Elizabeth led Arthur to a small bench in the garden. She glowed under the tiki torches. Nearby, he could hear the rustle of the coy pond where there was a small waterfall. The music from inside drifted out to them. They were playing Wonderwall by Oasis. Conditions seemed perfect for him to finally make a real connection with Elizabeth. Then he looked down and saw her bloodied big toe. The nail looked broken. She had on beautiful golden slippers cradling her otherwise pristine feet. He couldn’t believe he had so badly marred those delicate feet. Arthur leaned towards her with trepidation. In the background, they heard the song lyrics, “Today was gonna be the day but they'll never throw it back to you/By now you shoulda somehow realized what you're not to do/I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do about you now.”
“You were perfect on the dance floor,” he said reverently.
Elizabeth gazed at him with total comfort. She was unafraid and felt no shame in his forward behavior towards her.
“I have a good ear for music. Also, my body has been trained since childhood to be well coordinated. Austin made sure of that. He needed me to be able to go hiking, hunting, and fishing with him. Sometimes, the terrain would get pretty rough. You don’t want to lose your footing on a cliff for example.”
Arthur was shocked into silence. He had never before seen her volunteer so much personal information. She also never spoke about herself or other people. Instead, she generally chose to speak about her hobbies and other things unrelated to humanity. She had left him nonplussed.
“It’s nice out here in the garden,” he said dully. He was coming off as more bored and disinterested than he wanted to, but that was just because he was exerting so much energy in staying calm. He could feel his heart pounding.
“Does that mean you’d rather stay out here with me instead of going back inside?” Elizabeth asked. Arthur paused.
“Yes,” he managed meekly. “Are you really going on this trip? Or are you just pretending to rebel against Austin?”
“Of course I’m going,” she said indignantly. “It’s all paid for. The arrangements have been made for a long time. I can’t just cancel now at the eleventh hour.”
“I can’t believe he will actually let you go by yourself. I know it’s not my business, but I have to say something.”
“It finally happened. I rebelled against him and said I wanted us to do what I want to do for a change. He wanted to go to Texas to be with his fiancé, and I wanted to go camping on a deserted island. We argued for about a week before we finally came up with a compromise. He’s going to see me off. He’ll give me his full blessing, make sure I’m all packed with everything I need, and instruct my wilderness guide to regularly check in on me on the island. Then he will leave for Texas. At the end of about three months, I will join him just in time for his wedding. This is actually the first time that we’ve ever wanted to do two completely different things. But, I’m eighteen now, so I can do whatever I want.”
“I just don’t understand why Austin won’t go with you! He always takes these kinds of extravagant trips. It doesn’t make any difference to him if he spends a summer camping on a beautiful island. He could even take his fiancé with him.”
Elizabeth had never met Austin’s fiancé: a wealthy heiress from Texas named Alex. Heiress to what, Elizabeth couldn’t remember. Elizabeth didn’t think much of the woman, despite her many good qualities. Alex sounded tough. She had her own horse ranch, loved sports, hunting, and camping. And yet, this successful, powerful woman was willing to marry…Austin? That right there made her lose all credibility with Elizabeth, who had almost felt sorry for Alex. Almost. But she decided any woman willing to tie herself to her brother for life was undeserving of pity.
“He’s too selfish to do what somebody else wants to do for a change. For eighteen years, I have done whatever someone else had wanted to do. And now it’s my turn to do as I please.”
“This isn’t safe,” Arthur admonished with a head shake.
Elizabeth grimaced. “I disagree. I can’t understand why people are freaking out about this. Aren’t there plenty of hermits who have lived in secluded log cabins? What about Henry David Thoreau? He did this for two years! Is this really that extreme?
Arthur was silent. The young lady was fearless. He would have been too afraid to go on an expedition like this. What if something were to happen? There wasn’t even phone service on the island. How could she call for help? She couldn’t. But he knew she didn’t care about risks, so he simply said, “The island isn’t really anything special. You should go camping in Hawaii. It’s gorgeous. I also heard that the island is haunted.”