According to the ship’s captain, tomorrow they would be arriving at Sunset Valley.

Val already felt better. He seemed to get used to seeing only water. He left his cabin and went to have a shower. He noticed that it was evening but, as he had been in bed during some days, it didn’t attract him to go to bed again.

Then he heard his sister’s voice. She was conversating with the captain. They seemed to be very relaxed and he could notice that they got along quite well.
Seeing them together he started yearning for Daisy. He wanted to call her but he couldn’t find his mobile.
Then he remembered that it fell into the ocean while he was throwing up but at that moment he had been too sick to pay much attention to that.

He cleaned his throat and managed to draw his sister’s attention. She was pleased to see that he was better already. He told her what had happened to his mobile and asked her if he could use hers. She said: “Of course, but who do you want to call?” and when he answered “Daisy”, she said: “I’m so sorry Val, I don’t have her number anymore.” Seeing the disappointed look on his face, she said: “Jeremy eh…, the captain says that we will see land tomorrow and once in Sunset Valley we could find her number in the international phonebook.”
Val became aware of his empty stomach and went to eat something. Jeremy told him not to eat very much because his stomach couldn’t keep that after all these days.

Jeremy had been right. When they woke up next morning they saw very vaguely land; so vaguely that it almost seemed a mirage.

But it didn’t take long before they could see it better. Jane was excited, thinking that she eventually could find their mother; Val was thinking about that international phonebook and Jeremy had an inscrutable look on his face and kept his thoughts to himself.

Everybody was with his own thoughts while they approached Sunset Valley.
The sun stood high when they could see more details.
A lighthouse island and some beaches….

When they were very near the Lighthouse Island, Jeremy told Jane that he had been living there for almost 2 years.
“But… there seems to be nothing there… only the lighthouse” Jane said.
“That’s true; if I really needed to buy something, I had to take the motorboat and go to town. Anyway, I grew my own vegetables.”

He came back to reality; stood up and said: “Well Jane, it has been a pleasure but I have to prepare the boat because it won’t be long before we will arrive at the quay. I suppose that you’re going to rent an apartment but until you find one, there’s no problem if you want to use the cabins. Anyway, I would advise you to stay here overnight and look for an apartment tomorrow. It’s already 7 p.m. and within a moment it will be dark.”
Jane gratefully gave him a hug and went to her brother to tell him that they would leave the ship tomorrow.

Later that evening Jane saw how Jeremy was standing there alone and she approached him. She asked him: “Weren’t you very lonesome?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, when you were living in the lighthouse…”
“Oh…. well yes; but that was what I was looking for; I was in a very difficult personal moment and my stay on the island brought me to embrace life again. It’s a kind of a tradition that people, who are trying to find themselves back, spend a time of their life taking care of the lighthouse. I found there very interesting information written by a man called Raphael Lightkeeper who was so kind as to write down his look on life. The only thing he asked was to leave a copy of it to be found by others, who eventually needed it.”

“It sounds very interesting. Is it possible to visit the island?”
“I don’t know if somebody lives there right now. I suppose that the lighthouse isn’t really used anymore because technology has taken over.” There was an absent look on his face when he said softly: “Perhaps I will pay the island a visit, I’m going to be here long enough.”
After a while he said: “You should go to bed Janey; you will have a lot of things to do tomorrow”. He saw her walking away and sighed. The good things in life pass so quickly….

He went to bed but couldn’t sleep. In his imagination he was seeing Jane sleeping next to him. He knew that between them there were only about 60 or 70 centimetres, only a wall. He tried to push his thoughts away and turned around…. only to find Jane as well on the other side of the bed. He stood up and thought it would be a good idea to go outside into the fresh air.

Jane was trying to sleep but one way or another, she kept thinking of Jeremy. He felt so close. As a matter of fact, she felt atracted to him and at the same moment, insecure because he seemed to be very experienced while she… well…. she hadn’t even had her first kiss. She imagined how it would be to be kissed by Jeremy and she fell asleep but then happened something that hadn’t happened to her since she was 10 or 12 years old. As a child she had been a common sleepwalker.

She stood up and walked to the deck. She was just guided by her feelings. Her unconsciousness had taken over.
Jeremy saw her coming and noticed that Jane was walking in her sleep. He held his breath when she approached him and put her arms around him. He tried to avoid it but he couldn’t do anything about it. He gently tried to wake her up without scaring her.

Once he managed that, he wanted to bring her back to her cabin but then she asked: “How can I be sure that I won’t start walking again? I could fall off the ship and drown”.

Then Jeremy took her with him and they shared a few moments talking on his bed until there was a weird silence between them.

Jeremy wanted to stand up and leave the bed to Jane when, all of a sudden, Jane started to speak fast and she stumbled over her own words: “I’ve been dreaming of you… of this moment and how it would feel to be kissed by you…. I’ve never been kissed and perhaps you would be willing to…..”

When Jeremy was aware of her confusion, he cuddled close to her and held her gently: “Do you want me to give you your first kiss?” Jane nodded and started to blush.

He looked at her and said softly “Don’t worry my darling…. I will be very careful”.

A whole new world opened for Jane. She felt some strange energy running through her body. At the same moment, Jeremy felt that he had unlocked his own fortification and felt freed of the guilt that had pursued him the last 5 years. He still couldn’t sleep and watched Jane while she was sleeping. He enjoyed how she talked in her sleep and felt very good when he noticed that she was dreaming of this first experience. It made him want to wake her up again but he decided better not to do so.

With a warm feeling in his breast, he fell asleep as well.

“Jane, JANE!!!”
They woke up with a start when the door was opened and Val stood there in awe looking at both with open mouth.

They jumped out of bed while Val continued looking first at Jane and then at Jeremy. Afterwards he blamed his sister for not being dressed because they had to leave the ship and go ashore.

There was no time for anything else. Before leaving, Jeremy told them that they could leave there luggage and pick it up later, depending on what they would do; rent some apartment or continue sleeping on the ship. Jane asked him why he had put his uniform on and Jeremy answered: “I know that you love uniforms and I just want to make sure that you come back”.

Val wasn’t sure if he would like to come back but Jane felt a lump in her throat when she imagined that she would never see Jeremy again. She said… “I will surely come back to pick up my belongings”.

Jeremy looked at them as they left.

A very warm feeling settled in his heart when Jane turned around and waved good-bye.

*****

In a certain way this is the end of the story but it isn’t complete yet. First I will write another short story and after that, I’ll write the completing of this story about the Hunter Twins.