chapter 1 the sound of the shell the boy with fair hair lowered himself down the last few feet of rock and began to pick his way toward the lagoon though he had taken off his school sweater and trailed it now from one hand his gray shirts stuck to him and his hair was plastered to his forehead all around him the long scar smashed into the jungle was a bath of heat he was clambering heavily among the creepers and broken trunks when a bird a vision of red and yellow flashed upwards with a witch like cry and this cry was echoed by another high it said wait a minute the undergrowth at the side of the scar was shaken and a multitude of raindrops fell pattering wait a minute the voice said I got caught up the fair boy stopped and jerked his stockings with an automatic gesture that made the jungle seem for a moment like the Home Counties the voice spoke again I can't hardly move with all these creeper things the owner of the voice came backing out of the undergrowth so that twigs scratched on a greasy windbreaker the naked crooks of his knees were plump caught and scratched by thorns he bent down removed the thorns carefully and turned around he was shorter than the fair boy and very fat he came forward searching out safe lodgements for his feet and then looked up through thick spectacles where's the man with the megaphone the fair boy shook his head this is an island at least I think it's an island that's a reef out in the sea perhaps there aren't any grown-ups anywhere the fat boy looked startled there was that pilot but he wasn't in the passenger cabin he was up in front the fair boy was peering at the reef through screwed-up eyes all them other kids the fat boy went on some of them must have got out they must have mustn't they the fair boy began to pick his way as casually as possible toward the water he tried to be offhand and not too obviously uninterested but the fat boy after him ants there any grownups at all I don't think so the fair boy said this solemnly but then the delight of a realized ambition overcame him in the middle of the scar he stood on his head and grinned at the reversed fat boy no grownups the fat boy thought for a moment that's pilot the fair boy allowed his feet to come down and sat on the steamy earth he must have flown off after he dropped us he couldn't land here not in a plane with wheels we was attacked he'll be back all right the fat boy shook his head when we was coming down I looked through one of them windows I saw the other parts of the plane that will flames calling out of it he looked up and down the scar and this is what the cabin done the fair boy reached out and touched the jagged end of a trunk for a moment he looked interested what happened to it he asked where's it got to now that storm dragged it out to sea it wasn't half dangerous with all them tree trunks falling there must have been some kids still in it he hesitated for a moment then spoke again what's your name Ralph the fat boy waited to be asked his name in turn but this proffer of acquaintance was not made the fair boy called Ralph smiled vaguely stood up and began to make his way once more toward the lagoon the fat boy hung steadily at his shoulder I expect there's lots more of us scattered about you haven't seen any others have you Ralph shook his head and increased his speed then he tripped over a branch and came down with a crash the fat boy stood by him breathing hard my aunty told me not to run he explained on account of my asthma asthma that's right can't catch my breath I was the only boy in our school that's had asthma said the fat boy with a touch of pride and I've been wearing specs since I was free he took off his glasses and held them out to Ralph for blinking and smiling and then started to wipe them against his grubby windbreaker an expression of pain and inward concentration altered the pale contours of his face he smeared the sweat from his cheeks and quickly adjusted the spectacles on his damn fruit he glanced around the scar damn fruit he said I expect he put on his glasses waited away from Ralph and crouched down among the tangled foliage I'll be out to get in just a minute Ralph disentangled himself cautiously and stalled away through the branches in a few seconds the fat boy's grunts were behind him and he was hurrying toward the screen that still lay between him and the lagoon he climbed over a broken trunk and was out of the jungle the shore was fledged with palm trees dee stood or leaned or reclined against the light and their green feathers were a hundred feet up in the air the ground beneath them was a bank covered with coarse grass torn everywhere by the upheavals of fallen trees scattered with decaying coconuts and palm saplings behind this was the darkness of the forest proper and the open space of the scar ralph stood one hand against a gray trunk and screwed up his eyes against the shimmering water out there perhaps a mile away the white surf linked on a coral reef and beyond that the open sea was dark blue within the irregular arc of coral the lagoon was still as a mountain lake blue of all shades and shadowy green and purple the beach between the palm terrace and the water was a thin stick endless apparently for to