Over The Crescent Moon

by Karen Badger

  “She told me that she’ll be on the run for the rest of her life. That’s one of the reasons she wanted me out of the picture.”

  “She told you that?” Frankie asked.

  “Yes. She said I didn’t deserve that kind of life.”

  “At least she was thinking of you first.”

  “Maybe. But then, I don’t know if I believe her. And besides, if you love someone enough, you’d follow them to the ends of the earth—regardless of how hard it is. Wouldn’t you do that for Leilani?”

  “Without question.”

  “My point.”

  “Did I hear my name?” Leilani said as she walked through the front door.

  “Hey, love. Welcome home,” Frankie said. She met Leilani halfway across the room and kissed her tenderly.

  Leilani looked over Frankie’s shoulder. “Spencer! Nice to see you.”

  “Your lady invited me for dinner, for which, I am grateful,” Spencer said.

  Frankie returned to the stove to stir the rice. “Spencer’s had a tough couple of days. I’ve invited her to stay for the weekend.”

  Leilani pulled a bottle of wine from the ice box and then retrieved three glasses from the cupboard. “Tough in what way?” she asked. “Is it something we can help with?”

  “You already are by being good friends. My issues are more with Makaya. I’m tired of her lying to me and excluding me.”

  Leilani’s eyebrows raised. “Makaya, huh? What is she up to now?” She shot a meaningful glance to Frankie.

  “It’s what she isn’t up to. Specifically, she isn’t up to telling me the truth about Monday, and I didn’t even realize she was lying to me until I started asking questions of Bear.”

  Leilani handed a glass of wine to Frankie and carried Spencer’s glass to her. She handed it to her and then clinked their glasses together. “Personally, I think you scare the shit out of her.”

  “Lei! Watch your mouth in front of our guest.”

  “I’ve heard our guest say much worse. Am I right, Spencer?”

  “Damn fucking right you are!” Spencer replied, a wide grin on her face.

  “See? So, like I was saying, I think you scare her. I think she cares for you and that realization terrifies her.”

  “That’s no reason for her to lie to me…or to ask others to lie to me on her behalf.”

  “You’re right about that. So, who else is lying to you?”

  “Bear. I discovered that he has been in on this for quite a while now, and when I asked him about it, he said he was forbidden to talk to me about it. Under orders from Makaya.”

  “Makaya?”

  “Yes. And then, she is so vague with me about the timing of all this. How can I possibly participate when I don’t know where to be, or at what time to be there?”

  “Frankie and I were discussing this last night, and we don’t think she wants you to be involved.”

  “You are right about that. She told me the same thing in so many words…and Bear also said she implied that very thing to him.”

  “So, maybe you just say to hell with her and stay away all together. If she doesn’t want your help, maybe you should shrug her off and what happens, happens.”

  “I wish it was that easy, Leilani. I wish it was, but I love her. I would die if something happened to her that I could have prevented. No, I need to be there, and I need you two to help me do that.”

  ***

  Frankie and Leilani lay side by side in bed that night. Neither was able to fall asleep.

  “She believes Makaya and Makenna are the same person, doesn’t she?” Leilani asked.

  “She does. In fact, when I found her today, she was curled up on the floor in the corner of her room crying because Makaya had come to her in a vision the night before. She told me about it and then immediately went into a tirade about how Makaya, also Makenna, was lying to her about Monday. She seems horribly confused about both of them. First she told me she saw Makaya for the first time on the ship, then she told me they met because they are both swordswomen. She also wondered out loud if Makaya became a pirate because it pays better than nursing. Nursing? Can you see Makenna as a nurse? The amount of confusion and emotional pain she is in breaks my heart,” Frankie explained.

  “I’ve mentioned this before, Frankie, but do you think it’s possible that she is from the future? I mean, what if all of this is some trick Pele has her caught up in and she was just thrust backward into our lives?”

