Chapter 304

Early the next morning, at first light, Jessica, Bridget, Veronica, and I were assigned four different boats. For a time, we could keep track of each other, four boats rushing toward the sunrise.

Then I saw the island. It was larger than I thought, circular, with a beach along the outside and dense jungle packed in the center.

The four boats veered off in widening directions, presumably to stop and drop off their candidates at different points on the beach. Soon, we lost sight of each other.

The boat carrying me pulled up toward the beach, and the servant indicated that I should hop out here. So I did, my feet splashing in the shallow ocean water. As I sloshed my way toward the shore, the boat behind me drifted back and then disappeared the way it had come.

I felt exposed standing there in only a swimsuit. Fortunately, Nicholas with some measure of foresight had included a more conservative one-piece in my wardrobe. It was a navy in color with a modest neckline, and therefore covered most of my torso.

My bare feet, legs, and arms were bound to have some trouble in the thick brush, however.

I crossed my arms and frowned at the path ahead. Nathan had mentioned last night that the camera crews would be discreetly following us, yet no one had exited the boat with me. Perhaps they thought me so unimportant that I wasn’t worth following.

I could only hope Veronica was considered the same or the next part of our plan would make everything obvious.

I imagined, as ever, the cameras were likely following Bridget.

My suspicions were proved true when, as per our plan, I waited in spot while Veronica trudged around the beach until she found me. She had no cameramen following her.

She was wearing a black one-piece bikini with a white sham tied around her waist. Curiously, she was carrying a pair of shoes. I noticed then she had some on her feet as well.

When she reached me, she held out the spare pair of shoes for me.

“Is this allowed?” I asked as I accepted them.

“I’ll take my chances,” Veronica said, “Rather than step on some poisonous thing, or who knows what else.”

That seemed like sound logic to me, so I accepted the shoes and kicked them on. I didn’t care about the sand in them. It was already a comfort knowing I wouldn’t step on anything sharp, sticky, or dangerous without at least some measure of protection.

The shoes were simply tennis shoes, but it was a hell of a lot better than nothing.

Veronica retrieved her written instructions from inside of her bodice. I glanced away as she did so, offering her some measure of privacy, though she didn’t seem bothered either way.

The instructions were a series of landmarks, natural or otherwise. The first on the list said that we needed to enter the jungle at a mark where three rocks stacked together looked like a stone snowman.

We didn’t have to look far. Surprisingly, the stone snowman was only a few yards left of where I was initially dropped. We walked to it, and yes, just as the instructions described, it was three progressively smaller stones stacked on top of each other.

“What’s next?” I asked.

“Forty paces due west,” Veronica said.

We both glanced back at the sun rising behind us.

“Straight into the jungle then,” I said, braver than I felt. Even this close, the dense coverage had most of the jungle floor in dark shadow. I felt unnerved. Anything could be waiting in there.

Veronica peered into the jungle as well. She didn’t seem as frightened as I felt, but she still looked at me and asked, “What do you think?”

There really wasn’t anything to do but move forward. If we stayed here any longer, we’d likely run into Bridget herself soon. We had to keep moving.

“I’ll go first,” Veronica said, and I was grateful to her, even as I admonished my own cowardice.

She started walking, counting her paces. I followed along behind, counting my own.

We had to step over tree roots, fallen vines, and the overgrown brush of big-leafed plants, but eventually we made it to thirty-five paces.

That was when I spotted some strange divots in the earth, like lines, where the dirt was falling down into. A sinkhole? I didn’t know.

Veronica didn’t notice. She was looking at the notecard she’d made, likely reading off the next step. She stepped straight beyond the divot, and the ground started to slip beneath her.

Reacting quicker than I could think, I grabbed Veronica’s arm and yanked her to the side, off to the safety of some nearby foliage. But in doing so, I had propelled myself into the danger. I searched for footing, but the ground totally collapsed beneath me.

I fell down, down, down – and then abruptly stopped with a thud. My arm ached something fierce, but I was otherwise unharmed.

“Piper? Oh my God, are you okay?” Veronica called down. It was unusual to hear such worry in her voice.

I opened my eyes and peered up. I had thought this might be sinkhole, but I could see now that while indeed a hole, this one is entirely manmade.

It was a trap. The net under my feet gave that away. Someone had dug a hole, strung a net overtop it and then covered the mesh with dirt and leaves to make it look like regular earth.

But why?

“The rules never said there would be traps!” Veronica said.

The pit I was in was at least nine feet deep. I couldn’t easily jump out. And if Veronica tried to help me, she could just as easily fall in beside me.

“Can you climb out?” Veronica asked.

I tried, clawing at the dirt walls of my enclosure, but the dirt was soft and sandy. It kept collapsing under my fingers. I couldn’t take hold.

“No!” I called back.

Veronica looked around. She grabbed one of the nearby vines and dropped it down into the hole for me. I grabbed it, and used it to start pulling my way out. Halfway, it snapped in two, and I crashed back down into the hole.

It was useless then. We needed a rope.

Curse Nathan for insisting we didn’t need supplies.

“I’ll go get help!” Veronica said. “With the marker, I’ll be able to find you again!”

“Okay,” I said. I wasn’t keen on being alone, but if Veronica stayed here with me, it would accomplish nothing. “Be careful.”

“I should say that to you.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Veronica gave me one last worried look before trudging back through the jungle the way we came.

I stood down in the pit for a while, waiting. I didn’t know how long it was. An hour maybe, when I heard footsteps again.

“Veronica?” I called, hope in my voice.

“Piper? Is that you?”

My hope sunk down. That wasn’t Veronica. It was…

“Bridget.”

Bridget’s face appeared over the top of the pit as she looked down at me, amusement on her face. Immediately I noticed she was wearing a button-up shirt and slacks. She had a backpack and a rope wrapped around one shoulder.

Of course, the favorite would be allowed to have supplies. Nathan had denied the rest of us because he wanted us to fail. I wouldn’t be surprised if this trap had been his idea too.

Whatever. I didn’t care. Bridget’s rope was just what I needed for a rescue. She could look like a hero, too. I didn’t care. I just wanted out of here.

“Throw down the rope!” I said. “Help me out.”

Bridget smirked. “So you can steal the treasure and spend more time with Nicholas? I don’t think so.”

No. No way. She couldn’t mean to leave me here!

“Bridget? Please!”

“Don’t sound so desperate,” Bridget said. She rolled her eyes. “I’ll come back for you. After I found the treasure.” She laughed. “Stay out of trouble now.”

She disappeared from the edge of the pit.

Panic began to set in. She really wouldn’t leave me down here? Not when she had the means of rescuing me? Surely?

But I waited and I waited, and she never reappeared.

I was alone.