He shook his head as she finished her story. "You've turned into quite the farm girl. To think you used to scream your head off if one of the fish touched you."
"Well, I didn't really have much choice," she said. "We all have to pitch in around here to survive."
"You're not going to have to worry about that much longer. If we can get the boat fixed, then we can get out of here and go back home. Maybe we can even find you a doctor to help you get your memory back."
"Really? They can do that?"
"I'm not sure." He took her hand. "Whatever happens, I'm still going to love you, just like I always have."
"I love you too, Uncle Hector."
He tousled her hair and then took one of the fish from by the fire. "We'd better eat up. We got a busy day ahead."
***
Uncle Hector screamed a couple of times as Samantha helped him onto the net. Each time she apologized and each time he said not to mind. "It's my own fault for getting caught in that storm. At least some good came out of it."
She got him settled onto the net, the splint on his leg holding. It wouldn't make for the best stretcher, but she didn't see any alternatives at the moment. She gathered the net around him; he grabbed on to it to help secure it. "Here we go," she said.
The biggest problem came in getting him up from the beach to the forest. The trail she had taken down was full of large rocks, much too large to try dragging him over. Instead they followed the beach for a while. Along the way they didn't say much, her too tired and him probably in too much pain to speak.
By midday they reached where Pryde's boat was, or where its remains were. The storm had overturned the boat and thrown it a good hundred yards. The boat had shattered against an outcropping of rocks; it would be impossible to piece it back together.
"What's that?" Uncle Hector asked.
"A boat. I was going to leave on it before the storm hit."
"You were?"
"I was going to look for my parents. I thought they were still alive."
"Then you remembered they weren't?"
Samantha ran her hands over the denim jacket. "I found these clothes and the necklace and a picture of them. Then I remembered."
"I'm sorry."
"It was for the best."
"So what do we do now?"
Samantha pointed to the left, where a trail snaked up from the beach. "That will take us into town. Then we can get your foot healed."