  “That seems like a pretty outrageous concept. I mean, if that was even possible, what would the chances be that she would be involved with someone who is an exact twin of Makaya? What would your ancestors say about this, Lei?”

  “The Goddess Pele works in mysterious ways sometimes. In the Hawai’ian culture, it is conceivable that souls can cross generations in time.”

  “But in this case, it’s not Spencer’s soul that appears to have crossed over...it’s her physical body as well.”

  Leilani rubbed her temples. “This is giving me a headache.”

  “I’m sorry, love. I wish I had an answer for all of this. Coming from a scientific and medical background, I have a hard time reconciling the metaphysical possibilities with reality. I just wish I knew how to help Spencer. Her confused vulnerability breaks my heart.”

  “So, how do we get out of this without lying to her, Frankie? Heaven knows, having someone else she trusts lie to her will only make things worse.”

  “I don’t see how we can get out of it. And I agree—we can’t lie to her. As much as Makenna might disapprove, I think we help her play a role in this.”

  Leilani nodded. “I hope we don’t live to regret this.”

  Chapter 23

  Spencer and Frankie spent Friday at the beach, longboarding while Leilani wrapped up her final day of meetings with the council. By mid-afternoon, they were beginning to tire and they carried their boards to the beach, spread out a blanket and sat in the sun.

  Frankie glanced at Spencer. “You should probably put a shirt or a towel over your shoulders. You don’t want that creamy skin of yours to burn.”

  Spencer draped a towel on her shoulders. “Thanks, Doc. It’s a curse to have such fair skin. I burned so easily as a child, my parents should have bought stock in sunscreen.”

  “Sunscreen? What is that?”

  Spencer looked quizzically at Frankie. It’s an ointment that blocks the UV rays of the sun and protects skin from burning. Are you telling me sunscreen wasn’t invented yet in the eighteen eighties?”

  “I’ve never heard of it. UV?” Frankie admitted.

  Spencer looked around at the people on the beach and chuckled. “It stands for Ultra Violet. Well, considering that the bathing suits women are wearing on this beach cover nearly all exposed skin, I guess it isn’t required.”

  Frankie looked down at her own attire—a one piece suit with bloomers and puffy sleeves. “I think they’re rather stylish.”

  “If you say so, Doc. I’m glad to wear these shorts and muscle shirt, even if I do look like a guy.”

  Frankie nodded. “Spencer, you mentioned your childhood. Do you remember much of it?”

  Spencer was quiet for a few moments. “I can see snippets, like the sunscreen recall, but mostly it’s a blank. Does this mean my memory is returning, Doc?”

  “I think your memory is definitely returning, but apparently not all at once, and certainly not chronologically either.”

  Spencer gazed out across the ocean for a few minutes and then turned to Frankie. “Doc, I’m worried about what will happen when my full memory returns.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’m concerned that I will finally know who I am and where I came from but that I won’t be able to return to my own time. I mean, what if I’m stuck in the eighteen eighties?”

  Frankie frowned. “I have to be honest with you, Spencer. I have my doubts that you really are from the future. Lei is more willing to entertain that concept, but I am struggling with it.”
<
br />   “I am from two thousand nineteen, Doc. I wouldn’t lie about something like that.”

  Frankie stared into Spencer’s face for a long time before she answered. “I believe you think you are from the future. I’m just having a hard time imagining it. Lei is more open to the idea, mostly because the Hawai’ian culture believes souls can travel through dimensions.”

  “Don’t you have to be dead for your soul to travel through dimensions?”

  “That’s a good question. There are theories in the medical community that a person’s soul can travel while in a psychological trance, but they are only theories. Nothing has been proven. Though the Hawai’ian culture believes souls can travel through dimensions, I believe that is only after a person dies. It would, however, make sense to me that you can’t exist in more than one dimension at a time, so I would assume you’d have to cease to exist in one dimension in order to return to the other.”

  “So, are you saying I have to die in eighteen eighty-four before I can get back home to two thousand nineteen? That sucks!”

