Bunny Elder Adventure Series: Four Complete Novels: Hollow, Vain Pursuits, Seadrift, ...and Something Blue

by J. B. Hawker

  “No need to apologize. Believe me, I understand. I wish we had access to enthusiastic missionary speakers, like you, in my late husband’s churches. Too many of our missionaries are wonderful in the field and completely inadequate at public-speaking. Unfortunately, no matter how vital your project, you need to engage a congregation if you want them to support it with their donations.”

  “You were married to a pastor? What denomination?”

  The two women were deep in conversation, sharing church experiences and laughing about the foibles, blessings and frustrations of full-time ministry, when Marki walked up, frowning.

  “How can you two sit there, laughing and gabbing away like you’re sitting at your neighborhood Starbucks, or something, when we are all about to be killed?” she challenged.

  “But, God is in control, dear. Why shouldn’t we enjoy whatever time is left to us?” Virginia said.

  “Oh, right. The God thing. You two think just because you pray and read the Bible you have some sort of invisible shield protecting you. Well, maybe you’ve had it easy up to now in your little churchy bubble, but if you had been abandoned by your father like me, then left in the lurch by the first guy you ever trusted, only to be raped and beaten by scuzzy pirates, you wouldn’t want to have anything to do with your imaginary God. There is no one ‘out there’ to protect you, or any of us.”

  “Marki, come sit down here. You’ve been through a lot. It’s no wonder you are upset,” Bunny said as she gently put her arm around the girl’s shoulder and led her to the seat next to Virginia.

  “Of course, I’m upset! You can’t possibly know what it’s like to really suffer, or you wouldn’t be so calm.”

  Bunny shared a sympathetic smile with Virginia and sat down across from the other two.

  “Marki, I don’t know the details of Virginia’s life, but I’ve known many missionaries, and I know their lives are not without suffering. She trusted God to be with her in the difficult times, not to protect her from them. Believers are not exempt from the troubles in this world.”

  “Oh, I’m sure,” Marki rolled her eyes. “What troubles have you ever had…running out of food at the potluck?”

  “My, you are bitter, dear,” Virginia interjected. “I know you don’t mean to be insulting, but you must realize that your suffering, bad as it was, is no worse than most of us have known, and not as bad as many experience, including believers. God never promised to spare us the consequences of our actions, the actions of others or even random chance.”

  “Then what good is he?”

  “All the good in the world,” Virginia said.

  “Look, Marki, you asked us how we could be at peace in our current situation…how we could laugh together, right? Well, that is because of all the good God does for us. We know, whatever happens in this world, we are not alone, and we know if God chooses to allow us to die today, we will be with him in Paradise the very next moment. Believers are not immune to pain, but we don’t fear death,” Bunny explained.

  “But, how do you really know any of that? What proof do you have?”

  “Most of us choose to believe, without proof. That’s the definition of faith, after all,” Virginia responded. “But, if that decision was never affirmed by life we would change our minds, soon enough.”

  “Affirmed, how?”

  “I can give you an example, Marki,” Bunny offered. “I could give you hundreds of examples, but I’ll start with just one…A few years ago I was caught up in the delusions of a madman. This man killed several people, including my husband, wounded a friend of mine, and eventually tried to kill us, too, by burning us alive. That was a pretty terrible time, but through it all, I felt God’s presence, and because of what happened I am now married to my soul-mate.”

  “Sometimes we only see God’s hand when we look back,” Virginia offered. “But whether we see it at the time, or not, he’s always there.”

  “And suppose he lets these horrible men kill us, like the others? What then?”

  “Then we won’t need faith, anymore, because we will have all the proof we need. We will meet out maker face to face. There’s a reason death is referred to as the final reward, you know.”

  “I wish I had your confidence. Maybe then I wouldn’t be so scared.”

  “Can your fears make any difference to the outcome?” Virginia asked.

  “I don’t know…I suppose not.”

  “Then, just try to trust that everything will work out for the best. If you see an opportunity to make a difference, take it, and when you can’t do anything, just think about the happier times to come when this will all be over.”

  “That’s good advice, Virginia. But we may have a chance to make a difference sooner, rather than later, if what Max and Warren have planned works out,” Bunny commented.

  “What are they planning to do? They might just make everything worse!”

  “Not to worry, Marki. When Max makes a plan, you can bank on it. Oh, I made a sort of pun on his name, get it? You can ‘bank’ on a plan by Max Banks?”

  Seeing the look on the younger woman’s face, Bunny went on, “Well, it’s not that funny, I suppose. I’m sorry my bad joke upset you, Marki. I guess it’s not the best time for it.”

  “Your husband…your ‘soul-mate’…is Max Banks…from Texas?”

  “Yes, that’s right. I guess we only introduced ourselves with first names, when we came aboard.”

  “What’s wrong, dear?” Virginia asked.

  Marki had gone pale. She seemed to be having difficulty forming words, and not merely because of her injured mouth.

  Bunny and Virginia watched in concern as the younger woman took several deep breathes and blurted out, “Max Banks is my father! He’s the dirty bastard who deserted my mom and me when I was only three! How could you marry him? If he’s your soul-mate your soul must be as black as his.”

