CHAPTER 6

After dinner, Kalia and Meka shooed everyone away as they started to clean up the table. With a smile and a wink, Kalia motioned for Lalani and Skipper to head off into the jungle. Skipper smiled back and held his hand out for Lalani. As they headed off in the direction of a well-worn path, Skipper heard Gilligan calling.

"Skipper. Hey, Skipper," he called.

"What is it, Little Buddy," Skipper answered.

Gilligan picked up his spear. "Wanna come to the far clearing with me and help me practice with my new spear? Huh?"

Skipper looked at his young friend with affection, but then looked back at Lalani. "Not this time, Little Buddy. I'm . . . uh . . . going to take a walk with Lalani and show her around."

"But Skipper, Professor and Ginger can show her around. I want to hang out with you, Big Buddy," he pleaded. What he wasn't telling Skipper was that he was feeling a little hostility coming from Nahele and wasn't that enthused to spend the evening with the young men.

Ginger noticed Gilligan pleading with Skipper. "Gilligan, honey," she said, placing her hand on his arm. "Come on, why don't you show me and Professor how you're doing with your spear." She winked at Skipper.

"Uh, okay," Gilligan said, relenting. He looked around at the crowd of young people until he saw MaryAnn talking to Ulani and Miliani. "MaryAnn, are you coming, too?" he asked.

"No, I want to visit with the girls," she answered. "You have fun, though," she said as she walked up to him and kissed him on the cheek. Then she grabbed the other girls' hands and, giggling, led them to the her hut. She waved for Lilo to join them as well, but Lilo shook her head and strolled off into the dark with Haruki, their heads bent toward each other in conversation.

Gilligan watched as Pilipo built up the campfire and started motioning to the other young men. They all sat down around the campfire and started talking amongst themselves. He seemed to breathe a little sigh of relief as he saw Nahele sit down with the others. Clutching his spear, he jogged up the trail to catch up with Ginger and Professor.

"Hey, Ginger, Professor . . . you guys want me to show you how to throw my spear?" he called out as he came up behind them.

Skipper grinned at Lalani as they watched Gilligan run off into the jungle. Then he held his arm out to her, and she linked her arm through his.

As Skipper and Lalani strolled along, their arms linked together, he could not stop the pounding of his heart. Every so often he would glance down at her, as if to make sure she was real. When she caught him, she would laugh - a magical little giggle - and pat his hand with her own.

After walking in silence for a while, she finally spoke. "Jonas," she said. "Please - tell me about you. Where do you come from? Who is your family?"

Skipper sighed. "I haven't thought about my family in a long time. I grew up in Southern California . . . Lemon Grove. It was a small town, east of San Diego. My parents, Al and Olive Grumby died about five years ago. My mother went first . . . cancer. My father - well, after Mama died, he didn't have much of a will to live. I wasn't around - I was in Hawaii. He was alone - and lonely."

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

He shook his head. "Not anymore. I had a sister. Her name was Helen. When I was 22 and had just joined the Navy, she was 16. She died from an appendicitis attack. She didn't tell anyone that she was in pain." He shrugged. "Other than Gilligan . . . he's like a son to me . . . I don't have anyone."

"You've lost people that you love, too, then," she said, as she laid her head on his shoulder.

He patted her hand and nodded, not really knowing what else to say. They reached the lagoon. Skipper led her over to the large log - the one that Gilligan usually perched on when fishing. They sat down and looked out onto the water.

She looked out at the setting sun. She started talking in a low voice, just a whisper. He stayed still, almost afraid to breathe . . . but he couldn't take his eyes off her. Her eyes filled with tears.

"Daddy bought a boat. We lived on the water's edge in Seattle. My brothers, Paul and Danny, were a little older. Ten and eleven, maybe? We named the boat, 'Sunshine Sally' - after my mother. She was so beautiful and always happy. I think I was eight when Daddy told us that we were taking the whole summer and sailing Sunshine Sally to Hawaii. It was to be a grand adventure."

Lalani reached up and brushed away a tear. "He even let us bring our cat, Tucker. He was a fat, orange ball of fur and slept with me every night. Things were wonderful. We were having the time of our lives. We had just left the big island and our next stop was Honolulu. Then we were going to circle one of the other small islands after that and head home. On the second night, I was sleeping with Tuck."

She sucked in a sob and wiped away more tears. Skipper reached over and put his arm around her, pulling her close.

"Lalani, don't. I don't want to see you cry," he said.

"I have to," she said. She stuck her chin out. "I have to. I have never talked about it . . . with anyone. All these years." She shook her head and continued. "I always told them I didn't remember. But I do. I remember everything," she cried. He wrapped his arms around her and rocked her.

"I woke up in my bunk. I heard . . . noises . . . I couldn't make out what was happening, but I knew it sounded wrong. I looked over at the boys in their bunk beds. Paul was awake and listening, too. Danny was snoring. He always snored. All of a sudden, my father came barrelling down the ladder. He pulled me into his arms and called to the boys. He hollered for us to get up on deck. As I scrambled up the ladder, I looked over my shoulder and saw him grabbing orange life vests out of the cabinet.

Up on deck, there were flames and smoke - thick smoke, choking me. I was coughing and searching frantically for my mother. I saw her through the smoke, stuffing something into a duffel bag. Daddy was suddenly there by my side, putting the life vest on me. Then he pulled out the yellow raft and pulled the rope, inflating it. Everything was so loud and wrong - I was scared. My brothers . . ."

Lalani sobbed again and covered her face with her hands. "They pushed the raft into the water. Paul took me by the arms and lowered me down into it, then Danny got in. Suddenly, there was an explosion. I don't know what happened - what exploded. I was thrown from the raft. When I broke the surface of the water, I was screaming and choking. There were boards all around me - but the boat - the boat . . . everything was one big ball of flames. I grabbed one of the bigger boards and held on, crying and screaming for my mother. I never saw any of them again. I held on to the board and drifted. . . and cried. I think I drifted for days. When I washed up on Kapena's beach, I was close to death. He and Kalia nursed me back to health. They were barely married, but they took me in and raised me."

Lalani sighed a shaky sigh. She wiped away the last of her tears. "I'm sorry. I do not mean to make you sad."

"Make me sad?" Skipper said. "I'm sorry, Lalani. So sorry that you had to go through that."

With his arms still around her, holding her close, they sat on the log and watched the sun disappear in a spectacular show.