Remi unfolded the tourist map they’d purchased at the hotel—the best they could do in a pinch—and laid it on the sand. They crouched down. Before leaving the museum, Sam had studied a few digital maps on the kiosk and mentally marked the ship’s position.
“From here it’s less than a mile to the western side,” he said. “As best I can tell, the Shenandoah—”
“Assuming it was her.”
“I’m praying it was her. My best guess puts her here, in this shallow bay. If we’re using the Berouw’s fate as a model—”
“Yes, run that by me again.”
“According to accepted history, the Berouw was the only true ship to be pushed inland. Anything smaller was either driven to the bottom of the strait or instantly destroyed by the final tsunami. My theory is this: What made the Berouw different is that she was anchored at the mouth of a river.”
“A path of least resistance,” Remi said.
“Exactly. She was driven inland via a preexisting gouge in the terrain. If you draw a line from Krakatoa through the ship’s anchorage and onto the island, you see a—”
Leaning closely over the map, Remi finished Sam’s thought. “A ravine.”
“A deep one, bracketed on both sides by five-hundred-foot peaks. If you look closely, the ravine ends below this third peak, a few hundred yards shy of the opposite shoreline. One mile long and a quarter mile wide.”
“What’s to say she wasn’t crushed into dust or shoved up and over the island and slammed into the seabed?” Remi asked. “We’re twenty-five miles from Krakatoa. The Berouw was fifty miles away and she ended up miles inland.”
“Two reasons: One, the peaks around our ravine are far steeper than anything around the river; and two, the Shenandoah was at least four times as heavy as the Berouw and iron-framed with double-thick oak and teak hull plates. She was designed to take punishment.”
“You make a good case.”
“Let’s hope it translates into reality.”
“I do, however, have one more nagging detail . . .”
“Shoot.”
“How would the Shenandoah have survived the pyroclastic flow?”
“As it happens, I have a theory about that. Care to hear it?”
“Hold on to it. If you turn out to be right, you can tell me. If you’re wrong, it won’t matter.”
WITHIN FIVE MINUTES of breaching the tree line they realized Madagascar’s forests didn’t hold a candle to those of Pulau Legundi. The trees, so densely packed that Sam and Remi frequently had to turn sideways to squeeze between them, were also entwined in skeins of creeper vines that looped from tree trunk to branch to ground. By the time they’d covered a hundred yards, Sam’s shoulder throbbed from swinging the machete.
They found a closet-sized clearing in the undergrowth and crouched down for a water break. Insects swirled around them, buzzing in their ears and nostrils. Above, the canopy was filled with the squawks of unseen birds. Remi dug a can of bug repellant from her pack and coated Sam’s exposed skin; he did the same for her.
“This could be a positive for us,” Sam said.
“What?”
“Do you see how most of the tree trunks are covered in a layer of mold and creepers? It’s like armor. What’s good for the trees could be good for ship planking.”
He took another sip from the canteen, then handed it to Remi. “The going will get easier the higher we go,” he said.
“Define easier.”
“More sunlight means fewer creeper vines.”
“And higher means steeper,” Remi replied with a game smile. “Life’s a trade-off.”
Sam checked his watch. “Two hours to sunset. Please tell me you remembered to pack the mosquito hammock . . .”
“I did. But I forgot the hibachi, the steaks, and the cooler of ice-cold beer.”