The Island of Golden Zandolie. Лилия Кадет

of iron chains. He greeted everyone cheerfully in Russian and pointed into the house. He went in first and took the dogs away.

      Lindsay, with the same enthusiasm and a big smile, helped to move the suitcases into the house and to find the allocated rooms.

      “The Russian guy's name is Alex,” Lindsay explained. “And our mistress is now at her quarters. Rest, sleep as much as you like! Dinner will be brought to you. And tomorrow we will get to know the whole office and the island too. Bye-bye!"

      Denis and Olga did not yet know what unusual adventures await them on this island. They will have to go through spiritual storms, mortal dangers, romantic discoveries and a complete reboot of their understanding of the reality…

      In the meantime, it was time to unpack their bags and look around. A mountain valley, densely overgrown with untouched forest, clean humid air, the sound of a nearby river, joyful singing of invisible birds – the local nature was welcoming them.

      Chapter 2

      An emergency anchorage. Julia and Marley

      The island was emerging above the sea like a military citadel. Inaccessible rocks, overgrown with scanty, bent by the wind bushes, and the mountains, so high that the peaks are lost in the clouds stuck. The names of those mountains were quite eloquent -"Peak of the Devil", "Gates of Hell", "Dragon's Tooth".

      Many of the mountains were dormant volcanoes. There were also eternally smoking and seething, not-so-well-fragrant sulfuric springs, periodically exploding with a series of huge bubbles or a high column of boiling water and steam.

      There was also a whole lake in an impregnable crater in the center of the Island, which is not for nothing called the "Boiling Lake", hidden from the eyes by clouds of steam.

      This Island was fairly well inhabited. Tens of thousands of people of all races and religions lived here. Local aborigines, the descendants of the Indians, could be found in special reservation. There was a small trinkle of tourists here, but more of fans of ecotourism.

      …A huge cruise liner suddenly stopped and went into an emergency drift due to a minor accident in the engine room. The local ports were too small for this sea giant to anchor. The land could only send a coast guard boat to assist with repair of the ship. But the coast guards could only help with the delivery of the parts ordered by plane, which would arrive only the next day…

      The ship's passengers showed no interest in the wild-looking Island, which lacked trendy restaurants with gardens and pools or boutiques. But several crew members were willing to go ashore, and the coast guards agreed to take them.

      Julia was one of the enthusiasts for landing on the sparsely populated Island. Her work in the ship's gift shop was not full of adventure, and the girl was happy to break free from an endless series of boring shifts, tiresome inventories and monotonous glamorous ports of call.

      This Island was just a “lost world”! As in that classic science fiction novel by Conan Doyle, which Julia re-read on her tablet while whiling away the long hours on board.

      The coast guard boat dashingly flew on the crest of the wave, rapidly approaching the port. "The capital of the Island" – the corporal, the head of the boat, announced importantly.

      The capital consisted of several rows of low buildings, similar to warehouses, and a couple of spiers of picturesque neo-Gothic churches with small gardens around. A couple of higher colonial-style buildings and a stretch of waterfront with stone benches set back to the sea view! As if the locals did not want to know what is beyond the horizon.

      The feeling of unreality did not leave Julia. The corporal warned them, that he would be waiting for everyone to be back on the dock at four p.m. and advised all to stick together.

      Julia was a pretty young girl of short height, about twenty-five years old, with a round face, round green eyes, a small round cherry-shaped mouth and a large rounded chest. This is where her round shapes ended. Julia was rather slender, with a small foot, with a short haircut of slightly curly dark red hair.

      Julia went for a walk around the island in short shorts, a T-shirt, a thin shirt with long sleeves rolled up to the elbows and a funny hat with narrow brims. And, of course, shades and a backpack on the back. Remember her in this outlook – because she will not return on board the cruise ship ever again!

      Julia, of course, did not know that she would remain on the Island forever. She and the other crew members enthusiastically agreed to the local taxi driver's offer to ride his minibus around the Island – it would only take a couple of hours! The spontaneous excursion was just super! A fat, cheerful black taxi driver, constantly wiping sweat from his neck with a small towel, chatted incessantly, seemingly in English. However only few words were understandable – such as "beautiful island!", "want to take a picture?"

      Soon they turned off the main road along the sea onto a narrower road leading uphill to the dense center of the land. Almost immediately, trees and clouds completely obscured the sun. The air was noticeably thinner and colder. Everything around became dark and damp, as if they were all transported to Scotland or Canada. The road snaked upward. There were almost no oncoming cars.

      All passengers of the minibus were simply mesmerized by the views of the sheer mountain wall on one side of the road and the bottomless abyss on the other. The careless speed, at which their local “shuttle” was rushing along the narrow winding road, was also straining. The bus often skidded at all bends, as the road was slippery from the damp mountain clouds.

      The fog was thickening. The picturesque rainforest has been replaced by mossy stones and fern bushes. Low trees of bizarre shape sometimes came across on the way.

      Suddenly the bus turned sharply right into the sky, someone shouted something, or rather howled. Or was it the wind? Or was it a lapse in time? Everything turned into a multi-colored funnel with a bright light in the center. And then there was silence and darkness…

      … Julia was sleeping sweetly in a comfortable, soft bed. The singing of birds, the measured rhythm of the surf and the rustle of tree leaves in the breeze was a completely magical melody of the awakening morning somewhere in the south. It was like sweet, old, childhood memories of summer in the village, when you can sleep and sleep as much as you want… and long, careless days ahead, full of wild fruits and swimming on unfamiliar beaches.

      In early years every day was full of amazing discoveries… Without fuss, without looking back at the time… In childhood, there were no plans for a summer vacation, the world was perceived in its original glory, without fear, without thoughts about the future or remorse about the past. The beautiful “today” breathed deeply and happily…

      Julia stretched and opened her eyes. She was in a small house with a veranda opening directly to the sea. The veranda opened into the pier; a boat swayed at the pier. A house right on the water? No, Julia heard the singing of birds and the rustle of the leaves of the trees. It meant there was not an open sea around here, the coast was close. She tried to get up, but the darkness came over her eyes, and the nausea rose in her throat. The walls began to revolve, which was completely unbearable. Julia closed her eyes and lay there still, trying to breathe rhythmically…

      Then there were an indistinct shadow and a slight sound – Julia immediately opened her eyes and involuntarily smiled. In the doorway against the background of the sea, silvery in the sun, an incredibly handsome young guy was standing. In any case, against the light, he looked very impressive. Tall, muscular, in a T-shirt and shorts, a smooth body of a caramel shade, a slightly rough, narrow face, with well-shaped nose, sensitive lips, huge black eyes and a heavy wave of long black braids-dreadlocks, a high, slightly slanted forehead (apparently, heavy hair pulled the skin back), black well-defined eyebrows. Mulatto Rasta man? Or just a wonderful dream?

      The guy was holding a coconut in one hand, a machete in the other. He noticed that Julia woke up and smiled broadly. Then he spoke in a slightly hoarse, low voice (in English, like all the inhabitants of the Island).

      “Hello! Woke up? Excellent! That's what you need most!”

      He held out a tall glass full of coconut water. Julia tried to get up again, but the room was spinning again, and nausea came right away…

      The