Beside a Burning Sea (31 page)

Making the sign of the cross, Joshua began to pray for the dead and dying. Isabelle and Annie followed his lead. Akira lowered his head to honor those who’d fallen. The four of them stood motionless, and all was still but for the waves and the fire.

Nearby, Scarlet and Nathan spoke softly about how they’d seen too many such sights, about how they worried that the war would steal their loved ones. Their words prompted Ratu to think of his father, and he took Jake’s hand and walked back to the cave. He felt guilty for being glad that his father wasn’t on one of the ships, for his relief that it wasn’t his father who was dying. And so he gripped Jake’s hand tightly as he glanced behind and saw that Annie, Isabelle, Joshua, and Akira still hadn’t moved.

Feeling nauseous and quite tired, Ratu lay on the palm fronds that comprised his bed. Jake moved beside him, placing his arm over Ratu’s shoulders. Though they weren’t far from the fire, Ratu felt chilled. Closing his eyes, he inched away from the fire and toward the warmth of his friend.

DAY FOURTEEN

Does the bee in fall
Know that a frost is nearing?
Do skies prefer blue?

An Imminent Arrival

After its three-day banishment, the sun returned in earnest. On this side of the island dawn came powerfully, the distant ocean seeming to bleed. Like fire consuming a dry forest, the crimson sky expanded, red tendrils blazing as the color spread westward. Waves lapped feebly at the shoreline, as if they’d exhausted all their energy during the storm and had nothing left to offer.

Akira and Joshua were often the first to rise, and this morning had been no different. Upon seeing the captain tending to the fire, Akira had quietly asked if they might go for a walk. And so they’d left the camp and proceeded north along the coast, circumventing tide pools and crossing small patches of sand. As they walked, Joshua repeatedly looked to the sea, scanning for any ships that survived the battle. Only the ocean’s pale face greeted him.

Akira pointed out a marooned sea urchin, taking care to avoid it. He found it interesting that such an outwardly menacing creature could have such a beautiful white structure within. Turning toward Joshua, he said, “I wish to thank you for treating me well.”

“Is that why we’re here?”

“We are here to take a walk, yes? A walk during a beautiful dawn.”

“If you say so.”

They took a few more steps, and Akira said, “You have good men, Captain. And women. And you lead them well.”

Joshua glanced toward Akira. “Thank you.” After a slight pause he asked, “Did you lead men?”

“Yes, though not many. Not nearly enough, so sorry to say.”

Believing that ultimately the leaders of the war would decide its outcome, Joshua studied Akira, as he had many times before. Wanting to test him once again, he asked, “What will you do if Japanese land here?”

“I will be honest with you, Captain; I do not want to betray my people. I hope that your countrymen land here rather than mine.”

“But if they don’t?”

Akira exhaled deeply. “In war, alliances sometimes change, yes? You now fight with the Russians when you could easily be fighting against them.”

Joshua thought about the great German armies that had been advancing on Stalingrad when
Benevolence
was sunk. A million men were attacking the city, and a million were defending it. Yes, Joshua thought, we could be fighting the Russians instead of sending them thousands of jeeps, rifles, and tanks. And, God help us, if that were true, we’d almost certainly lose. “Hitler should never have marched east,” he agreed. “But what can you expect from a madman?”

“True. But will the Red Army fall?”

“I don’t think so. The Russians have too many men. And Stalin doesn’t mind sending millions to their deaths to stop the German advance.” Joshua spied a flat rock, bent down, and sent it skipping into the sea. “So you’re telling me that you’re switching alliances?”

“Not from my country to your country.”

“What then?”

“From my leaders to you.”

Joshua looked for another rock, stalling to give himself time to think. “Why should I believe this?”

Akira spied a suitable stone and handed it to Joshua. “May I tell you a story?”

“Of course.”

“It is not quick.”

“I’m in no hurry.”

Akira nodded, clasping his hands together. “As you must know, one day after Pearl Harbor, we invaded Thailand. I was in southern Thailand. In places like this, near the sea. I led a squad of men, and we occupied a small village. Unlike what we did in China or Korea, we were good to the Thais. We paid them for food. We paid them to work. And most of them did not hate us.” Akira paused, wishing that other invasions had been as bloodless. “My squad was in this village for three months. And one of my men . . . he . . . grew close to a Thai woman. He did not tell me this, of course, but I could see what was happening. I liked this man. His grandfather and father had made kimonos, and such should have been his fate. One day, a week before we were to leave the village, this man and woman disappeared. A boat was missing. His gun and uniform and helmet remained on the beach.”