Ralph's left the perspectives of palm and Beach and water drew to a point at infinity and always almost visible was the heat he jumped down from the terrace the sand was thick over his black shoes and the heat hid him he became conscious of the weight of clothes kicked his shoes off fiercely and ripped off each stocking with its elastic garter in a single movement then he left back on the terrace pulled off his shirt and stood there among the skull like coconuts with green shadows from the palms and the forest sliding over his skin he undid the snake clasp of his belt lugged off his shorts and pants and stood there naked looking at the dazzling beach in the water he was old enough twelve years in a few months to have lost the prominent tummy of childhood and not yet old enough for adolescents to have made him awkward you could see now that you might make a boxer as far as width and heaviness of shoulders went but there was a mildness about his mouth and eyes that proclaimed no devil he patted the palm trunks softly and forced at last to believe in the reality of the island laughed delightedly again and stood on his head he turned neatly on to his feet jumped down to the beach knelt and swept a double arm full of sand into a pile against his chest then he sat back and looked at the water with bright excited eyes Ralph the fat boy lowered himself over the terrace and sat down carefully using the edge as a seat I'm sorry I've been such a time damn fruit he wiped his glasses and adjusted them on his button nose the frame had made a deep pink v on the bridge he looked critically at Ralph's golden body and then down at his own clothes he laid a hand on the end of a zipper that extended down his chest my aunty then he opened the zipper with decision and pulled the whole windbreaker over his head there Ralph looked at him side long and said nothing I expect we want to know all the names said the fat boy and make a list we ought to have a meeting Ralph did not take the hint so the fat boy was forced to continue I don't care what they call me he said confidentially so long as they don't call me what's they used to call me as school ralph was faintly interested what was that the fat boy glanced over his shoulder then leaned toward Ralph he whispered they used to call me Peggy Ralph shrieked with laughter he jumped up Peggy Peggy Ralph please Piggy clasped his hands in apprehension I said I didn't want Peggy Peggy Ralph danced out into the hot air of the beach and then returned as a fighter plane with wings swept back and machine-gun piggy Chou he dived in the sand at Piggy's feet and lay there laughing piggy piggy grinned reluctantly please despite himself at even this much recognition so long as you don't tell the others Ralph giggled into the sand the expression of pain and concentration returned to pinky's face half a sec he hastened back into the forest Ralph stood up and trotted along to the right here the beach was interrupted abruptly by the square motif of the landscape a great platform of pink granite thrust up uncompromisingly through forests and terrace and sand and lagoon to make a raised jetty four feet high the top of this was covered with a thin layer of soil and coarse grass and shaded with young palm trees there was not enough soil for them to grow to any height and when they reached perhaps twenty feet they fell and dried forming a crisscross pattern of trunks very convenient to sit on the palms that still stood made a green roof covered on the underside with a quivering tangle of reflections from the lagoon Ralph's hauled himself onto this platform noted the coolness in shade shut one eye and decided that the shadows on his body were really green he picked his way toward the seaward edge of the platform and stood looking down into the water it was clear to the bottom and bright with the efflorescence of tropical weed and coral a school of tiny glittering fish flicked hither and thither Ralph spoke to himself sounding the bass strings of delight wizzo beyond the platform there was more enchantment some act of God typhoon perhaps or the storm that had accompanied this own arrival had banked sand inside the lagoon so that there was a long deep pool in the beach with a high ledge of pink granite at the further end Ralph had been deceived before now by the specious appearance of depth in a beach pool and he approached this one preparing to be disappointed but the island ran true to form and the incredible pool which clearly was only invaded by the sea at high tide was so deep at one end as to be dark green Ralph inspected the whole 30 yards carefully and then plunged in the water was warmer than his blood and he might have been swimming in a huge bath piggy appeared again sat on the rocky ledge and watched Ralph's green and white body enviously you can't half swim piggy piggy took off his shoes and socks ranged them carefully on the ledge and tested the water with one toe it's hot what did you expect I didn't expect nothing my auntie this sucks - your auntie Ralph did a surface dive and swam underwater with his eyes open the sandy edge of the pool loomed up like a hillside he turned over holding his nose and a golden light danced and shattered