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again and she lost her grip, at least she would not fall this time.  Eric did most of the pulling, and using her left hand and the cracks in the wall to her advantage, she made it to the top.  He grabbed under her right shoulder to hoist her the final distance and she gasped in pain.
    “What’s wrong?”
    “Nothing, I just fell on my shoulder.  I’ll be fine.”
    “When did that happen?”
    “Just now,” she said, rubbing her shoulder. “I was getting impatient.”
    He shook his head . “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.  I did a little exploring before I helped you up there.”  He gestured in the direction of a small brook.  “Thirsty?”
    She just about ran over to the weak little stream of water and dropped to her knees next to it.  Scooping handfuls of clean , clear water, she drank her fill until her stomach could not hold anymore.  Once she was full, she lay on her back, looking up at the blue sky above.  The top of the mountain was bare of trees.  The only vegetation was a short grass, through which dark black areas of rock showed through in places.
    She let out a sigh . “Wherever we are, this place sure is beautiful, if nothing else.”
    “It sure is,” he admitted, less than enthusiastic about it.
    Abby noticed that he seemed uneasy.  Something was wrong.  “Everything OK?  We found water. You should be happy about that at least.  Make the best of it.”
    He pointed to indicate the short distance to the top of the hill, or what they were now considering a small mountain.  “That’s the peak,” he paused. “I had to go that way to find the vine, so I took a quick look.  I’m not sure what to say.”
    She gave him a curious look.  She figured she might as well see whatever there to see.  It was about fifty yards to the top.  With her thirst satisfied, she had a newfound energy and outlook, and happily covered the distance while Eric tried his best to keep up.
    Abby reached the top well ahead of him.  She was breathing heavily, but was generally surprised at how good she felt.  She looked around.  The very top of the crest was still a twenty-foot climb above her.  So far she had not found anything too odd.  There was a pile of charred wood off to the side.  Someone had a pretty big fire going here at some point. 
    The pile looked as if it had been there for quite awhile.  There was not much ash.  It had probably blown away over time.  There was a pile of very large logs that were probably close to a yard in length each.  They were at various stages of having been burned.  Off to the side there were six or seven more large logs that had not been burned at all, though they seemed to have been weathered quite a bit.  Whatever its purpose, it did not appear that the fire had been lit at any point in recent months.  Dismissing the charred wood, she climbed up the last few yards to the peak, using her hands to steady herself on the unleveled terrain.  Reaching the crest, she stood up to take in the scene.
    In front of her , the mountain ran down at about the same incline they had just climbed.  Past that, the tree line started.  Approximately six or seven miles past the trees, as far as she could see, was the crystal blue clear water of the ocean.  Abby looked right, then quickly to the left, and then back in the direction where they had come from that morning, and the same scene played out all around her. 
    H er skin became hot and flush with panic as her heart beat in her throat.  She started breathing in uncontrolled short rapid bursts and quickly became light-headed as her world was flipped upside down.  She felt completely helpless, as the pit of her stomach seemed to sink past her knees.  They were not on some beach in California or even Mexico.  There was no road that was going to bring them home.  They were on an island.  “My God,” she whispered. 

4
     
    SHE TURNED AROUND to face Eric, who had finally caught up.  “What the hell is this?”  She