Ghosts of the Pacific (18 page)

THE TYPHOON RAGED
. It was an act of nature. Paul said that
the typhoons were getting worse every year because of global
warming, which was our fault. He said we didn't deserve this
planet. But then, he didn't believe he deserved his own freedom.

I fed the crew, made some pasta, cleaned myself up and
tried to grab some sleep. I hoped Cinnamon was safe where
she was. I hoped Paul was too. There was nothing I could do
anyway until the typhoon passed. So I tried to sleep.

But I couldn't. I needed to know what was happening. A
few hours after we had come in, I climbed through the passageways again, by myself, until I reached the last one. The
echo of the winds twisted deeply inside, even before I slithered up the final section. It was much louder than before. I
slithered up anyway and stuck my head out. The force of the
typhoon was frightening. Would anyone survive this?

Back in the cavern I sat on the hull and stared at the skeletons. Who were they anyway, I wondered? What were their
lives like before they joined the army and went to war? And
why did they come here? Did they even have a choice about
coming? Perhaps they didn't. Perhaps they never wanted to
come here. Then they died here. They must have had family
and friends waiting for them back home, wherever home
was. But they never returned. They would have been listed as
missing-in-action. Now, here we were, sitting in their tomb
as if we had snuck in like ghosts. Well, we had. I honestly
didn't know who seemed more like ghosts—us, or them.

Should I just leave them then, because this was their grave?
I would have, I thought, if I knew they didn't have people
waiting for them, wondering about them and what had happened to them. But there had to be people wondering still,
such as the man on the cliffs, because everyone comes from
somewhere. Everyone has people who want to know what
happens to them.

Then I wondered: what if I had been one of them? Would
I want people to know what had happened to me? That was
easy to answer. Yes, I sure would. I would want someone to
tell my grandparents, my father, and especially Ziegfried,
Sheba and Angel. Even if fifty years had passed since I died?
Yes, absolutely, even if five hundred years had passed.

Well, that settled it—when the typhoon was over, I would
carry the skeletons out.

But how could I get them outside without taking them
into the sub? And I really didn't want to take them into the
sub. That was my home. I didn't want skeletons in it, even for
a little while. But the passageways were too narrow to carry
skeletons through, especially the last part at the top, unless I
carried them bone by bone, and there was no way I was
going to do that. It was one thing to share a cave with them;
it was another to carry them on my back like a sack of potatoes. I would have to take them into the sub, I guessed, like
it or not.

A few hours later I climbed up again. The typhoon had
lessened some but it would be getting dark soon. I decided
to wait until first thing in the morning when the sun was up.
I would pack a lunch, bring Hollie and leave Seaweed behind with a light on.

The next day, when Hollie and I crawled out, the air was
almost as still outside as it was inside the cave. But I couldn't
believe what we found. The typhoon had caused so much
destruction the land was hardly recognizable. Trees had been
pulled right out of the ground, roots and all, and thrown
sideways. I couldn't even tell where the road was when we
went down the hill. Then we found it. Parts of it were clear
and parts covered in debris. I saw large fish, shells and lots
of seaweed from the bottom of the sea. How could it have
come here? A little farther along the road we came across a
dead cow. Now I was really worried. What were we going to
discover in town? What about Cinnamon, Paul and everyone else? A little farther I heard the distant sound of a chainsaw. Someone was alive. Someone had begun to clean up.

On the way to town I saw the first houses. Every concrete
house was still standing, but nothing else. Homes made of
wood and metal were flattened and their materials scattered
widely. I saw a sink, toilet and bathtub in the middle of the
road. Then I came upon a crew of men working to clear the
road, and they would not let me go any farther. “We need
your help here!” they said, and it was no use arguing with
them. I put Hollie down where I could see him and started
helping pull things off the road. Two men cut the trees and
branches on the road and I helped throw the pieces to the
side. Everything would be gathered up later. For now, it was
just necessary to make the road passable. People had to be
able to reach the hospital.

“Was anyone killed?” I asked.

“At least a thousand,” one man answered. “Nobody knows
for sure. Could be a lot more. It's worse on the south side.”

“Do you know if the circus ship survived?”

The men shook their heads. “Sorry, son. Didn't see it.
Don't know.”

I worked with the crew all morning. It was killing me not
knowing whether Cinnamon and Paul were okay or not.
Nobody I met had seen the ship. Finally, when they took a
break for lunch, I grabbed Hollie and snuck away. I was sure
there were other crews I could help later; I didn't have to stay
with this one.

The town was not as badly damaged as I thought it would
be. Everyone had boarded up their windows. Now they were
open again. I went straight to the dock. There were sailboats
lying on their sides far from the water. I saw the circus ship
docked just where it had been, though it looked more beaten
up than before. It was covered with clumps of seaweed, sand
and tree branches, but it was still there. Everyone must have
survived. I hurried on. I wanted to see if Paul was okay.

The road that led to Paul's house was impassable. I had to
climb over and around trees, branches and debris. The beach
wasn't any better. There were crews clearing the road but I
avoided them because I didn't want anyone to stop me before I reached Paul's house.

