Love on a Desert Island

It had been unspoken between us but I knew it meant that we had both decided that we didn't want to leave, neither did we want to be accidentally discovered should a ship ever sail into the bay.

We were sat at the lake, a deer lying next to Liz as she fondled its ears, "You've made up your mind, haven't you? You want to stay here." she asked holding my hand.

"I've been watching you for ages Liz, you've been here about two years now and I think that you're now as happy as I am here. I know that I love you more than ever and you love me. We have a good life, we're kept busy and we have our friends, the deer even come to you when you call them and you've given them names. It was finding the whaling station that made all the difference between being able to stay or having to leave. So, why would we want to leave? What else is out there that we want?"

"Laura, I'm happy just to do whatever you decide, I love my life here but if the time ever comes when you say we must leave, then I'll come with you, I trust you to make the right decision."

She kissed me, a long and tender kiss, her hand raising my top until she caressed my breasts, my nipples responding the way they always did at her touch, "I think it's time we went to bed, don't you?" I asked her.

She looked around in the evening light, the deer had disappeared, "No I don't, the children have gone and it's a lovely evening, will you to undress me and make love to me here my dearest love."

The end.

Epilogue.

The years rolled by, we had long since given up trying to count the passing of time, it didn't matter to us.

I had still never been to the top of the volcano, I don't really know why but it just felt like something I should do. We packed sufficient supplies to last for four or five days, plus our weapons and off we set.

I was already familiar with the route to the lower reaches of the volcano, in less than a day we were there. I decided that we set up camp there for the night and begin our climb at first light in the morning.

Although the climb was hard and at times. a little difficult, by nightfall we were climbing into the crater. It was much bigger than it had looked from a distance. It had clumps of trees and areas of high waving grass, there was also a large lake in the very centre. The sound of many birds filled the air. It was an enchanting place.

We camped by the lake, our tent keeping off the more chilly air than we were used to. Weary from our hard day of climbing, we soon slept soundly.

The next day, we had a wander about but soon found that there was nothing more to see. So, we packed away and carried our stuff to where we had entered the crater. Here we stashed it, ready to be picked up on our return, I wanted to go around the upper rim.

This turned out to be the hardest climb so far, a couple of times we had to backtrack and search out a different route. But eventually, we were stood at the highest point of the island.

It was breathtaking, for the first time we could see the whole of our home. Then I saw the ships.

There were two anchored by the old whaling station. Quickly I sighted the telescope, I was horrified at what I saw, new buildings had sprung up over a large area, the jetty appeared to be much longer than it had been, I could see people dotted here and there. I knew at once that our lives were about to change.

Silently, I passed the telescope to Liz, "Take a look," was all I said. Briefly, she looked before she sank to the ground and began to cry.

I held her tight until she calmed. "It's time to leave, Liz, our time in paradise is over."

Three days later we sailed up to the new jetty. I had seen the flags flying from the two ships, they were French. There was quite a commotion as we climbed from our boat.

The senior Captain was quite uncertain as to how he should treat us. He spoke only a very little English but Liz surprised me when she spoke what appeared to be quite fluent French.

The Captain was astonished when, after he told us the year, we said we had been there seventeen years, or at least I had, for Liz it was nine years.

We dined with officers that evening, I had had the sense to anticipate this and had packed a chest with suitable clothes for such an eventuality.

The Captain advised us that it would now be quite impossible for us to stay on the island and that they would be happy to offer us passage to Fiji which he said was now a thriving British colony.

The ships doctor was also a biologist, he was fascinated with our knowledge of both the plants and the animals. Especially when Liz told him of how we had tamed the deer. They had not seen any of them down this end of the island. When I expressed my concerns for their safety, he assured me that they would be unharmed.

The following day we sailed back to our bay, the ship would pick us up in seven days. Naturally, I had warned them of the rocks.

With heavy hearts, we packed what we wanted to take with us. We couldn't possibly take all of the treasure but a good selection was distributed among the four large chests we would take. I vowed that somehow, I would come back for the rest.

The hardest part of leaving was saying goodbye to our deer, they seemed to sense our sadness, they were nervous and skittish.

As the ship left the bay, we stood at the stern-rail with the tears streaming down our faces, the officers kindly stood with their backs to us.

Some hours later, the Captain invited us to his cabin. The doctor was there, he had a grin on his face.

The Captain nodded to him and the doctor spoke. "I have a suggestion for you ladies, I do believe, that I have sufficient standing in Paris with my society to persuade them to offer you an official status that would enable you to return to the island, you would be working for the society although I'm afraid the salary would be very small. I would further suggest, that if you were to consider taking out French citizenship, it would make things a lot easier," he paused, beaming brightly, "what do you think, ladies?"

I looked at Liz, I didn't need to ask, she simply nodded. "Doctor, we don't need a salary, we're quite happy to pay rent and pay for any supplies we might need." Then we both leapt at him, hugging him tightly. He turned bright red as the Captain huffed.

Three months later, we were sat on our bench by the lake, the doctor sat on the ground busy feeding a deer, "Extraordinaire," was all he could keep saying. Even Frederick's son had come down to see us.

We left the doctor, sitting in front of his tent, busy scribbling in his notebook and we climbed our stairs to home.

Now our home forever!