Chapter 8 Where's Charlie?

Chapter 8 Where’s Charlie?

Leah’s POV at 8 years of age.

The loud squawking of the birds woke us up the following morning.

Jacob and I stretched our bodies and yawned.

“Where’s Charlie?” Jacob asked me.

“I don’t know. Let’s see if we can find him.” I suggested.

While we exited our house, Jacob grabbed the telescope and stopped at the edge of water.

He peered through the lens and exclaimed, “I see him. He’s across the way on the other beach. He must have swam across and fell asleep there.”

“Come on Leah.” He motioned me over to the boat. I grabbed a bunch of flowers and put them in the boat.

I helped Jacob put the boat in the water and then we both jumped in so Jacob could row across to get us to Charlie.

“What are you doing?” Jacob questioned me.

 “I’m making this flower necklace so I can place it on Charlie’s head. Then you can say boo and he will be surprised when he sees this on his head.” I said with a smile on my face.

I was waiting for Jacob to say something to the nature of it being girly or him rolling his eyes. You can imagine my surprise when he laughed and thought it was a funny idea.

Before I knew it, we were at the location where Jacob had spotted Charlie. I jumped out of the boat followed by Jacob.

 Charlie was lying on his side with the barrel around his arm.

We approached him very slowly. I placed the wreath on his head.

“Charlie wake up, it’s us.” Jacob said to him out loud.

I figured he probably had some sand in his ears so I screamed louder.

“Wake up wake up!!” I shouted.

Jacob decided to turn Charlie on his back.

Charlie’s eyes were wide open and his face was gray as slate. The shocking thing was the crab coming out his mouth.

The next thing I knew a wave of darkness came over me.  I felt as if I was being carried in Jacob’s arms as he was running to the boat where we had left it.

I felt the waves under the boat as Jacob rowed back to our house.

When I finally awakened, I was in our house with Jacob beside me.  I was a bit disoriented and then it hit me that Charlie was dead. It was only Jacob and I. The thought scared me so I started to cry.

Jacob petted my knee and said to me “Lee Lee don’t cry, we’ll be alright I promise you.”

“We need to get some sleep.”

I had Jacob hold me tight that night while we slept because I was afraid that I would wake up and he would have left me as well.

The next morning, we packed everything up in the trunk and placed it in the boat. I was dressed in my dress that I had worn when we first arrived on this horrid island.

Jacob showed up with a bunch of bananas and placed them in the boat.  He pushed the boat onto the water and decided to row away from this wretched place that we once called home.

The entire time he was rowing, I would just sit there and not utter a single word.

After some rowing, Jacob peered over his shoulder and shouted, “Look!”

We had come across a different island and to greet us there were two friendly dolphins who squealed as if to say Hello and welcome.

“This looks like a great place to stay for a while.” Jacob said.

I nodded my head in agreement with a smile on my face.

Chapter 7 The Law

Chapter 7: The Law

Leah’s POV at 8 years old.

One day Charlie was out getting some fresh fruit for all of us to eat.   When he came back to give us some bananas, he was quiet and remained so for the rest of the day.  I was thinking of asking what was wrong but then it wasn’t my place to pry in his business.

Later on that night, Jacob and I were playing with more items in the trunk.  Jacob was looking at the slide projector while wearing his pants, undershirt, a man’s red long silk shirt plus a bowtie around his neck.  I, on the other hand, was wearing my panties, slip, dress, a shawl and some gauzy fabric that I used as a veil. We had decided to dress up as a wedding couple.

Jacob and I were dancing around the campfire while Charlie was staring intently at the flames. Jacob said to me, “Alone at last my love.” My response was nothing but endless giggles.

“Jacob and Leah, I need you both to promise me something.”  Charlie finally spoke to us. 

 “You two need to swear that you will never ever go on the left side of the island.” Charlie told us.

We were too busy giggling and being silly to take him seriously.

“Why?” Jacob asked while still looking at the projector screen.

“Give me that.” Charlie roared while snatching the projector from Jacob’s hands.

“Because I said so, that’s why.” Charlie roared.

“There’s nasty things over there.” Charlie said with a stern look on his face.

“What kind of things?” Jacob questioned.

“Vile, evil, corrupt, and ungodlike things.” Charlie elaborated.

“Like what?” I asked Charlie.

“Yeah like what?” Jacob mimicked me.  I gave him a glare to show that it was annoying when he did that.