  “I’m only speculating, Spencer. I don’t know. You may not want to hear this, but you may have to resign yourself to living the rest of your life in this era.”

  Spencer’s eyes filled with tears. “I can’t do that, Doc. I can’t leave Makaya...and I have other family as well. Did I tell you Makaya and I are engaged?”

  “You are?”

  “Yes. We were just beginning to start our lives together. I can’t give up on that. That is why I need to help her with this battle on Monday. When it’s over, we need to put this behind us and move on with our lives.”

  Frankie reached out for Spencer’s hand. “Spencer, you do realize that Makenna is not Makaya.”

  “She is Makaya. I know it in my heart,” Spencer replied.

  “Hey, you two!”

  Spencer and Frankie’s attention was suddenly drawn to the sound of a familiar voice behind them.

  “Lei!” Frankie exclaimed. She stood up and ran to her partner. Leilani embraced her warmly.

  “Are you two having fun?” Leilani asked.

  Frankie interlocked her arm with Leilani’s and they walked back toward where Spencer was still sitting on the beach. “Yes, we’re enjoying it very much. Spencer has taken to longboarding like she was born to it.”

  They were within earshot of Spencer by this time and Spencer reached up to take Leilani’s hand and pull her down onto the blanket beside her.

  “Is that true, Spencer?” Leilani asked.

  “Where I’m from we call it surfing. It’s not too different from water skiing. It’s pretty much about balance and working the waves,” Spencer replied

  “Water skiing? What is that?” Leilani asked.

  “Imagine two much smaller surfboards, I mean longboards strapped to your feet and a boat pulling you through the water. The thrust of the boat basically pulls you out of the water onto the skis and you glide along the top of the waves as the boat tows you around. It’s a lot of fun...unless of course, you fall and face-plant.”

  “It sounds dangerous. Have you ever fallen?” Frankie asked.

  “More times than I care to admit.” No sooner had Spencer voiced these words, when a stabbing pain shot through her temples. She grabbed her head between her hands and cried out.

  Frankie was on her knees in an instant. “Spencer? Are you all right?”

  Spencer closed her eyes and pressed her palms into her temples until the pain subsided.

  She could feel the wind blowing her hair around as she struggled to stabilize on top of the water. Finally, she leveled out and held onto the towrope with all her strength. I’ve got this!

  She glanced now and then at the boat towing her, but was primarily focused on the waves and staying upright. Just as she relaxed and was enjoying her adventure, there before her was a large fin gliding through the water, directly in her path. Is that a shark? Before she could warn the occupants of the boat, her skis made contact with the creature, and she went down.

  The pain in Spencer’s head abruptly stopped and she looked at Frankie and Leilani. They were both kneeling beside her, wearing twin expressions of grave concern on their faces.

  “Are you okay, Spencer?” Leilani asked.

  “I...I think so,” Spencer replied. “I saw a vision. I was water skiing. My skis made contact with a shark—or what I think was a shark.”

  “A shark? Are you serious? You’re lucky he didn’t attack you,” Frankie said.

  “Frankie, sharks rarely attack humans unless they’re provoked,” Leilani said. “The fact that she wasn’t attacked most likely means the shark was an aumakua—a spiritual member of her family. Maybe it was her aumakua that helped her to the beach in Princeville.”

  Frankie felt Spencer’s wrist. “Your pulse is returning to normal. How to do you feel?”

  “I feel fine, Doc.”

  “Do you remember anything else?” Frankie asked.

  “Only one thing—there were two people in the boat that was towing me. One was a woman with long, flowing black hair.” Spencer closed her eyes again and focused on what she saw in her vision. She reopened her eyes and looked at Frankie. “The woman with the crescent moon tattoo. It was Makaya.”

  ***

  After dinner that evening, Spencer, Frankie and Leilani sat around a fire pit on the beach and enjoyed a glass of wine.