“What did you do?”

Akira smiled faintly. “I did nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“I never mentioned his disappearance to my men, and I reported to my superior that he had died of malaria.”

“You could have been shot for treason.”

Akira shrugged, handing Joshua another stone. “In the weeks that followed, I often wondered why this man had left everything, had risked everything, to be with this woman. And I never understood why. If anyone found him, either Thais or Japanese, they would most certainly kill him. And yet he went with her.”

Squinting against the young sun, Joshua stopped in his tracks and turned toward Akira. “And this is how you feel?” he asked. “You would risk everything . . . for Annie?”

Akira watched a bird as it stalked a school of fish. “I now understand how the man felt,” he said simply.

“Would you . . . could you kill your countrymen for her?” Joshua asked, amazed at what he was hearing.

“Yes,” Akira said quietly. “That is why I took the scalpel. To protect her.”

“A scalpel against a gun?”

Akira shook his head. “Not every danger is posed by my countrymen.”

Joshua started to ask what he meant, but stopped himself. “I’d never let Roger hurt her. I can also see what my men are doing. And if Roger so much as touches Annie, I’ll kill him myself.”

“She does not want him killed.”

“So you’ve had this talk? A talk of killing him?”

“Yes.”

“And you decided not to?”

“She decided.”

Joshua nodded. “Well, that sounds like her.”

Akira found Joshua’s eyes. “If my countrymen land, I will help you hide from them. Will you help me?”

“How?”

“Observe Roger. If I should die, know that he has killed me, and that he will then come for Annie.”

“That won’t happen.”

“If I should die, I ask that you kill him before he hurts her.” Akira bowed slightly. “You will do this, yes?”

“Has he threatened her? To you?”

“More than one time.”

Joshua looked at the sea, wondering why God had decided to send him this Japanese soldier. What was the purpose of Akira’s delivery? “Then I agree to what you say,” Joshua replied. “But don’t let him kill you. I need you. And . . . and I believe that Annie needs you. And if you’re to be with her, then you’re to be with me.” Joshua stuck out his hand, which Akira took firmly.

“We can . . . be friends, yes?” Akira asked.

“I’d like that,” Joshua said, pleased with the handshake, with the partnership. For the first time in months, he thought that perhaps lasting peace was possible. “I’d like that very much.”

IN THE JUNGLE near the cave, Isabelle and Annie searched for fruit. The sun mostly failed to penetrate the dense canopy of leaves, and the ground was still quite muddy. Emboldened by the wetness, slugs and snails inched across seemingly every rock and fallen branch. Oddly, there appeared to be far fewer insects than normal, almost as if the typhoon had kindly swept the mosquitoes and flies out to sea.

Annie held the machete, and Isabelle carried a few papayas and breadfruits that they’d found near the cave. The sisters moved slowly, searching for more fruit-bearing trees. The typhoon had certainly left its mark on the island’s interior, and Annie and Isabelle constantly circumvented fallen trees or pools of muddy water. The siblings had left with Scarlet, but once they’d reached a large hill, Scarlet had climbed it with the binoculars in hand while Annie and Isabelle had continued onward.

Feeling a large snail crunch underfoot, Annie vowed to watch the ground more carefully. “Did you hear that?” she asked.

“What?”

“I just murdered a snail.”

“Where on earth did they all come from?”

“Don’t the French eat them? Like popcorn or something? Warm and dripping in butter?”

“Oh, Annie. I’m pregnant, remember? Please don’t say such things.”

“Let’s hope the Germans choke on them,” Annie replied, using the machete to push through a series of vines. “Anyway, how are you feeling?”

“Really quite good. Just a bit weak at times. And you?”

“Wonderful, thank you.”

“Wonderful?”

“Very much so.”

Isabelle kept looking for fruit. “I’ve seen the way you look at each other. I’ve seen you holding hands. How else do you feel?”

Annie stepped on a slippery root and almost fell. “Clumsy, I guess,” she replied, smiling.

“Well, you’ve always been that.”

Brushing mud from her knee, Annie added, “How did you feel . . . when you fell in love with Joshua?”

“Nervous. Happy. Excited. I think excited mostly. I was so pleased to have found him.”

“I feel all those things,” Annie said. “But also something else . . . almost like I’m a new person. It’s hard to describe and I’m not sure that I even understand it, but I’m . . . I’m more at peace with myself since I’ve come to know him.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know exactly. But maybe because I’m not afraid like I used to be. I’ve always been afraid, Izzy. Ever since Mother slept next to me and I pretended not to notice her cry.”

