It's been a while since I actually posted another chapter, but someone is actually reading it! And commenting! So, YAY! Anyway, that's why I've decided to pick up posting again.
Another Trial Accompanied by More Error
“Kal, are you in position?” Janner asked from where he stood behind the raft, ready to push it out into the sea. Kalmar stood towards the front where they had situated a makeshift mast and jungle-leaf sail and nodded.
“Now, remember,” Janner said as he placed his hands on the raft and braced himself, ready to push with all his strength. “This is just a trial run. We have —”
“Yeah, rocks that weigh about as much as the stuff we’re taking, since we don’t want to waste our clock-o-nut canteens or the dried diggle meat that I’m also sick of,” Kal interrupted him. “We’ve done this plenty of times, I know how it works. Just try it already!” He gave an impatient little hop, and Janner silently thanked his brother that he hadn’t jumped down on the raft with his full weight.
“Okay, hold on!” Janner grunted as he pushed the wooden raft across the logs they had laid on the beach to aid in the trial runs. The raft began to move slowly, and he heaved again, this time pushing the raft with his shoulder. Janner felt sweat dripping into his eyes and he blinked quickly, wondering how one teenager, a few pounds of rocks, and a wooden raft could weigh so much. It’s the raft, he thought as he rested, his hands on his knees. He glanced up at it and let his head fall again. Definitely all that wood.
“Come on, Janner! One more shove. You’ve almost got this,” Kal urged him from just a few feet away.
Janner laughed. “Look, Kal, if you want to get out and help me push, that would be really helpful.”
“But you said you wanted a heavy constant on the raft so it wouldn’t jolt so much when you got on it,” Kal looked at him in confusion. “Did you change your mind?”
Janner stood up and planted his hands on the raft’s edge again. “No I did not change my mind. I was mostly trying to keep you talking so I could have a breather.” Kalmar grinned, and Janner smiled back at him.
“Here it is,” he called, indicating for Kal to brace himself. Janner rammed into the raft one last time and felt a wave of relief as he pushed off of the beach and into the water. “Kal!” he shouted. “Is she holding up?”
Kal steadied himself and looked around, inspecting each corner of the raft. He looked at Janner and gave him a thumbs up. “Return to Anniera XIII is still floating.”
Janner shook his head, wondering whether a raft that they had failed to build twelve times before even deserved a name. He chose not to voice his thoughts and instead asked: “No leaks?” He waded into the water and to the raft’s edge, where Kal reached down and helped pull him onto the raft.
“Nope.”
A huge smile spread across Janner’s face. “Great. Then let’s raise her sail and test her to see if she holds up for longer than two minutes.”
The boys carefully raised the leaf sail, which they had sewn together using thin vines, plonkfish bones, and the largest jungle leaves they could find. It looked a little bit ridiculous, but the leaves were strong and the vines were as well. Janner prayed the raft would last in the sea and that the sail would stay together. If it didn’t, they could always sew it. He was planning on bringing extra leaves and vine.
The raft was still together after another three minutes of “sailing,” and Janner decided they should try to use the rudder. He directed Kal to go and adjust it, not to send them out towards anything, but to send them back to the island.
Just as he went to do so, Janner noticed a small puddle of water forming in the front right corner. “Kal! Wait,” he said quickly. Kal stopped in his tracks and turned. “It’s leaking,” Janner said, unable to keep the dejection and frustration out of his voice.
“Well, we still have to get back to shore, don’t we? So can I still try out the rudder?” Kal asked eagerly.
Janner shrugged and put his hands in his pockets. He stared east, seeing nothing but endless blue water that turned into endless blue sky. His view shifted and slowly became the sandy jungle landscape of the island they had been on for the past three or so weeks.
“At least the rudder’s working,” Kalmar said from where he crouched next to the rudder.
Janner smiled weakly. “I guess that’s one thing we don’t have to fix.” He looked down at the puddle that had become deeper and felt water seeping into his boots. After weeks of hunting, building, running, chasing, and struggling, the soles were beginning to wear out. They had started separating from the bottom about a week ago, and the sides had gotten a few holes in them. Janner glanced at Kal’s boots. They had done the same.
