Innocents adrift (MMW and Blurugirl)

[Blurugirl]

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It had been four years since Princess Akkadevi, second daughter of an Indian raja, had been home. Four years since the eighteen year old had dressed in a sari or any of the other customary garbs a member of the ruling family was expected to wear. Of course, Addadevi knew this day would come, when she would be expected to return to her family, and be subsequently married off, in a match that would be deemed beneficial for her father, or the Company, or the Empire, or possibly all three. Her being sent off to an English all girls boarding school was just meant to appease her father, to show that he had a child whose education was just as good as all the English officers and diplomats and merchants who were constantly surrounding him. Her education was just a bone thrown to her father by the English, who wanted to keep him friendly and in line.

And Akkadevi knew she couldn't possibly stay in England. Although she had friends among the girls whom she had gone to class with, in the end, she knew she was a novelty, a "wog" who could talk and walk like an Englishwoman. And although she knew more than a few Englishmen would consider her "good for a tumble," no Englishman would ever consider her good enough to marry. And marry she was expected to do. She would never be allowed to remain unmarried, and perhaps pursue the career of a scholar. So home she must go.

A month ago she and the two attendants her father had sent board the Lipton, bound for Bombay. It had been an uneventful trip, made more tedious by the fact that she was required to remain in her quarters by her father. If it weren't for books she had brought, the tediousness would have been unbearable.

And then, after having just passed the Cape of Good Hope, a storm had struck the Lipton.

* * * * *

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Harrison woke up on the beach in bright sunlight, thinking, "I have made it. I have made it into Paradise."

Then a cold wave of cold, clear bluegreen water washed over him.

After a few moments he gained enough strength to climb further up the beach and sit up. The sun warmed him, the chill began to leave his body. He sat there and surveyed his surroundings . The sight of debris washing up in front of him cleared his mind

Did I wash up last night or the night before? he wondered.

Harrison had no idea how long he had floated on that piece of wood from The Lipton. It had been a month since he had boarded the steam powered paddle wheeler with auxiliary sails, bound for India. And bound for the father whom he had not seen in eight years. Eight years since his father and his mother left him at The Reverend Coldstones' School For Boys, when his father had become Vicar for St. Thomas in Bombay (Mumbai).

Dying on the beach would be much better than a day at The Reverend Coldstones, Harrison wryly thought.

The Reverend Coldstones was more an orphanage than a boarding school for boys who still had parents, but did not wish to be bothered with them. The education was the Bible as The Reverend Coldstone saw it, with endless exercises of translating Greek and Latin to English and then back to Greek and Latin again .Writing with quill pens that left one's finger black with ink. And all of this accompanied by the manual labor of keeping the School going. The twelve boys enrolled at Reverend Coldstones spent only about four hours a day on actual schooling, with the rest being hard labor. They were isolated and never left the school grounds except for Christmas service at the village Church.

Harrison took a moment to take stock of his present situation. He had rushed out of his cabin in a shirt, drawers, trousers and shoes without stockings. He searched his pockets and found only the well worn pen knife he had used for shaping quills.

No much to work with, he thought to himself, thinking this must be how Jonah was spit out by the great fish. Then he caught sight of something. The something was one of the Lipton's lifeboats.

Oh, let there be water or I will surely die, Harrison silently prayed.

Harrison walked to the boat as fast as he could. Inside it as a cask and a girl.

* * * * *

The storm came up out of nowhere, without warning of any type. Or that's how it seemed to Akkadevi. She had just changed into one of the saris meant for formal evening dining, though she didn't know why she bother. She took all her meals in her quarters, with no one to talk to. Her attendants refused to enter into any conversations with her, other than to find out what she needed. So she ate her meals in silence.

She was deciding whether to forgo wearing her jewelry or not, when something hit the steamer, and hit the steamer hard. It rocked her cabin hard, sending the jewelry in her hand flying across the room.

