Spoils of Eden

by Linda Lee Chaikin

  Ainsworth’s last words may have done more than anything he’d said thus far to grip Rafe. The Board of Health paraded across his mind. He thought of Kip, snatched from his control and sent off to Molokai without his having a word to say about the injustice of the act. Kip was not a leper. He endangered no one. Yet Rafe had not a word to say about the baby’s fate.

  “What if I told you I’ve already decided to throw in with the annexationists?”

  “I should be pleased, indeed. I thought that you might come to the side of the Stars and Stripes, in the end. The dream of having that flag flying over Iolani Palace is a worthy aspiration, Rafe. Along with it comes the Bill of Rights, the U.S. Constitution granting individual rights for liberty, justice, freedom of religion, the right to bear arms, and the protection of United States government and military. I’ve heard rumors floating from Japan that they’re interested in these Islands.”

  “Well said. I find myself fully committed to such laws and rule. I don’t think we’ll have them granted to us under any monarchy. Kings and queens come and go. Generations pass, and who knows? Without a Constitution anything might happen. As you put it, sir, I like the idea of the Stars and Stripes rippling in the trade winds over Iolani Palace.”

  Especially when I’ve been robbed of my right to defend private property and keep Kip as my adopted son.

  “That you’re now on our side is the best of news. I shall write Parker tomorrow.”

  “Sir, you should know, however, I’ve also a personal reason for wanting a seat of influence in the Legislature. My rights to adopt Kip as my son have been denied by the Board. I intend to challenge that.”

  Ainsworth, puzzled, drew his white brows together.

  “Oh, the baby. Your nephew, is he not?”

  Troubled, Rafe took a turn around the room, paused, and looked over at him.

  “Not exactly, sir. The ‘nephew’ idea was a way I came up with to bring him to my home. I found him on Molokai—with the rising tide of incoming waves about to wash him away.”

  “My word!”

  “The details of how it all came about can be explained to you later, should you wish to hear them, but for the moment, you should understand he was born of a leper … and that the Board of Health, by enforcing unfair laws, is insisting I turn him over to Kalihi Hospital for indefinite incarceration. He’s even a candidate for the leper colony. However, it is certain that Kip is not a leper.”

  Ainsworth’s expression of horror encouraged Rafe. “What! Kip sent to Kalawao?”

  Rafe threw out the details as bluntly and harshly as he could, but left Eden out of the Board’s decision. Rafe carefully chose his words. “And that seat in the Legislature, besides giving me power to work for annexation of Hawaii to the United States, may give me the opportunity to help change a ruling that says a child born on Molokai of a leper, even though given a clean bill of health by the Board’s own doctors, cannot be adopted or live freely in Hawaii.”

  Ainsworth listened attentively, and the sympathy Rafe saw in his face convinced him he’d made the right move. In the end, Rafe believed that if he worked for annexation, Ainsworth and even Parker Judson would stand beside him in an effort to save Kip.

  Despite this hopeful sign, Rafe would take no chances now. Any law he might help enact would take months, most likely years to become incorporated into the laws of the Board of Health. This moment, however, was a beginning. He was surprised to find himself on the same side of the conflict as Ainsworth Derrington.

  Where this still-shaky union would lead them, he could only guess. He would do what was necessary to win for a cause he believed both just and honoring to God. If it meant changing his way of life, he would proceed.

  As for Eden, he suspected that if he appealed strongly enough to Ainsworth, he might gain the marriage he wanted, regardless of Eden’s wishes to go with her father to Molokai. The question that gnawed at his heart was whether or not he wanted to force her into a commitment she wasn’t ready to make.

  He still wanted her, but he knew the union must be on mutual terms. If she didn’t love him, need him enough to yield her heart and will to his headship—then, to Rafe, the concept of marriage and all that it meant would best be forgotten.

  Regardless of the direction Eden would choose, the struggle he pledged to carry out both for Kip and for Hawaii would be a worthy effort. And the return of his Hanalei debt free, waiting serenely on the Big Island for his return, would be the treasure found—and Eden, the woman he loved … the missing jewel.

