Chapter 558
Chapter 558:
Silence reigned, broken only by the crackle of burning twigs.
I poked the embers a little faster, just to look busy.
Ashton kept tugging at the diving glove on his right hand.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed it. I thought back and realized he had worn it every day since we landed.
“You’ve had that glove on for a long time, haven’t you?” I said.
His lashes gave the faintest flicker, though only for an instant.
“It’s easier to work with,” he replied evenly.
I nodded. With so many poisonous plants and insects around, it was sensible.
I must have dozed off for a while.
These past few days, I hadn’t slept soundly. To avoid danger, we had been taking turns keeping watch.
At first, Ashton insisted on looking after me. He let me sleep at night and caught whatever rest he could in snatches during the day.
But I refused.
I couldn’t keep letting Ashton shoulder everything while I took advantage. We argued about it, and in the end, we reached an agreement: when it came to sleep, each of us took half the night.
That meant our afternoons were spent foraging together.
I was fortunate that Ashton was a survival expert, or I might have starved before anyone ever found us.
I had no idea what was edible.
Once, I reached for a bright, pretty fruit, only for Ashton to smack my hand away.
He told me it was a well-known poison in the wild, so toxic you could pick it up just by touching it.
That lesson stayed with me. From then on, I obediently followed behind him.
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When I woke, Ashton had already packed his bag, ready for another round of foraging.
I stretched, looked out at the endless sea, and then at the man next to me—solid and reliable.
He reminded me of an ancient tree. Just a glance at him wrapped me in a deep sense of safety.
A rare calm stirred within me, a peace I hadn’t felt in a long time.
I wanted to hold onto it, to linger in it.
A reckless thought rose up inside me.
Maybe staying on this island for a while wouldn’t be so bad. So long as Ashton was with me.
That day, we pushed further inland than before. The trees thickened, and shadows deepened around us.
I slowed my pace until I ended up behind him.
It wasn’t that I was afraid; Ashton wouldn’t let me take the lead.
I studied the man who held his arm out, keeping me sheltered behind him. He still wore the light grey T-shirt from earlier, with sturdy trousers and the pair of leather shoes salvaged from his suitcase.
The outfit was plain, unremarkable.