Everything after that was a blur of motion and loud noises. She remembered the steward getting her out of her cabin, and being put into a lifeboat. Everything after that was lightning and waves and motion and then darkness. An all consuming darkness.

The next thing she knew, light was forcing her eyes open. Bright light. She felt wretched and all covered with dried salt. And then suddenly, there was a face in her vision. A very bearded, very English face.

"Excuse me," she said, sitting up. "Are we in England?"

 

[Mature Male Writer]

Harrison was caught first by the girl beauty, but then he rarely saw women to judge beauty. There was The Reverend Coldstone's wife who was always in ill health it seemed and kept a sour penitent look on her face and the cook Mrs. Hall who was middle aged and round. Then there was the young woman's perfect English although she looked very foreign. "No Ma'am we are no in England. We are somewhere between Capetown and Bombay, beyond that I am at a loss. May I help you out of there ?", Harrison would finally asked now looking to see if the boat had a cask of water or other provisions. He would after a moment say , I am Harrison Goodbody and may I ask your name ? I don't recall seeing you on The Lipton . He would wait for her to stand before extending his hand and during the wait he noticed the the large hole in the side of the boat, it must have stayed afloat because of some flotation pockets or something, but this boat would not be water worthy any time soon. He began to pray quietly , "Lord let her be saved and not a heathen."

 

[Blurugirl]

"I am Princess Akkadevi, daughter of the Raja of Manuman," Akkadevi answered, "I'm used to being addressed at school as Miss Akkadevi. Since my father rules what you English like to consider a client state, I'm accustomed to being addressed as my lady, which will suffice, though I don't believe that is quite proper."

Akkadevi cae to her feet and stood up, looking around. Looking toward the island's interior, she could see it slowly sloped upwards, with a hill covered by brush and trees that looked like it raised sixty feet above beach level.

"And my apologies," she said, turning her attention toward the Englishman. "What is your name?"

 

[Mature Male Writer]

"I am Harold Goodbody , Miss Akkadevi, may I assist you in getting out of there ?", Harold asked realizing he was about to walk into sin. The sin of not only touching a woman not his wife, but also one in his opinion not fully clothed. His eyes and his brains would finally connect as he notice how the wet silk clung to natural form of her body. She may have laced like a proper woman recently because of her form, but there was no evidence of a corset now. His mind would cause his body to react and he would feel that particularly male pain of an uncontrolled erection in his trousers. He could not run now to someplace more private, relive himself and fall into more sin. A sin that would get him a full 7 strokes of the cane from The Reverend Coldstone on a Saturday morning for the unnatural act of Onanism. "Lord give me strength", he prayed under his breath as the dark haired beauty stood in front of him.

 

[Blurugirl]

"I'm quite fine, thank you, Mister Goodbody," Akkadevi said as she stepped gingerly out of the lifeboat. She felt the beginning of a panic begin to rise up in her, but she pushed it down forcefully. She was royalty, after all, despite the condescending way some of the English girls treated her title.

"So, Mr. Goodbody, who else has arrived at this island?" she asked.

 

[Mature Male Writer]

"I only regained my senses a few minutes before I found you Miss Akkadevi and as of yet have seen no one else. ", Harold said in an honest tone as he sensed the heat of the morning Sun and then adding, "Perhaps we should get you into the shade while check the boat for provisions." Harold could feel his thirst growing and prayed silently, "Lord let the water cask be sound and full."

 

[Blurugirl]

Akkadavi suddenly became aware of the dry rasp in her own throat and nodded. "I agree. I....everything when the boat...well, everything was a bit rushed, but I believe they put something in the boat." Looking toward the interior of the island, she added, "Though I suspect we will not be at a loss for food or water, until we are rescued." There were a thousand other questions and observations that we coming to her mind, but she pushed them to the side for the moment. "Come, let us see what is in the boat that brought to me to safety," she said, turning around to inspect the contents of the boat.

