Spoils of Eden (27 page)

“I wouldn’t count on that.”

She looked past him toward the church and struck out boldly. “Is Kip inside with Ambrose?”

“Ambrose is out preaching somewhere like the faithful shepherd he is.”

She met his enlivening gaze with courage, then looked away.

“Too bad about Ling’s son,” he said.

The mention of Ling took her by surprise. “How did you learn of Ling’s son so quickly?”

“Zachary rode by here. He was on his way to Hawaiiana to warn me. I was here meeting with Ambrose. Have you been to Rat Alley?”

“Yes, with Dr. Bolton and Lana. Oh Rafe, it was dreadful. It was the first time I’ve seen a victim of the plague—”

“You didn’t go inside!”

“I had to go in. I’m a nurse. Even more than that, a student of Lanas,” she said proudly. “We thought the boy might have been sick with some tropical disease, but—”

“And I suppose you’re going to be leading the way back into disease-ridden Rat Alley to search for the sick and dying?”

She wasn’t sure how she felt about the frustration in his voice. As a matter of fact, no. Sadly, there’s little to be done for the sick … but I shall help my father, and Dr. Bolton at the camps. “Oh, Rafe,
they need to burn the houses. This could be more dreadful than we realize.”

“Burning is the only way to stop it.”

She looked again at the church. “Is Kip in there?”

He folded his arms and cocked his head, looking down at her. A brief smile touched his mouth. “Why would I keep Kip in the church? No, he’s not here. Do you think I’d involve Ambrose in this? Then
he’d
need to answer to those despots on the Board.”

So he understood the risks better than shed given him credit for. “Then where is he? Do you realize the situation you’ve gotten
me
into with those
despots
, as you call them?”

“Do you really think I’d allow you to face the Board and be blamed for Kip’s disappearance? You don’t think much of me, do you, Eden? We bargained for three days. When the agreed-upon hour strikes, you can be assured I shall face the Board’s questions. You won’t be called upon to answer. I wouldn’t be very gallant if I expected you to take the blame for losing their medical prey, now, would I?”

“You make our—
their
motives sound so dreadful, when it isn’t at all!”

“I’ll be the judge of that when it comes to Kip. He’s my responsibility. I took him on knowing full well what the repercussions might be. I’m not backing out of that responsibility now just because the cauldron’s boiling. I consider him my son. And no son of mine is going to wander about the leper camp to be preyed upon by the lawless and corrupt.”

She grew silent. Down deep in her heart she admired him tremendously, but dared not say so in her situation. “As if I’d ever allow that to happen to Kip.”

“As I’ve said before, you won’t be able to stop it. It’s the Board’s decision who gets sent to Molokai.”

She had thought that she would take the heat for Kip’s absence. She realized she’d misjudged him. Again. “Where
have
you hidden him?” she persisted.

“That, my sweet, is no longer your concern. You certainly have enough to worry about with this epidemic about to break. And if I had my way, you’d be safely tucked away at Kea Lani far from all disease, rats, and corpses.”

She tried not to enjoy his concern, yet she did. “I desire to be involved with issues that are of eternal importance.”

“You won’t find me faulting anything so commendable. It’s one of the virtues that drew me to you.”

She was warmed by his compliment. “What were you doing alone in the church just now?”

“Why do you ask?”

“I’ll take your word that Kip and Noelani aren’t in there.”

His mouth tipped up at the corner. “Why, thank you, Miss Derrington. I’m honored. If you must know, I wanted to be alone. Though I can be alone and pray anywhere, especially while riding out in the pineapple fields, I took advantage of the peace and quiet since I was already here.”

She looked at him, liking what she heard. “By the way, I intend to visit the Christian women’s group on Hawaiiana before I return to Kalihi. Unless you forbid me entry.”

“Now, why would I do that?” His smile was disarming. “You’re wearing my ring, after all. And haven’t I been trying to get you to move in permanently?”

She avoided his gaze by absorbing herself with her hat. “I may not get back here for weeks, and someone needs to encourage them with the Scriptures—except I need to borrow Noelani’s Bible. Is she in the bungalow?”

“No, but you’re welcome to use mine. Shall we go?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Poor old Ling. This is rough news for him and his wife. Will you be all right calling on her alone?”

“Yes, I think so. I’ve spoken with Hui before.”

“The meeting with your father is to begin shortly. Since you have your work cut out for you, I’ll ride over to Kea Lani. By the way,
do you know what had Zach so riled? When he rode by here, he was fit to be tied.”

“He and Townsend had a terrible flare-up over burning Ling’s bungalow. I’m worried about Zachary,” she said. “He’s been disturbed ever since Silas arrived in April, and matters are only getting worse. You heard what Ainsworth wants to do—train Silas alongside Townsend to manage the sugar enterprise. It was cruel of my grandfather to announce it at the table in front of Zachary.”

“Yes, I couldn’t understand why he did so until I learned from Zach that Silas had plans to use the
Gazette
against the annexationists. I think Ainsworth was forcing Silas to make a choice: either play Ainsworth’s way, or pack up for San Francisco.”

“Still, it was hurtful to Zachary.”

“You’re supportive of him.”

“I learned it from you,” she said glibly. “You always protected him growing up.”

“Yes, even when he lay awake nights plotting my downfall,” he said wryly. “Tell me this, if you can. Does your great-aunt have much control over Kea Lani enterprise?”

“You mean the sugar management?”

“That would be included, but does she own any part of Kea Lani?”

