Jungle Princess Read online

  Bronson appeared within the crowd, saw Alex against the wall, and pushed his way toward her. He grabbed her arm to keep her from being pushed aside by the panicking masses.

  “Are you okay?” he practically cried out, obviously losing his rational thinking along with the mob.

  “Yeah, I think so,” she announced while attempting to catch her breath as she watched the herds of people pushing and shoving one another through the smoke-filled lobby. She looked back at Bronson. “Where’s Aunt Trish? She wasn’t in the room.”

  “I left her in the lounge when I went to the casino,” he announced while scanning the crowd. “She’s probably already on deck with everyone else.” His eyes then met hers with a serious look. “The ship’s sinking, Alex. We need to reach the lifeboats.”

  He wasn’t telling her anything she hadn’t already suspected, but hearing him confirm it caused her heart to pound. Bronson took Alex’s arm and pulled her behind him as he followed the crowd attempting to get out of the smoke-filled lobby. Passengers clogged the opening leading onto the deck. With all their pushing and shoving, few were able to make it through the doorway. A frantic crewmember continued to shout orders at the people who ignored him.

  “Use the aft doors,” he cried out while motioning to another set of doors on the opposite side of the lobby. “Use the aft doors!”

  Alex saw the cleared doors across the lobby and pulled on Bronson. “This way!”

  Bronson hesitated at first then followed Alex to the aft doors that were virtually wide open. Alex and Bronson hurried into the nearly empty corridor. The aft deck was to the left, and the lounge was to the right. Alex hurried to the right.

  Bronson appeared surprised by her sudden direction change and pulled on her wrist. “Alex, the deck is this way!”

  “We have to check the lounge for Aunt Trish,” she shouted back while pulling on his hand firmly gripping her wrist.

  Alex broke free from his grip and hurried for the lounge. Bronson frowned, shook his head, and headed for the deck with the others. Alex hurried into the empty lounge. To her horror, the entire back wall was smoldering and billowing smoke, although the smoke still hadn’t reached the front portion of the lounge. She turned to leave when she saw Holt sitting alone at the bar. He casually drank a glass of expensive brandy with the bottle on the bar in front of him.

  “Holt--?”

  He turned his head and stared at her with some surprise. “Alex? What are you doing here?” he casually asked. “Didn’t you hear? The ship is sinking.”

  “Yeah, so why are you still here?” she demanded and hurried toward him.

  He shrugged and offered a drunken grin. “Laws of physics, human nature, mother nature. Add them together, and there’s no scenario where this ends well,” he replied. “I’ve accepted my fate. I have nothing left to fight for.” Holt took her hand, kissed it warmly while grinning, and indicated the door in a grand gesture. “Go, Alex. Fight for life.”

  Alex appeared surprised while staring at him. He released her hand and, without a care in the world, refilled his brandy glass. Alex stared at him only a moment longer then sat on the stool alongside him.

  “What do I have to fight for?” she suddenly asked while staring at him.

  “You have your entire life ahead of you,” Holt insisted in his drunken tone. “You have everything to live for, my dear.”

  “My life is no more valuable than yours,” she informed him. “Everything I’ve ever had is gone. My parents, my home, my friends. I have nothing but an aunt who doesn’t need to be burdened with a teenager.” She stared at him through eyes void of life. “My will to live died in that car with my parents.”

  Holt stared at her with a moderately stunned look. Alex took the glass from him and drank the entire contents in one gulp. She gagged on the substance and immediately made a face.

  “Oh, that’s nasty.”

  Alex reached for the bottle. Holt caught her wrist without taking his eyes off her. His look was surprisingly serious.

  “You need to get off this ship,” he practically ordered. His jovial mood was stern. “Now.”

  “Not without you.”

  Holt looked at the fire across the lounge with realization of their situation. He jumped off his bar stool while pulling Alex behind him and headed for the lounge door.