  After this outburst Marki scurried across the deck, as far away as possible, where she stood hugging herself and staring out to sea.

  “Well, forevermore! What got into the girl?” Virginia remarked.

  “She must have been injured more severely than we knew. Poor thing. Imagine her thinking that my Max is her father. She certainly has some issues to deal with.”

  

  Ellery put the leftover pizza in the refrigerator and called to Gilles, “I just remembered where I heard that name!”

  Gilles strolled out of the bedroom, slipping a sweatshirt over his head.

  “What name?” he muffled through the fleece before pulling his chin free..

  “You know. The name of that ship the pirates attacked. We were talking about it before going to dinner. I told you it sounded familiar, but I couldn’t remember where I’d heard it.”

  “Oh, yeah, the Misery Countess.”

  “Mers Comtesse, silly!”

  “So, where did you hear it before?”

  “I’ve been trying to remember and I think Aunt Bunny mentioned it in one of her emails, or maybe on her blog.”

  “What’s good ol’ Bunny have to say, lately? You haven’t read me anything for a few days.”

  “That’s right, I haven’t heard from her since Monday. Come on, let’s see if she’s sent anything today. I want to find the reference to that ship, too.”

  “You don’t suppose she and Max just happened to sail past a ship that was later attacked by pirates, do you? That would be quite a coincidence.”

  “Stranger things than that happen to my aunt.”

  In the den, Ellery turned on her computer and navigated to her email program.

  “Here it is. In her last email she says they spotted a tired-looking cruise ship, the Mers Comtesse and she wondered if they would cross paths like two ships in the night, even though it was in the daylight.”

  “Always with the quips, your aunt.”

  “But we haven’t heard from her since she wrote this, Gilles. What if something has happened? They might have gotten caught up in the bigger ship’s w
ake, or something…why, they could even have been attacked by those pirates, too! What can we do?”

  “Calm, down, my love. I’m sure Bunny and Max are just fine. They are probably too busy ‘honeymooning’ to write, that’s all.”

  “You’re probably right, but we need to check. I’ll worry until we know for sure. Who can we call, what can we do?”

  “I know some people in the government I’ve done consulting work for. Let me call around and see what I can find out. Will that make you feel better?”

  “Oh, yes! Thank you, Gilles.”

  While her husband went to get his cell phone, Ellery logged on to Bunny’s blog to see if there were any recent entries. She couldn’t explain it, but she had a bad feeling about this.

  Chapter Thirteen

  …visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations ─ Exodus 20:5

  “Max, the strangest thing just happened.”

  “What is it, Hun?”

  “That young girl, you know the one with the horribly bruised and battered face? Well, she was badly traumatized by her beating and mistreatment, obviously, but apparently she also has deep-seated emotional problems from being abandoned by her father when she was very small.”

  “What gives you that idea?”

  “She said so, for one thing. She has even worse trust issues than I have…but, I think she may actually be delusional. When Virginia and I were trying to explain our belief that God is still in control, even here, well, I mentioned your name…I don't remember why…and she just went wild.”

  “My name has been driving women wild for decades, no surprise there.”

  “Be serious. Not that kind of wild. She called you names and said you were the father who abandoned her. Can you imagine? Have you ever heard anything so ridiculous?”

  Max lost his joking manner and his face went slack, giving Bunny a sinking feeling.

  “What’s wrong, Max? Are you ill?”

  “Maybe,” he replied as he lowered himself carefully to the deck. He sat with his knees drawn up and his head resting on the bulkhead behind him.

  “Is it your heart?”

  “My heart…yeah, that’s funny.”

  “I don’t understand. Is this because of what Marki said about you?”

  “Her name is Marki? Of course, it is…here in the middle of the ocean, it’s really her…what are the odds?”

  “Max, you’re scaring me.”

  “This is another of God’s little jokes, Bunny. With a pal like him, I don’t need enemies.”

  Bunny crouched in front of her husband, took his hands and waited for him to look at her.

  “What’s going on? Tell me. Tell me everything.”

  Bunny felt the sickening suspicion Max had been involved in an affair with this girl.

  She flashed back to their first marriage and tasted bile rising in her throat. She dreaded hearing him confirm her fears, but had to know the truth.

  With a gusty sigh, Max began, “I didn’t want to hurt you, Bunny. That’s why I didn’t tell you everything before.”

  “Secrets can hurt even worse than the truth. You know that. Honesty, no matter how painful, is at least quick. Secrets and lies cause long-lasting injury. Just tell me. I’m tough. I can take it, whatever it is.”

  “Maybe you can, but I never wanted to test you like this. Sweetie, I know how much you always wanted a child….and how you suffered when we lost those babies. I may not have shown it, but I saw the depth of your pain and it frightened me. I just couldn’t relate to it. Back then, I was pretty self-absorbed; I don’t need to tell you that.”

  “But, what does that have to do with Marki and you?”

