Unseen Messages

The little girl nodded. I guessed she was about seven or eight-years-old. She was taller than other kids but skinny, and the mud smearing both her and her brother mixed with blood that I didn’t know how to deal with.

“Where are we?” Conner stood protectively by his sister. He didn’t let go of his right wrist, cupping it protectively. He also had a large bruise, but unlike Pippa’s, his marred his neck in a purple splodge.

“Somewhere in the Fijian Islands.”

Conner pursed his lips, unhappy with my unhelpful answer.

I couldn’t blame him. If I were him, I’d be pissed, too.

I tried to do better. “Hopefully, we’re on an island with a hotel or local village. They’ll know what to do.”

Instead of my lie being believable, the kids looked at each other with uncertainty.

What the hell happened to these two?

Where was the helicopter?

Where are their parents?

I swallowed the question. Something like that could come with disastrous answers.

However, Conner gave me no choice but to learn. “You’re the only one we’ve found alive.”

Christ.

Pippa swallowed a sob, drifting closer to me as if I could stop the truth. “They didn’t move.”

Conner went with his sister. “It’s okay, Pip. It will be okay.”

“How? She wouldn’t wake up!” Pippa fell forward onto my lap. Her bony arms landed on my broken shin.

Holy bloody hell, that hurts.

It took every ounce of control not to toss her away. Instead, I gritted my teeth so hard they almost cracked and hugged the little girl. She needed comfort more than I did. No one ought to see their dead loved ones—especially so young.

The moment I touched her, my fingers came away with rusty crimson.

Shit, shit, shit.

Tugging at her shredded t-shirt, I peered at her back. Blood rivered over her shoulder, a large gash oozing and full of island filth.

My heart sank.

There was no way I could tend to her. No way I would be of any use to these kids...these...orphaned kids.

“You’re hurt.”

She nodded, her head burrowing into my lap.

Conner grabbed his little sister, tugging her from my arms. His demeanour was feral—treating me as the enemy while so much responsibility had just been dumped on his young shoulders. “She’ll be okay. She’s brave. Aren’t you, Pip?”

Pippa sniffed, licking at tears rolling close to her lips. She didn’t look away from me as she whispered, “Conner said I can have any to—toy I want of his as lo—long as I don’t cry and do what he tells me.”

Conner’s boyish jaw clenched. “Anything you want, you get, sis.”

Pippa smiled; it was pain-filled and tears still leaked, but it was an attempt to behave for her older brother.

I had to look away from the pure love between the siblings. Conner was barely in his teens, yet the steadfast bravery and wisdom aged him overnight.

We didn’t speak for a few minutes, all coming to terms with what this meant.

Conner said I’m the only one he’s come across alive. Does that mean...Estelle—

I cut myself off.

The thought of Conner’s parents dying gutted me. The image of the woman I’d immediately connected with destroyed me.

Taking a deep breath, I did my best to keep my questions cryptic so as not to unsettle Pippa. “Conner...when you say I’m the only one...”

Conner understood straight away. Glancing into the foliage from where they’d come, he shuddered. “They’re dead.” Balling his hands, he forced himself to continue. “Mum and Dad are over there. And the pilot is by the helicopter.”

“Mummy and Daddy?” Pippa perked up. “They might just be sleeping, Co.” She tugged on his hand. “I want to go back. I want Mummy to stop the pain.”

Conner squeezed his eyes before jerking his sister close and kissing her temple. She cried out as his arm stuck to her bleeding shoulder but didn’t try to squirm away.

“Pip, Mummy can’t help you. Remember what I said?”

Shit, he’d had the conversation alone?

This kid was something else.

Pippa frowned. “You said they were sleeping.”

“What else did I tell you?”

She looked at the ground. “That it was a forever kind of sleep, and they wouldn’t wake up.”

Conner scowled, fighting his own grief in order to hide the trauma from his sister. “And do you remember why I said they wouldn’t wake up? Remember what happened to Chi-Chi when she went to heaven?”

“The kitty went to sleep and remained very still. She didn’t purr or swat at me with her paw. She just kept sleeping.”

“Exactly.” His jaw ticked with pain. “And that’s what Mum and Dad are doing. They’re forever sleeping and no matter how much you want them to, they won’t wake up. Okay?”

Pippa froze, the realisation finally settling deep into her too-young-for-loss soul. “But—”

Conner swallowed his grief, doing his best to be brave. “But nothing, Pip. They’re dead. Got it? They’re not coming—”

Pippa wrenched from his hold. “I don’t believe you!”

“You don’t have to believe me! It’s true.”

The two siblings glared at each other.

“I want to go back!”

“We can’t go back! They’re dead, Pip.”