Grace was doing her best to follow Ms. Twig's instructions, alternately collecting fallen coconuts or pieces of driftwood to bring back to their base camp. Due to her smaller size she couldn't carry the bigger pieces of wood, but there were plenty of smaller ones to keep her busy.

She watched Waters struggling a little with the heat - it certainly was hot and she allowed herself to take a quick break in the shadow of a tree. One of the things her father had taught her while camping was not to overwork yourself when it was hot; that only made things worse. She sniffled and wiped away a couple of tears, missing her parents once again. At least her dad was safe and might be returning soon, but where was Mom?

Perhaps it was that loneliness which inspired her to go over to where Waters was carrying a load of coconuts back into camp. "Want some help?"

~~~~

"Junior! Glad you're safe!" Dan watched the man come up out of the waves, making a flashy entrance once again. "Have you seen anyone else?"

Molly's exclamation caught his attention, but he had no way to identify jungle animal tracks; his experience was with woodland creatures like bears, deer, or raccoons. This terrain was out of his experience. A fleeting thought about making a joke about a polar bear on the island ran through his mind but he dismissed it as inappropriate.

He looked up at the sky again. "I'm hesitant to split up again before reporting back to the others. Maybe I could escort Junior here back to camp instead. That way I can check up on Grace and let them know we've found fresh water."

“You’re the first people I’ve met since the boat sank.” Junior then listened as Molly began pointing out some tracks. “I doubt we’ll see any dangerous creatures on this island. You ladies are free to investigate the tracks to see where they lead. Perhaps there’s a lake or cave that could be useful. I’d be happy to escort Dan back to camp to get the lay of the land. If we don’t hear from you within the hour, I’ll come lookin’.

And with that, Junior followed the party’s footprints back to base camp, picking up tiny shells along the way, leaving the ladies to choose whether or not they wanted to explore the jungle.

"Hey, Maeve, the water tell you anything about the current events?" Kaelin quipped, resting on her makeshift pant flotation device.

"Still salty," Maeve replied.

"That's it? I'm getting cold."

"The water's fairly temperate."

"Still cold."

"I wish I could do something, but I don't think I can. Best is to wait until it gets dark, and then I'll light off a flame."

"Shut up! You can freeze and move water at will. You just don't want to."

"There's too much stuff in this water. There's too much salt."

"You can't move saltwater? Seriously?"

"I can move water. Sometimes the salt goes with, sometimes it doesn't. But I'm not strong enough to part the sea."

"So you're like a barometer for salt, then, yeah? Where's the fresh water? It's gotta be less salty somewhere, and that'll tell us which way to go."

"It's all pretty much the same, sorry."

"Can you heat the water, since you can also freeze it?"

"I haven't strictly tried, but I'm fairly sure I can't, so let's go with a no."

"Seriously? You've got to be able to do something."

Maeve continued to float for a few minutes, weighing the possibilities.

"I can dive and see if I can find a halocline, but if we're getting freshwater from anywhere, it should be up here, not down there."

"If there's a change, does that mean we're close to land?"

"Maybe, but maybe not. It might mean nothing."

"Do it," Kaelin said fiercely. "Do it!"

Maeve hesitated.

"Why aren't you doing it?" Kaelin demanded.

"Because...I might not come up in the same spot, and then you'll be alone."

Kaelin said a few not-nice things. Maeve glared at her.

"Come on, please?" she finally begged. "You might be able to float out here forever, but I can't. I'm cold, and thirsty, and hungry."

"Why do I feel like I am going to regret this?" Maeve shook her head, and wrapped her pants around her little sister. "Listen--don't try to go anywhere unless you can find some wreckage. If you do, get on it."

"How will you know then?"

"I'm hoping it'll block out enough light that I'll see it."

Kaelin nodded.

"If my pants lose too much air, just kick them loose, ok? Just keep yourself floating."

"What happens if you get eaten by a shark?"

"What on earth?" Maeve exclaimed, exasperated.

"I don't think you should go."

"You just cussed me out for not going."

"I'm just cold, ok? I'll be fine."

"Yeah, sure. Sit tight, I'll be back in a few minutes."

Kaelin nodded, and watched as her sister breathed for a few minutes, then dived out of sight.

