Whispers of a New Dawn (34 page)

Lyyndaya took the tins from her. “I have no idea. It started with Becky and Christian. Nate got into it somehow. Then the church. Of course knowing Billy since 1918 probably helped.”

Shirley took one of the tins back. “I want the boys to try them out.
The others are for your freezer. You said you wanted to fill it up, didn’t you?”

“I do, Shirley. Thank you.”

Shirley pried the lid off, folded back the wax paper, and gave the large tin to Batman. “You just take a few and pass them on, please, Lieutenant.”

“You can count on me, ma’am.”

Shirley sat down next to her husband. “What did I miss?”

“I have no idea.” Flapjack raised his eyebrows as high as he could. “I think they were talking about food.”

Billy Skipp raised his empty juice glass to Shirley and Flapjack. “Food and the number of guests. I’ll say three hundred.” He turned to Sydney. “How’s that?”

“That’s a lot.”

“See what you can do. Invitations go out Monday.” He caught Batman’s eye. “How’s Glenn Miller coming?”

“We’re doing the best we can, sir, with what we have. Juggler has the list, sir.”

Juggler tugged a ragged piece of paper out of his hip pocket. “Um, we have Harrison for lead trumpet.”

“Who’s that?”

“Radioman on the Coast Guard cutter
Taney
, sir. He’s really good. We’ve listened to him.”

“Good, huh? I’d like to hear him play for myself.”

“Sir, he’ll be at the service on the beach Saturday night.” Juggler kept his eyes glued to the list. “He’s going to play a hymn. You could drop in.”

Skipp pointed at him. “We need at least ten players to give us a big sound. Never mind the state of my soul.”

“Our friend David Goff—”

“Who’s this Goff?”

“USN, sir. He’s talking to guys on the
Arizona
and
Maryland
and
West Virginia
. I think we have a drummer and a bass player lined up.”

“We need more brass.”

Batman spoke up. “If the colonel could suggest some of his pals in the upper ranks, we’d be happy to teach them how to blow a horn.”

“Ha ha, wise guy. It won’t be much of a party without a band, will it?”

“Juggler is doing navy. I’m doing marines and army. Even if we only have six players we’re setting up our first rehearsal for Sunday night.”

“That’s more like it.” Skipp turned to Wizard. “What about my pine tree?”

Wizard had just been whispering in Hani’s ear and she snorted and put her hand over her mouth to stop a laugh.

“Well, do share, Lieutenant.” Skipp looked around Lyyndaya’s shoulder as she poured him more pineapple juice from a pitcher. “We could all use a good laugh.”

“Nothing, sir. Private joke.”

“Let’s make it a public joke, Lieutenant, shall we?”

Wizard made a face and shrugged at the same time. “Lockjaw’s on snowflakes. And a cold front. We’re hoping the meteorologists will bring subzero temperatures in from Russia for the party. I want Hani to do a hula dance during the blizzard we plan to come up with.”

“Wizard—”

“Whistler’s on ice skates and frozen ponds and hockey sticks.”

Hani laughed out loud.

Wizard shrugged with both his hands and shoulders. “Look, sir, there aren’t any of the right kind of firs growing in the Hawaiian Islands. We could get something shipped in from the States, say Washington or Oregon, but it would cost as much as your Packard and a tank full of gas.”

“No excuses, Wizard. If Juggler and Batman can put together a band—”

“We have pine trees.” Manuku released Ruth’s hand so he could show its height. “This kind grows up to two hundred feet high. I am sure there are some on Lanai. Or Maui. We call it the Cook Pine. It’s very slender but it has beautiful needles and cones.”

“Two hundred feet!” Skipp’s eyes gleamed as he downed his glass of juice in one go. “Perfect for the hangar. Imagine Kimmel’s eyes when he sees that all gussied up for Christmas.”

Lockjaw gave Manuku his death look. “Sir, a two-hundred-foot
tree? We’d need an aircraft carrier to bring it in. Or one of the battlewagons.”

