Truly Marooned

5. Six On A Quest

  "I have to go for... I don't know how long. Hope you enjoy the paint, use as much as you like," Ella suggests and makes a gentle smile to reassure Henry that he is safe.

  Ella exits the cabin and grabs some clothes for herself in her own. Henry has let out her sweet side, the side she was ashamed off and the side she rarely shows. The only people who have seen how soft she can be are her parents and Celia. Not even Pamela got a glimpse of it yet. It really took someone special for her to show it.

  "Look what I got!" Martyn calls when Ella returns to the boys who are packing backpacks.

  "What?" Adrian asks. Martyn grins and holds up a pink and white plastic bag full of soft marshmallows.

  "Perfect for the camp fire, this will be pretty awesome!" Martyn holds out his fist for Adrian and Jack to touch his knuckles with theirs.

  "Is this some kind of game for you?" Ella asks seriously.

  "No..." Jack responds.

  "You are treating it like one..." Celia softly speaks under her breath.

  "This is a mission to get ourselves off... Turninsula or whatever you call it. We need to be focused in order to achieve this," Ella explains.

  The boys show no guilt. "Relax a little. We're still teens and we need time to just chill. Not everything has to be serious, of course we will be thinking about this mission," Martyn explains.

  Jack stares at his friend; Martyn has such a smooth way with words. Sometimes Jack envies his friend's brilliant skill of making speeches, but he tends to shrug it off.

  "OK, good..." Ella responds. "Are you done packing yet?"

  "Pretty much," Adrian responds. "Here!"

  Adrian stands up with the six bags placed in front of him. "One bag each." Tina stands in disgust.

  "Do I really have to carry a backpack as big as that?" Tina asks. Ella doesn't roll her eyes and think about how pathetic Tina is, because the backpacks are actually quite large and rather heavy.

  "Well, what do you expect? This is meant to be for an over night trip, of course the bags will be rather big," Adrian explains firmly. Not many expect this from the boy who is usually quiet and in the corner.

  Tina sighs, a part of her senses that blackmailing them again will be no use. She lifts up the backpack and places it on her shoulders along with everyone else.

  "Well, looks like we're ready, let's go!" Jack announces.

  They come out of the large cabin and tread past all the other cabins. Several people who are washing clothes glance at them.

  "I thought they were not supposed to know," Celia whispers to Martyn.

  "They don't," Martyn snickers slightly. "They think we're out searching for gold or precious stones... Or some stupid stuff that archaeologists would find interesting."

  When the six of them are well away from the cabins, Jack treads towards the front.

  "What are you doing?" Ella asks him when she notices how far he is towards the front.

  "I'm leading the way," Jack responds like it's obvious, but Ella doesn't quite see why.

  "Why are you leading the way?" she asks challengingly.

  "For a start, I'm the King of this island. Secondly, I know exactly where I'm going," Jack explains.

  "Exactly?"