Again Samantha had to decide whether to leave Mr. Delgado to go for help or not. Now that they were off the boat he would be in less danger, unless one of Pryde's beasts or some other animal showed up. Or if the sea picked up, a wave might take him away. Her mind concocted a dozen scenarios that ended with him dying.

The way to get him help and to ease her conscience would be to take him with her. He couldn't possibly walk that far and she couldn't drag him through the forest as on the boat. She thought about this for a little while, until she saw her salvation lying on the beach.

It was a piece of netting like what she had used to climb up the boat. This net was smaller, perhaps part of the larger one that had broken away. No matter where it had come from, it lay on the beach like so much seaweed. Samantha hurried over to the netting and then spread it out to get its full size. It would be more than enough to do the trick.

That trick would be to create a stretcher of sorts for Mr. Delgado. She would need more than the net to do it. She walked the beach until she found a piece of wood that had probably broken away from the side of the boat. The wood she could use to fashion a splint for his leg to keep it from moving around. To do that she needed something to tie it with. She glanced down at her shirt, which had more than enough fabric.

There was a problem: the fabric was too strong or her hands too weak to tear the shirt apart. After a few minutes of trying, she gave up. Maybe she just needed to rest for a few minutes.

First she carried the netting and board over to where Mr. Delgado lay. She lifted up his leg enough to slide the board beneath it. He groaned at this but didn't move his leg away. As she settled his leg on the board, she noticed the holes in his denim shirt. The holes made it easy enough for her to tear off a couple of strips, which she used to tie his leg down. As for the netting, she would need his help to get him onto that.

In the meantime, she decided to collect some wood to build a fire. It would be getting dark in a few hours and unless he was awake by then, they would have to spend the night here. She didn't like that idea, but reminded herself he wouldn't die from a broken ankle, not as long as she were here to care for him.




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