  Chapter Five

  Nearly two hundred people crowded the deck on the aft side of the ship, which meant there had to be over three hundred on the port side. The crew attempted to keep the passengers calm while boarding the lifeboats despite the rapidly sinking bow. The lifeboats weren’t very stable in the violently churning waves, making loading them chaotic and frightening. The fire was now reduced to billowing smoke, which caused more panic for the frightened passengers.

  The raging storm pounded them with rain and wind. The heavy waves crashed against the ship, making it nearly impossible to load the lifeboats safely. People pushed and shoved one another while several fights erupted among well-bred gentlemen. Bronson pushed his way along deck, attempting to get closer to the lifeboats.

  “Bronson,” Trisha could be heard crying out from somewhere on deck.

  Bronson looked around and saw Trisha rapidly being pushed further away from the lifeboats by the panic-stricken passengers. He fought his way through the crowd to reach her, but he wasn’t getting any closer.

  “Where’s Alex?” she cried out from across the deck. “Did you see Alex?”

  Bronson hesitated only a moment and shook his head. “No, I didn’t see her,” he called back. “Maybe she made it to the port side lifeboats.”

  Trisha attempted to push her way closer to Bronson while clutching the deck railing. Wind and rain continued to soak the passengers as the ship rested on a hard angle. A fight erupted near Trisha. Two men punched each other for unknown reasons. Their situation was already turning into every man for himself. One man was thrown against Trisha, and she was catapulted over the railing, screaming as she plummeted into the choppy water. She screamed to Bronson. He leaned over the railing and watched her while her life preserver kept her afloat.

  “Don’t panic,” he called to her over the railing. “I’ll get you out!”

  “Hurry!”

  Trisha attempted to swim closer to the boat, but the choppy water left her floundering. Bronson ran his fingers through his wet hair then saw a lifeboat near him being prepped. He glanced at Trisha over the railing then looked back at the lifeboat. He abandoned his crusade to help Trisha and pushed past several men and women to reach the lifeboat. A man placed a hand on his wet jacket and stopped him from reaching his destination.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” the angry, soaking wet man suddenly demanded and shoved Bronson back a step. “Women and children first.”

  Bronson punched the man and shoved him aside. A fight broke out as several men attempted to stop Bronson from boarding the lifeboat.

  Chapter Six

  Holt and Alex appeared on deck within the mass chaos. Holt grabbed her arm and pulled her back just in time to avoid a scuffle between two men. Alex was stunned at the behavior of supposedly rational people. Both watched in horror as several people fell overboard by accident and others with a little help. Their screams were frightening as they fell into the water. Holt looked around the mass chaos then pushed through the crowd to the bow, which contained fewer people and was practically underwater. Smoke was billowing from the sunken end and got thicker as they approached.

  “The lifeboats are the other way,” Alex protested, although she wasn’t sure if he heard her in all the commotion.

  “Those people are already dead; they just don’t know it yet,” Holt shouted without looking back at her and remained focused on his mission as he pulled her along deck. “They’re going to claw at one another until they drown themselves.”

  Holt stopped by a wooden bench built into the wall, which was partially underwater. From their position, the water collected around their ankles. The massive ship was still
visible beneath the water before them. It was a frightening sight. Alex could feel panic flooding her body, but she tried to remain calm.

  Holt removed an orange bundle and a life preserver from the bench seat. He tucked the bundle under his arm then roughly shoved her into the life preserver. She thought he’d suffocate her while tightening it. She saw a small mob of people hurrying toward them. Holt cast a look at the crowd coming their way, but it didn’t disrupt his focus while attaching her preserver.

  “Why are they coming this way?” Alex practically gasped feeling slightly alarmed by the other passengers’ fast and furious approach toward them.

  “Because they know what I’m holding,” he informed her.

  Holt removed the bundle from under his arm and pulled the metal ring. The orange bundle flew open and into a small life raft that could only hold four people. He grabbed Alex by the straps on her life preserver and tossed her backward into the raft. She screamed as she flew backward and landed in the raft with a bounce. The massive waves quickly hurled the raft toward the side of the bow still above water.

