Bone Isle

Bone Isle By Edward Kendrick Published by JMS Books LLC Visit jms-books.com for more information. Copyright 2023 Edward Kendrick ISBN 9781685504366 Cover Design: Written Ink Designs | written-ink.com Image(s) used under a Standard Royalty-Free License. All rights reserved. WARNING: This book is not transferable. It is for your own personal use. If it is sold, shared, or given away, it is an infringement of the copyright of this work and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. No portion of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts used for the purposes of review. This book is for ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. It may contain sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which might be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be accessed by minors. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Published in the United States of America. * * * * Bone Isle By Edward Kendrick Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 1 “What do you think?” Jake asked, gesturing at the map that lay on the dining table in the apartment he shared with his lover, Dave. He pushed back an errant lock of brown hair that had fallen over his forehead, his hazel eyes moving from man to man. “What are we looking for?” Tyler asked, resting his hands on the table as he peered at it. At twenty-six, he was the oldest of the friends, with black hair that was too long to be considered stylish, and piercing blue eyes. Like Jake, Dave was twenty-five. There the resemblance ended as he was a brunette with brown eyes. He leaned against Jake’s shoulder, watching the others as if waiting for them to see what Jake was talking about. Pete—brown-haired and blue-eyed—and Bart were college roommates. Bart’s hair was dark blond, his eyes hazel, and like Pete he was twenty-two. They both looked bemused. “That,” Jake said in reply to Tyler’s question. He used a pencil to point out the place he was talking about. “It’s an island. I know it doesn’t look like much on this, but I did some research online. Even found a better image of it. Hang on.” He crossed to his desk, took the computer out of sleep mode and brought up a site with stories about pirates who had been around in the eighteen-hundreds. It included links to various maps. He clicked on one and when it loaded, he zoomed in on a tiny island whose main feature was the tall, craggy mountain peaks in its center. “It’s got a weird name, Bone Isle.” “Spooky. Maybe to do with the pirate skull and crossbones flag,” Pete suggested. “You don’t really think we’ll find lost pirate treasure, do you? I bet it’s been explored by everybody and their brother.” “I’m sure we won’t, but wouldn’t it be fun to look anyway?” Jake replied. “You, Bart, and Neil have a week of Spring break coming up. We could use Tyler’s boat to get out there. It’s only ten miles off the coast.” Tyler lifted an eyebrow. “Now why did I think that would be your suggestion as soon as you said island, presuming we decide to do it?” Dave chuckled. “Because he knows you too well?” Neil, who had been standing in the background, whispered to Bart, “Does that mean what it sounds like?” At twenty-one, with green eyes and light blond hair, he was youngest and newest member of the group. He had become friends with Pete and Dave when he decided, right before he started his junior year at the college, to move into off-campus housing. He ended up in the same apartment building where they lived. They had befriended him when Pete found out he was majoring in graphic design, which sort of aligned with Pete’s major in journalism, or so he said at the time. Soon after, they’d introduced him to the rest of the group. “No,” Bart whispered back. “They grew up together is all. Some small town in the middle of nowhere.” Jake apparently overheard them because he said, “I don’t think Springfield is small or in the middle of nowhere.” Pete snorted. “It’s in Missouri. ‘Nuff said?” “Smartass,” Jake grumbled while the others grinned. “It would take some planning,” Pete commented. “Food, supplies. I’m presuming there isn’t a town there.” “You got it,” Tyler replied after taking another look at the map. “There’s the mountains, lots of green which could be trees and grass I suppose, and streams.” He shook his head. “The devil’s in the details, which it’s lacking in spades.” “How big is it?” Bart asked. “According to this,” Jake tapped the screen, “It’s about two square miles. I hit up a comparison site which said that means it’s around one and a half times as big as Central Park in New York City.” “Like I know how big that is,” Bart grumbled, rating laughs for some of the others. “If I’m reading this right,” Dave said, “some of the streams might begin in the mountains, meaning they could be fresh water, as compared to the ones that come in from the ocean. That’ll be good because we won’t have to carry water with us while we’re exploring.” “If you’re reading it right,” Tyler replied dryly. “We should bring a few cases of bottled water, just in case, and use my boat as home base. It looks like there’s a big cove—” he touched the computer screen, “—which should shelter it if the weather gets bad. Can you email me a copy of this? It’s better than