Martyn returns to the large cabin after he puts Ella in the cell. He finds Jack sitting on the throne, leaning on his palm with his elbow on the right arm of the chair.
"Jack, you alright mate?" Martyn is very casual towards his friend when other islanders are not around. Jack sighs and Martyn knows something is wrong.
"What's the name of that girl? The one with short curly hair?" Jack asks.
"Her name's Ella I think," Martyn responds. They never asked the girls names, but Martyn was over hearing the girls talking to each other on the way up to the little village.
"Right, this Ella girl... She doesn't seem to like me," Jack points out obviously.
"Why does that bother you? Everyone else in Turninsula seems to like you," Martyn smiles to lift up his friend's spirits.
"I don't know why it bugs me... I- Hey I know," Jack stands up and walks around to think for a bit. "She looks like someone who could lead a rebellion. What if she makes other people on the island dislike me?"
Martyn stands there, Jack has a good point. "What are you going to do about it then?" he asks. Jack thinks again.
"Sending her to prison was not a good move for this situation... How about we release her early? Let's make it half an hour instead of two," Jack suggests.
"Good idea," Martyn agrees. "What's the move after that?" he asks.
"Hmmm..." Jack places his hands on his chin in thought. "We make her have a good job! You know, an adviser or something," Jack smiles at his genius plan. "This can give me a brilliant chance to be as nice to her as possible while she is doing her job."
"Don't you think you're taking a bit too much action? Just show you are a nice King, you don't need to favouritise her like this do you?" Martyn asks.
Jack glares at Martyn. "I have reasons for my actions," he makes Martyn aware of that. Martyn stops smiling.
"I know, but I was just doing my job as being the adviser," Martyn responds. "That reminds me, if Ella's gonna be the adviser, what will I do?"
"Come on you're my mate! I won't kick you out, I'll keep you as my advisor, Ella will just be alongside you," Jack chuckles and wraps his arm around his friend.
Jack thinks about what life would be like on the island without Martyn. The atmosphere would be so different; it would be gloomy and nobody would be smiling. This was why Jack was such good friends with Martyn, he always knew how to cheer people up. Though, being on the island with Adrian would not be that bad. Adrian is quiet and doesn't talk much to the boys, that doesn't seem to bother them much. When Adrian does speak, everyone seems to notice it. He was overall quite mysterious, but still a good friend of Jack's, which is why he was chosen to be the scribe.
When the boys first landed on the island, they decided they would create their own place which they were in charge of. This was decided shortly after some men in helicopters came from the UK. When they realised the boys were well and truly stuck on the lonely island, they decided to come every week and provide them with basic needs as well as entertainment. At the same time, they found out this island was completely undiscovered until the boys were trapped. This meant they could claim it as their own and they ceased the opportunity.
Jack insisted on being King since he came up with the fantastic idea. Adrian and Martyn didn't care so decided not argue with him. Adrian slays had the talent for being good at writing as well as being organised, so Jack decided he would be the scribe. Martyn may not have been the brightest spark of the bunch but he was certainly great company for the King, so Jack chose him to be his adviser.
"So that's the plan then? Release her from prison early then promote her? What else?" Martyn asks. Jack thinks for a little longer then turns to Martyn with a grin on his face.
"Leave that..." Jack points his finger at his chest. "To me."
"OK. Are you going to promote her straight away?" Martyn asks. He likes to do his job right; Jack has quick impatience and if Martyn does something wrong, then his friend would probably crack.
"Not straight away... But what if she influences the mind of the people in Turninsula before then? It should be done soon! Send her to me tomorrow morning. That would be a good time," Jack suggests.
"Excellent. I'm on it, Jack!" Martyn smiles and gives a quick wink before leaving Jack's giant cabin. After Martyn leaves, Jack slouches in his chair and smiles at his genius plan.
___
Ella sits down in the dark prison cell, letting her thoughts drift her into a completely different world. Nothing can be heard in the cave apart from gentle drips plopping into a puddle they had created.
But she struggles to stay in her thoughts when she begins to hear a man's coughing and spluttering from a few cells away. Ella cringes at the sound, she prays the coughing will stop.
"Um... sir? Are you alright?" why did she ask that question? Of course he isn't alright. Ella gets no response; just silence.