just over his face piggy was looking determined and began to take off his shorts presently he was paly and fat Li naked he tiptoed down the sandy side of the pool and sat there up to his neck and water smiling proudly at Ralph aren't you going to swim piggy shook his head I can't swim I wasn't allowed my asthma sucks - you're a smart piggy board this with a sort of humble patience you can't half swim well Ralph paddled backwards down the slope immersed his mouth and blew a jet of water into the air and he lifted his chin and spoke I could swim when I was five daddy taught me he's a commander in the Navy when he gets leave he'll come and rescue us what's your father piggy flushed suddenly my dad's dead he said quickly and my mum he took off his glasses and looked vainly for something with which to clean them I used to live with my auntie she kept a candy store I used to get ever so many candies as many as I liked when will your dad rescue us as soon as he can piggy rose dripping from the water and stood naked clean his glasses with a sock the only sound that reached him now through the heat of the morning was the long grinding roar of the breakers on the reef how does he know we're here Ralph lulled in the water sleep enveloped him like thus waiting mirages that were wrestling with the brilliance of the lagoon how does he know we're here because thought Ralph because because the roar from the reef became very distant they tell him that's the airport piggy shook his head put on his flashing glasses and look down at Ralph not dim didn't you hear what the pilot said about the atom bomb they're all dead Ralph pulled himself out of the water stood facing Peggy and considered this unusual problem piggy persisted this an island isn't it I climbed a rock said Ralph slowly and I think this is an island they're all dead said piggy and this is an island nobody don't know we're here your dad's don't know nobody don't know his lips quivered and the spectacles were dimmed with mist we may stay here till we die with that word the heat seemed to increase till it became a threatening weight and the lagoon attacked them with a blinding effulgence gets my clothes muttered Ralph along there he trotted through the sand enduring the sun's enmity crossed the platform and found his scattered clothes to put on a grey shirt once more was strangely pleasing then he climbed the edge of the platform and sat in the green shade on a convenient trunk piggy hauled himself up carrying most of its clothes under his arms then he sat carefully on a Fallen trunk near the little cliff that fronted the lagoon and the tangled reflections quivered over him presently he spoke we got to find the others we got to do something Ralph said nothing here was a coral island protected from the Sun ignoring Piggy's ill-omened talk he dreamed pleasantly piggy insisted how many of us are there Ralph came forward and stood by piggy I don't know here and there little breezes crept over the polished waters beneath the haze of heat when these breezes reached the platform the palm fronds would whisper so that spots of blurred sunlight slid over their bodies or moved like bright wingin things in the piggy looked up at Ralph all the shadows on Ralph's face were reversed green above bright below from the lagoon a blur of sunlight was crawling across his hair we got to do something Ralph looked through him here at last was the imagined but never fully realized place leaping into real life Ralph's lips parted and delighted smile and piggy taking the smile to himself as a mark of recognition laughed with pleasure if it really is an island or sad Ralph had stopped smiling and was pointing into the lagoon something creamy lay among the furni weeds a stone no a shell suddenly piggy was a bubble with decorous excitement it's right it's a shell I seen one like that before on someone's back wall a cog she called it he used to blow it and then his mom would come it's ever so valuable near to Ralph's elbow a palm sapling leaned out over the lagoon indeed the weight was already pulling a lump from the poor soil and soon it would fall he tore out the stem and began to poke about in the water while the brilliant fish flicked away on this side and that piggy leaned dangerously careful you'll break it shut up Ralph spoke absently the shell was interesting and pretty and a worthy plaything but the vivid phantoms of his daydreams still interposed between him and piggy who in this context was an irrelevance the palm sapling bending pushed the shell across the weeds Ralph used one hand as a fulcrum and pressed down with the other till the shell rose dripping and piggy can make a grab now the shell was no longer a thing seen but not to be touched Ralph too became excited piggy babbled a couch ever so expensive I bet if he wanted to buy one you'd have to pay pounds and pounds and pounds he had it on his garden wall and my auntie Ralph took the shell from piggy in a little water ran down his arm in color the shell was deep cream touched here and there with fading pink between the point worn away into a little hole the pink lips of the mouth lay 18 inches of shell with a slight spiral twist and covered with a delicate embossed