“But these days you’re not?”

“These days I’m not.”

Isabelle spied a cluster of hanging bananas and pointed it out. Annie rose on her toes and with one deft stroke from the machete cut down the fruit. The cone-shaped mass of bananas tumbled to the ground. “There must be forty of them,” Annie said happily, handing Isabelle the machete. Picking up the bunch and placing it on her shoulder, Annie turned and started retracing their steps.

“Can you manage it?” Isabelle asked, surprised at the strength of her little sister.

“I think I love him,” Annie said. “I know that I’m engaged, that I’ve sinned, and that I should be ashamed for what I’ve done, but to tell you the truth, I don’t regret it.” She shifted the bananas atop her shoulder. “I . . . I feel terribly guilty about . . . betraying Ted. I really do. But I don’t regret what’s happened with Akira. I love him, Izzy. He . . . he takes me to a place I’ve never known. A place I didn’t even know existed. He’s wise and good and he likes me just the way I am.”

“I’m happy for you, Annie, I really am,” Isabelle replied, trying to ignore a slight ache in her belly. “But as your older sister, I have a responsibility to tell you—”

“To tell me what? That there’s no future with him? That he’ll end up in an American prisoner-of-war camp? Don’t you think that I know these things? That I think about them every day?”

“I just don’t want you to get hurt,” Isabelle responded. “And what of Ted? Don’t you have a duty to him?”

“And what of me? Don’t I owe myself anything? Anything at all? A life with Ted, especially now, after having experienced . . . a taste of love, will be miserable.”

“You don’t know that.”

“You never even liked him that much. And now you’re protecting him.”

“Well, he’s not here to protect himself.”

“Protect himself?” Annie asked angrily, walking faster. “What’s gotten into you?”

“Love can be blinding,” Isabelle said, trying to be patient, knowing that Annie needed to hear these words. “It can blind one to . . . to the realities of life. How do you see a future with Akira? Where would you live? Do you think you could settle in California? How do you think he’d be treated? We have our own camps, you know. The Japanese just don’t die in them.”

“Why do I have to think so far into the future?” Annie asked. “Just because you followed a perfect little plan doesn’t mean I have to. I’m not you, Isabelle. I don’t know what I want and how I want to get there. That’s not who I am. I want to live for today.”

“He—”

“He understands that. He’s the first person in my life who hasn’t told me what to do.”

Isabelle reached out and held Annie’s elbow, forcing her to stop. “I’m not trying to tell you what to do. I’m trying to protect you.”

“You’ve protected me all my life, Isabelle! And what has it done for me? I’ve been alone and afraid, and I’m set to marry a man I don’t love.”

“I didn’t do those things to you. To blame me for them isn’t fair.”

Annie crossly blew at a large moth that landed on her shoulder. “What do you know about fairness? You with the perfect health. The perfect husband. The perfect life. How can you preach to me about what’s fair?”

“Can’t you see that I’m just saying what has to be said? If I were making a mistake, wouldn’t you talk—”

“You think that falling in love is a mistake? That I’m some kind of fool?” Annie shook off her sister’s grip. “What’s wrong with you?” she asked, walking as quickly as possible.

“Will you please stop?”

“No!”

“Annie, I don’t want to fight. I just want to make sure that you’re thinking about what will happen after we leave the island.”

“I’m not a child! I can think for myself!” Envisioning being forced to separate from Akira, Annie started to cry. “I can’t leave him!” she shouted, dropping the bananas and running into the jungle.

“Wait, Annie, wait! I’m sorry! Please don’t go!”

Ignoring Isabelle’s protests, Annie hurried through the jungle. For the first time in days, she felt a familiar sense of fear building within her. A part of her knew that Isabelle was right, that fate might make it all but impossible to remain with Akira. And this thought caused her to tremble, to cry as she hurried forward. Fate had stolen so much from her. It had ended her childhood innocence. It had cast a shadow over what should have been some of her fondest moments and memories. And now it threatened to steal the man she loved.

“No!” she shouted, rushing forward so hard and fast that she tripped on a fallen branch and tumbled to the ground. She rolled upon the muddy soil, banging her elbow against a stone. Her body afire with pain, Annie pulled her knees to her chest and wept. The dread of losing Akira, just when she’d found him, overwhelmed her. She felt cold without him, felt more alone than she had in many years. Running her muddy hands through her hair, she tried to gather her wits, but suddenly lacked the strength to do anything but cry.