The Royal Handmaid (28 page)

Shep Riggs, who was relaxing against a tree, said, “Sound happy, don’t they?”

“What are they so doggone happy about?” Oscar said gloomily.

“It’s that baby.”

“What’s to be happy about? A baby is nothin’ but a bunch of trouble. That’s what babies are.”

“But you got a kid yourself, ain’t you, Oscar?”

“Yeah, I do.” He looked down at his hands and then shook his head. “I think about him all the time, how he’s doin’ now. I hope my sister-in-law is takin’ good care of him.”

Shep asked curiously, “Kind of like to be around him, wouldn’t you?”

“I ain’t been the best dad in the world.” Oscar started to say more, but the laughter of the women floated across the clearing. “I don’t reckon I’ll ever see him again.”

“Don’t say that. Maggie says we’re gonna get off of this island.”

“Well, what in blazes does
she
know about it?”

Shep didn’t answer for a moment. “It’s a funny thing,” he said finally. “That woman knows God. If I had met her when I was a mite younger, I would have stayed out of all the trouble I got into.”

“Some women get men into trouble.”

“Sure, some do. But this one don’t.”

Oscar laughed, his eyes almost disappearing into his cheeks. “You’re gone on her, ain’t you, Shep?”

“I reckon I am a little bit, Oscar, but nothin’ will ever come of it.”

“Why not?”

“Oh, you know how it is. She’s a refined lady, and I’m just a roustabout.”

“That was back in the other world. Out here in this place what matters is what a man can do with his hands. Look at the professor. What good does all his diplomas do him out here? Why, he can’t even cook a meal or drive a nail. He’s the most helpless feller I ever saw.”

Shep did not answer. He was thinking about Maggie. He had felt an attraction toward Maggie even back when they were on the ship. But he was a realistic young fellow and had grown accustomed to his place in society. At first, he and Maggie didn’t seem to have much in common, but the months on the island were changing her. She had trimmed down and become physically strong, and somehow her weight loss had changed her personality. She had a glow about her, and she laughed a great deal. And the rules of society didn’t seem to matter much anymore.

Another peal of laughter burst from the shelter, and Shep grinned. “They’re sure enjoyin’ that young’un,” he murmured.

The two men continued talking, for they had always been good friends. Suddenly Shep looked up. “Somebody’s comin’ in a hurry.”

“You got ears like a fox,” Oscar said, shrugging his beefy shoulders. “I don’t hear nothin’.” He turned, however, and looked in the direction Shep gestured. “You’re right. Somebody’s comin’ on the run.”

“It’s Travis,” Shep said, getting to his feet. “And Miss Rena’s with him.”

“Must be trouble for them to come that fast.” Oscar tossed
the knife aside, and the two men met the runners at the edge of the clearing. “What is it, Travis?”

“Go round everybody up,” Travis ordered. “I want everyone to hear this at once.”

“Must be important,” Shep said. “I’ll go fetch ’em, but it may take a little while.”

****

Travis looked around the group and saw the curiosity on every face. Rena was standing beside him, and he caught her eye. She smiled encouragingly, and he announced, “Exciting news, everyone. We’ve got company!”

“Company!” A babble of voices broke out, and Novak, who stood slightly back beside Day and Olsen, said, “What do you mean ‘company’?”

“A boat has landed down on the opposite side of the island. About twenty people are on the shore; they look like island natives to me.”

The onlookers began to fire questions, but Travis raised his hand. “It looked like there were about sixteen men and five women. That’s really all we know.”

“Did you speak to them?” Meredith asked, her eyes wide.

“No, we were up on the cliff above them, Rena and I, and we decided not to go down and meet them right now. We couldn’t be sure if they were dangerous or not.”

“Were they carryin’ weapons?” Novak demanded. “Did they look like fighters?”

“I don’t really know. We didn’t see any weapons, but we both were so shocked we couldn’t pay much attention to details.”

“I wanted to go down and meet them,” Rena said, “but Travis thought it would be better if we came back here and make a decision all together about what to do.”

“Good thinking,” Karl said. He slammed his fist into his palm. “This is great news! That means there must be another island close enough for them to touch on this one.”

“That’s right,” the professor said. “The islanders aren’t great travelers. They know little about navigation.”