Pittersticks watched Mr. Waters hid his bag of medications. “Finally,” he thought, “a great opportunity!” When Mr. Waters had staggered off, he climbed down the tree and re-hid Mr. Waters’ bag two trees away. Then he climbed back up the first tree and dropped coconuts where Mr. Waters’ bag had been.

On one of her return trips, Twig’s notice that Mr. Waters and Grace were showing signs of getting hot. She went to her swim bag and pulled out a bottle of water. After taking a couple of sips, she offered it to Grace and Mr. Waters in turn. “We seem to have fairly good start on fire wood and coconuts,” she said. “Would one or both of you be willing to start going through the luggage for items we can use? It would be nice if you could find matches or a lighter or something that would help us start a fire. I wonder if magnifying glasses really work to start a fire.” Realizing that she had wondered from the topic at hand, she added, “Also keep your eyes out for anything that would work as rope or bandages. I’m sure someone packed some ties. The search parties will be returning soon. It must be around 30 minutes since they left.” Twig’s did her best to sound confident, although she really wasn’t sure how much time had passed. She was pretty sure she had made at least 15 trips up and down the beach. She was guessing that the trips took between 1-2 minutes depending on how much she was carrying. It had probably taken her longer to get larger pieces like the door up to the pile. At least 20 minutes must have passed, right? “Don’t think about,” she told herself. “Focus on the job to be done.”

As Dan and Junior headed back to camp, Faye pondered their options. On the one hand, animal tracks meant a potential source of food. On the other hand, animal tracks could potentially mean something dangerous. She didn't suppose it was very likely that someone had packed a rifle - or that the rifle would've survived the trip to shore if someone had.

"A quick look in the woods," Faye agreed, "then we need to head back. Dan and... Mr. Gladstone will probably reassure the others that we're still all right, but I don't think it's a good idea to explore too deeply when it's just the two of us. Especially without knowing what's out there." She shook her head. "I'm mostly interested in water and any food that might be growing along the water's edge, or any sign that someone else from the ship came this way."

She couldn't help but shake her head and ask dryly, "I don't suppose jungle foraging would've been included in your training?"

"Oh yes," Molly laughed. "Our cruise line tries to prepare us for any eventuality. Though I've never crashed on this island before. The thing that is puzzling me about these tracks is that they look almost like--like--" She paused. "Well, like squirrel tracks, if it weren't for that strange extra indentation on the side. If I didn't know better, I would say it was a squirrel carrying something." She laughed again. "Impossible, I know."

----------

Waters had rummaged through several suitcases without finding any matches, when he remembered that he had a spare pill bottle in his pocket. He wondered if it really was possible to use the glass to concentrate the sun and light a fire. Always he had wanted to try, but years of being told never to play with fire had kept him from attempting it.

Half guiltily he looked over his shoulder, as he pulled the fair-sized bottle out of his pocket. There were only a few pills left, and he didn't like to waste them, so down they went. Tip-toeing, he approached a pile of wood and focussed the circle of light on one spot.

Grace was glad to accept some water from Ms. Twig's, and then set about looking in the luggage as she'd been asked. She felt a little guilty and sneaky all at the same time since she was getting to do something her parents had taught her not to do - go snooping around in other people's things.

She'd dragged a couple pieces of luggage away from the shore and then began sorting out the contents into separate piles - clothing, accessories, odds and ends, and so on.

It wasn't long before her ears caught a familiar voice coming from down the shore. "Daddy!" she screamed, and was off like a shot, luggage duties forgotten.

Dan saw her coming and crouched so he could better accept her hug. Then he picked her up and carried her the remaining short distance back to their base camp.

"Look who we found," he called as they approached, gesturing to Mr. Gladstone.

He was content to sit on a flat rock near the edge of camp, and Grace situated herself in his lap. He briefed the others on what they'd found and let them know all were safe. But they all knew, without having to ask, that they hadn't found Angie yet.

Faye smiled dryly. "You'd be surprised what's possible around Ditto Town." She paused and added, "Have you ever been there?"

Knowing that at least someone around here had training for this sort of situation was a relief. Faye had done her best to make rational decisions based on what information she had, but truth be told, she was mostly just guessing. Having at least one person in their camp with training meant a lot.