pattern ralph shook sand out of the deep tube mousse like a cow he said he had some white stones too in a birdcage with a green parrot he didn't blow the white stones of Causton he said piggy pause for breath and stroked the glistening thing that lay in Ralph's hands Ralph Ralph looked up we can use this to call the others have a meeting they'll come when they hear us he beamed at Ralph that was what you met didn't you that's why you got the conch out of the water Ralph pushed back his fair hair how did your friend blow the conch he kind of spat said piggy my aunty wouldn't let me blow on account to my asthma he said you blew from down here piggy laid a hand on his jutting abdomen you try Ralph you'll call the others doubtfully Ralph laid the small end of the shell against his mouth and blew there came a rushing sound from its mouth but nothing more Ralph wiped the salt water off his lips and tried again but the shell remained silent he kind of spat Ralph pursed his lips and squirted air into the shell which emitted a low farting noise this amused both boys so much that Ralph went on squirting for some minutes between bouts of laughter he blew from down here Ralph grasped the idea and hid the shell with air from his diaphragm immediately the thing sounded a deep harsh note boomed under the palms spread through the intricacies of the forest and echoed back from the pink granite of the mountain clouds of birds rose from the treetops and something squealed and ran in the undergrowth Ralph took the shell away from his lips gosh his ordinary voice sounded like a whisper after the harsh note of the boom he laid the conch against his lips took a deep breath and blew once more the note boomed again and then and his firm her pressure the note fluking up an octave became a strident blare more penetrating than before piggy was shouting something his face pleased his glasses flashing the birds cried small animals scuttered Ralph's breath failed the note dropped the octave became a low Webber was a rush of air a contrast silent a gleaming tusks Ralph's face was dark with breathlessness and the air over the island was full of bird clamour and echoes ringing I bet you can hear that's for miles Ralph found his breath and blew a series of short blasts piggy exclaimed - one a child had appeared among the palms about a hundred yards along the beach he was a boy of perhaps six years sturdy and fair his clothes torn his face covered with a sticky mess of fruit his trousers had been lowered for an obvious purpose and had only been pulled back halfway he jumped off the palm terrace into the sand and his trousers fell about his ankles he stepped out of them and trotted to the platform piggy helped him up meanwhile Ralph continue to blow till voices shouted in the forest the small boy squatted in front of Ralph looking up brightly and vertically as he received the reassurance of something purposeful being done he began to look satisfied and his only clean digit a pink thumb slid into his mouth what's your name Johnny piggy muttered the name to himself and then shouted it to Ralph who is not interested because he was still blowing his face was dark with the violent pleasure of making the stupendous noise and his heart was making the stretched shirt shake the shouting in the forest was nearer signs of life were visible now on the beach the sand trembling beneath the heat haze concealed many figures in its miles of length boys were making their way to the platform through the hot dumb sand three small children no older than Jonny appeared from starting Lee close at hand where they had been gorging fruit in the forest a dark little boy not much younger than piggy parted a tangle of undergrowth walked onto the platform and smiled cheerfully at everybody more and more of them came taking their cue from the innocent Johnny they sat down on the Fallen palm trunks and waited ralph continued to blow short penetrating blasts piggy moved among the crowd asking names and frowning to remember them the children gave him the same simple obedience that they had given to the men with megaphones some were naked and carrying their clothes others half-naked or more or less dressed in school uniforms gray blue fawn jacketed or Jersey there were badges mottos even stripes of color and stockings and pullovers their heads clustered above the trunks in the green shade heads brown fair black chestnut sandy Mouse colored heads muttering whispering heads full of eyes that watched Ralph and speculated something was being done the children who came along the beach singly or in twos lept into visibility when they crossed the line from heat haze to nearer sand here the I was first attracted to a black bat light creature that danced on the sand and only later perceived the body above it the bat was the child shadow shrunk by the vertical sun to a patch between the hurrying feet even while he blew ralph noticed the last pair of bodies that reached the platform above a fluttering patch of black the two boys bullet-headed and with hair like toe flung themselves down and lay grinning and panting at Ralph like dogs they were twins and the I was shocked and incredulous at such cheery duplication they breathed