"You guys can come."Ethan smiles. "It's a group of loud French tourists. Loud but harmless."
Jonathan tightens his hand around mine. "This is so great Eva," he says with a huge smile.
Ethan takes Lily from Jonathan and we walk silently hand in hand behind him. The closer we get, the stronger the light from the campfire becomes.
Ethan stops and we stop right behind him. I look over, curious. A group of young men and women are standing around the campfire, dressed in short, summer clothes.
We don't move and they, too, stand guarded. They look us up and down in silence until one gorgeous blond breaks the stillness. "Bonsoir," she says loudly and walks over to us. "It's so exciting to see you." She hugs me and Jonathan, kissing us both on each cheek.
"He appears out of nowhere, almost giving us heart attacks. He looked at us and, said in English, that he will be right back," she says in a thick French accent, pointing to Ethan. "It's a good thing that we speak English," she laughs. "We were waiting nervously for a few minutes, then suddenly you appear like angels. Where are you from? What happened to you? What are you doing here?"
She is asking so many questions, it is making me feel exhausted. All the excitement and tension are making me dizzy.
"Claudine, let them rest a little and then you can attack them with all of your questions," says one of the guys who joins her, scrutinizing us.
"Yes," says Ethan. "We're going to build a little campfire a little further away from the noise so that Lily can sleep and then we'll join you."
Gradually they all gather around us. There are a total of three guys and four girls, all in their twenties. They are all smiles and so vibrant that they make me feel old. Jonathan and I still haven't said a word, as they continue to gape at us.
"Let's go settle over there," Ethan says. He points towards a spot that is a few yards away. We walk over there and the group keeps staring at us. Ethan and Jonathan gather some firewood, using one of the burning logs from their campfire to light ours. I spread out the blanket; I place Lily on top of it and lie down beside her.
"Eva, you waited so desperately for this, why aren't you going to sit with them for a little while?" Ethan asks surprisingly.
"I'm too drained. All I want to do is go to sleep." I inch closer to Lily and feel him covering us with the blanket. Jonathan and Ethan join the other campfire and the loud voices slowly start to sound muffled, and I fall asleep.
***
"So where are you from? What happened to you?" Claudine asks inquisitively.
"You'll have to forgive her. She doesn't know when to stop."
"Oh, stop it Jean. You are just as curious as I am."
"Sure, curious, but let them breathe first."
"Okay, did you breathe enough? Can I ask you some questions?"
Jonathan is silent and looks over at Ethan. Ethan sums up their experience in a few sentences. "We were in Tenerife when a big tsunami wiped out almost everyone on the island. Since we were scuba diving when it happened, we survived. After we saw the pamphlets, we decided to make our way to London and so here we are."
Claudine opens her eyes widely. "A tsunami? Oh merde. Such terrible luck you had. A few of us from Marseille organized a trip to Morocco. We were staying at a gorgeous hotel on the beach of Agadir. We went for an afternoon swim and all of a sudden, we saw the earth swallow up all the hotels, all the beach huts and all the people that were on the beach. It was unbelievable. The ocean was vibrating and we were screaming. We started swimming deeper into the ocean because we were afraid that it would reach us. After an hour, it suddenly became quiet. We came out of the water and it took us several hours to recover and compose ourselves." Claudine pauses sadly and Jean adds, "We lost some very good friends on that beach." Everyone is silent now.
"Where are our manners?" Claudine pulls herself together first. "This is Francine." She points to a thin girl who is smiling and nodding shyly. "The girl with the curly hair is Lauren, and last but not least, the one who looks like a Barbie doll is Natalie. You've already met Jean, and to his right is Philippe and to his left, with the long curls, is George." The entire gang is grinning.
"I'm Jonathan and this is Ethan. Eva went to sleep with Lily. You'll meet them tomorrow."
"And how are you related?" Claudine asks with great interest.
"Blood related," replies Jonathan and smiles over to Ethan, who smiles back in a fatherly manner.
"If you'll excuse us, we're going to sleep now," says Ethan.
"Thank you for the warm welcome," Jonathan adds.
"But no, you just got here," Claudine says disappointed. "Stay with us for a little while. We found a van a few days ago with some bottles of alcohol. We took a few bottles with us and now we have a great reason to celebrate."
"Thank you, but tonight we'll have to pass," Ethan says and walks over to the small campfire.
"G'night," Jonathan adds, as he joins Ethan.
***
The next morning I wake up feeling excited.. My fatigue is gone and I'm eagerly looking forward to enjoying our new company. Jonathan and Ethan have already taken their morning dip in the ocean and the entire gang is still sound asleep. When Lily wakes up we eat breakfast together.
One by one, as our hosts and hostesses wake up they all go in the ocean for a morning swim. I envy the girls that they all have bathing suits. I wish I had one so that I wouldn't always have to wait for evening to wash myself. They eat their breakfast leisurely, inviting us to join them but Ethan refuses politely on behalf of all of us.
