by Gary Conrad
Before long the trunk branched and they continued to climb, side by side, until they had gone as high as they were safely able. The branches they clung to swayed side to side in the gentle breeze.
Daniel and Mahina both laughed with the exhilaration of it all, and any residual pain that Daniel had carried from his previous experience there vanished with the wind that moved them.
Finally the breeze blew their branches close to each other so that they were able to wrap their free arms around each other. As they held each other tightly, they passionately kissed.
Daniel said to Mahina, “A-da-do-li-gi.”
“A-da-do-li-gi? What does that mean?”
“It’s something my grandpa used to call me. It’s Cherokee and means blessing. Mahina — you are my blessing.”
They kissed once again and Mahina repeated, “A-da-do-li-gi. Dan-iel, you are my blessing.”
“My love, we bless each other.”
Mahina said, “As we should.”
With that they released each other, and the wind playfully rocked them to and fro through the clear Oklahoma sky.
Acknowledgements
In March of 2012 my wife Sheridan and I took a vacation to Easter Island. Actually our first choice was Patagonia, a wilderness area in the far south of Chile, and we were making preparations for the trip when Patagonia was closed due to a devastating fire.
Fortunately, the lodge we had been scheduled to stay at had a sister hotel on Easter Island, and we switched to that location. While I was initially disappointed, my wife was delighted, as Easter Island was a place she had always wanted to visit. You might say God works in mysterious ways.
Once there, we both fell in love with Easter Island, which the islanders prefer to call Rapa Nui. The people were extremely friendly and while the island was deforested, there was an inherent beauty and a non-commercialism that was instantly attractive. Besides that, there were the magnificent moai and ahus, remnants of a past shrouded in mystery and turmoil.
There are many to thank in the formation of this book. First I must thank my wife Sheridan for her adventurous spirit and willingness to travel to faraway places. After we arrived back home, she was most supportive as I disappeared for hours on end feverishly researching and writing this book.
I want also to express my appreciation to our Rapanui guide, Yoyo Pakomio, for his explanations and patience as he led us on treks over a good part of the island. Through his assistance, we were able to view the island from the perspective of someone whose roots belong there. Only those with Rapanui blood can truly understand the visceral pain and difficulties their people have suffered through.
I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Georgia Lee, one of the founders of the Easter Island Foundation (EIF). Shortly after I began writing, I realized I needed a mentor to help me with my many questions, and I phoned the EIF asking for help. A few days later she agreed to assist me and has been an invaluable asset as I put together this book. I later discovered she is an archeologist who had spent over six years doing field work there and has written multiple books and papers on Easter Island. While I am responsible for any historical inaccuracies found in this book, her advice has helped me to be as precise as possible.
Finally, I want to thank my editors, the late Betty Wright and Betsy Lampe, who formed an indefatigable team with me as we worked on this novel. Hillary Clinton once authored a book, titled It Takes a Village, and that is certainly true in the construction of Murder on Easter Island.
About the Author
Gary D. Conrad lives with his wife, Sheridan, and their dogs, Inky and Karma, in Edmond, Oklahoma. Gary is an emergency and integrative physician, and his interests include Tibetan rights, meditation, the music of Joséph Haydn, organic gardening, choral work and wilderness hiking.
Gary’s first book is the award-winning visionary fiction novel, The Lhasa Trilogy. His second is an autobiographical collection of memoirs in short story form, Oklahoma Is Where I Live: and Other Things on My Mind. He is currently working on a sequel to Murder on Easter Island.
Gary can be reached through his website at GaryDConrad.com.