together they grinned together they were chunky and vital they raised wet lips at Ralph's for they seemed provided with not quite enough skin so that their profiles were blurred and their mouths pulled open piggie bent his flashing glasses to them and could be heard between the blasts repeating their names Sam Eric Sam Eric then he got muddled the twin shook their heads and pointed at each other in the crowd laughed at last Ralph ceased to blow and sat there the conch trailing from one hand his head bowed on his knees as the echoes died away so did the laughter and there was silence within the diamond haze of the beach something dark was fumbling along ralph saw it first and watched till the intentness of his gaze drew all eyes that way then the creature stepped from mirage on to clear sand and they saw that the darkness was not all shadow but mostly clothing the creature was a party of boys marching approximately in step in two parallel lines and dressed and strangely eccentric clothing shorts shirts and different garments they carried in their hands but each boy wore a square black cap with a silver badge on it their bodies from throat to ankle were hidden by black cloaks which bore a long silver cross on the left breast and each neck was finished off with a hambone frill the heat of the tropics the descent the search for food and now this sweaty march along the blazing Beach had given them the complexions of newly washed plums the boy who controlled them was dressed in the same way though his cap badge was golden when his party was about ten yards from the platform he shouted an order and they halted gasping sweating swaying in the fierce light the boy himself came forward vaulted onto the platform with his cloak flying and peered into what to him was almost complete darkness was the man with the trumpet ralph sensing his son blindness answered him there's no man with the trumpets only me the boy came close and peered down at Ralph's screwing up his face as he did so what he saw the fair-haired boy with the creamy shell on his knees did not seem to satisfy him he turned quickly his black cloaks circling isn't there a ship then inside the floating cloak he was tall thin and Boni and his hair was red beneath the black cap his face was crumpled and freckled and ugly without silliness out of this face stare to light blue eyes frustrated now and turning or ready to turn to anger isn't there a man here Ralph spoke to his back no we're having a meeting come and join in the group of cloaked boys began to scatter from clothesline the tall boy shouted at them cria stand still we're the obedient the choir huddled into line and stood there swaying in the Sun nonetheless some began to protest faintly but Mary do please para to conch we then one of the boys flopped on his face in the sand and the line broke up they heaved the fallen boy to the platform and let him lie Merridew his eye staring made the best of a bad job all rights then sits down that's him alone but Merridew he's always throwing a feint said Merridew he didn't give and Addis and at Matins over the percenter this last piece of shop brought sniggers from the choir who perched like blackbirds on the crisscross trunks and examined Ralph with interest piggy asked no names he was intimidated by this uniform superiority and the offhand authority in Merida's voice he shrank to the other side of Ralph and busied himself with his glasses Merridew turned to Ralph's aunts there any grownups no Merridew sat down on a trunk and looked round the circle then we'll have to look after ourselves secure on the other side of Ralph piggy spoke timidly that's why Ralph made a meeting so as we can decide what to do we've heard names that's Johnny those two they're twins Sam and Eric well which is Eric you know you're Sam I'm Sam and I'm Eric we'd better all have names said Ralph so I'm Ralph we got most names said piggy got them just now kids names said Mara do why should I be jack I'm Mara do Ralph turned to him quickly this was the voice of one who knew his own mind then went on piggy that's boy I forget you're talking too much said Jack Merridew shut up fatty laughter arose he's not fatty cried Ralph his real name's piggy piggy piggy Oh piggy a storm of laughter arose and even the tiniest child joined in for the moment the boys were a closed circuit of sympathy with piggy outside he went very pink bowed his head and cleaned his glasses again finally the laughter died away in the name and continued there was Maurice next in sighs among the choir boys to Jack but broad and grinning all the time there was a slight furtive boy whom no one knew who kept to himself with an inner intensity of avoidance and secrecy he muttered that his name was Roger and was silent again bill Robert Harold Henry the choir boy who had fainted sat up against a palm trunk smiled pallidly at Ralph and said that his name was Simon Jack spoke we've got to decide about being rescued there was a buzz one of the small boys Henry said that he wanted to go home shut up said Ralph absently he lifted the conch seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide things a chief a chief I ought to be chief said Jack with simple arrogance because