Natives

I had been taken at sea. Our ship was rammed at night and the pirates swarmed aboard. There was no time to reach for weapons or resist in any way. I know not what happened to my shipmates for I was quickly bound and hustled aboard the attackers’ ship where I was stowed in a damp and dark hold. I was untied but attached to the wall with a shackle round my ankle. I had some movement but could not reach the hatch. I stayed there for an unknown amount of time. It was not pleasant, however they supplied me with plenty of food and water. ...

The yacht “Parsifal” was churning through the waters of the Pacific Ocean when one of the passengers saw a glint of sunlight off glass among the swells. When the boat changed course and came close to the site, the crew and passengers saw that the glint had come from a large bottle floating in the water. Using a net on a pole, one of the crewmen retrieved the bottle and took it to the yacht’s captain. There was a rolled-up sheaf of paper inside the bottle, so the captain smashed the bottle, unrolled the papers, and read the message written on them: ...

Rosita Wright almost felt like Lara Croft when she finally found the jungle green starting to thin out and she could hear the waves nearby. After so many days it seemed of battling past hordes of creepy crawlies that tried to go where not required the young woman appeared to be close to the end of her goal. Examining this remote island off Borneo’s northern coast that apparently nobody from the West had ever visited. Quite why this could be Rosie, as she’d always preferred during college didn’t know. All the pilot who’d dropped her off a month ago said was he’d assumed it was because the place was much smaller than the islands in the main part of the chain, only about 40 square miles. Those teemed with the wildlife that kept all the naturalists agog with wonder, so this place, last in the line and much further out had been forgotten about until now. ...

(story continues from Everything going Wright and Rosie in undiscovered Borneo) Part Two Rosie Wright groaned when she heard the Albatross approaching on its regular visit. Knowing that in a few hours time she’d be confronted by the man who’d made love to her, given her a lovely dress to wear…then betrayed her. Having the girl marched at spear point to the top of the island then locking her in the cage that had been her home for the last few months. ...

On December 5, 1941, Captain Ron Black and Sergeant James Humphries departed Clark Air Base, Philippines for Baguio Air Base in northern Luzon on a routine flight. Their Martin B-10 bomber, “Manila Momma,” never reached Baguio. Rescue forces mounted a search but World War II cut short their efforts. “Manila Momma’s” disappearance remained a mysterious footnote until last year when an archeology team found the wrecked bomber in the jungle northeast of Baguio. The archeologists recovered James Humphries’ diary and returned it to his family who graciously allowed us to publish this excerpt. We edited some personal comments; we did not alter the narrative of events. ...