~ Chapter 6- Orania Island ~

         Ignacio and Delilah traded piloting the ship. When night fell and Delilah was at the helm, he looked through their supplies. There were lifejackets, blankets, and towels. Fishing rods and a sturdy knife too.

Fortunately, Julian had stocked a few non-perishable foods below deck that they were able to snack on. No water though. When dawn struck, Ignacio felt parched. He was sure the others were too.

Delilah began to tire, and Ignacio took the helm for her. He was worried about how much fuel they had left. He didn't see any nearby land masses either. To conserve fuel, he set the boat at a lower speed, hoping that the waves might help carry them south.

         Dawn broke, and Ignacio finally spotted some sort of land mass in the distance. It was good timing too, as their fuel was dropping worryingly low. Delilah emerged from below deck wrapped in a blanket as she looked out on the horizon.

         "Morning," Ignacio remarked.

         "Morning... Is that land?" Delilah asked.

         "Looks like it. I'm taking us straight there."

         "We're going pretty slow." Delilah reached for the controls of the boat, specifically the speed, and Ignacio batted her hand away.

         "I'm conserving fuel. It'll last longer if I keep us at a low speed. We don't want to run out of gas while out in the middle of the ocean."

         Ignacio's eyes were jumping between the land mass that they were treading closer and closer to, and the fuel, which was becoming alarmingly low. Maggie emerged from below deck and watched as they drew near.

         It appeared to be an island. Not a large one, but a decent size. As their fuel dwindled, Ignacio decided to shut off the motor entirely and allow the waves to ferry them there. That worked for a while. Up to the point that he could clearly see a jungle on the island. But the waves began to subtlety nudge them away. Ignacio turned the engine on to push them to the island's beach.

         By the time the boat touched the sandy shore, they were running on fumes. As soon as they touched down, Ignacio made sure to step off the boat and tie their anchor to a palm tree near them. He wrapped the anchor around the tree a few times to ensure the boat wouldn't be pulled away by the waves. If that happened, they'd be stranded.

         Delilah and Maggie stepped out onto the beach and surveyed the island they found themselves on. The beach had bright white sand and several palm trees. Further up the island was a dense jungle.

         Beside them on the beach ran a thin stream that led out to the ocean.

         "What do you think we should do now?" Delilah asked, clearly trying to stay calm.

         Ignacio felt the dryness in his throat and looked at the stream near them, "We can follow that. There might be fresh water."

         Before setting out into the jungle, Ignacio looked through the boat's supplies and found a sturdy knife. While he did, Ernesto was quietly sitting alone.

         "We're going to check out the jungle. Want to come?" Ignacio asked. Even before his son answered, he knew what his response would be.

         "I'm good." Ernesto quietly responded.

Ignacio felt a pit in his stomach. There was usually a quiet contentment about Ernesto. But this time... he seemed very sullen. Given their situation, it wasn't a surprise. He nearly spoke with his son, but instead, left him in silence and headed back to the others.

         Ignacio led the way, holding his knife at the ready in case they came across anything. There was no clear trail in the dense jungle, and he constantly stamped down the foliage to try and create a path alongside the stream.

         The stream grew thicker as they walked beside it until they finally found its origin. A pond sat in the jungle and water streamed out of it.

         "Well, we have water," Ignacio smiled.

         Delilah knelt by the pond and scooped up some water in her hands.

         "Don't drink that yet. We'd probably want to boil it first. Just to be safe," Ignacio cautioned.

         Delilah sighed, "How will we do that?"

         "Maybe we could make a fire?"

         Ignacio heard a rustling above them and saw a few birds flying through the trees. He looked closer, identified some fruit hanging high above, and sighed, "There's some food here too."

         "They're pretty high up... it'd be dangerous to get them," Delilah pointed out.

         Ignacio grimaced. It had to be a couple of meters up. No clear place to climb either... but he was sure the jungle would have some fruit they could reach.

         "Are we staying here long, Pa?" Maggie asked.

         "No... Hopefully not."

         Delilah rummaged through what supplies they had on the boat. She found a metal bucket among the items. Delilah ran to the pond, filled the bucket to the rim, and ran back to the beach with it. She began looking for the means of creating a campfire.

         While she did that, Ignacio and Maggie circled the island to get a general feel of its size. It was even smaller than expected.

         As they went, they noticed coconuts on some of the palm trees. "That'd be good for us too."

         Ignacio wrapped his arms around the tree, braced his legs against them, and started climbing. But his grip gave out, and he fell onto the sand.

         "Pa, are you okay?" Maggie asked, helping her father off the ground.

         "Y-yeah. Maybe I could throw some things at the coconuts to knock them down."

         "I can get them!" Maggie replied. Before he knew it, Maggie began climbing the palm tree. She reached the top without a problem.

         "Be careful up there!" Ignacio looked at her daughter with astonishment. Perhaps some tasks were better suited for her.

         "I will! I'm going to throw them down. Step back so you don't get hit!" Maggie shouted.

         Ignacio stepped back, and Maggie began to pluck coconuts from the tree, tossing them down onto the sand. Once she got them all, she deftly maneuvered back down.

         Ignacio picked one of the coconuts up and lightly shook it, listening for the liquid inside. He immediately looked for something solid on the beach and identified a rocky outcropping.

         He grabbed the coconuts and brought them there, "Come here Maggie."

         "Okay."

         Ignacio gripped one of them solidly and placed it over the rock. He dashed the coconut against it a few times, but it didn't break. He brought it down with more force; it cracked... and the liquid inside seeped out over the rock and into the sand.

         Ignacio sighed, "I didn't think that through."

         "Maybe we should find some containers?" Maggie asked.

         "Yeah, I should've done that." Ignacio said as he hid the embarrassment on his face.

         The two explored the island looking for sources of food, discovering oysters along the rocky shore, and plucking fruit from trees. Once they were satisfied with their haul, Ignacio and Maggie headed back. They found Delilah out on the middle of the beach near their boat, surprisingly enough, with a fire stoked,  palm tree leaves and sticks acting as tinder.

Beside it were two folding chairs, with a fishing rod placed horizontally across them, and the bucket hanging from that fishing rod. The fire sat directly beneath the bucket.

         Ignacio was grinning as he approached the fire, "How in the world did you pull this off?"

         Delilah leaned back and showed off a long lighter used for starting fires, "A gift from Julian."

          Ignacio chuckled, "He had that on the boat?... That man was ready for anything."

         "What do you have there?" Delilah asked.

          "Oysters and coconuts. A decent start!" Ignacio placed them on the ground and began trying to pry open one of the shells, "If I can reach the fruit in the jungle, I think we'll have enough food and water. It doesn't look like there are any animals we have to worry about either."

         "That's good..." Delilah replied. She didn't seem very thrilled.

         While Ignacio worked on opening another oyster, Maggie began separating the coconuts and oysters into four piles, one for each of them.

"How's Ernesto doing?" Maggie asked.

         "He hasn't come out of the boat." Delilah remarked.

         Ignacio nodded, "Don't worry. He'll figure himself out."

         Ignacio cracked a shell open and handed it to Delilah. She slurped the oyster up without hesitation, with a grimace on her face as she swallowed, "I'm not sure how we're going to get off the island without fuel."

         "We'll come up with something. It shouldn't take too long," Ignacio said optimistically. Neither Maggie nor Delilah seemed to share that outlook.