I'm chapter quieter and head boy I can sing see shop another buzz well then said Jack I he hesitated the dark boy Roger stirred at last and spoke up let's have a vote yes votes for chief let's vote this toy of voting was almost as pleasing the conch Jack started to protest but the clamor changed from the general wish for a chief to an election by acclaim of Ralph himself none of the boys could have found good reason for this what intelligence had been shown was traceable to piggie while the most obvious leader was Jack but there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out there was his size and attractive appearance and most obscurely yet most powerfully there was the conch that being that had blown that had sat waiting for them on the platform with the delicate thing balanced on his knees was set apart him with the shell Ralph Ralph let him be the chief with the trumpet thing Ralph raised a hand for silence all right who wants Jack the chief with dreary obedience the choir raised their hands and who wants me every hand outside the choir except Piggy's was raised immediately then piggy too raised his hand grudgingly into the air Ralph counted I'm chief then the circle of boys broke into applause even the choir applauded and the freckles on Jack's face disappeared under a blush of mortification he started up then changed his mind and sat down again while the air rang Ralph looked at him eager to offer something the choir belongs to you of course they could be the army or hunters they could be the suffusion drained away from Jack's face Ralph waved again for silence Jackson charged of the choir they can be what do you want them to be hunters Jack and Ralph smiled at each other with shy liking the rest began to talk eagerly Jack stood up all right quiet take off your togs as if released from class the choirboy stood up chattered piled their black cloaks on the grass Jack laid his on the trunk by Ralph his gray shorts were sticky to him with sweat Ralph glanced at them and miring me and when Jack saw his glance he explained I tried to get over that hill to see if there was water all round but your shell called us Ralph smiled and held up the conch for silence listen everybody I've got to have time to think things out I can't decide what to do straight off if this isn't an island we might be rescued straight away so we've got to decide if this is an island everybody must stay around here and wait and not go away three of us if we take more we'd all get mixed and lose each other three of us will go on an expedition and find out I'll go and Jack and and he looked around the circle of eager faces there was no lack of boys to choose from and Simon the boys round Simon giggled and he stood up laughing a little now that the pallor of his fate was over he was a skinny vivid little boy with a glance coming up from under a Hut of straight hair that hung down black and coarse he nodded at Ralph how come and I Jack snatched from behind him a sizable sheath knife and clouded it into a trunk the buzz rose and died away piggy stirred how come Ralph turned to him you're no good on a job like this all the same we don't want you said Jack flatly threes enough Piggy's glasses flashed I was with him when he found the conch I was with him before anyone else was Jack and the others paid no attention there was a general dispersal Ralph Jack and Simon jumped off the platform and walked along the sand past the bathing pool piggy hung bumbling behind them if Simon walks in the middle of us said Ralph then we could talk over his head the three of them fell into step this meant that every now and then Simon had to do a double shuffle to catch up with the others presently Ralph stopped and turned back to piggy look Jack and Simon pretended to notice nothing they walked on you can't come Piggy's glasses were missed it again this time with humiliation you told him after what I said his face flushed his mouth trembled after I said I didn't want what's on earth are you talking about about being called piggy I said I didn't care as long as they didn't call me piggy and I said not to tell and then you went and said straight out stillness descended on them Ralph looking with more understanding at piggy saw that he was hurt and crushed he hovered between the two courses of apology or further insult better piggy than fatty he said at last with the directness of genuine leadership and anyway I'm sorry if you feel like that now go back piggy and take names that's your job so long he turned and raced after the other two piggy stood and the rose of indignation faded slowly from his cheeks he went back to the platform the three boys walked briskly on the sand the tide was low and there was a strip of weed strewn Beach that was almost as firm as a road a kind of glamour was spread over them and the scene and they were conscious of the glamour and made happy by it they turned to each other laughing excitedly talking not listening the air was bright Ralph faced by the task of translating all this into an explanation stood on his head and fell over when they had done laughing Simon stroked Ralph's arm shyly and they had to laugh again come on said Jack presently we're explorers