“So maybe they’re from really close by,” Maggie said. “Maybe from an island where ships land!”

The babble of voices rose again, with many of them striving to be heard. Finally Dalton’s voice rose above the others, “Look, we’ve got to go back and make contact with them. They might sail away and leave us here.”

“I think you’re right, Dalton,” Rena said. “But I wanted us all to be in on the decision.”

Dalton said impatiently, “Rena, there’s no decision to be made. We’ve got to go!”

Charlie Day pulled the pistol out of his belt and barked, “Right, we can take over that bunch and make ’em sail us back to the other island.”

“Don’t be foolish, Charlie!” Rena said. “We can’t use force on them.”

“Sure we can,” Cerny countered. He lifted the rifle in his hand. “This rifle holds ten shells. That’s half of ’em. With the pistols, it could take care of the rest.”

“You’d kill them all?” Travis said quietly. The air bristled with the tension between the two men. “You’d just shoot them down, Cerny?”

“If we had to,” Cerny answered, “but we prob’ly won’t. I’ve been on these islands before. Most of these natives are pretty friendly to white people. I’m just sayin’ if they ain’t friendly—if they’re headhunters or cannibals—we can take care of ourselves.”

Lanie touched Pete’s arm and whispered, “We can’t let that man go. There’s no telling what he’ll do.”

“I think you’re right,” Pete answered quietly. He spoke up. “Novak, we’ve got to be sensible about this. I think maybe God has sent these people to us. We can’t go down there threatening them with guns.”

“You don’t know some of these natives, Alford,” Lars said
slowly. “I’ve seen ’em do bad things. They ain’t all of them gentle.”

The debate went on for ten minutes, and finally Travis said, “We can’t discuss this all day. We’ve got to go back. I’d hate for them to sail off without making contact. Chip, you’ll have to go, and you, Meredith. The two of you might be able to speak to them. Do you think you’ll know their language, Meredith?”

“I won’t know until I hear them. It’s more likely that Chip will be able to communicate.”

Every eye went to Chip, and he shrugged, saying, “Maybe. I’m willing to try.”

“All right. We’ll go, then.”

“All of us?” Jimmy Townsend said.

“No, Jimmy, you stay here with Abby and the baby and the captain. I think you should stay too, Cerny.”

“I’m not stayin’,” Novak said bluntly.

“Well, all right,” Travis said. “But will you agree to keep those weapons out of it—and not use any of them?”

“I’ll keep the weapons out of it, but I’m going,” Novak stated flatly, his eyes narrow. “We’ll try it your way first, but they’d better watch what they’re doing. We don’t know if they can be trusted.”

Travis smiled. “We don’t need guns, Cerny. We need prayer.” He ignored the hard look on the big man’s face and turned to face the others. “Let’s ask God to show us the way to be a blessing to these people.” He bowed his head and began to pray, and the missionaries all followed suit. Cerny Novak drew his lips together in a tight line, and he held the rifle tightly in his hands.

After the prayer Jimmy and Abby watched as the others made their preparations to leave. Jimmy said, “Why don’t you take some of those trinkets we salvaged off the ship?”

“That’s a good idea,” Rena said brightly and went to fish out some beads and bracelets.

“Take some of those good knives too,” Karl suggested. “Most natives don’t have steel knives.”

Shep and Oscar chose to stay behind with the Townsends and the captain, and as they watched the party leave, Oscar shook his head. “I hope they don’t run into trouble.”

“They will if Novak has his way about it,” Shep said. He watched as the last of the party disappeared into the tree line and sighed heavily. “Well, we’ll know soon.”

****

Novak held back his pace, allowing twenty yards between the missionaries and his crew. Charlie stayed by his side, while the big, rawboned Olsen kept close behind. None of them spoke until they had traveled for an hour. Finally Charlie turned and grinned at Novak. “You hear what them two said about the natives?”

“What about ’em?” Novak grunted, not turning to face his smaller companion.

“He said there was some women with ’em. That’s what I’m lookin’ for!”

Olsen laughed. “You’d better watch out for their menfolk. They’ll put a spear right through you, Charlie.”

“Not while I got this.” Charlie pulled the pistol out and waved it in the air. “We got the bulge on ’em, ain’t we, Novak?”

“We’ll wait and see.”

