Castaway Read Online Free PDF

nets and the wood,’ said Sam. ‘Where’d you chuck the atlas, George?’
    ‘Just here somewhere … that’s funny, I can’t see it now.’ George cast about with a puzzled frown, but the atlas had disappeared. ‘I can’t see my water bottle either. I’m sure I left it around here.’
    ‘Maybe a crow picked it up, or a dingo or something,’ said Sam.
    ‘Well, the tide has come in a fair way,’ said Charles. ‘Perhaps the atlas has already washed away. Never mind. We’ll look around a bit more, and make sure there are no shipwreck survivors sending up smoke signals.’
    Half an hour later, they were back home. They walked up to the house and, as they moved further away from the noise of the helicopter, they became aware of a commotion coming from the direction of the schoolroom. Voices were shouting above the rumbling of the tractor.
    ‘Dad must be getting the tree off already. Quick, let’s get there before it’s all over!’
    Sam and George ran ahead, with Charles loping along behind. As they reached the crushed van, they realised that something dreadful had occurred. The bigtree was lying beside the caravan. Mac was sprawled awkwardly on the ground next to it, his face white and his eyes closed. Mungo shut down the tractor as Sarah hovered over her husband, crying his name. Jaz knelt beside her, and Old Jock was crouched on the other side of Mac, ashen faced, wringing his hands and looking aghast. Mungo jumped down from the tractor, and rushed over to his brother.
    Sam and George halted beside Sarah, not understanding what had happened. She looked up and saw them, her face absolutely stricken.
    ‘Sam, George! Oh God, he’s hurt!’
    At the sight of her sons, she forced herself to calm down, and began checking Mac for signs of further injury. He was unconscious, and his breathing was shallow and uneven. His right arm and leg were obviously broken, but his injuries seemed to be worse than what Sarah could immediately see. Uncle Mungo turned to Charles, who had come to a standstill beside him.
    ‘I was just pullin’ the tree off the van when it slipped sideways. Dragged the tractor across. Mac was standin’ near the tractor and a branch caught him hard across the body. I just managed to lift the tree enough for the others to pull him out from under it …’ The big man’s voice cracked, and his hands trembled. He knelt down next to Sarah. She looked up at Charles.
    ‘We’ve got to get him to hospital, and fast.’
    ‘I’ll let the pilot know.’ Charles ran back to the helicopter, and the two men began taking out the rear seats.
    Uncle Mungo shook himself, got to his feet, and said to Sam and George, ‘Fellers, we need to make a stretcher to carry Mac to the chopper. What’ve we got?’
    Fifteen minutes later, Sam and George stood on the grass in front of the house as the helicopter lifted off. Sarah had gone in the chopper with Mac, and Sam, George and Uncle Mungo would follow by road. Charles had also left with the helicopter.
    ‘I’m very glad we were here when this happened,’ he had said to them as he climbed aboard. ‘Don’t worry about Mac – he’ll be well looked after. The hospital’s alerted and we’ll be landing there in twenty-five minutes. Chins up.’
    They watched until the Jetranger dwindled to a speck in the western sky and vanished.

Three hours later, Sam and George were in the waiting room of the hospital’s emergency ward. People hurried in and out of doors, or waited on the hard plastic chairs to be seen by a doctor. Occasionally a name would be called, and someone would heave a sigh and follow the nurse through the doors. Uncle Mungo appeared before them, polystyrene cups of hot chocolate looking fragile in his huge hands.
    ‘Here, you blokes, get this inside ya – we could have a long wait.’
    Their mother’s sister Aunty Lou arrived and swept them into a tight embrace as soon as she spotted them.
    ‘Oh, boys, boys , it’s so terrible ! You have to be strong