They couldn’t save the dog.It might attack them.
The dog yelped as a heavy tree trunk bumped into it and its head went under the water.
Mila gasped and stretched her oar out to it.It surfaced, splashing, and latched onto the oar with its teeth.
Dobby swore as she pulled the dog towards the boat.The jungle was still clear and the other dog stood on the shore.“Mila, we can’t…” His words died as both she and the dog looked at him with wide imploring eyes.
He swore again.“If it attacks us, it’s going back into the water.”
She nodded and he swung his rifle around and hauled the dog into the front of the boat, keeping between it and Mila.“Take us out of the bay.”
He readied his gun as the dog lay panting in the bow and then vomited sea water all over the boat.Dobby shook his head as Mila laughed and accelerated.
“I’ve got half a mind to send you to the front to clear debris,” Dobby said.He eyed the dog who had finished retching and then shook itself, the water spraying all over Dobby.Then it wagged its tail and lay down, avoiding the vomit which had slid to the middle of the boat.
Well damn.
“I think she likes us,” Mila said.
It certainly looked that way.He checked the jungle and then shifted his pack so it stayed out of the vomit.He approached the dog who was watching him with cautious eyes now.Staying low, he reached his hand out and let the dog sniff him and then stroked its chest.Its bones could be seen sticking out beneath its fur.
It really had been starved.
The dog wagged its tail again, this time a little hesitantly.
“You’re all right,” Dobby said.“You’re safe now.”
He sighed.
What the hell was he going to do with a dog?
Chapter 14
Mila had nothing left.She’d slumped at the back, hand gripping the rudder, staring out at the ocean as if it was her saviour.
They were almost somewhere they could rest, but he wanted to keep her alert.
“Who taught you how to use these engines?”He’d been impressed that she hadn’t even hesitated.
She glanced at him and forced a smile.“My dad.His company builds these.It’s how he and Mum met.”
“Nice.”He kept his surprise to himself.Her father must be worth a lot of money.The whole military used these types of engines because of their reliability.“Keep the speed low.We don’t want to damage the boat on any debris.”
She nodded.
If he’d had his team with him, he would have rowed, but he couldn’t make Mila do more than necessary.
As they cleared the point of the bay, he shifted past the dog to the bow and retrieved an oar to push debris out of their path.
No one had followed the dogs yet, but that didn’t mean they were clear.Agus had his boat.
The gunshot wound probably wasn’t fatal and Agus could go to the medical centre for treatment.It would keep him busy for a while.
He shook his head, unable to believe everything that had happened since he arrived.Up ahead was the islet where he hoped to rest.It was about five hundred metres offshore and he could walk around it in an hour, but it was uninhabited and that’s what he needed.
The unknowns were how shallow the reef was, what kind of state the shore would be in, and whether someone would spot them.There was still no word from the team, but they should have arrived back at the ship by now.
The debris was thinning out so he shifted to the stern next to Mila.