When they were close enough to shore that he could wade without trouble, Janner jumped out and grabbed hold of the side of the raft, pulling it towards the shore. At first it was difficult, but it became abruptly light. Janner turned his head to the left and saw Kal pulling the raft, too, smiling reassuringly at him. They both knew that whatever changes they would have to make to get them off the island, they would do it together. That was what they had been doing for the past three weeks, and that was what they were going to continue doing.
That evening, Janner was still staring at the Return to Anniera XIII as Kal munched on some dried diggle meat. A cool breeze was blowing in from the east, but for once, it didn’t make Janner think of Anniera or Sara or their baby. It didn’t really make him think of anything at all, so determined was he to figure out what was wrong with the raft.
“This is driving me crazy!” Janner kicked the side of the raft in irritation. He plopped down in the sand and rested his head in his hands. “Kal, what is wrong with it? Why won’t she just float for longer than ten minutes?” They had found the lightest wood possible that was still strong enough to create a solid craft in. They had lashed the wood together far more times than they needed to, just to be sure it wouldn’t come apart in the water. Kalmar had even managed to stumble across pits of tar when he was out hunting, and they had coated every seam of the raft with it. Janner didn’t know what could possibly be wrong.
“What isn’t wrong with it?”
Janner turned his face toward his brother. He knew what Kal was doing and he knew it was the best way to figure out the issue. He just had to eliminate what the problem wasn’t and hopefully he would find out what the problem was. As long as I don’t come up with a slew of possible problems or new problems, we’re fine.
Janner closed his eyes slowly, breathed out, and opened them again. “Okay, it’s not a problem with the sealant. The tar isn’t the issue. Return to Anniera XIII is coated in tar. There’s no way she’s leaking.” Kal nodded and held up one finger, keeping track of the “nots.” Janner smiled at him and continued. “The wood isn’t separating. Those knots are too knotted to untie themselves. She’s not being blown over by the wind because her sail is topheavy, and she’s not being knocked closer to the water because the rudder is angled incorrectly.”
Kalmar held up four fingers now, and Janner wracked his brain, trying to think of all the technical things that could go wrong.
“Ugh, what am I missing?” Janner groaned, pressing his palm into his forehead and only wincing a little bit as a tendril of pain worked through his skull.
Kalmar chewed his diggle meat thoughtfully and spoke without swallowing. “What if it’s not really a problem with anything we’ve done to the raft? Maybe it’s not a leak or a loose vine or a lopsided something-or-other. Maybe it’s something a lot simpler.”
“Like what?”
“Like us,” Kalmar said simply as he stood up.
Janner furrowed his brow in confusion. “Wait, what do you mean?”
Kal sighed. “I mean, I think we’re trying to put too much weight on such a small raft. You, me, the things we’re taking, and then all the bits and pieces that go with the raft itself must weigh so much that it’s sinking.”
Janner opened his mouth to say something in protest, but then paused to think. As obvious as it was, Kal’s theory made sense. There was nothing wrong with how they had built the raft, per say. The problem was the raft itself! He had misjudged the size they needed, so now it was sinking.
He groaned in frustration and rubbed his eyes. “Now we have to start again. This is going to take forever! And I thought we were going to get back in time for the baby’s birth.”
Kal placed his hand on Janner’s shoulder. “Sleep on it. We’ll start working tomorrow. I’m sure that if we hurry, we’ll be done in no time.”
They walked over to the overhang where they had spent their first week, and laid down in the same places they had before. The sand was a pretty comfortable bed compared to the rock further inland.
Janner lay on his back, looking up at the ceiling that was slowly drifting into distant shadows in the dim light. “Do you think we’ll be done in time to find our way back before Sara gives birth?” he finally asked, wondering what Kal thought.
It took him so long to answer that Janner thought his brother had fallen asleep. Eventually, though, he heard him speak in a quiet little boy’s voice: “I don’t think so.”
Notes: And of course Kal's voice is quiet and sounding child-like because he thinks Sara is dead.
p.s. Janner still hasn't remembered what happened, just an f.y.i., and he never fully will.
You posted more just for me? 😍
But also: I have to stop reading now??? Do you have bunches more all ready to post tomorrow??? I need to know what happens!!!
Oh, and I'm not so sure it's a smart idea to try to set out in a raft on the OCEAN where they can't find fresh water or food when they run out! But then, Janner does seem to be a pretty good sailor and navigator... does he really think he can figure out where he is and sail straight back to Anniera?