we'll go to the end of the island said Ralph and look round the corner if it is an island now toward the end of the afternoon the mirages were settling a little they found the end of the island quite distinct and not magicked out of shape or sense there was a jumble of the usual squareness with one great block sitting out in the lagoon sea birds were nesting there like icing said Ralph on a pink cake we shan't see round this corner said Jack because there isn't one only a slow curve it you can see the rocks get worse Ralph shaded his eyes and followed the jagged outline of the crags up toward the mountain this part of the beach was mirror the mountain than any other that they had seen we'll try climbing the mountain from here he said I should think this is the easiest way there's less of that jungly stuff and more pink rock come on the three boys began to scramble up some unknown force had wrenched and shattered these cubes so they lay askew often piled diminishing ly on each other the most usual feature of the rock was a pink cliff surmounted by a skewed block and that again surmounted and that again until the pinkness became a stack of balanced rock projecting through the looped fantasy of the forest creepers where the pink cliffs rose out of the ground they were often narrow tracks winding up words they could edge along them deep in the plant world their faces to the rock what's made this track Jack paused wiping the sweat from his face Ralph stood by him breathless men Jack shook his head animals Ralph peered into the darkness under the trees the forest Manute Levi's braided come on the difficulty was not the steep ascent around the shoulders of rock but the occasional plunges through the undergrowth to get to the next path here the roots and stems of creepers were in such tangles that the boys had to thread through them like pliant needles their only guide apart from the brown ground and occasional flashes of light through the foliage was the tendency of slope whether this hole laced as it was with the cables of creepers did higher than that somehow they moved up it mirrored in these tangles at perhaps their most difficult moment Ralph turned with shining eyes to the others wakow wizard smashing the cause of their pleasure was not obvious all three were hot dirty and exhausted Ralph was badly scratched the creepers were as thick as their thighs and left little but tunnels for further penetration Ralph shouted experimentally and they listened to the muted echoes this is real exploring said Jack I bet nobody's been here before we ought to draw a map said Ralph only we haven't any paper we could make scratches on bark said Simon and rub back stuff in again came the solemn communion of shining eyes in the gloom wakow wizard there was no place for standing on woods head this time Ralph expressed the intensity of his emotion by pretending to knock Simon down and soon they were a happy heaving pile in the under dusk when they had fallen apart Ralph spoke first thoughts he gets on the pink granite on the next cliff was further back from the creepers and trees so that they could trot up the path this again led into more open forests so that they had a glimpse of the spread see with openness came the Sun it dried the sweat that had soaked their clothes in the dark damp heat at last the way to the top looked like a scramble over pink rock with no more plunging through darkness the boys chose their way through defiles and over heaps of sharp stone look-look high over this end of the island the shattered rocks lifted up their stacks and chimneys this one against which Jack leaned moved with a grating sound when they pushed come on but not come on to the top the assault on the summit must wait while the three boys accepted this challenge the rock was as large as a small motorcar heave sway back and forth catch the rhythm heave increased the swing of the pendulum increase increase come up and bear against that point of furthest balance increase increase heave the great rock loitered poised on one toe decided not to return moved through the air fell struck turned over left droning through the air and smashed a deep hole in the canopy of the forest echoes and birds flew white and pink dust floated the forest further down shook as with the passage of an enraged monster and then the island was still wakow like a bomb Wow not for five minutes could they drag themselves away from this triumph but they left at last the way to the top was easy after that as they reached the last stretch Ralph stopped golly they were on the lip of a circular hollow in the side of the mountain this was filled with a blue flower a rock plan of some sort and the overflow hung down the vent and spilled lavishly among the canopy of the forest the air was thick with butterflies lifting fluttering settling beyond the hollow was the square top of the mountain and soon they were standing on it they had guessed before that this was an island clamouring among the pink rocks with the sea on either side and the crystal heights of air they had known by some instinct that the sea lay on every side but there seemed something more fitting and leaving the last word till they stood on the top and could