He skirted the island, wishing he had a depth sounder.“Watch for the reef,” he called.
Mila gave him a thumbs up as they came around the northern side of the islet.
With the barge now out of sight, Dobby relaxed a little.He slowed and scanned the shoreline.
The tsunami had devastated this island as well.Trees were flattened and what had been a sandy shore was covered in logs and branches.It would be difficult to pull the boat onto the shore, particularly with only two of them.
He called out to Mila, “I’m going around the western side.”
She nodded.
The sun beat down, heating the black rubber of the Zodiac, radiating it back at them.Sweat dripped down his back.
Mila wore only her strappy dress and would get burnt to a crisp.“Do you still have my shirt?”
“Yeah.”She dug it out of her bag and put it on.
Good.
He rounded the point and breathed out a sigh of relief.Finally a bit of luck.The western side had toppled trees, but the receding wave had pulled most of them from the shore and there was a clear sandy section.
The downside was, most of the trees were floating in the bay between them and the shore.
He cut the engine and lifted it from the water.
Mila glanced at him.“What are you doing?”
He grabbed an oar.“We’re both going to need to clear the water.”He plotted their path to shore and pointed it out to her.
As they rowed, he considered the next steps.It would be difficult to carry the boat through the greenery in order to hide it, but he didn’t want to deflate it in case they needed a quick getaway.
So that left hiding it in plain sight and hoping no boats or aircraft coming this way would notice it.
Anything out of the ordinary would catch the searchers’ attention.
He brought them right onto the sandy beach next to some trees.
He jumped off and then helped Mila disembark.She whistled and Trixie leapt off the boat and came to heel.
She exhaled, straightened her shoulders and asked, “What now?”
“I want to camouflage the boat and make it appear as if it’s part of the debris.”He pulled it higher up the shore until he was happy the tide wouldn’t drag it out, cleaned out the dog vomit, and spread branches and leaves over the boat.“Then we regroup.I want to try the team.They’ll be back on the ship by now.”The satellite phone was a last resort, but there was also no other way to contact base without Radar’s sig gear.
He helped her over to the shade of the forest.“Rest your ankle.”
She winced as she put some pressure on it, so it was probably hurting her more than she wanted to admit.
When the boat was covered, he placed his pack on his back, covered their sign on the sand and then joined her, scanning the forest.“We need to get under cover.”He picked her up in his arms.
Trixie growled.
Shit.
“No, Trixie,” Mila said.
The dog continued to growl, posture stiff.Dobby had worked with some military dogs in the past and though Trixie wasn’t well-trained, he gave the hand command to stand down.Trixie relaxed and so did he.
He carried Mila further into the forest, looking for a place she could rest.It was the same as the rainforest of the region, large trees, palms and vines, and leaf litter on the ground.