“For starters, the boogeyman lives there.” Charlie told us.

“The boogeyman!?” I shrieked out in a questioned tone.

I was starting to get scared. For some reason Jacob could sense my feelings and grabbed my hand. He squeezed it to reassure me that he was there to be my protector as always.

“Yes the boogeyman.” Charlie responded in a low voice with a sinister smile on his face.

“And do you know what the boogeyman does to little people like yourselves?” Charlie asked us.

“He eats little people like they are candy.” He replied.  “He chews them up bones and all.” Charlie elaborated.

I gulped and squeezed Jacob’s hand with all my might. I was surprised he didn’t yelp in response because I knew I was hurting him.

“Do you know what law is?” Charlie questioned us.

Jacob and I both nodded our heads to Charlie.

“Well, that’s the law: no going over to the left side of the island and that’s final.” Charlie stated.

We then got up from the campfire and walked over to our house while Charlie put out the fire.

The following day it was raining so Jacob and I had to play inside our house while Charlie was outside making sure the house was intact and that none of the rain would get in.

We were playing dress up again. Only this time, I was dressed as the man with a silk top hat I found in the trunk while Jacob was the woman with the gauzy veil on top of his head.

“You look funny.” Jacob said to me while laughing.

“So do you.” I said in agreement.

“Jacob! Leah! Are you still in here?” Charlie asked us while outside.

“Yes Charlie.” I responded.

Charlie came in and acted like he was stunned to see us.

“Ha Ha look at me.” Jacob said in a singsong voice.

“Ha Ha look at me.” Charlie mimicked him while putting on a feather boa from the trunk

I just giggled as his silliness and Jacob did the same.  Charlie couldn’t help but laugh as well.

Later that night while Jacob and I were eating by the campfire, Charlie stumbled out of our house wearing his long nightshirt and a bonnet.  Charlie decided he would amuse us by dancing around the campfire.

I couldn’t help but laugh as did Jacob.

“I love you Leah.” Charlie said in a slurred voice while giving me a sloppy kiss on the cheek.

“And you are a good boy Jacob.”

“You’re silly when you drink out of that barrel we found.” I told Charlie.

“I am?” Charlie questioned.

Jacob and I nodded our heads in agreement.

“Come on you two, let’s dance.” Charlie said while grabbing our hands.

We danced around in a circle around the fire and kicked our legs out.

“Watch this.” Charlie said.

He then made the lady tattoos on his chest dance by pushing his shoulders back.

Jacob and I couldn’t help but be amused by that. Charlie was smiling as well until he passed out in front of the campfire.

Jacob and I looked at each other and decided that it was time for us to get to bed.

While Jacob and I were sleeping, I heard Charlie singing and splashing in the water. I figured he was bathing himself and also catching fish for today’s breakfast.

I was so wrong at that assumption.

Chapter 6 Island Survival



Chapter 6 Island Survival

Leah’s POV at 8 years old

Later on that day Jacob and I were running along the beach laughing while Charlie was trying to keep up with us. Hearing his wheezy and haggard breath several miles behind us, we knew he could never catch up with us no matter how hard he tried.

He was trying to convince us that we needed a bath but we were trying to convince him otherwise.

“We don’t want to go swimming; we don’t have the proper clothes for it.”

“To hell with the suits, you don’t need them when you are in the tub do you?” Charlie said in between breaths.

“But this is the ocean not a tub, Mr. Swan.” I said maturely.

Jacob and I decided to check out more of the island we now called home.

During that time, Jacob was playing with the leaves on the grass while I was checking out an interesting insect that was  green and had two long legs. It looked like a big grasshopper.

Charlie was there guiding us on how to survive.  First thing he taught Jacob and I to do was fish with these long thick tree branches. He showed us how to cut the ends of them into a sharp point and then harpoon them into the water at the fish.

After killing the fish he showed us how to get all the guts out of it so we could properly cook it. I wasn’t happy with that demonstration.

One night, after Charlie went to sleep, Jacob told me that the hill we climbed the previous day was going to be the lookout point. Charlie and Jacob gathered the branches that we used for fishing and decided they would also work for creating a signal fire. The fire would let other boats know there were people stranded on the island and to come rescue us.

Charlie also taught Jacob how to make good knots. Charlie told Jacob, “If you pull tight at the end, it will be strong and durable otherwise you’d have nothing but loose string which won’t help you.