  Chapter Twelve

  News from a Far Country

  Eden stood with her father on the living-room lanai, this one of generous size, screened to the outside, and presenting a view of the white beach below. The brief tropic dusk muted the bright colors of Waikiki, while the sound of waves breaking on the shore was a constant reminder of the blue-green Pacific.

  Eden waited in the evening stillness for her father to speak. Her anticipation heightened. What was on his mind? What would he tell her?

  Dr. Jerome, she knew, was fatigued by more than his voyage from San Francisco. She believed he had tropical fever. He was struggling against a prolonged sickness that he, apparently, did not wish to discuss, perhaps because it might impede the realization of his ambitions. Nonetheless, his emotions bordered on jubilation.

  “This is a celebratory day, Eden, my dear. My plans to open a research clinic on Molokai have been fortified this afternoon with the arrival of Herald Hartley. I can tell you this, Dr. Chen’s journal adds a great body of research to my own.”

  Surprised, Eden turned. “Oh, then you have Dr. Chen’s research journal?”

  “Indeed, we do. What a bounty he has left to my charge. The greatest treasure I could have been awarded, and by Dr. Chen himself.”

  Eden listened intently while her father explained how Hartley’s sole purpose in rushing here to Honolulu was to bring the journal to Dr. Jerome. Hartley had kept the journal a secret until alone with her father.

  “Herald understood that Dr. Chen’s journal of the past thirty years was priceless to me. A letter, though a separate issue entirely, was also in his care.” Her father placed his lean hands on her shoulders and smiled wearily, but with twinkling eyes. “At any rate, my dear, we now own Dr. Chen’s work, and I couldn’t be more pleased.”

  So that’s why Herald Hartley had guarded the satchel like it was a golden treasure! She almost laughed. She knew little about Dr. Chen or his research, except for what was disclosed earlier that day on the lanai, mostly through Rafe’s questions.

  “We’ve been richly blessed,” he was saying. “I wanted to make my announcement to you first of all. In my long absence, you too, have endured privation. Therefore you share in the victory. Our mission is coming to fruition at last, and I want you to be a part of our plans, our success, Eden. I expect a mandate from the Board of Health to open a new research clinic on Kalaupapa.”

  Eden caught a breath and for a moment couldn’t respond. Our plans, our mission. At long last she was linked with her father’s invaluable calling, though for much of her life that work had been shrouded with mystery. The implication of his words warmed her heart. He recognized the emotional deprivation she’d experienced and was drawing her into the final success. She was the first person in the family that he was announcing his successful plans to. A clinic on the island of Molokai, at the Kalaupapa encampment!

  Moved by his enduring love for her mother, she was thrilled to see her father’s high spirits.

  “I’m sure the Board’s physicians will be as enthused as I am when I present my findings before them,” he said. “However, I’ll still need your help with Dr. Bolton. Your grandfather’s help with Liliuokalani will be needed as well. Kalakaua was in many ways a serious thinker when it came to the threat of leprosy on his islands. I’m not as knowledgeable about his sister. Liliuokalani may not be as willing to back me financially as was Kalakaua.”

  “I’m afraid Grandfather won’t be of much h
elp when it comes to Liliuokalani. She considers members of the Reform Party as enemies to her rule.”

  Jerome shook his head over the annexation question. “I’ve never been one for politics. I will leave the annexation debate to others more knowledgeable. At any rate, that isn’t why I wanted to see you alone. It’s about my Rebecca—your mother. Oh, Eden, my poor dear. I realize the deception placed on you as a child. Looking back, I should have insisted the truth be told to you. However, I fear I wasn’t emotionally capable at the time … and I left the matter to others. It was important I begin the search for a means to save her, you see. That was all I thought about, all I cared about.”

  “As soon as I learned the truth, that she was alive, I began a search to locate her on Molokai,” she said, lamenting. “I’ve run into one stone wall after another. It’s been exasperating. There was a kokua woman, I know, but Grandfather couldn’t remember who she was, and all my searching since returning to Honolulu was fruitless. The Board would give me but little information. I could have gone to Molokai myself to search for news of her, even her grave—but, again, the Board wouldn’t grant me permission.” She looked at him. He bore the expression of sympathy. “But now that you’re here, there must be something we can do!”