The three forged steadily ahead, but Charlie could not stop talking. He got close enough to dig into Cerny with his elbow. “You remember that time when we stopped off in Samoa? You remember them gorgeous black-eyed women?”

“I remember.”

“They were really somethin’, and they knew how to make a man happy. And that whiskey! I don’t know how they made it, but it had a kick like a mule. I betcha this bunch knows how to make somethin’ like that too.”

“Yeah, they probably do,” Lars said. “Everywhere we ever been there was people who could make whiskey.”

Charlie had been a failure at most things in life. He was a drunk and a womanizer and had done time in jail for minor offenses. Now his voice was shrill with excitement as he continued to talk about the possibilities that lay before them. “Lookee here, you guys! What we gotta do is go back with these here natives. We could be kings there! We could have anything we want. All the liquor and women, and we’d never have to do a lick o’ work.”

“They might be cannibals,” Novak said. “We don’t know what they are.”

“I bet they ain’t!” Charlie exclaimed. “Wherever they come from, it can’t be too far away, and maybe a ship will stop by there.”

“That’s right,” Lars said. “And like Charlie says, if there ain’t no other white men there, they’d take us for gods or something. And if they try to fool with us, we’ve got the guns to show ’em who’s boss.”

“Shut up, both of you! I’ve gotta think,” Novak blustered. He looked ahead and said, “When we get close, we’ll stay back. If these natives are bad news, it’ll be those preachers up there that’ll find out about it first.” He grinned sourly. “Better them than us, I say.”

****

“What do you think we’ll find, Pete?” Lanie asked. She and Pete were walking side by side, for the trees had thinned out somewhat. They were headed uphill now and climbing steadily. Lanie was delighted that she was not even breathing hard. She expanded her lungs and took a deep breath. “Do you think they’ll be peaceful?”

“I hope so. I feel a bit shaky about it. I wish you had stayed back at camp until we found out.”

“We’re all in this together, Pete.”

The two kept close together as they wound their way toward the crest of the mountain. The way grew steeper, and finally Lanie asked, “What would you do, Pete, if they were
able to take us to wherever they come from and a ship came by?”

“You mean would I go back to the U.S.?”

“Yes, and what would you do there? Would you still feel that God wants you to be a missionary?”

After thinking about his answer for a minute, he grinned. “Yes, I know God still wants me to be a missionary.” He reached over and took her hand.

Lanie felt the strength of his grip and the power in this quiet man whom she had come to love and admire.

“I don’t much care what I do as long as I do it with you, Lanie.”

“I feel exactly the same way, Pete. I love you.”

“I love you too. I’ve never felt this way about anyone else before. It’s you or nobody for me, Lanie.”

****

“There’s the cliff right ahead,” Travis said quietly. He turned to Rena, who was beside him. “Are you scared?”

“A little. Are you?”

“You know it’s odd, but I’m not. I believe God is in all of this.”

“I wish I had your faith, Travis, but I don’t.”

“Well, I’ve had a lot more experience than you have being around natives, but I just know in my spirit that God is doing something great. I don’t know what it is yet, though.”

As they approached the edge of the cliff, Rena said, “I’ve changed so much since I’ve been here, Travis. I’m ashamed to think of what I was when I first met you.”

Travis smiled. “God’s done a work in you, I can see that.”

“All right, then. Let’s go see what God has for us from here on.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

First Encounter

As Rena stepped outside the tree line onto the broad beach, she felt weak and knew that if she tried to speak, her voice would not be steady. Down the way along the white sands, the brown-skinned newcomers were sharing a meal together. The smoke from their fire rose into the air, a steady column at first, then broken up by the sea breeze into a filmy gray haze. She was aware of the harsh squawking of the sea gulls and the rush of the waves onto the shore. The sound they made would ordinarily be pleasing, but now she could think only of the moment that lay just ahead.

I’m scared to death,
she thought. Her life before the shipwreck had been sheltered; her father had protected her from anything harmful. Now, however, as she felt the sand give under her feet, she knew there would be no protection if these natives proved to be deadly. Glancing to her right, she saw that Travis was focusing on the group down the beach. She could see no trace of fear in him and envied his presence of mind. She was very, very glad that he was there beside her. She longed to reach out and take his hand, for she needed his encouragement and strength, but she did not do so.