“The
Lexington
will be back on Monday.”

Shooter perked up. “Would you like to put some money on that, sir?”

Skipp jabbed his glass at Shooter. “You have enough of my greenbacks.” He glanced around the room and his eyes stopped on Flapjack. “Everything’s coming together. Grub, music, a Christmas tree strung with lights and tinsel—can you think of anything else?”

“Sure.” Flapjack grinned. “Eggnog. Hot chestnuts. Figgy pudding—like in the song.” He began to sing off-key, “
Bring us some figgy pudding, bring us some figgy pudding
—”

Shirley swatted his arm playfully. “Shh!”

“He’s right.” Skipp’s juice glass had mysteriously filled again and he put it to his mouth. “Thunderbird. What about eggnog?” He looked around the room. Not seeing Raven he fixed his eyes on Shooter. “So where is he?”

“Search me.”

Becky jumped up. “Uh, he just went to get a glass of water, Colonel. I’ll tell him you want to know about eggnog.”

She went to the kitchen but Raven wasn’t there. Glancing out the windows she spotted him sitting on the grass with a tall glass in his hand.

“Hey.” Becky sat down next to Raven. “Whassup, baby?”

He laughed. “Well, baby, I needed a break from Billy Skipp’s latest obsession. If he doesn’t have us in the air flying after imaginary Zeros and Messerschmitts, we’re trying to create a New England Christmas for him in the tropics.”

“The colonel’s just having fun. So are the guys.”

“Moon’s only a shade off full now. Nice yellow color this low in the trees. What do you think?”

She slipped an arm through his and leaned her head on his shoulder. “Lovely. But nothing will ever match Wednesday night for me. The moon was completely full and God was everywhere. God and love.”

“Yeah, it was pretty special. But so was the dancing last night.”

“It was a lot of fun. But nothing like the night on the beach.”

“I guess you’re right.” He put down his glass and wrapped his arm around her. “Tomorrow’s the sixth.”

“Right you are.”

“I have this note in the margin of my Bible back at Wheeler, you know. All it says is
Becky Whetstone
and a verse is underlined. There’s the date—November sixth. Oh, and a heart.”

She lifted her head. “There is not.”

“Nothing Michelangelo would own up to, but it’s there.”

“What happened on the sixth?”

“I’m not sure exactly. Was that when we agreed to stop insulting each other for breakfast each morning? Did I have a dream? Was I thinking about you a lot?”

“I hope all three.”

“The verse is from Proverbs. It goes sort of like this—there are three things that are too wonderful for me, four which I do not understand. The way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship in the middle of the sea, and the way of a man with a maid.”

“You underlined that and put my name next to it a month ago?”

“Yeah. And I remember daydreaming about how an eagle slips through the sky, how snakes glide when they want to move fast, what it looks like from a plane to see a carrier and its task force cutting their way across the ocean—and how a man loves a woman. Then I daydreamed about holding you in my arms and kissing you. It was really wild because we were nowhere near that stage yet, and I’d argue with anyone who thought I was falling for you. But I dreamed that dream. And now it’s real.”

Becky leaned into his arms. “No one is more surprised at that than I am. I never thought…”

“Meet me on the flight line tomorrow morning before your first student,” Raven said. “It’s our one-month anniversary. I’ll have something special for you.”

“I’ll be there at six.”

“I’ll be waiting for you.”

And he was. Becky showed up at quarter to six. No one was in Peterson’s hut. She began her walk across the runway to Piper Eleven. For a
moment it looked like the plane stood alone. Then a tall figure emerged from behind the aircraft.

I feel your eyes on me again and my skin tingles—it’s good, so good. I’m back in October and I’m walking over the tarmac and wondering who it is that’s gazing at me, which one of the ground crew or which one of the flying instructors or students. And all along it was you, the guy I swore I’d never love, never touch, never kiss. Thank you, God, that my life turned out differently from my vow
.