The following day we had a big gust of wind come across the island, Charlie decided it was time to build a proper house made out of palm trees, bamboo sticks, and the palm tree leaves.  I wasn’t much help so I decided to focus my attention elsewhere while Charlie and Jacob created our house.

Day after day, Charlie and Jacob focused on the house. Before I knew it, the house was complete. They were shaking hands, congratulating themselves, and smiling proudly. I have to admit I was happy too that they accomplished something without Jacob questioning something or Charlie losing his temper.

“Leah did you see this?” Charlie asked. He was holding a homemade sailboat.

“No sir.” I responded.

“That’s because I made it the way you showed me Charlie.” Jacob said with a triumphant grin on his face.

“Well you did a fine job my boy.” Charlie said while patting him on the back.

I hated to interrupt this male bonding moment but I wanted to go swimming.

“Jacob, let’s go swimming.” I said.

“Okay.” Jacob agreed forgetting about the moment he shared with Charlie.

I decided to take off my dress, slip and panties while Jacob took off his pants, shirt, undershorts and undershirt.  We threw the clothes by Charlie and went swimming in the ocean.

Swimming in the ocean was something I could never put into words but looking at all the bright colored fish that nature had to offer was a sight to see.  I was glad Jacob was beside me to share it with especially when he brought up a starfish for Charlie to see.

Of course when we came back up to the surface, Charlie wasn’t happy that we were naked and started to chase us with our clothes.

“Put your clothes back on. It’s not proper to be naked all the time.” Charlie tried telling us.

It pretty much fell on deaf ears because Jacob responded with,“I don’t want to wear my stinky old clothes.”

“Yeah same here.” I agreed with Jacob.

I don’t know if it was all the swimming I did or being naked but I never slept better than that night.

Once again thanks to Jess for being my beta and Mist for the lovely banner. 

Chapter 5 Exploring Nirvana

Author Note: I know its been a while since I last posted but I had some laptop issues which were quickly resolved thanks to a friend. Once again I want to thank Mist for the lovely banner and Jess, my ever patient and understanding beta. You guys rock. Now on with with the story and please leave reviews :)

Chapter 5 Exploring Nirvana

Leah’s POV at 8 years old.

Jacob and I decided to go exploring for a bit while Charlie sat on the sand catching his breath from bringing the boat onto the shore.

I was having a difficult time treading behind Jacob because of my shoes.  A half a mile later, I couldn’t take it anymore so I had to tell Jacob much to his dismay and annoyance that we had to stop.

“Jacob, we need to stop.” I said while sitting down on the rocky sand.

“Why now Leah?” He questioned, his annoyance evident by his whining tone.

“Because every step I take I feel like I am sinking thanks to the sand getting in my shoes and tights.” I pointed out to him.

“That’s exactly why I could never be a girl.” Jacob said in a condescending tone.

He then proceeded to tell me why boys are better than girls while I was getting my shoes and tights off.  After his 12^th reason why boys were better than girls, I couldn’t take it and decided to ball up my tights and throw them at his face.  The expression he returned to me spoke volumes. He came charging after me.

I screamed and ran back to Charlie with my shoes in my hands.

“What in the hell has gotten into the two of you?” Charlie asked.

“She threw her stinky sweaty tights in my face.” Jacob replied.

“Well you wouldn’t shut up about being better than me because you’re a boy.” I said.

“I don’t care who started what.” Charlie said in an angry tone.

Charlie had enough of our childish bickering and figured he would stretch his body out after resting.

Charlie decided to search around the island for more people, fresh food, and water. Jacob and I decided to follow him after I placed my shoes next to Jacob’s.

After an hour of shuffling around on the sand and pushing the tall grass out of our way, I was beginning to wonder what we were looking for exactly.

My eyes began to focus on the most colorful bird that seemed to follow our every move and when I pointed it out to Jacob, we began to giggle.

Unfortunately, Charlie didn’t find our laughter amusing nor entertaining so he turned towards us and displayed a stern face while putting his fingers to his lips to silence our giggles. As soon as our giggles stopped, with every step we took, I kept having the instinct I was hearing water.

My guess turned out to be right. Before us was a waterfall and at the end of it, a small pool of water.  Jacob couldn’t resist as he leaped into the crystal clear water and started splashing around while Charlie climbed the steep slope right beside the waterfall. I on the other hand decided to sit next to the pool that Jacob was playing in to rest my aching feet.