“Oh my, yes. She owns half of the entire estate. Plus Tamarind House, the
Gazette—
though it’s failing financially—and,” she hesitated, glancing at him cautiously, “and half of the old pearl fishery. The Easton pearl bed. When your mother married Townsend,” she said quietly, knowing how it affected him, “she allowed him to sell half of it to Nora.”

“He undoubtedly forced her into it.”

“Yes, it came at a time when Townsend was in some sort of financial trouble.”

She saw his jaw flex. “He’s always throwing money away. He’s wasted his own, and now he’s wasting that of those he controls. He owed my father once. Owed him a great deal, in fact.” He tapped his
chin thoughtfully. “Strange … I’d forgotten about that. Townsend came over to Hanalei one night when I was a boy and begged Matt to help him. Whether or not he did, I don’t recall.”

Rafe had never before spoken of her uncle owing his father money. She considered that, uneasily, for she was well aware how Rafe believed Townsend may have been involved in his father’s accidental death on Hanalei.

“Ah, the pearl bed,” he said more lightly. “I’d almost forgotten it. Thanks for reminding me.”

“After diving for the Black Pearl?” she said with a smile concerning a past pearl diving contest during the annual hoolaulei. “You never did tell me how you managed to get it away from Primo while underwater that morning.”

He smiled, but said nothing. Then, “I think I’ll soon be reclaiming that.”

“The Black Pearl?”

“No, I used that to help pay for the
Minoa
. I mean the pearl bed my father found and developed.”

She arched a brow of friendly pessimism. “You’ll reclaim it along with Hanalei?”

Rafe smiled. His gaze searched her eyes as if looking for something. Evidently he didn’t find it. Was there something she should know? He seemed so optimistic. Then he said simply, “We’d better be going.”

Rafe had said he would give the name Daniel, to Kip on adoption. Daniel was a special name in the Easton family, for it dated all the way back to before the Derringtons arrived in Hawaii. Rafe had an ancestor among the original missionaries of the 1820s, though there was no official historical record of an Easton being among the first couples who arrived. There was some talk that the missionary Daniel Easton had come from England. He’d also come from the failed missionary attempt on Tahiti, where, sadly, the first single male missionaries had succumbed to the intrusive carnal temptations of the Tahitian women. Thereafter, the mission board made it
a rule that only married couples could venture to Polynesia. Just as the mission church here at Kea Lani was a family original, there was also a missionary church founded by Daniel Easton on the Kona Hanalei plantation on the Big Island, the result of Daniel’s preaching, at about the time when Hiram Bingham had preached and brought in the first widespread island revivals.

I
nside Kea Lani plantation house the urgent meeting with the planters arranged by Grandfather Ainsworth and Dr. Jerome was drawing to a close. Grim-faced, they listened to Dr. Jerome tell of the dangers.

“I’ve seen entire villages wiped out in Asia and India,” Dr. Jerome cautioned the planters.“What happens in Chinatown is not to be treated lightly. If the plague spreads beyond Rat Alley to Honolulu or the plantations, the health authorities will be coming here to set all the huts afire. It’s imperative to have every hut examined to stop the rampage before it begins.”

“I can have a barricade in place around the workers’ huts in a few hours if I move at once,” Rafe said. “So can the rest of you. We need our most loyal men to search every hut. If we start now, we should be finished by tomorrow morning.”

“How many guards can you round up to safeguard the barricade here at Kea Lani?” Ainsworth asked Townsend.

“Enough. Silas and I will make sure no coolie breaks through this plantation, or he’ll get a bullet hole,” he said, then went out, calling for Silas to join him.

For Rafe Easton, the long hours following the decision to search for any sick among the workers were heavy with turmoil. Toward early morning, when silence permeated the rosy dawn, he sent a brief message to Ambrose, Dr. Jerome, and Ainsworth at Kea Lani: “Hawaiiana is free of the plague.”

At Kea Lani, despite their weariness and sorrow over the accident that had taken place with Eden and the Ling family—their bungalow had mysteriously caught fire and nearly burned down around them while Eden was meeting with the family—there was a prayer of thanksgiving made to God for Rafe’s plantation being free of the plague. Ambrose had returned earlier in the day with Jerome, his friend from youth, and they had spent much of the early evening praying and reading the Scriptures. “I credit the mercy of God for the safety of Eden, the Ling family, and the rest of our workers,” Ambrose said.

Slowly and one by one, the other reports also trickled in from the various plantations in the region: “Plague free.”

When the sun came up, bright and glittering in Honolulu, Dr. Jerome and Eden wearily boarded the carriage for the ride back to Kalihi. When they arrived, Dr. Bolton greeted them with a sober face.

“Twelve dead and several sick. There’s no longer the remotest doubt were dealing with the plague.”

Briefings were held, and the dire news announced. “The fires will need to begin in Chinatown to purge those houses where either the sick or dead were discovered during the search. The fire department, with those from the Board overseeing their work, will proceed with the burning at noon.”

Ambrose and Candace arrived with a number of Hawaiian men
and women from the mission church who were working with other churches in Honolulu to see that food, blankets, and other needed supplies were available at the various camps set up at different locations. Those driven out of Rat Alley fled to the safety of the camps, leaving all behind for the cleansing flames.

“Kawaiahao Church is packed,” Candace told Eden, when they met in the large tent set up near one of the camps on the slopes of Punchbowl, the volcanic crater that rose on the edge of Honolulu. “So are the other churches. The people are in bewilderment and fear, though others have a sober realization of the reason for the flames.”