"Where did you get your food?" Jonathan asks.
"We went to the hotels and searched the ruins. We stocked up nicely," says Jean proudly and I examine his handsome and delicate facial features.
We organize our bags and get ready to head out. "Where are you going?" asks Philippe.
"London," says Jonathan. "What other choice is there?"
"Ahh, we plan to go to Marseille. Our families are there and we want to look for them."
"Well, then we all have a long way ahead of us," says Jonathan contentedly.
Our convoy starts moving. Ethan is up front, with Claudine by his side. Lily and I are behind them, the others are behind us and Jonathan is at the back. I notice that Claudine, who is blessed with a perfect body and long blonde hair, is not leaving Ethan's side. She is chatting away happily and he is listening
We stop to eat lunch and she is right there by his side. We continue walking and again, she is right there by his side. Every now and then she giggles or stumbles and clutches his arm.
Her lightheartedness reminds me of Sarah but I don't like Claudine at all. Jean picks up his pace and starts walking next to me. "Kitten," he says and smiles.
"What?" I ask in surprise.
"I bet your nickname is Kitten, because of those green eyes of yours," he adds and laughs.
I smile and nod. "You're right but that was years ago, in a whole other world." I feel sad.
"Don't be sad, Kitten. We need to find the good in every situation that we are in. For example, who would have thought that we would meet you in the middle of this damned place?"
"True, I'm very happy that we met all of you. It hasn't been easy."
"And who is this sweet thing?" He turns to Lily.
"I'm Lily," she answers with a big smile. "I'm six and Eva is my sister," she says proudly.
"Your sister? I should have guessed, you really do look alike," he bends down to tickle her. She giggles happily. "Would you like me to carry you on my shoulders?"
"Yes, please," she answers.
Jean picks her up and we continue walking. He tells me about their preparations for the trip, about the earthquake and the friends they lost on the beach.
I remain silent and just continue looking at the scenery around us. There are sinkholes everywhere and the wreckage on our right is still harsh and unbearable. I think about Sarah and my parents, who are so far away and I ache for them. The sun starts to set and Ethan stops. The convoy stops behind him. "Let's get organized for the night," he orders. Everyone does as they are told. How is it possible that every person he gives orders to simply does what he says? Who gave them orders before? Doesn't it seem strange to them? I guess that it must seem natural to everyone. He gives out orders and we all just do as we are told.
After gathering firewood and lighting a large campfire, Jonathan and Ethan build a small campfire. We take out our canned food from our backpacks. They boil water on the campfire and Lauren makes rice for everyone.
I feel like we are about to eat a kings' banquet. During dinner, Claudine sits by Ethan and continues to tell him stories about her life in Marseille. When he is done eating, she asks him if he wants something to drink and whether she should boil some water. He politely refuses.
It astounds me to see that she is capable of flirting given the situation that we are in. I feel a small stab in my heart. George goes over to one of their backpacks and comes back with a bottle of liquor and a triumphant smile. "Come on, let's drink," he says and his friends join him with whoops of joy.
Jean comes over and sits down next to me and Lily. "Can I offer you a drink?"
"Maybe later," I reply. "Lily, are you tired?"
"Yes. I want to go to bed now please," she puts her head on my shoulder.
"I'll take you," says Ethan from the other side of the campfire.
Lily struggles to her feet and walks over to him. He picks her up gently and carries her over to the little campfire.
I watch him as he lays the blanket on the sand. He lays her down gently on top of it and then covers her up with another blanket. He lies down next to her and strokes her head tenderly. It's not nice to be jealous of a six-year-old, I think with amusement.
Jean is still sitting next to me, telling me stories about his relationship with each one of the group. They all went to college together and graduated this year. "I have known Philippe and Natalie for many years. I met everyone else at college and we became good friends." He rambles on and on but all I can think about are the blue eyes over there by the small campfire.
Suddenly, I see Claudine making her way over to me. "Eva, we didn't really get the chance to talk today, I promise to make it up to you tomorrow," she smirks.
"Not a problem," I reply dryly.
"Pardon my bluntness, but, Ethan, is he yours?"
"What do you mean 'mine'?" I ask uncomfortably.
"Are you two a couple?"
"A couple?" I repeat the question while trying to find an answer, but nothing comes to mind. "No. We're not a couple."
"Great." She smiles radiantly at me. "So excuse me now, I will stop interrupting your conversation." She starts walking towards the little campfire, until she reaches Ethan.
I wish I could hear what they are saying. I don't feel comfortable staring at them so I turn to face Jean. I think that the answer I gave Claudine gave Jean leeway because he keeps rambling on and on. I try to pay attention to what he is saying but to no avail.