I noticed a barrel had floated against me and I decided to yank it out before Jacob spotted it.  I kept twisting the nozzle and nothing would come out. I placed my little pointy finger in the sprout and when I felt a liquid sensation on my finger, I pulled it out and placed it against my lips. I detected something on my tongue but I wasn’t quite sure what it was but the smell was slightly familiar to me

I did that for a couple of minutes until Jacob decided to come out of the water and see what I was doing.

“What cha doing Leah?” Jacob asked with his mouth full.

While I was trying to figure out the contents of the barrel, Charlie managed to get on top of the slope and locate a bunch of bananas near a tree.  He proceeded to break off the branch and throw them down to Jacob who in turn started eating them while Charlie slid down the waterfall towards us. 

“I am trying to figure out what’s in this barrel.” I told him.

Jacob got bored with the barrel and decided to do exploring on his own

“Mr. Swan, there’s a barrel over here that smells like the captain’s breath.” I told Charlie who was gorging on something.

“Captain’s breathe?” He questioned me.

He gently pushed me out of the way so he could figure out what was in the barrel.  He did the same procedure as I had but managed to figure out what was inside before I could.

“Rum, oh thank you sweet Jesus!” he exclaimed happily.

“Hey, look what I found!” Jacob shouted as he came back from his short expedition.  “It has little holes in it.”

He was holding what looked like a human head.

Charlie took it from him and had the most terrified expression on his face.  He quickly discarded it, grabbed the barrel and sternly told us, “We need to get out of here.”

Jacob kept trying to tell him that there were more but Charlie wanted to hear nothing of it.  We ended up walking away from the little waterfall and pool never to see it again.

We walked back to where our trunk and boat were located. We placed the barrel in the sand.  Charlie decided that we should check out what was located on the right side of us since we discovered that the waterfall.

It was nothing but land. Amongst the land was a huge hill.

After a while of climbing the hill, we finally came to the top and realized it would be a great view point for upcoming boats.

While Charlie and Jacob were conversing about not seeing Uncle Billy’s boat, I came across a little bush that had little red berries on it. I figured I would try one.

Just as I had one in my mouth I heard, “Leah!” Charlie screamed at me. “Get those things out of your mouth! Spit it out!”

The tone of his voice scared me so I ended up spitting out the berry and started to cry.

“I didn’t mean to make you cry.” He said gently this time around.  He ended up telling us that those berries were called never wake up berries. He said that if you ate one, you would fall asleep and never wake up.  “Let’s leave those berries alone.” He added.

Several hours later when night began to fall, Charlie started a fire so we could have some light.

“We had a cat that went to sleep and never woke up.” I told Charlie. “Uncle Billy said she was dead and buried. Do you think she ate some of those never wake up berries Mr. Swan?” I  questioned.

“Possibly.” He mumbled

He was pretty quiet about it until now. “What does dead and buried really mean?” Jacob asked Charlie.

“It means they put you in the ground,  and they cover you up with dirt hence the term dead and buried.” Charlie told us.

“Oh like Mrs. Uley’s baby. Lee remember?” Jacob replied, recalling our neighbor back in La Push.

“The doctor came to deliver the baby from the cabbage patch.” I said full of remorse.

“Cabbage patch?” Charlie asked bewildered.

“Yeah and then he came to bury the baby in the cabbage patch again.” Jacob said haughtily.

“So he could grow and become an angel.” I said while my focus was on the fire.

Charlie looked at us like we had concocted this story but it was the truth or so I thought it was at the time.

“I ended up digging that garden and I never did come across any angels or babies.” Jacob said with a sigh in his voice.  “Only worms.”

The next morning while I was playing with the music box, Jacob and Charlie were browsing through the slides and the telescope lens that came with it. One slide in particular had Jacob’s curiosity level peaked.

“Were you ever married?” Jacob asked Charlie.

“Several times.”  Charlie gruffly replied.  “In every port from La Push to Boston.”

He then mumbled about something but I was too far to decipher what he was talking about.  Jacob acted like he knew what Charlie was talking about but I was sure he had no clue as well. I did manage to catch the end when he mentioned, “They all have my eyes.”

“Charlie, what does subjugation mean?”  Jacob questioned.

“Something I’ve been avoiding my whole life.” Charlie quickly responded.

And with that the subject matter was closed.