  “Eden, there’s no doubt Rebecca is alive. Her life was what kept me pursuing my research far and near. There is yet hope. We may be able to help her recover to some form of a happier life. Perhaps, I dare to say it, even to leave the island of Molokai.” He reached inside his coat and removed an envelope. “This,” he said, showing her the envelope, “is what I wanted to see you about. This is the letter Herald also brought me. It’s a letter for you, dear daughter, from Rebecca.”

  Eden gasped. She stared, fixated on the white envelope, bright in the moonlight, in her father’s thin, sun-browned hand. Her heart began to thud as she reached for the envelope.

  “Her kokua wrote for her, of course,” he said. “We have Herald to thank. He contacted her and explained how you now know the truth of her leprosy and wanted to meet her on Molokai. Herald is a fine man. You’ll come to see that for yourself in time.”

  The trades whispered through the palms. The wind, like gentle, soothing fingers, played in her hair and cooled her cheek.

  An actual letter from her mother, Rebecca. Her throat cramped. She blinked hard several times. Her fingers smoothed the envelope to make certain it was real. At last a word from Mother … the kind and loving woman from her childhood.

  Eden remembered sitting on the seat of a carriage in front of a big house that had turned out to be Tamarind House on Diamond Head. The fringe on the carriage top jiggled cheerfully in a warm, sweet wind. Her own childish laughter had sounded in her ears, then suddenly—shouting voices! Her mother was running into some trees. Someone was chasing her! Fear had filled Eden’s heart. “Mommy! Mommy!” she had screamed.

  Later, many years later, after she’d grown up, she had learned from Rafe that it was her father, Jerome, who had been running after Rebecca—to hold and kiss her good-bye one last time before she boarded the steamer for Molokai. Her mother had run from him, in fear of spreading the disease.

  When Eden first learned this, she had wept.

  All that was over. She’d accepted and adjusted to the truth. She’d been praying over her dilemma for months, and now something impossible seemed to be happening. A dream was awakening to reality. But was the answer an end in itself, or the beginning of a process that would accomplish even more? Meeting Rebecca would lead to further understanding, but would the meeting bring her to the end of her heart’s long search? No matter which way the road went or what obstacles stood in the way, she believed she would learn more of God’s purposes.

  “I suggest you wait to read the letter when you’re alone,” Jerome said gently. “Perhaps tonight, after we’ve returned home to Kea Lani. By God’s good grace you shall meet her, Eden. If it’s the last thing I do, you’ll have your conversation with Rebecca.”

  Rafe left Ainsworth Derrington inside the library going over the legal documents to bring to Honolulu in the morning. Outside the library door, he glanced at his timepiece. There remained thirty minutes before dinner. That meant Keno would be returning at any time to bring Ambrose’s message to Noelani.

  Rafe walked to the living room; when he entered, Eden’s voice wafted to him—

  “The work on Kalaupapa is my dream, too, Father. I’ve planned for this opportunity, hoping and praying that somehow it would come together. I’ll do everything I can to help.”

  “It is an ambitious choice. Then you’re certain, my dear; you want to leave all this behind and go with me and Herald to Molokai? It won’t be a simple task. There will be much sacrifice involved.”

  “Father, your clinic on Molokai is important to me. Now that I know my mother is alive and wishes to meet with me—nothing will stop me or cause me to change my mind.”

  “Then as far as I’m concerned, the matter is settled. Ah—is that Herald below in the yard?”

  “Yes … I think it is.”

  “Excuse me, my dear, I’ve a short meeting with him on the beach before dinner … can I get down by way of these steps?”

  “Yes, the stairs lead to Waikiki … be careful, though, going down. Perhaps I should go with you.”

  He chuckled. “No, no, your father is still quite fit, just a mild case, now and then, of tropical fever. I’ll see you at dinner.”

  The trades rustled the wooden blinds as his footsteps faded in the direction of the stairs. Rafe waited, uncertain. He felt no qualm at having overheard. Though his own future was bound up in Eden’s choices, there was such a thing as male self-preservation.

  Should he step into the moment so obviously precious to her, or not? If they cared enough about each other to have once contemplated marriage, did he have the right to know where things stood?