  Alex looked at Holt through the thick smoke. He was swallowed by a group of men attempting to get past him to the raft. The waves violently tossed the raft away from the sinking ship. Alex gasped with horror as she was pulled deeper into the ocean. She felt helpless since all she could do was watch the crowd of men engulfed in the cloud of smoke where Holt once stood.

  “Holt!”

  As the raft was hurled away, she could see the massive ship was partially submerged in the water. The eerie remanence could still be seen just below the surface. Several people in life preservers jumped overboard and fought the waves to swim for her raft. Their orange life preservers were all she saw as they climbed on top of one another in an attempt to reach her raft.

  They just about drown one another while making little headway toward her. She thought about the people onboard, she thought about those possibly drowning in the water, she thought about Holt swallowed by an angry mob, and she thought about her Aunt Trisha. She feared for those who were about to die, but she also feared her uncertain fate. She had no clue what she was supposed to do.

  Although she didn’t want to die on the ship, she also didn’t want to survive all alone. As she watched the orange vests bobbing around the water while men splashed frantically unable to get anywhere, a hand suddenly appeared on the side of the raft. Holt surfaced, heaved himself into the raft, and looked at the men attempting to swim for them. She couldn’t describe the relief she’d felt that Holt was alive, although it almost seemed impossible that he’d made it when so many others didn’t.

  “We should help them,” Alex cried out, unable to deal with the relentless screams of those onboard much less those frantically attempting to reach their little raft.

  “They’ll never make it, and if we went back for them, they’d sink us. There are too many of them,” he bluntly informed her.

  Alex wasn’t sure how she felt about that decision, but she couldn’t seem to argue his point. They saw one man swimming for the raft without the signature life preserver. Holt pulled him out of the water and into the raft. Alex was stunned to see it was Bronson. She returned her attention back to the orange life preservers containing people as they were swept into the ocean by the fierce waves. As Bronson gasped to catch his breath, Holt stared at him and shook his head.

  “I’m surprised you made it,” Holt remarked.

  “You can’t swim in rough surf wearing a life preserver,” Bronson gasped. “That’s why the others didn’t make it.”

  “Yes, with waves like this, you have to swim underwater,” Holt replied.

  Alex finally tore her eyes away from the gruesome sight and stared at Bronson. “Did you see Aunt Trish?” she asked, hoping he’d seen her in one of the lifeboats.

  Bronson stared back at her a moment as if at a loss for words then shook his head. “No, but it’s possible she made it to one of the lifeboats.”

  Holt removed two small paddles and handed one to Bronson. “Ever been white water rafting?” he asked while raising a curious brow. “We need to stay on top of the waves or we’ll capsize. When the ship goes under, and she will go under, we don’t want her taking us with her.”

  As the two men fought to keep the raft afloat, Alex watched the ship slowly sink. She listened to the horrific screams of the drowning men and women. She could see some crew still attempting to fill lifeboats but most overturned as soon as they reached the water. The waves were too rough, and the large lifeboats couldn’t maneuver the waves. She watched with horror as nearly every lifeboat overturned in the rough surf. The passenger’s screams lingered.

  Before their little raft was even out of sight, she witnessed the ship sink beneath the surface taking every last person with it. As she looked around, she didn’t see the lights from any of the lifeboats. Did they all capsize? Bronson and Holt paddled their inflatable raft over the waves, attempting to keep on top of them. Alex clutched her stomach and closed her eyes as the storm continued to beat them from above and below. She didn’t mind the pouring rain. At least neither man could see she was crying.

  Chapter Seven

  It was early morning, and the sun had just come up. The sounds of the ocean and water gently lapping against the side of the raft was almost deafening. Alex lay against Holt, who held her while he slept. She woke nearly twenty minutes earlier but remained nestled against Holt for the warmth. She then felt a hand caress her buttocks. Alex suddenly jumped with alarm and startled Holt. As she turned her head, Bronson jumped away from her and looked around as if disoriented.