The house was still standing but the butterflies were gone.
The lemons and coconuts were gone, and the fat banana
leaves were gone. It looked so bare. The dogs were there, in
the back, but Paul wasn't. I went to the door and knocked.
The dogs yipped, then recognized me and wagged their tails.
But where was Paul? Had he been injured? Had he gone to
the hospital? The hospital was on another road. I had seen a
sign for it. So, I headed in that direction. Then I saw another
crew clearing the road. And then I saw Paul. He had taken
off his jacket and was carrying small armloads of debris to
the piles. He was moving as slowly as a snail but he was helping. I saw him talking to the other men and smiling. I could
hardly believe it. Then he saw me. “Alfred!”

“Hi, Paul.”

“What a mess, hey?”

I nodded.

“Have you come to help too?”

He sounded happy.

“Yes, I have.”

I put Hollie down and let him out of the bag. Then I
joined Paul and the rest of the crew.

We worked until dark. It took all of that time to clear a
section of road about an eighth of a mile long. It was hard
work, and no one was getting paid, and yet everyone was
happy. I found that inspiring. It made me think that cleaning up the oceans wouldn't be so hard if the right people
came together to do it.

I wondered if Paul considered his house arrest over now.
After all, he had come to the circus, and now he was working
away from his house. But I didn't want to ask him that yet. It
didn't feel right. I did tell him about the caves and skeletons
though, and what I was planning to do with them. Perhaps it
would upset him to hear about it, I didn't know. It didn't
seem to. He listened closely, asked me a few questions, and
then offered to help. “I can speak a little Japanese.”

“You can speak Japanese?”

“A little.”

“Cool.”

When it turned dark, we stopped working. Paul went
home and I returned to the circus ship. I checked to make
sure the hatch was shut on the tool bag before climbing on
board. I found Cinnamon in Megara's cabin. She pulled me
in, shut the door and hugged me tightly. “I'm so happy you
are all right. Did you hide in your cave?”

I nodded. “Is everyone here okay?”

“Yes, but it was awful. We were afraid. We thought it was
going to capsize the ship.”

“Really?”

“It turned us sideways. It almost threw us upside-down.
We banged against the dock and dented the side of the ship.”

“But you're all right?”

“I'm fine. I'm better now that I know that you are okay.”

I looked behind Cinnamon and saw Megara watching
me. Even without her make-up and costume she looked like
Medusa. I waved. “Hi.”

“Hello, Alfred. You survived?”

“Yes. I had a safe place to stay.”

“And you enjoyed our circus?”

I looked down. A snake was coiling around my ankle.
Carefully, I lifted my foot free. “Uhh . . . yes. Very much.
Where will you go next?”

“Nowhere for a while. We have to make repairs first. Our
next venue will be Guam, I believe.”

I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was another snake.

“They're getting used to you,” said Megara.

I brushed the snake away.

“Do you want to take a walk?” Cinnamon asked.

“Sure.”

Hollie and I were always happy to leave the snake lady's
den.

We went slowly down the beach. The power was out on
the island and wouldn't be up for at least a week. People
were running generators. Cinnamon held my hand. She was
happy. She hadn't heard of anyone being killed. I realized
that the man who had told me that had been exaggerating a
lot.

“Cinnamon?”

“Yes?”

“I want to ask you something.”

“Okay.”

“It's kind of weird, and I would understand if you didn't
want to help, I really would.”

“I would love to help. What is it?”

“It's . . . well, I'm going to take the skeletons out of the
cave and I could use your help.”

“You're right; that's weird.”

“Paul is going to help too.”

“You mean the crazy guy?”

“He's not crazy. Well, maybe he's a tiny bit crazy. But he's
very nice. It's okay if you don't want to help. I understand. I
just thought I'd ask you because you said you weren't made
of glass.”

“Will I have to look at the skeletons?”

“I suppose you could shut your eyes, but I think it would
be very hard not to see them. They're not that scary. Honestly. Just a little.”

“I think they're going to be very scary. Will I have to touch
them?”

“I don't think you'd have to touch them, just the bags we
would carry them in.”

“What kind of bags?”

“I was thinking of using those large burlap sacks we have
for the road clean-up.”

“Oh boy, that's weird. Okay, I'll help.”

“Really? That's great. Thanks.”

“You're welcome. You live a crazy life.”

“I know. So do you.”

FOR SIX DAYS PAUL
and I worked with a clean-up crew.
There was so much to do. All of the roads needed clearing.
Ditches needed clearing so the water could run off the roads
and fields. Wires had to be picked up and reconnected
before power could be restored. People needed help cleaning their yards so they could get back to normal life. The
official report said that twenty-seven people had died during the typhoon. Most had been struck by debris, drowned,
or died of a heart attack.

I didn't see Cinnamon the second night because I had to
return to the cave to feed Seaweed and let him out. The night
after that I was so exhausted from work that I fell asleep on
a cosy spot beside the road, just intending to nap, but didn't
wake until the next morning. So it was three nights later
when I finally came back to the ship. But I knew she would
understand why I had not been around.

