CHAPTER 26 – DINNER
When the Spanish is inside the canoe, Friday jumps out of the canoe. He pushes the canoe along the beach.
Soon, we reach the place near our house. Friday helps our new guests out of the canoe. But they aren’t able to walk. We have to carry them to our home.
We have another problem when we reach our house. Friday’s father and the Spanish can’t go over the fence. I think about the solution.
First, I want to pull them over the fence. But the cannibals are already gone. There is no danger from them now. So, we can stay outside the fence.
We make a tent for them outside the fence. We prepare soft beds for them too.
When we finish this, I start to cook dinner. Friday brings some fish and we cook them quickly.
We have dinner together in the tent. Friday translates for me because the Spanish can speak Friday’s language.
After the dinner, Friday goes back to the beach. He brings back all the weapons. The next day, we bury the bodies of the killed cannibals. It’s a lot of work.
I speak with Friday’s father the next morning. I want to know what he thinks about the cannibals.
I ask, “Can they return? Can they attack us?”
He says, “No, they can’t attack us. They are scared of the guns. They think that you and Friday are spirits sent from heaven.”
I’m stil worried that the cannibals can return. But they never return.
When our guests are strong enough, I begin to think about the journey by sea again. I ask the Spanish why he is on these islands. He says that he is from the Spanish ship. He says that there are sixteen Europeans on Friday’s island. They are Spanish and Portuguese. They want to go home, but they can’t build a ship because they have no tools. I show the Spanish the tools which I have from the ship. He says that with my tools it’s possible to build a ship.
I think that the Spanish and Friday’s father can return to their island. They can tel other Europeans about my tools. Together we can build a ship. Then, we can go to Brazil or Havana or maybe Europe.
But the Spanish wants something else. He says, “It’s be better if we wait for some time. There isn’t enough food for sixteen other men on the island. We need more food to eat when we build the ship.” I agree with him.
He and Friday’s father help us expand the fences and fields.
We catch more goats. Now, we have 50 goats. We collect a lot of fruit. Then we dry the fruit.
We also prepare the materials for the ship. I choose some trees. I show the others how to cut the trees. Then we make long and thin pieces.
Soon, we have a lot of food. We have a lot of corn. We need more baskets and pots for the corn.
The Spanish knows how to make baskets. He has a great talent. His baskets are excellent. He uses a special technique when he makes baskets. The technique is fast and effective. He makes the baskets three times faster than me.
I want to learn his technique. He teaches me. I’m not as fast as the Spanish. But I’m faster than before.
CHAPTER 27 – ENGLISHMEN
We put all the food in my cave. The food is safe there. The Spanish and Friday’s father can go back. They can bring the other men here.
We give them food and four guns in case the cannibals want to attack them again. Then they take the canoe and they go away.
Two days pass when something unusual happens.
Friday wakes me up at 6 in the morning. “Are they here?” I ask Friday. He says, “No. But somebody else is here. There is a boat at sea.”
I go to the top of the nearest hil. I see the boat. It’s clear that these people are not the friends from Friday’s island. The boat comes from a different direction. I also see a ship. I know this shape. The ship is English.
I’m confused. It’s true that I’m happy when I see Englishmen after twenty-seven years on the island. But I’m also worried. The island isn’t near ways of English ships. I don’t remember any storm yesterday. So, why are they here? Maybe, the men are pirates. Maybe, they want to hide something on the island.
I decide to be very careful. Friday and I stay in the forest and we watch them. The boat comes to the beach and I count eleven men. Soon, I see that they are all Englishmen.
Three men have hands tied together. The eight other men take them to the beach. Two prisoners are calm, but the third prisoner tries to say something. He looks very scared. He asks the men in the boat for something.
When Friday sees this, he turns to me and he tells me that Englishmen also eat people.
I tel him that they definitely don’t plan to eat them. I think that they want to shoot them.
After some time, we see that this isn’t their plan. The men from the boat start to explore the island. The three tied prisoners sit on the beach with two men as guards. The prisoners look very sad. Their situation is bad.
Low tide comes soon. The level of the sea is low. Their boat is on the sand. They can’t move the boat. I hear them say, “We have to wait and leave with the next high tide.” This give us some hours.
Friday and I stay in the forest until dark. Then I see that the men who stand the guard start to sleep. The three prisoners sit under a tree quite close to us. It looks like they are also quite far from the other sailors. We can come closer to them.
When we are very close to them, I speak quietly to them. We are still behind the trees and they can’t see us.