  “What? What happened?” Bronson cried out.

  Alex glared at him, almost certain it hadn’t been an accident, but she couldn’t be positive. She managed to relax despite her pounding heart. Holt partially sat up after being torn from sleep. He held his head and groaned from his hangover. Alex was about to say something to him when her eyes stared past him.

  “Is that--?” she gasped as her eyes lit up. “I see land!”

  Holt and Bronson looked in the direction she stared. Despite the thick fog over the ocean, all three could see the outline of a beach in the near distance. Hangover aside, Holt tossed Bronson a paddle and both men paddled through the gentle ocean current toward the only sign of land.

  §

  The small bonfire burned on the white, sandy beach while the three castaways attempted to warm their damp bodies. The men hung their jackets from bamboo sticks protruding from the ground to help them dry. Holt and Bronson had been soaked from their impromptu swim in the ocean. Alex was thankful her dress was a thin enough material that it dried faster than the men’s suits. The fog had finally lifted, allowing Alex to see the beauty of the tropical beach that seemed to extend forever. The edge of the thick woods was fifty yards from the ocean surf. Not much else could be seen beyond the tall trees. The only way to figure out where they were would be to explore their surroundings. Once mostly dry, Holt stood and looked around while sighing.

  “We need to find water or this is going to be a short celebration,” Holt informed his beach mates.

  Bronson frowned and uncertainly ran his fingers through his mostly dry hair. “I’ve never been camping in my life,” he announced. “Are we foolish to believe there will be a rescue anytime soon?”

  “We can’t wait to find out,” Holt replied. “Alex can collect firewood on the beach and keep watch for rescue planes.” He then cast a look at Bronson. “We’ll look for food and water.”

  “We don’t know what’s on this island,” Bronson protested. “I’m uncomfortable leaving Alex alone. I should stay with her. She’s technically my responsibility.”

  Holt eyed Bronson and appeared distrusting.

  Alex sprang to her feet and joined Holt. “I’ll go with Holt to find food and water,” she informed Bronson. “You can collect firewood and watch for rescue planes.”

  Holt gave Alex a strange look. She practically pushed Holt along before anyone could p
rotest. She seemed to be in a hurry until they entered the woods and the beach was out of sight. Holt cast several looks at her.

  “What’s with you and Bronson?” he finally asked.

  “He’s lazy, and we’re going to carry him if we’re stuck here,” she informed him then shook her head in disgust. “I don’t know what my aunt sees in him. He gives me the creeps.”

  Holt eyed her, raised a clever brow, and hid his grin. “Something tells me you don’t care much for him,” he teased.

  They exchanged looks and smiled. Her mood immediately changed to concern as she stopped him on the path.

  “Seriously, what are we going to do?”

  “Well,” he announced. “First we’re going to look for food and water.” He then indicated for her to keep moving.

  “He’s going to bully us,” she sulked without looking at Holt. “I’m just a girl, and you look like a substitute science teacher.”

  He eyed her suspiciously. “Is that code for nerd?”

  Alex grimaced and offered a sympathetic smile. “A cute one--”

  He returned his attention to the trail they hiked. “I’ll admit, I’m not exactly imposing at 5’9--”

  Alex eyed him and sharply raised her brow.

  He frowned. “Okay, 5’8”.” He gently cleared his throat. “But having been bullied as a boy, I’ve learned how to deal with people like Bronson.” Holt then glared demandingly at her. “And for future reference, I don’t want you to ever refer to yourself as ‘just a girl’. It’s demoralizing to all women.”

  Alex hid her smile.

  Chapter Eight

  The sun had already set to a clear evening giving the beach a slight chill off the ocean. The small bonfire was just about ready to go out. Alex sat a few feet from Bronson and shivered in her thin, dress. She always hated dresses, and now that she’d been stuck in this one for over twenty-four hours, she hated dresses even more. Holt returned to the campfire with an armful of wood and dropped it on the sand near Bronson. Holt was clearly irritated.