We walked each night after that. In the days, I worked out
a plan with Paul. In the nights, I shared it with Cinnamon.
Each night I slept on the beach with Hollie and Seaweed,
and each morning washed in the lagoon. I had coffee and
toast with Paul first thing every morning, and lunch and
supper with the work crew. People brought us food and we
picked up fruit during the day wherever we found it, so I
was well fed. I felt like a hobo in a way, eating and sleeping
outside all of the time, like Seaweed. And what a wonderful
feeling it was.

The night we went for the skeletons, Cinnamon walked across
the island with me. Twilight was passing when we reached
the spot on the shore where Seaweed had hidden from the
wind. Cinnamon waited with Hollie while I dove into the
water. But she was struggling with it. “You are going to dive
down there and come back with your submarine?”

“Yup.”

“And then I'll come down there with you and we'll pick
up the skeletons and bring them back?”

“Yup.”

“Okay. For some reason I can't quite believe this.”

“It's okay. You'll see. I'll be right back.”

I did my breathing and dove into the sea. It was much
easier without an undercurrent, and I felt a lot more confident that I was going in the right direction. Even so, it was
unnerving to enter the blackness again and swim up into
the cavern knowing that I
had
to be right, that a mistake
would mean death. I thought of Mr. Chee again, as I knew I
always would now at moments of danger. What would he
have done in my shoes, I wondered?

I swam up inside the cavern, climbed into the sub and
brought it down and out into the sea. When I rose to the surface and opened the hatch, it was completely dark. I could
barely make out Cinnamon's silhouette on the rocks. We
didn't have a dinghy anymore so I hit the floodlights and
came to the edge of the rock. She passed me Hollie first, then
the burlap sacks, then jumped onto the hull. We submerged
and went into the cavern. I kept the floodlights on. Cinnamon was nervous when she stuck her head out of the portal.
“Oh! Oh my gosh! Are those real?”

“Of course they're real.”

“They don't look real.”

“They are.”

“I know, I know. They just don't look it. They look fake or
something.”

I brought the sub to touch the ledge, then we jumped over
with the sacks. Cinnamon grew very quiet now. I asked her
to hold open the sacks while I lifted each skeleton inside. She
nodded and held open a sack. I picked up the head first and
put it in the sack, because I knew it would fall off anyway.
Cinnamon made a whimpering sound and squinted her eyes
shut. I put the skull in as gently as I could, then picked up the
rest of the skeleton by holding on to the uniform. It wasn't
too hard, but a few bones slipped out.

“Please open the bag as wide as you can.”

“Okay. Sorry.”

I slid the skeleton in, picked up the extra bones, dropped
them in, and then tied up the top tightly with a piece of
twine. “Okay. That's one. That wasn't too bad.”

Cinnamon shivered. “Please hurry!”

“Okay.”

We bagged the other skeletons. Then we carried them one
at a time into the sub and piled them inside the engine compartment, which was a tight squeeze. I took one last look at
the cavern that had been our protection from the typhoon,
and the soldiers' tomb. I was glad I had taken photographs
already. I would never forget it anyway. We submerged and
went out into the sea.

We sailed around the island and into the lagoon, surfacing under the bow of the circus ship. Paul was waiting on the
dock with a cart. We carried the bags up the ladder of the
dock one at a time and laid them on the cart. Paul looked
distressed. I asked him if he was okay.

“I'm fine, Alfred. I really am. I am just so glad to be doing
this. It is an honour for me. You cannot know what it means.”

I nodded. I knew that was true.

When all of the skeletons were on the cart, Paul wrapped
a blanket around them and tied it down. I went back to the
sub and brought Hollie out. Then I took the sub down so
that the portal was just a foot above the surface and tied it up
to a rope ladder Cinnamon dropped on the other side of the
ship. I swam back to the ladder and climbed onto the wharf.

“Now,” said Paul,“I will push the cart to my house, and tomorrow I will call the police and explain what I found. And
I will call the man who gave you his number, and we will find
the identities of these men and contact their families.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“No, Alfred. Thank you. You have helped more than I can
say. Will you promise to come back and visit me?”

“I will. I promise.”

“He keeps his promises,” Cinnamon said.

Paul reached out his hand. When I shook it I felt fresh
blisters from the work on the road. I also felt strength in his
hand I hadn't felt before. “I
will
come back,” I said. I knew
that I would.

He smiled, though it was a sad smile. He nodded to Cinnamon, turned and started pushing the cart slowly away. I
felt my eyes water suddenly, and had to bite my lip.

“Are you okay?” Cinnamon asked.

“Yup. I'm just . . . tired, I guess.”

In truth, there were no words to describe the sight of that
old man walking away.

I stood and watched until he became nothing but a
shadow, then barely a shadow, and then nothing.

What did it all mean? What had it all been for? I didn't
understand any of it. And maybe I never would.

We left Saipan in the middle of the night. Cinnamon and I
took one final walk. She tried to talk me into staying longer,
to join the circus for just a while, to see what it was like. I was
tempted really, but I had so much more to do now, besides
places to explore and things to discover. I wanted to learn
more about the health of the sea, how to clean it up and protect it. This was my path now, just as the circus was hers. But
I knew our paths would cross again. I just knew it. And I
didn't need Sheba to tell me.