see a circular horizon of water Ralph's turned to the others this belongs to us it was roughly boat shaped humped near this end with behind them the jumbled ascent to the shore on either side rocks cliffs tree tops and a steep slope forward there the length of a boat a tamer descent tree clad with hints of pink and then the jungly flat of the island dense green but drawn at the end to a pink tail there where the island petered out in water was another Island a rock almost detached standing like a fort facing them across the green with one bolt pink Bastion the boy surveyed all this then looked out to sea they were high up and the afternoon had advanced the view was not robbed of sharpness by mirages desser reef a coral reef I've seen pictures like that the reef enclosed more than one side of the island lion perhaps a mile out and parallel to what they now thought of as their Beach the coral was scribbled in the sea as though a giant had bent down to reproduce the shape of the island in a flowing chalk line but tired before he had finished inside the peacock water rocks and weeds showing as in an aquarium outside was the dark blue of the sea the tide was running so that long streaks of foam tailed away from the reef and for a moment they felt that the boat was moving steadily astern Jack pointed down that's where we landed beyond Falls and cliffs there is a gash visible in the trees there were the splintered trunks and then the drag leaving only a fringe of palm between the scar and the sea there - jutting into the lagoon was the platform with insect-like figures moving near it ralph sketched a twining line from the bald spot in which they stood down a slope a gully through flowers round and down to the rock where the scar started that's the quickest way back i shining mouths open triumphant they savored the right of domination they were lifted up four friends there's no village smoke and no boats said ralph wisely we'll make sure later but I think it's uninhabited well gets food cried Jack hunt catch things until they fetch us Simon looked at them both saying nothing but not until his black hair flopped backwards and forwards his face was glowing ralph looked down the other way where there was no reef stipa said jack ralph made a cupping gesture that bits a force down there the mountain holds it up every point of the mountain held up trees flowers and trees now the forest stirred roared flailed the nearer acres of rock flowers fluttered and for half a minute the breeze blew cool on their faces ralph spread his arms all ours they laughed and tumbled and shouted on the mountain I'm hungry when Simon mentioned his hunger the others became aware of theirs come on said Ralph we have found out what we wanted to know they scrambled down a rock slope dropped among flowers and made their way under the trees here they paused and examined the bushes round them curiously Simon spoke first like Candice candle bushes candle buds the bushes were dark evergreen and aromatic and the many buds were waxing green and folded up against the light jack slashed at one with his knife an ascent build over them candle buds you couldn't slight them said Ralph they just look like candles green candles said Jack contemptuously we can't eats them come on they were in the beginnings of the thick forest plunking with weary feet on a track when they heard the noises squeakings and the hard strike of hoofs on a path as they pushed forward the squeaking increased till it became a frenzy they found a piglet caught in a curtain of creepers throwing itself at the elastic traces and all the madness of extreme terror its voice was thin needle sharp and insistent the three boys rushed forward and Jack drew his knife again with a flourish he raised his arm in the air there came a pause a hiatus the pig continued to scream and the creepers to jerk and the blade continued to flash at the end of a bony arm the pause was only long enough for them to understand what an enormity the downward stroke would be then the piglet tore loose from the creepers and scurried into the undergrowth they were left looking at each other and the place of terror Jack's face was white under the freckles he noticed that he still held the knife aloft and brought his arm down replacing the blade in the sheath then they all three laugh - shame idli and began to climb back to the track I was choosing a place said Jack I was just waiting for a moment to decide where to stab him you should stick a pig said Ralph fiercely they always talk about sticking a pig you cut a pig's throat to let the blood out said Jack otherwise he can't eats the meat why didn't you they knew very well why he hadn't because the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh because of the unbearable blood I was going to said Jack he was ahead of them and they could not see his face I was choosing a place next time he snatched his knife out of the sheath and slammed it into a tree trunk next time there would be no mercy he looked around fiercely daring them to contradict then they broke out into the sunlight and for a while they were busy finding and devouring food as they move down the SCAR toward the platform and the meeting [Music]