  He stepped onto the lanai and saw Eden standing there with her back toward him, looking toward the beach. The gentle breeze, the sound of the restless waves washing the shore …

  She must have heard him, for she turned quickly. He read the excitement on her face. His gaze dropped to the envelope she held clasped to her heart. Their eyes met, hers green and shining in the lamplight. He read in their depths all he needed to know.

  There’s nothing now that will thwart her from joining her father’s work. The letter from Rebecca is the final motivation for joining him on Kalaupapa.

  Rafe turned and walked away, choosing to honor her time of joy by not interfering. He closed the living-room door behind him without a sound.

  “Rafe,” Eden whispered and took several steps after him, then stopped, as though her legs would not respond. As the waves lapped at the shore below, she lifted the envelope away from her heart and looked at it.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Ten for Dinner

  The long, gleaming dining room table awaited the Derrington dinner guests. Ambrose did not show up. Curious, Eden thought. Ambrose and her father had been close friends when they’d been younger men, much like Rafe and Zachary now that the two “brothers” had moved beyond rivalries to trusting one another. Ambrose had told her that it was her father who’d first arranged for him to pastor the mission church before departing on his travels. And her father had chosen Ambrose to care for her during childhood. Why hadn’t Ambrose come tonight to welcome her father home after years of absence? Because of Noelani’s refusal to attend the dinner?

  Odd, Eden thought.

  Before shed even entered the dining room, Townsend’s voice could be heard on a political rampage. “If she burns the ’87 Constitution, our rights will be trampled. We’re dead fish! Years of work and sweat to build these Islands into the success they are today will all be lost!”

  She saw Townsend pacing the hall with the drama of a politician. Broad-shouldered, tanned, and dressed in white, his blond hair streaked with gray. He wore the usual diamond stick-pin in his lapel. It was a wonder he hadn’t gambled it away, Eden thought
unhappily.

  Silas and Herald Hartley stood listening—Silas with a pencil and small notepad in his hands. What did Silas think of his overassertive father?

  Townsend resumed. “We—the haoles—built Hawaii into what it is today. We were the men who built the schools, the hospitals, the churches.”

  You mean the true missionaries did, Eden thought.

  “We established the sugar plantations and developed the trade. The Islands were nothing when we arrived in 1820. The modern notion that Hawaii was a green, tropical paradise before we arrived is a fantasy. It was a desolate, swampy wasteland. We brought in the sugarcane, just as were now bringing in the pineapples.”

  We? It was Rafe, whom he’d wanted to run out of Hawaii just a few short years ago, who had the savvy to bring in the pineapples. Suddenly she realized she was battling her uncle emotionally, working herself up into a temper and losing her spiritual perspective. She took in a deep breath and forced herself to be calm. There was little anyone could do to change Townsend.

  “And now, with civilization and success all around us, are we to be robbed of our right to vote and sit on the Legislature? Not on my watch! We planters aren’t going to put up with her meddling.”

  “What of the Chinese and Japanese?” Silas asked.“What if they rise up on the side of Liliuokalani? What would you do then?”

  “Do? Why we’ll request Stevens to ask the U.S. Navy to land troops.”

  “Mr. Stevens, the American Minister to Hawaii?” Silas asked, surprised. “Will Minister Stevens respond to your request?”

  Eden came alert. Now why is Silas asking that? It’s almost as if he’s asking a leading question to bait Townsend, hoping his too-ready tongue will say something that Silas can use in the morning headlines of the Gazette. What had Silas boasted he knew about in the earlier meeting with Great-aunt Nora and Zachary? Hadn’t he told Great-aunt Nora that the American Minister Stevens was a staunch proponent of annexation working behind the scenes with men like Lorrin Thurston and Ainsworth? Silas had accused Stevens of a continuous communication with the US. Secretary of State, Blaine, regarding the troubled situation in the Hawaiian Islands. That in itself was normal in a time of crisis, but Silas had claimed Minister Stevens was trying to learn from Blaine just how far the U.S. president was willing to go, should circumstances warrant the overthrow of the monarchy. “An orderly and peaceful revolution,” Silas had said with light sarcasm. And now Silas was coaxing Townsend to admit that plans were already in place for American troops to come ashore with guns. What a headline!