  “Tell me about your day, my love,” Frankie said to Leilani.

  “There’s not much to tell. I voiced my concerns one final time about how unprepared the islands are for dealing with major emergencies, and I recommended to the council that they seriously consider the offer from the Unites States to not only extend the trade treaty, but to become part of the union. Taking that one step would lead to continued economic prosperity, and would give the islands the protection we so desperately need from other hostile powers. I knew my recommendations were largely falling on deaf ears, but my position is now on the record. I also made it clear that I would be leaving the island on Sunday.”

  Spencer sipped her wine. “I know I’ve said this to you before, but if it makes you feel any better, Hawai’i was annexed by the United States in eighteen ninety-eight and then became a territory in nineteen hundreds and a state in nineteen fifty-nine. In my humble opinion, you did the right thing by taking the position you did, Leilani.”

  “Spencer, please don’t say anything more. As I said to you a while ago, I don’t think it is healthy for us to know the future...that is, given that you are from the future,” Frankie said.

  Spencer nodded. “I understand. I just wanted to confirm that Leilani took the right stance.”

  Leilani picked up the wine bottle and refilled all their glasses. “I’m not sure my personal stance will have much impact on the annexation of Hawai’i; however, I know that what we have planned for Monday will. There will be no way for Hawai’i to survive without annexation after that.”

  “When will Makaya be back?” Spencer asked.

  “Makenna will be back no later than Sunday, but possibly even tomorrow if the organizers on the other end have prepared ahead of time,” Leilani explained.

  “Organizers on the other end?” Spencer questioned.

  Leilani cocked her head to one side. “You don’t think Makenna could pull this off by herself, do you? Of course there is outside help.”

  “Who?”

  “I’m not at liberty to say. It may become obvious to you on Monday.”

  “Speaking of Monday, I need more details. I need to figure out what I can do to help,” Spencer said.

  “Frankie and I have been thinking about that,” Leilani said. “And even though Makenna has made her feelings clear about leaving you out of it, we think your sword skills could go a long way toward making this successful.”

  “I know you and Frankie are planning to be out of the line of fire on Monday, but I suspect Makaya will put herself in danger on the front lines, even if she doesn’t have to. Just in case, I want to be there to d
efend her in any way I can. I would never forgive myself if I just stood by and then something happened to her. Just point me in the right direction and I will be there to help.”

  Leilani leaned forward. “I have only one concern about your involvement, Spencer.”

  “And that is?” Spencer asked.

  “I’ve seen what happens when you handle your sword. One of the fundamental rules of this engagement is that no one gets hurt unless it is in the act of self-defense. We cannot have you losing control while wielding your sword. If there is any chance of that happening, I will personally take steps to block you from participating. Is that clear?”

  Spencer held eye contact with Leilani. “I will do my best, Leilani. I promise you that.”

  “Okay, so here’s the plan...”

  Chapter 24

  On Saturday afternoon, Spencer, Frankie and Leilani made plans to shop in the open-air markets along the harbor. It was common for vendors to set up their wares near the docks for sale to tourists and other visitors who disembarked there.

  Spencer was happy to find a pair of trousers and shirt that fit, and elected to bring them to her room on the docks instead of carrying them needlessly back to Frankie and Leilani’s room. After depositing her purchases in her room, she began the trek back to the shopping area, when she noticed a crowd gathering near the docks. She went to investigate.

  Spencer had to push her way through the crowd of onlookers until she reached the end of the dock. When she got there, she scanned the harbor for what was drawing so much attention. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw a large whaler making its way slowly toward the harbor. It was still a distance away, but Spencer knew in her heart who was on that ship.

  “I was hoping to see the last of that thieving pirate!” someone said by her side.

  Spencer wanted to respond to the man’s comments, but she suddenly felt herself being pulled from the crowd. She was about to object when she realized the person who had a tight grasp on her upper arm was Bear. Spencer had little choice but to follow him to the other end of the dock.