by Wesley Stein
“Please!” I said to my sisters. “Don’t do this. I have the bread. You won’t wither, I promise!”
“We won’t in your lifetime,” Joanna said calmly. “But what about after that? When the bread is gone and you’re gone and everything we’ve ever known is gone, what do we do then?”
I had no answer. Joanna stepped back and pulled Jacey by the hand.
“Please,” I begged her. “Don’t do this. You have to come with me. You have to get out of the catacombs. He’s going to blow them!”
They didn’t budge. They didn’t hear me. They didn’t understand. Tuahine called to me as she retreated toward the mountain.
“Jennifer, we have to go,” she said. “We can’t save them. He’s going to blow the mountain.”
“We can’t leave them,” I replied to her. My head suddenly swelled, my eyes filled with tears, and my nose was running. “You can’t do this!” I shouted at them.
“It’s okay,” Joanna said to me. “We belong here. Let us go.”
I heard Tua call this time.
“Jennifer, let’s go!” He yelled. “They made their choice. We need to get out of here.”
The explosion began with a low rumble. The ground shook. Then I felt a wave of warm air blow past me in a fury. The next thing I saw was a bright light and a flash of yellow. The sound was like a freight train running through my chest. I could see the roof above us begin to collapse and I took a step back as the blast wave hit.
I don’t know what happened next. Everything went black. The few memories I have of the explosion came in short bursts of sensations.
I could see Tua. I could feel the sand, then water. The next thing I recalled was waking up on the boat.
Tua was behind me, holding me with both his arms. I raised my eyes to see the mountainside collapse onto itself.
The explosions continued. The fire. The landslides. The island shrinking in the distance, a pillar of smoke above it. All of it seemed surreal, as if I was looking at a painting.
I felt my head swim as the boat carried us out of the bay.
I knew my sisters were gone.
They finally joined our parents.
They were together forever on the magic island, where only those who do very good things are allowed.
CHAPTER 12
Wedding gift
Tua stood in the sand. No shoes. No shirt. His hair was longer now, and the wind blew it into his eyes so that he had to squint against it. His signature bright smile came to life when he saw Jennifer.
She approached him from the cottage, across the sand from where he waited near the water.
Beside him, Robbins waited to officiate their vows and Tuahine stood as witness, as proud as she could be.
Jennifer arrived like a song on a breeze. Her smile was careless and easy, maybe for the first time since any of them had known her. She wore a simple sundress and a flower in her hair.
She smiled at Tua’s smile. She’d always do that, she knew. She’d be helpless against that smile until the day she died.
“Hi,” she said to him.
“Hey,” he replied. They laughed and leaned toward each other until their foreheads were touching.
Robbins said a few words and Tuahine sang a traditional song and Tua spoke in Tahitian.
Jennifer was moved by the ceremony.
She was thankful to have found Tua. She was thankful to have Tuahine as a mother-in-law.
When Robbins pronounced them as husband and wife for the first time, it was to an empty beach. But no one cared. Tuahine clapped as the new couple kissed.
Jennifer closed her eyes and lost herself in him. She imagined the life they would make together, here on the coast.
They would have children. And their kids would learn to swim and sail. Tua would teach them the ways of the islands. He would show them what it meant to be an islander. They would grow old together and become grandparents someday. They would bury each other.
When the ceremony was done, the four of them went into the cottage, where the ocean breeze blew through a light, open-air living space.
Tua swept Jennifer off her feet and carried her across the sandy threshold. Robbins smiled and gave the proud mother a warm hug as they followed behind.
When they were all inside and a bottle had been opened, they raised their flutes.
“A toast,” Tua said. “To our fallen friends.”
“To Langston Free,” Robbins said. “There was never a more dedicated agent in the FBI.”
“To Mark and Rachel Berklee,” Tuahine said.
“To my sisters,” Jennifer added. “Joanna and Jacey, may they rest in peace.”
“To Andy Stahl and Thomas Shakespeare Mills,” Tua finished.
“Hear, hear,” Robbins confirmed. They sipped champagne. They poured some on the floor.
“And here is to the new couple,” Tuahine said after. And they drank again.
“Gift!” Robbins said suddenly. “We have a gift for you.”
He placed down his champagne glass and left the room.
It had been almost four months since they had left Three-Hook Island. Jennifer and Tua had spent some time in the hospital.
When they recovered, Jennifer returned to the states for several weeks. She spent most of that time speaking to an attorney, trying to get her affairs in order. She wanted to move to the islands. Tua had asked for her hand.
In the end, after her sisters had been pronounced dead, she claimed their portion of the Berklee estate. With the stroke of a pen she increased her wealth three times over.
When she returned to the main island, it was to buy a beach cottage for her and Tua to share.
She paid off the balance on Robbins’ yacht and set him up a nice retirement trust. Tuahine’s monthly sum was increased too, now that she was legally part of the family.
Jennifer looked at Tua curiously and wondered what the gift could be. There was nothing Jennifer couldn’t get for herself. Her husband smiled.
When he returned, Robbins was carrying a simple brown bag. He smiled at Tuahine and she returned the gesture, before glancing at Jennifer anxiously.
“I hope you take this,” she said.
Robbins reached into the sac and removed a ball of linen. Wrapped inside it was a loaf of bread.
“Because we don’t know what to do with it.”
Jennifer gasped. She had forgotten about the bread. Tuahine had grabbed it while Tua was pulling Jennifer from the rubble. Tuahine took the bread from Robbins and put it in Jennifer’s hands.
“This is yours to do with as you please,” she said. “You know the power of the water. Your sisters could could be trapped, withering. Others on the island could be suffering.”
Jennifer looked down at the bread and then closed her eyes. Once again, she imagined a future with Tua. Only this time, there were no children yet.
They were storming the island in their new black gunboat. They were prepared, armed, manned.
They would go side-by-side with Robbins and Tuahine, tearing into the catacombs with heavy machinery. Jennifer would use every cent of her millions if she had to.
She would equip herself and her friends, recruit others, build a headquarters, establish a loyal following of those who would stand against the perversion of the fountain. The islanders would be saved, rehabilitated, and redeemed.
Jennifer opened her eyes. The bread in her hands felt heavy. She sat it on the table and looked up at the ones she loved.
“Thank you,” she said. “I’ll think about it.”
THE
islanders
the adventure continues
With these companion pieces:
TRIAD OF THE
ISLANDERS
a novella
JULIET
a short story
Ask about these titles at your
local library or bookshop by ISBN.
Or find them at Amazon.com
WESLEY STEIN
is among other thing
s, a husband, father, actor, stand-up comedian, screenwriter, stilt-walker, dog-lover, cat-owner, amateur baker, husband, father, public speaker, and a proud Slytherin