The choking finally ends, but it's not the last she hears from him. She hears more painful coughing echoing through the chambers five minutes later.
Ella is now quite desperate to leave the cell in escape from hearing her fellow prisoner's torture. She sighs when she remembers that she doesn't have another hour and a half until she will be released and exposed to the warm sunlight.
Suddenly, Ella hears footsteps enter the cave. She presumes it's Martyn with another prisoner. Then she realises she only hears the footsteps of one person, so maybe it was Martyn who was visiting just to insult her.
Ella is right; it is Martyn. He doesn't say a word as he approaches her cell with the keys and unlocks the barred door. He holds it wide open for Ella.
"Am I being released?" Ella asks.
"By orders of the King, yes," Martyn answers. Slowly, Ella treads through the open door and is lead outside the cave.
Martyn gently guides her to the area where all the dark green cabins were situated. "You should get on with work now. The other two girls are washing clothes in the tub near cabin 6. You can go and help them," Martyn suggests.
"Um... Martyn?" Ella asks.
"Yeah."
"Why did Jack release me early?"
Martyn is quiet at first, then he shrugs. "I guess he was just in a good mood," he suggests.
Ella doesn't think much about it and continues walking on a head to the cabin area.
"Oh yeah," Martyn suddenly announces. "I forgot, the King wants to talk to you tomorrow after breakfast."
Ella turns at Martyn. "Why?"
Martyn thinks about the kind of response Jack would give if he was asked this question. It would probably be something along the lines of 'Don't question it, just make sure you're there on time!' However, Martyn is not like that. He is gentle and hates to use his power as an excuse to be impatient with everyone.
"I can't tell you. Orders," Martyn response in a sorry way.
"Please break the rules this once," Ella begs.
"Nope. Sorry, it's not gonna happen," Martyn is not usually this stubborn. The temptation to reveal to Ella what awaits her makes Martyn twitchy. To avoid more talk of the meeting, Martyn changes the subject. "Now you might want to get started on that washing with the girls before dinner. That's at 6:30 just so you know," Martyn rushes away from the large tub where the three girls stand to large cabin with Jack and Adrian.
Ella stands next to Celia and leans over the tub full of warm water. Celia's finger tips have turn slightly wrinkly from washing the islander's clothes by hand.
"Hey," she says when she notices Ella's presence. "What happened?" she asks, worried.
Ella suddenly realises that Celia and Tina don't even know she was put in a cave and behind bars.
"Jack chucked me in jail for being 'disrespectful'," Ella smiles when she sees the shock on Celia's face.
"What?! He can't do that! Well... He can I guess, he is the King..." Celia passes Ella a navy blue t-shirt and some special soap for clothes.
Ella chuckles as she washes the t-shirt. "Are you actually going to take him seriously?" Celia looks down at the soapy water and bubbles, almost as if she's ashamed of her respect for Jack. "I don't know about you, but whenever I see him, I'm calling him Jack. It would just be humiliating calling him 'your majesty' or 'your highness'." Ella explains.
"It could be worse," Celia points out. "He could be a nine year old."
"But he is fourteen or something. Like us. He doesn't really belong in that position. Neither do Martyn or Adrian... They are our age and just too young," Ella couldn't say anymore.
"OK, true," Celia gives in slightly. Ella smiles at her success. "But I'm not that bothered about their control. They seem to be running the place smoothly."
"I'm not sure. It will take a while before they earn my trust," Ella rinses the soap of t-shirt an hangs it up on a wire stretched between two trees. The water drips quickly onto the soft ground below. "By the way, where's Tina?" Ella asks as she walks back to the tub of clothing.
"She's warming up water over the fire," Celia responds.
There is quiet for a second which let's the girls drift into thought as they wash the islander's clothes. Celia wonders how her parents would react when they find out she is lost at sea. Will they cry? Celia feels they would more likely see the plus side of her no longer living in the Lane household.
Ella thinks about what to expect when she meets Jack tomorrow. Maybe it is related to why she was released from her prison cell early? Was the release sympathy before experiencing the painful punishment awaiting her the next day? What would this punishment be? Maybe an extra two hours of work. Maybe they had a whip hiding in the cupboard at the back of the large cabin. Ella shakes the thoughts from her mind; she's not scared of some teenage boy.
After a few hours of washing everyone's clothes and drying them in the warm sun and gentle breeze, some good meat is served for everyone on the island.
