Like animals, or like gods
The aftermath of the typhoon found Marriott with a feeling of weakness and helplessness much greater than following his fight with Billy. The battering the elements had given him had been less violent but, going...
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The watcher
Billy said: ‘Sweeney, we’re looking for Yasha, and Susan.’ Sweeney raised his eyebrows. ‘I was surprised so many of you had come. Did you think you would find them here?’ Marriott broke in restlessly: ‘You...
All will break up and dissolve
The scene outside had the sharpness and at the same time unreality of an over-contrasted television screen. Candie was the first person she saw; he was stretched out between the two huts, lying on his...
Ready for your nightcap?
Over supper she made a lot of jokes which she knew at the time were pointless, and drank a good deal of palm wine. At the same time she was aware of a different tension...
Offerings to a god
Lydia awoke early in the morning and set off up the valley before any except Candie, who had taken the last sentry duty, was awake. It had become a habit for someone to go up...
Over the rim of the world
‘Hello, Katey.’ She put her bundle down at the mouth of the cave. ‘I’ve brought you a few things,’ she said. ‘Some fruit, and cooked yams, and a gourd of wine.’ ‘That’s very kind of...
Cut yourself a piece
She cut meat for herself from the carcase while Billy watched, a glass of wine tilting in his hand. He motioned to Susan and Toni, and they followed suit. Then he made the same peremptory...
Much fonder of the main course
Surely Marriott could not think that having the others out of the way would make her any more willing to tolerate his silly innuendoes and advances? She had made it plain from the beginning that...
Under the bright stars
There was another storm, about a month after their arrival on the island; it was more violent than the first and lasted all one day, and the night, and the morning of the day after....
The lobster pot
Billy returned, carrying the pot. They could hear a rustling, the clank of shell, and he said: ‘We’ve got something.’ He opened the top of the wicker pot and spilled the contents on the sand....