 

[Mature Male Writer]

They would both look into the boat before Harold climbed in and started looking. Lashed down in the center he would find two wooden cask holding about an Imperial gallon each labeled "WATER" , a box with a cooper dipper, a rather large tin of biscuits with a tool for opening the tin, a sail repair kit including a knife, marlin spike, sail needles and sail thread, a compass, a fishing kit, a few bandage rolls and a hatchet. He would pass them out to Akkadavi with a smile thankful they at least had a chance to survive. He would also pull out four of the long oars that were still lashed under the seat and pass them to Akkadavi as well. Finally he would see the hole in the bow which would make the boat unusable any time soon. Once they were in the shade Harold would notice a spar washed up on the shore, he would drag it in to where the rest of the things were and feeling blessed that he had something to make a shelter along with at least some water and food.

 

[Blurugirl]

As the pair took stock of the supplies her lifeboat had supplied, Akkadavi asked, "I know it may seem an odd question, Mr Goodbody, but have you seen any goats? I've been paying attention to the various fauna that has been seen at the edge of the foliage, but I've not seen any goats. The reason I ask is I've been trying to determine where we might have washed up at. Our boarding school has a very good geography division, and I believe I might be able to make a good estimation of where we washed up based on observations of the natural environment."

 

[Mature Male Writer]

"Sorry, I have not seen any goats, Miss .", Harold replied with just a slight bit of annoyance as he began to construct a temporary shelter well above the high tide line. "I am afraid my education was not as detailed as yours in geography unless it concerned the lands near Jerusalem .", Harold would go on as he began to lash a frame out of the oars. He was now thankful for the summer days toiling on the nearby farms. He often thought he had no training of any value, but the farmers had taught him a few things. Once the canvas was tied to the oars Harold would set to opening one of the cask and calculating how long two could last on 4 Imperial (5 ) gallons of water. He would dip the copper ladle in and offer it to Akkadivi saying, "This much twice a day for now Miss Akkadavi ." He did wish to seem stern, but until they found fresh water or a way to catch rain water from another monsoon storm they would need to conserve what they had.

 

[Blurugirl]

By the sun, Akkadavi could tell it was mid- to late afternoon and fortunately for the two of them, it was May, so the weather was relatively cool and dry, and would be for the next few months.

Well, dry by the standards of a Hindi princess who had never left home. By the standards of someone who was born and raised in England, or had spent the last few years living in England and had thus acclimated to the cooler weather, it was still a little warm. But as not as warm and humid as it had been just a few months ago, during the rain and monsoon season.

"The reason I ask about goats," Akkadavi said, her eyes looking out toward the interior of the island, "Is that the French made an attempt to colonize quite a few islands in the Mozambique channel," she said, her accent and tone making her sound like one of the British spinsters and old bachelors who had been instructing her for the last four years. "This including releasing goats on small islands like this. If there were goats here, it would give us an idea of where we are, and when we could expect to be rescued." The fact that they would be rescued was already an indisputable one to the princess.

Akkadavi knelt down and tore her sari, freeing and exposing her ankles and calves so she could walk easier. "You are quite right about the water," she said, in a British accent that reflected her upper class education. "Which is why we should make a short foray into the undercover, to see the availability of freshwater." Without further consideration, the Indian princess began her trek toward the green.

 

[Mature Male Writer]

Harold after the shock wore off grabbed up the hatchet and followed Akkadavi's lead. He could have felt emasculated at this moment ,but rather it was more a sense of awe at her knowledge and boldness. He followed her looking around at the sea of green and tried no to look at her ankles and her bottom swaying in the silk sari which would cause that pain again for Harold. He would move his eyes to the back of her head and follow as this was more her world that it might ever be his. He finally decided to make conversation and asked, "Miss Akkadivi where were you in school and what did you read ?"

