, they were delicious. But that was beside
the point. Six lives were in danger. Important work had to be done
for their very survival. And what was Will's job? A mangosteen fruit
salad.
Just
because he'd had the bad luck to get shot. And now this fever. 99.8
degrees, and everyone was treating him like he was on his
deathbed.
He'd
run higher fevers from a bad cold.
For
an instant, a sense of foreboding replaced his irritation. His thigh
didn't hurt exactly, and the numbness was gone now, so that was a
good sign, wasn't it? But still it felt somehow -- wrong.
There was a strange rhythmic throbbing, almost like a second
heartbeat down there. One minute the leg would seem strong enough for
him to get up and dance. The next, it would be so weak he wasn't sure
it would even support him.
No
way! It was all in his imagination. And no wonder, with Lyssa moping
around, looking at him like he was dying. He was perfectly okay. He
could be helping -- contributing! Not cutting up some fruit
with a name that sounded more like a pediatrician.
Dr.
Mangosteen will see you now....
He
looked around the beach. Everyone was busy. Even J.J. was fishing.
Lyssa was fiddling with the lifeboat's broken radio. If they got off
this island, Lyssa was probably going to end up the hero somehow. It
was just the way things went for her -- Lyssa, the beautiful,
talented, straight-A student. And her older brother, the awkward,
freckled slug.
He
could picture his sister on the front page of every newspaper. Even
on TV:
"Lyssa,
how did it feel when you fixed the radio and made a long-distance
antenna out of a banana to call in the marines to save you?"
After
a long interview, the cameras would turn to Will. "Weren't you
shipwrecked too? What was your job on the island?"
What
would he tell them? Oh, I sat around and cut up
mangosteens.
And
the reporter's face would go suddenly blank. "Cut up
what?"
That
was the story of his life with Lyssa. Will never had a chance to
succeed. What kind of contribution could you make by sitting on a
beach staring off into space?
And
then he saw the black speck move. It was just over the horizon and
getting larger every second.
Forgetting
his wound, he leaped to his feet and immediately crumpled back to the
raft.
"Plane!"
he bellowed. "Plane!"
On
the surface, it looked like pandemonium. But in reality, it was a
carefully planned and well-practiced drill. Lyssa and J.J. dropped
everything and raced to fill pots with seawater. Ian ran for the
tarpaulin in the jungle. It was made of four rain ponchos sewn
together and filled with dead leaves. He grabbed it and hauled it
over to the bonfire.
If
those leaves were thrown on the blaze and then the water dumped on
top, the result would be a column of thick gray smoke that would
extend hundreds of yards into the sky -- an SOS that would be seen
for miles around.
It
was a moment the castaways had played over in their minds dozens of
times -- their chance at rescue.
Will
had never felt more helpless. This could mean his life -- all their
lives! And he couldn't even walk. He got on his hands and knees and
crawled across the sand to the bonfire.
Don't
blow it! he tried to will the others. Do everything exactly
right!
Still,
they hesitated. They did not dare signal until they knew for sure
whom they were signaling to. If they sent up the smoke, and the plane
turned out to be carrying the smugglers, they'd be giving away their
presence on the island. And that would be fatal.
Lyssa
peered through the binoculars that had come with the survival
kit.
Will
tugged at the legs of her fatigues. "Can you see it? It's rescuers,
right?"
She
shook her head. "They're still too far off."
"Let's
just go for it," urged J.J. "Get this over with one way or the
other."
"Don't
you dare!" snapped Lyssa. "Maybe you've got a death wish, but the
rest of us want to live to grow up."
"This
is awful," said Ian. "I wish we could just know."
"Wait
a minute." Lyssa squinted into the binoculars. "It's banking to the
side . . . it's definitely a floatplane . . . oh, my God!"
"What?"
squeaked Ian.
"It's
them! The smugglers!"
"Are
you sure?" Will asked breathlessly. "All planes look alike!"
His
sister shook her head. "Single engine, with a fat cargo hold
underneath. It's them, all right."
Her
words triggered more frantic action. But if the last drill had been
fueled by hopeful anticipation, this one was driven by disappointment
and dread. The castaways, even Will, began throwing sand on the
bonfire. Soon the flames were smothered to nothing, and not a trace,
not so much as a whiff of smoke, remained.
Will
held on to his sister's shoulders and began to hop toward the
lifeboat under cover of the trees. J.J. was hot on their heels. Ian
brought up the rear, brushing their footprints from the sand with a
leafy branch.
All
four looked up. Through the canopy of the rain forest, they watched
the floatplane descend over the island. As it swept overhead,
suddenly one of the doors burst open. A dark object fell out and
plummeted to the jungle below.
The
castaways ducked, even though the thing was nowhere near them. They
stayed down, bracing for -- what? An explosion?
"Was
that a bomb?" hissed Will.
"How
could it be?" scoffed Lyssa. "They don't even know we're here!"
J.J.
was the first to get up. "We're such saps. The guy was probably
having a Big Mac and he tossed the bag so he wouldn't have to mess up
the air base."
All
at once, Lyssa froze. "The air base!" she exclaimed. "That's where
Luke and Charla are!"
Will
frowned. "What are they doing way over there?"
"Looking
for medicine," she replied. "For you."
Copyright © 2001 by Gordon Korman, used by permission
Gordon's first action/adventure storyline now stands complete with Scholastic's release of Escape, the third and final title (baring Douglas Adams-style additions) in the Island trilogy. The exciting storyline tells of six kids on a character-building trip that turns out to be more character building than anyone ever would have guessed.
Caught at sea in a very nasty storm, equal measures of stupidity and bad luck lead to the destruction of their ship and the loss of the captain and first mate. The frightened kids all end up on a deserted island in the mid-Pacific, struggling to survive against the harsh climate and serious injury.
But when murderous smugglers begin using the island as a base of operations, the challenges and danger reach new heights. The six must now begin a daring plan of escape, or risk almost certain death for at least some of their number. One thing's for certain: Gordon's first action/adventure story succeeds well on both counts!
If you are at all interested in Gordon's writing, give these titles a try and see what you think of them. And if you want even further information, check out Scholastic's web site for even more information at: www.scholastic.com/titles/island