Page 18 of Uncharted

“I just think we should have stayed and tried to use the flashlight. He’s never going to see us during the day.” She blinks up at me.

“Easton and I could head back.”

“No, I should go. You don’t know morse code. How’s he going to know it’s us? He might think it’s pirates or who knows what. In the dark, we’re just going to be heads sticking out of the cliff side.”

“I know morse code. Cool down, Zane should chill. But we should leave now.” I turn to Easton.

Calvin looks at the rest of us like we’re babbling in another language. “I don’t like it. But fine. The flashlight’s in the dry bag. I’ll light the stove, then you can take the flint and the flashlight.”

Haley hurries around, making us some food.

“If you’re not back by midday, we’ll come up to you,” Calvin says as he hands me the pack of food that I made. I take it from him and try not to do a very Calvin-like growl.

We’re past the waterfall pool and heading up the mountain by the time Easton starts to get talkative. “Do we have a plan?”

“I flash SOS with the flashlight until he sees it or we run out of batteries.”

“Remind me how to do it.” Easton asks.

“Short, short, short, long, long, long, short, short, short.”

“Okay, got it.” He does it.

“Good, we can take turns.” I nod. I’ve been racking my brain what to signal if we manage to make contact. I’m figuring R-A-F-T might work the best.

Easton and I make quick work of getting back to the cave. On our way there, we gather as much firewood as we could. Maybe the smoke floating down over the cliff might get his attention?

I start the fire outside the cave’s mouth. When I open the pack, Haley has thrown in a towel. I have a feeling if she could, she would have given us a cushion too. I hold the towel up for Easton to see.

He laughs. “I was wondering why the thing was so damn big.”

I hand him a piece of jerky.

“Thanks.”

I nod and eat one myself. I’m getting pretty damn good at getting a fire going. The two of us sit around it. It is going good and strong by the time the sun has started to set. It’s dark but not completely. “You ready to do this?”

“Yeah. It’s about time. I’m good if you’re good,” Easton says.

“Let’s do it.” The tunnel is long and dark but somehow a little less intimidating with a flashlight in my back pocket. “I’m in position,” I say as much over my shoulder as is possible. “He’s not outside, and neither is the dog.”

I start off with a string of words, “Sam, hey, Penny, cheese, treat.” Then I just start singing, loud and crazy. Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” is the first thing that pops into my mind, so I just go with it. Then I switch to Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl.” Nothing. When I stop singing, I wait a minute and listen. It’s silent. Maybe a bark, but I can’t tell. The wind is blowing right at the cliff. Which fucking sucks for two reasons. One, I’m fucking done with lying in a dark in a cave with a rock sticking in my junk. And two, I’m shining the flashlight as much on the wheelhouse as I can. I’ve been at it for a long time, and it’s getting darker and darker. There are no lights on inside the boat. If I didn’t know that Haley had seen them, and if I hadn’t heard the dog bark before, I’d really have thought it was a ghost ship.

I stop the rhythmic flashing of SOS and just wave the light around the glass in the cockpit.

Nothing.

I’ve scared some birds away, and that’s about it.

I turn the flashlight off. “I think Sam must be sleeping or working down below on something.” I say to Easton. I put my head down and rest my chin on my arm. This position is like holding a yoga pose for too long. I’m exhausted. Nature, hiking, it’s not my jam. A forty-five-minute SoulCycle class is way more my speed. Plus, looking at nice, toned asses doesn’t hurt.

“What do you see?”

“The ocean, a few seagulls, and a 200-million-dollar paper weight. No Sam, no Penny. It’s fucking frustrating.”

“Let me take a turn.” Easton pulls on my ankles.

“Yeah, whatever, sure.” I ease out of the little demon hole, scratched up. I’m sure I’ve got a layer of gravel pushed deep into my skin. I’ll be picking at it for weeks. I get to the first spot where we can shimmy around each other. “Keep going. I don’t need to feel your ass rub against mine.”

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