The food was caught on land with some traps or in the air with a shot gun. The dead animals were skin or had their feathers violently pulled out then cooked on the fires dotted in the middle of the circle of cabins.
Ella, Celia and Tina are not keen on the food but are soon able to clear their disgust with the help of their hunger.
The three of them devour into the food without a care in the world of what kind of meat it is. When they finish nibbling from the bone, they lick their fingers in delight.
"Hey, you two!" Celia and Ella look up from their greasy fingers. They notice Martyn making a gesture as a way of telling them to come over.
They do as they are told and head towards Martyn who already has Tina by his side. The dislike between Tina and her victims have is still strong, which is why she takes the opportunity of staying away from Ella and Celia when she has the chance.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I don't want you running around here with no clothes so we are going to give you lot a set of clothes," Martyn leads the girls to the cabin next door to the large one.
This cabin has two beds and piles of wooden boxes in the corner. Martyn reaches for the boxes and brings them down for the girls to dig through the clothes.
"It's not a fashion show here, so don't be too picky," Martyn grins and opens the boxes.
Ella and Celia pick up a variety of clothes. Some for warm days, some for cold days. They are t-shirts, jumpers, jeans, shorts and couple of skirts.
Tina picks up items one by one and holds them up high so she can examine them. Every time, she frowns and chucks the clothing back in the box.
"Why isn't there anything decent in here?" Tina asks in frustration.
"Hey, what did I tell you?" Martyn steps forward. "It's not a fashion show. The only people who see will be the islanders and they are pretty much your family now so it's no big deal."
Before Tina could spit out words about how she can't look bad in front of strangers, there is a loud knock on the door of the cabin.
"Right on time," Martyn rushes to the door and opens it. Standing in the doorway, is Adrian with a notepad and pen.
"Girls," Martyn invites Adrian into the cabin. "This is Adrian, you 've seen him before. All he's here to do is take your name down and the cabin you're staying in. Also your birthday and your address so we can contact your friends and families."
Adrian nods at each of the girls. He doesn't say a word as he takes their names down. Ella and Celia decide on being in the 24th Cabin together since neither if them could bare sharing a cabin with Tina.
When their full names are written down, Adrian gives a gentle smile and leaves the cabin. There is silence after the door is slammed.
"Come on! Let's get a move on. Grab the clothes and go!" Martyn claps his hands to speed up the process. Ella and Celia have already chosen their clothes but Tina still is unsure about what to wear.
They all exit the cabin when Tina finally decides on some clothes. Ella and Celia enter cabin 24 so they can sort out their clothes. Tina does the same thing with cabin 25.
The cabin is not the most tidy thing in the world. Cobwebs have been collected in the corner which doesn't bother Ella or Celia too much. They are just relieved they have shelter. Tina's reaction would be described more as disgusted than relieved.
Despite it still being quite early in the evening, the girls are tired from the busy day they have had. Ella can't believe that the argument with Pamela was only in the morning.
Ella and Celia get into bed and wrap themselves up under the duvets. Ella stares at the ceiling and thinks about her punishment the next day.
"What do you think they'll do to me tomorrow? Will I be beaten up or what?" Ella asks Celia, sensing her friend is still awake.
"Don't worry about it," Celia responds quickly.
"I'm not worried. I'm just... Concerned for my safety," Ella protests. Celia sighs at her denial.
"You don't need to be 'concerned'. We're not on this bloody island. This is all just a dream," Celia explains.
"Are you sure about that?" Ella asks.
"Sure, we're probably just on the airplane right now, dozing off," Celia suggests.
"OK..." Ella decides not to have top much of an opinion on Celia's theory. She hates to be wrong and if she is not sure which is correct, she chooses to say nothing.
It has been a big day and the girls need a rest. Despite being in a completely different environment knowing they would never escape, they get to sleep very quickly. Maybe they can wake up from this terrible dream.
Hey guys, sorry if this chapter is short, I can't really tell on safari on my iPod. And sorry for the chapter being quite uneventful but the story will start properly kicking off in the next chapter! Vote, Comment or Fan but only if you think I deserve it. (I'm not that fussed about votes really, I write because I like to write.) And please point out ways of improving. It would really help me and probably give you less pain in reading my stuff.
MirlyMe :)