“Morning, Stardust.”

“Morning, Thunderbird.”

“You look terrific.”

“Thanks. You don’t look so bad yourself. I love seeing your blue eyes early in the morning. It’s like getting twice the sky.”

“Charmer.” He dug a small box out of his pocket. It was wrapped in blue paper with a blue bow. “Speaking of blue. This is a small token of thanks for the way you walk across runways.”

“Shut up, Thunderbird.” She punched his shoulder hard. “Can I open it now?”

“Definitely.”

She ripped at the paper like a child. Inside the box that emerged was a smaller box. Inside that box was an even smaller box. She yelped and punched his shoulder again. “I can’t take it. What are you trying to do to me?”

“One more box.”

The smallest box opened to a wad of pure white cotton. Under the cotton was a gold chain. Its links were larger than the usual ones used in a woman’s necklace. The chain gleamed.

“Just right,” he said, reading her thoughts. “A whole lot of beauty. A whole lot of ruggedness. And pure gold.”

“Aw.” She carefully lifted the chain out of the box and was surprised to see a gem attached to it. “What’s that?” The jewel was blue and green, and it turned the color of the Hawaiian sea as the sun, not yet over the horizon, continued to spill light into the air. “Oh, my goodness, Christian. It’s beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s as if the ocean has been set in stone.”

“You must have seen it before. It’s your birthstone. For March.”

Becky held it in her hand while the chain slid over her fingers and sparkled underneath her hand. “I don’t know anything about birthstones. We never practiced such things. Too much Amishness in my family’s bloodline.”

“It’s aquamarine. Your eyes have that color of green mixed with blue sometimes. Usually when you’re swimming or flying.”

“You don’t see my eyes when I’m flying.”

“I did when you were my instructor. Whenever you turned around to glare at me or fire off an insult.”

“You shouldn’t have been thinking romantically at those times.”

“I didn’t think I was.” His fingers touched hers. “Do you mind if I do the honors of placing it around your perfect neck?”

“
My perfect neck
.” She smiled up at him. “As if I’d mind.”

He took the chain from her hand and circled her throat with it, gently closing the clasp. “The way of a man with a maid.” He glanced to the east. “When’s sunrise?”

“About six twenty-five.”

“I want to hang around long enough to see what happens when dawn and your eyes and the gemstone meet. When’s your first student?”

“Seven. That’s your old slot.”

“Do you mind if I wait here till six twenty-five?”

“No. But you have to help me look over the plane if you’re bent on seeing eyes and gems and dawns come together.”

“My pleasure.”

When he knelt to check the tires she encircled him from behind with her arms. “I’m your gold chain. And we’re both out of sight.”

“Hey, did you trap me or something?”

“Yeah, hotshot. Try to get this Zero off your tail.” She drew his head back into her stomach and leaned over him. The gemstone dangled just above his eyes. “I’m going to take all your air. You know what that means?”

“I’ll crash.”

“Right into my arms. That’s the plan.”

“I usually don’t like losing. But this is okay.”

“Just okay?”

He reached his hands up and back until he had them behind her head. “It’s the best.” He drew her head down until their lips touched. When the sun found its way under the wing of the airplane the gemstone ignited as it lay over his heart.

Becky took her students over Diamond Head and over the ocean all day. She gave Nate the stick and let him take the two of them out to sea for miles. Often she closed her eyes, praying and dreaming.

In the evening the sun was still golden and above the palm trees when she walked from the parking lot of the Royal Hawaiian onto the beach. Harrison was standing by the water, and the pure notes of “Amazing Grace” rose from his trumpet. He was in white and the sun on him was the color of the chain at her neck.

Praise God for beauty
.

Her family was already there. And Raven. She walked past Dave Goff, who was singing the hymn with such power and depth that it startled her. She lingered nearby for a minute. He smiled and lifted his hand in greeting, then closed his eyes and continued to offer up his voice and the words.