  “I’m afraid she’s right, I really am her S.O.B. of a father. Marki is my daughter, at least she must be. The age is right and the daughter I deserted when I divorced her mother was named ‘Marki’, after my brother, Mark. You remember Mark. He was killed in the last days of Vietnam. I’ve always felt guilty about getting a deferment while he was drafted. He was my example, my hero…”

  Bunny was momentarily stunned into silence and scarcely heard Max’s eulogy to his brother.

  “Why didn’t you ever tell me you had a daughter? That’s a pretty major omission.”

  “I didn’t want you to know what a crappy father I am. Not only was I unmoved when you lost our babies, but when I had a child of my own, I just threw her away.”

  Bunny didn’t know what to say, or even what to think. This news was more than she could take in. She sat very still as random snatches of thought swirled in her mind.

  She was confused, hurt and shocked by what Max revealed. She tried to pull back from her emotions and think clearly. Max had a daughter. Max had abandoned this daughter and never told Bunny she existed. This was the secret from his lost years he had been keeping from her.

  For just a moment she felt as if her world tilted and she ran her fingers through her hair as she tried to pull herself together.

  The prongs holding the diamond on her wedding ring caught in her hair and she lowered her hand. Gazing at this symbol of their vows steadied her mind.

  She and Max had married for better or worse. If this surprise turned out to be the worst they ever had to deal with, she would be blessed, indeed.

  Max has a daughter, so Bunny has a step-daughter. Nothing else had changed…except Max had lied to her. Lied to her, again.

  “I am sorry I didn’t tell you, Bunny. I honestly thought I was sparing you pain.”

  “Honestly? That’s an odd choice of words coming from you, Max,” Bunny sneered, instantly regretting her bitter retort.

  She needed to catch her breath, calm down and maybe pray a bit about this.

  Two times Bunny had vowed, before God and everyone, to “cleave” to Max in good times and bad. She meant to keep those vows…somehow.

  

  “Why haven’t we heard from the shipping line people, Shimbir? We should have the money by now and be on our way. The others are getting restless,” Jama reminded his leader.

  “They are idiots! All are idiots! Do the authorities doubt that I will kill again when this next deadline passes? Or are they such fools that they would let all these passengers die without lifting a finger to help? The lawsuits from the families could bankrupt a company.”

  “When I look at this ship, I think maybe the owners are close to bankrupt, now. Maybe they have nothing to lose.”

  “Tchah! The governments would not stand by and let that happen. How could they? Especially the American leaders who are so worried about ‘world opinion’ and bad press.”

  “What if you are wrong? What do we do, then? The longer we stay on this ship the closer someone is to finding us. We smashed the ship’s locator, but we are not invisible.”

  “The money will come, if not before the next deadline, then when they receive another video of dying passengers. The next will need to be more shocking than the last, that’s all.”

  “When the three hours remaining pass, if no money comes, we should take the skiffs and leave this bad-luck ship. That is what I say, and many of the men say so, too.”

  “You are a fool! No one will follow Jama-the-coward. I say the money will come. A few more sheep may need to be slaughtered, but it will come.”

  Jama turned and walked away, shaking his head and muttering under his breath, “Three more hours and then we will see…”

  

  Bunny leaned her forehead against a bulkhead, savoring the sensation of the cool metal on her feverish face. She stood apart from the others, picking at the peeling paint and trying to think.

  She had cried and prayed and now it was time to plan, but somehow she couldn’t picture the future, not even the next few moments.

  Snippets of memory from her rocky first marriage to Max swam in and out of focus then were replaced by vignettes from the even unhappier Eustace years.

  When they learned from Bunny’s doctor there was no chance of her carryi
ng a child to term, Eustace had moved into the guest bedroom. He claimed God meant sex for procreation, only, and since that wasn’t possible, they should remove themselves from temptation. Bunny challenged his theology, only to be rebuffed with a sneering, “Did you graduate from seminary, Leveline, or did I? Oh, that’s right, I did.”

  Eustace always used her hated given name. When she objected, he insisted a childish nickname like “Bunny” was “inappropriate” for a pastor’s wife.

  Nothing she said or did could ever change his mind.

  Only years later did she learn the real reason Eustace preferred to sleep alone. By then, the damage to her self-esteem was done.

  It wasn’t until Max came back into her life that Bunny was able to convince herself that she might be a desirable woman.

  She owed Max so much.

  She had forgiven Eustace, over and over, for all the ways he hurt her, even though he never showed a moment’s remorse. She could certainly forgive Max, now, for withholding the truth about his daughter.

  He was obviously contrite about his failure as a father. Bunny would not add to his unhappiness by hanging onto her hurt feelings.

  With that thought her expression brightened, as though the sun had come from behind a cloud.

  Bunny looked around for Max. She needed to be with him.

  Gazing across the cluster of prisoners, she spied Max slowly approaching Marki…his daughter…and decided not to intrude. This would be difficult enough for them without an audience.

  Max cleared his throat a few times, “Excuse me,” he began, reaching out to touch the girl’s shoulder.

  Marki turned swiftly around. Max’s fingers grazed her arm and she recoiled.

  “You!”

  “I think we need to talk,” Max said.

  “Go away, old man, just go away. That’s what you’re good at. I’ve got nothing to say to you.”