"Lore," Taron shouted. "Watch out, there's a rip tide."

She flipped over on her back. He was right she swam like a fish. "Yeah, I see where it might be, right there in the center of the beach. I'll stay to the side here. I can see where that pool you are talking about drains into the water part way down the boulder field."

Lorelei started a leisurely backstroke over to the spot where the rocks glistened in the morning sun. Still relatively cool, goosebumps raised on her skin as she shed water when she stood up. Scrambling up the first several boulders, she paused to decide how to get past the sheer granite where a block broke free. Her feet were tough, calloused from continual barefoot walking.

She heard Taron scrambling up behind her, and warned him, "Watch your feet. I'm used to no shoes, but if you're not...."

"I'm good. Lead on. Clever to spot the water trickle. It disappears into the rocks at the bottom."

She nodded. "The sun gave it away."

"I can literally watch you turning brown. I always wondered if that was really possible."

"I'm lucky. Nothing happening with weird moles or such either. There," she pointed, "A fissure in this sheer spot. It goes right to the top. Can you handle it?"

"Sure, right behind you."

Lorelei wedged her toes into the crack and reached up to put her fingers in above her head. Flexing her muscles for the climb, it was good to be alive. The sun on her back felt great, and with four more caterpillar like movements, she hauled herself onto the top.

"Move over Lore, I can't get up there until you clear out of the way."

"Oops, sorry. It's amazing up here."

"There's the pool. Just like I thought. Let me check for saltiness." Taron squatted and dipped his fingers into the water, bring a little to his mouth. "It doesn't tasty salty, but I'll bring the test kit up here. Looks like we have a water source."

"Is it deep enough to rinse the saltwater off us?"

"Probably. Looks like there's a ledge a few feet down." He eased his feet over the edge, and slid in.

She followed him, and lowered herself in up to her chin, gently rubbing her skin to clear the salt residue. Ducking her head under, she ran her hands through her curls. Standing up she watched Taron finish his own clean up, and started along the ridge top, following the trickle of water leading into the jungle.

As she stepped into the trees, Taron tapped her shoulder.

"Do you want to continue, or go back and get some shoes?"

"Up to you. I'm comfortable like this, but shoes might be an idea. From the shine of the cliff up there, the rock shards might be pretty sharp. Obsidian is a glass, natives used it to make arrowheads."

"Let's follow this around and head back to camp. I'm hungry too. Breakfast, or have you forgotten about the Smarties you saved?"

"Food. Right. I tend to forget about it when I want to explore. The kids always have to remind me to eat." Lorelei moved to the side. "You take the lead."

Taron slipped by her and led the way to the right, following a well worn game trail. "Looks like there might be some monkeys out here." He pointed at some tiny distinctive tracks. "And do you smell that?"

Lorelei took a deep breath. "Hmmm, good. Smells like mango. I noticed a date palm and a coconut when I was out earlier. This place must be a stop over for migrating birds, or maybe there's been more than one person stranded here. There seems to be an odd conglomeration of plant life."

"Guava over there, not quite ripe. Keep your eyes open for the mango. Might be some other tropical types out here too."

"Ouch." Lorelei lifted her foot and brushed the bottom. Squatting, she ran her fingers through the debris on the forest floor. "I don't know how we're going to crack these." She held up a brazil nut. "Now I definitely want my Crocs."

"I'll watch my step." Taron slapped his thigh. "We've got bugs in here too. I think we're going to need our clothes."

"I think I have bug spray in my bag. A citronella based natural formula. Works great. I'm glad I never cleaned it out before this last concert. Brady and Andy are both allergic to mosquitoes."

"There's some great vines in here and leaves we can use to make a fish trap like you were saying. That's for later." Taron picked up the pace until he came to a fork in the trail.

"Beach is that way, I think." Lore said, pointing to the right.

"Yup. I see those little square holes from footprints going up the hill the other way. Confirmation she came from the area of the bonfire."

"Hurry back to the camp. I'm famished all of a sudden, and we really need to go find her. I'm so curious."

Taron chuckled. "Couldn't have said it better." He reached for her hand and tugged her along behind him.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"Ready?" Taron pulled the brush Lorelei handed him through his hair. He should have gone for that haircut. Overdue again.

"Yup. Socks cause I carry them whether or not I'm wearing them. Why didn't we have bug problems last nigh?" She accepted the brush from him and ran It through her own curls. "I've tucked my slacks into my socks. You're done too. Just my hands and face exposed. Here." She handed him the bug spray and he applied it to his exposed skin.

"I expect the storm settled them. This is better than the DEET sprays. I hate the smell of the stuff."

"It works as well or better too. It just occurred to me; I think we should lock the really important stuff into the aft baggage compartment. You have the keys, right?"

"Yeah, I do. You're right. The files, Gus, the sat phone. I don't want some animal to get into our food supply either." He loaded up his arms with as much as he could carry. Lorelei followed him and opened the compartment. Stacking everything in, including the little robot, he closed it and carefully turned the lock. "Done."

Taron let Lore lead the way back to the path. The discovery of fruit and nut trees made him happy. Even if they didn't need the food sources, back up plans never hurt. Following her tight backside was a pleasure in any case, and her response to him last night was extraordinary. Totally uninhibited. Maybe having an older woman for a lover wasn't what everyone teased him about. Good for a one night stand, cause they're desperate, but too needy to stick around for anything else. Well, Lore was worth a whole lot more than that.

The climb through the jungle wasn't steep, but steady enough to remind him his legs were sore from yesterday's efforts. He heard the trickle of water off to their left and wondered if there was a spring somewhere closer to the volcanic cliff. The crunch under their feet indicated a change from sandy loam to gravel and shale. Massive palms soared with shrubs and vines entangled around their trunks. The path remained clear.

"I figured we would be fighting with vines and other blockages," Lorelei commented.

"Me too. This path is well used."

She stopped abruptly, and he stepped to her side.

"Which way?"

A fork in the path gave them a choice, and he squatted to examine the footprints.

"Hmmm.... Her boot prints go both ways along here. Right is downhill. The fire was up on a wide ledge last night. Let's keep climbing. I do wonder where the other way goes though." Taron popped up to his feet.

"I'm sure they have things to harvest, and who knows if they've managed to snare birds for meat. Fish probably too. I know there were crabs in the tide pools along the beach."

He nodded. They turned left and continued to walk. "Let me lead now. I want to be cautious approaching. The fact that she didn't stay to see if she could help us makes me wonder what's going on. Is she naturally shy, or is there a reason for her reluctance?"

"I would have been all over us, to help at least, or make sure we weren't a problem if that's an issue. Look!"

"She's been here a long time." Taron admired the shelter.

"It's wonderful. Using the palm trunks as structure is genius."

"But where is our mystery woman?"

"Checking our traps."

Taron spun to face the man's voice.