4) Stranded

He looked around and squinted, trying to see one of the ships. A large crate drifted their way and grabbed ahold of it. He helped her onto it and then climbed on it himself. They held onto each other to keep from being blown off and they drifted for some time as they waited for the storm to stop. She shielded her eyes as the sun shined brightly through as the storm has passed. He nudged her and pointed and in the distance, she saw an island and perked up. He held her steady and they floated to the island. Once they got close enough, they swam to the beach and just laid there. Once they were rested and sat up, he went to interrogate her but she cut him off and suprised him.

"This is all your fault."

"My fault?"

"If you hadn't been looking for me, none of this would've happened"

"If you weren't so mysterious about your identity, I wouldn't have gone looking."

"Chasing a ghost story?"

"I think it's safe to say you're no ghost story."

"Happy with what you found?"

"No, I'm not. I used to be the most feared name and now I found out the only one more feared than me is a woman."

"Jealous, are we?"

"Not in the least."

Once she said her peace, she got up and walked away. Shane watched her walk away and pride made him walk the other way. Both were confident that their crews would come for them, not knowing that both were miles apart and too badly damaged to go anywhere. 

Kiera had made herself a shelter on the beach so her crew would see her if they passed by. Shane continued inland, hoping to find fresh water and food and wanting to be as far from her as possible. Near the beach, Kiera found a coconut tree and few feet in the tree line was a stream runnign through the island. Shane had managed to find wild game towards the center of the island, but with no weapon but a stick, it was a mistake. A wild boar had bested him, injuring him and knocking him unconscious. After four days, Kiera grew worried about him and left her shelter to look for him.

When Kiera came across him, she paled at seeing all the blood. She straightened her back and grabbed some large leaves near by and dragged him back to her shelter, which was not easy as the jungle was not coopertive. She ripped off her blouse sleeves and banaged him up after cleaning his wound. She gave him water and tried to feed him and when supplies washed up on the beach from the storm, she had enough to be able to change his banadges. She worried over him as he caught a fever and in her mind it was like watching Kevin fade away. She prayed he would recover.

Shane woke up a week later on a make shift bed. His shirt was gone and he felt the bandge on his side. He sat up and looked around at the shelter he was in and noticed the small fire outside. He carefully crawled out, pressing his hand to his side. He stood for a moment and tried to get his legs steady. He swung around faster than he shoudlve as he heard a gasp behind him. What he saw shocked him. He wondered what his bandge was made from but seeing Kiera's sleeves torn answered that. Kiera put the firewood down and walked over to him. She suprised them both by hugging him.

"Thank heavens you're awake. For a couple of days, I didn't think you were gonna make it."

"How long have I been out of it?"

"A little over a week now."

"How did you find me?"

"I went searching for something to eat besides cocnuts and bananas and found you."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"That hug?"

"I'm sorry. It was an impulse. My late husband died of a gun sht wound to the same place. The doctors eased his pain but there was nothing they could do. I sat with him for three weeks until one afternoon, he just didn't wake back up."

"I'm so sorry."

"It was six years ago."

"You must've really cared about him if it still bothers you."

"More than I realized."

"Who was he?"

"Earl Reddick of Westershire."

"That tale about you being a duke's daughter?"

"Real. My father married me to Kevin when he saw out attraction to each other."

"How long were you wed?"

"A couple of years."

"How does an earl die of a gun shot wound?"

"He was a pirate. When he died, he left everything to me. Three years ago, my nephew came of age, i was going to give it to him. We ended up splitting everything halfway. He's the only one who knew outside the crew."

When she walked away from him, he noticed the birthmark peeking out from under her blouse. Looking at that plus her white hair, he understood why Kevin named his ship The White Wolf.He found himself evious of Kevin, for even a short while, he had her love. Even though it was almost three weeks that they had been stranded, he found himself hoping it would be longer.