 

[Blurugirl]

"Lady Gibson's Seminary in London for Young Ladies," Akkadavi answered over her shoulder, unaware of what the unintentionally seductive sway of her backside was doing to her fellow castaway. "Lady Gibson has some rather progressive ideas on education, so young women were not trained merely in the arts of embroidery. Ah, I knew there was water here."

Before the pair, the greenery opened up to a small brook, flowing northward.

"Shall we follow it to see where it goes?" Assadavi asked.

 

[Mature Male Writer]

Harold would kneel down first and wash his face to cool off. He would finally answer, "That would a good idea, perhaps we can find a place to set up camp with water closer. We can empty the biscuit tin to boil it in unless we find it is from a clean spring." He would wet his cravat and wrap it back around his neck before they began to follow the brook.

 

[Mature Male Writer]

As they walked Harold thought more conversation was in order and said, "My education was rather backward at The Reverend Coldstone's. I know the New Testament well in both Greek and Latin, but can not do mathematics beyond sums. I know nothing of the world beyond The Reverend Coldstone's Seminary save the Holy Land. " He tried to keep talking to keep his mind off that returning pain in his loins from seeing Akkadavi's buttocks and hips move under the silky sari. "Do you think we stand a chance of rapid rescue or should we be making a plan for staying here awhile?", Harold would finally asked as Akkadavi seemed to be more knowledgeable , and opinionated, in these matters.

 

[Blurugirl]

Akkadavi felt a wave of anxiety form in the pit of her stomach, threatening to rise up and take control of her, Instead, she pushed it down, making sure she sounded confident.

"I am a princess, the daughter of a raj, a member of the British imperiality.." All technically true, though she knew that in plainer language, she was the younger child of a ruler of a minor British client state. Nevertheless, she mustered all the royal prerogative and upper class attitude she could muster. "Of course they will mount a rescue. How quickly it will arrive depends on whether others have been to this island. That is why I asked whether you had seen goats on the island. That would be evidence of whether this island has been visited before or not. Regardless, though, rescuers will be coming."

Akkadavi was nowhere near as confident as she sounded. A number of factors would come into play. And though the daughter of a minor ruler did warrant more attention than...whatever this English boy was, she hadn't really been paying attention...she wasn't all that sure that she would necessarily warrant a rescue effort. Not a concerted, rapid one at least.

Akkadavi's internal dialogue was interrupted by a tall tree along the brook they were following. The tree stood fifteen foot tall, and had stringing of tiny white flowers drooping down from it.

Akkadavi smiled at the sight of it. "Are you familiar with this tree, Mr. Goodbody? There are several of them in the garden on the grounds of my father's palace. You English call it the Indian lilac. We call it the Neem." She reached up, lightly fondling one of the flowers. "The flowers and leaves have several values. They enhance beauty, prevent pregnancies, increase energy..a multitude of uses."

She looked up at the stream ahead, which came wandering down a steep hill. With a smile, she said, "It looks like we have a hike ahead of us, Mr. Goodbody."

 

[Mature Male Writer]

Harold looked at the route and asked,"Do you think it wise we leave our supplies ? Perhaps we should go back and make the hike tomorrow ? " Harold would look at the tree and flowers for a moment and wait for Akkadavi's answer. He would be happy for her to share her greater knowledge, but she was not one of her subjects to be ordered around. After a few more moments he would in firm tone say, "I say we go back to the beach, to our supplies for the night." He hoped she would agree he was not about to tell, but his wet boots had started blisters on his feet.

 

[Mature Male Writer]

Harold would watch and wait for Akkadavi to answer. He could not tell her but he was in awe of her. She moved through the jungle with such confidence or was it that this was very much like her home ? She knew the plants and for all in knew the Neem was also a poison to that she would use to kill him. Oh where did such thoughts come from ? He knew it was that world view that The Reverend Coldstone had pressed into him and the other boys day after day about the evil non Christian world in which even the Catholics, Quakers and Baptist were heretics. Now here he was with a Hindi princess in a thin silk sari wandering around a green jungle looking for goats.