As they continued on, the squirrel (?) tracks were the only ones that were distinct, but there were others here and there. Mostly, it looked like animals who had walked up to the stream, taken a drink, and walked on. Faye couldn't help but notice that some of the tracks, smudged and indistinct as they were, were quite large - definitely large enough for a jaguar or panther or the like. Faye found it wasn't any more comforting to try to think of what jungle animals they might belong to who weren't predators, especially since the list seemed to be rather short.

Importantly, though, she wasn't seeing any clear human tracks. Mr. Gladstone had washed up nearby, so she'd held out some hope that they'd find someone else here. But, she was beginning to doubt that would happen on this trip.

Mel couldn't suppress the shudder that ran through her body as the others talked about milk. She didn't mind it herself, but she associated milk with cats--and while she'd met perfectly nice cats, there was always the chance of getting a harsh whack on the nose when you were minding your own business.

It was going to take awhile at this rate to get Ainsley and Jeff back to camp. Mel ranged ahead and to the sides, checking over the ground again. There could be someone else out there.

Or a cat.

"Can't say I've ever been to Ditto Town. I'll have to make a note to visit some day," Molly said, with a thoughtful air. "Shall we go back now? There's no sign that any humans have come this way thus far."

She glanced up through a thinning in the canopy above them. "Uh-oh! that doesn't look too promising." Waving at a black column of smoke that was billowing into the air, she set off toward camp at a run.

-----------

Ithamar Cadwallader Waters had become so engrossed in his attempts at fire-making, that he remained unaware of the return of some of the party. Slowly the wood had begun to smoulder, followed by a tiny wisp of smoke, and then a flicker of flame. Gently he nursed it, adding small shreds of frayed fiber. Great pleasure filled his soul, and he gazed, enraptured.

It was less than pleasant to feel someone clap him on the back, recalling him to the here and now. "Oh, you're here," he mumbled, without any graciousness. "What do you want?"

But while he was distracted, his pet fire had found a mind of its own, reaching out greedy fingers to fill its insatiable maw. The large pile of driftwood, so painstakingly gathered by the girls, was soon burning fiercely with blistering heat.

Terrified, exultant, all at one time, Waters fell back before this monster of his own creation. Ignoring the others, he groped for a bottle of pills to soothe his ragged nerves. Suddenly, he remembered. He had put down his bag to carry coconuts--his precious bag, with all its precious medicines! Hurried steps led him towards the trees, intent on rescuing his precious pills. With a howl of agonized despair and rage, he beheld only emptiness. It.was.not.there!

"Figures, whole boat sunk and I'm be the only one injured," grumbled Ainsley as the small group stepped off again towards the base camp.

"I don't care what those scientists think, it's down to a lack of good ole lactose."

"Jeff, you generally don't care what anyone thinks."

"Truth."

"So, where are you from, originally?" Ainsley asked Xandria, making conversation in a attempt to pass the time.

"Well, um, I'm originally from a place called Burg, but then I, I spent a long time living in--at--Lake Brume before I moved to Dittotopia," Xandria said, awkwardly putting a hand on Ainsley's waist to steady her as they stepped over washed up seaweed.

"What about you? Where do you hail from?" she asked.

"Well, strangely enough I'm essentially a native of Ditto Town. We've lived here for at least ten generations on my dad's side. History gets a bit fuzzy after that."

"Ainsley's family is very old money," added Jeff. "I, on the other hand, grew up mining platinum on an asteroid in orbit around Dittokalar. So you could say that my family is the exact opposite of money, regardless of how old it might be. Why'd you decide to move to Dittotopia?"

"I was in need of a, uh, change of scenery. And people," Xandria replied shortly, glancing over at Mel. Mel was obviously listening, but hadn't interjected yet, which in retrospect was rather wise. No one was asking her any questions. Or maybe they didn't know they talked. Xandria adjusted Ainsley's arm over her shoulders, and wondered exactly how far down the beach they had managed to come. It looked like the tide was beginning to come in.

"I like it, though, in Dittotopia. It's--quiet," Xandria finished.

Jeff burst out laughing, "you must not live in town. In my experience this place is anything but quiet. Something crazy is always going down, without fail. Just last week we had to deescalate a gang war between the Orcs and Tusken Raiders. They were fixing to tear the place apart."

"Jeff is a police officer in the DTPD," Ainsley explained.

"What about you, Xandria, what do you do?"