Wolfe said nothing to Sanders. As they walked the rest of the way to the Toloa, he forced himself to deduce a logical explanation for the disappearance of the poison. Maybe, after hearing Wolfe’s story the night before, Mac had sprinkled it around the island to waste a certain pit bull. That thought was reassuring.
At the Sea Wind’s anchorage an hour later, Wolfe took Mac aside. He didn’t want Muff to hear because she was already frightened enough. “You know, the rat poison is gone.”
Mac blinked, but that was all.
Wolfe couldn’t read him. A crazy thought flashed up: Is it actually Jennifer and Roy who should worry? Nevertheless, he added, “Be careful.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Mac said. His voice was level and calm.
Aboard the Sea Wind, Muff was already busily at work on dinner, a 1950s Betty Crocker come to life. She had cracked all the crab, a laborious job.
Mac handed Wolfe and Sanders crystal tumblers brimming with bourbon over ice. “Seems like you just got here,” he said warmly. “What’s your next stop?”
“Apia,” Sanders answered.
“Western Samoa, huh? Muff and I especially liked Pago Pago in American Samoa. What time you shoving off tomorrow?”
“Late morning.”
“We’ll give you a hand with the lines.”
“That’d be great,” Sanders said.
Muff sat down with a cocktail of her own. She had added the crab to a pot of rice and left it simmering. A ham was baking in the oven. “I sure wish you fellows would stay longer,” she said plaintively.
The table had been set with sterling flatware. Muff served dinner on hand-painted china sold in chi-chi sporting boutiques—each plate decorated with a different type of ocean fish. The meal was scrumptious. Afterward, it was obvious no one wanted to say good night. Mac served after-dinner cognac in snifters.
“You guys have a gun?” Wolfe asked abruptly, without thinking. He wasn’t sure why he asked, because he knew almost every cruising boat was armed.
“Oh, yeah,” Mac answered. He went to the front of the cabin, opened a cabinet door above a bunk, and came back with his two handguns. He put the .357 magnum on the table in front of Wolfe, and next to it placed a small two-shot .38-caliber derringer.
It was the derringer that Wolfe picked up, because he’d never seen one. The weapon fit nicely into the palm of his hand. He held it for a few seconds, then put it down and looked at Mac. “It would be so easy for someone to just disappear here. You guys watch yourselves.”
Wolfe understood that Mac and Muff weren’t the only ones taking chances. He and Sanders had thousands of miles of unpredictable ocean to cross before they could truly relax. Deep-water sailing was risky business. The Grahams lived with a different kind of risk—being on a nearly deserted island where they could expect no help in an emergency. Jennifer and Roy, too, were living precariously. What would happen if they ran out of food and realized their boat couldn’t make it to another island?
“I’m tougher than him,” Mac blurted out, bolting down the remaining cognac in his glass.
Everyone in the cabin knew what he meant.
“If he tries to get me,” Mac said jauntily, waving the big revolver like a Dodge City gunslinger, “I’ll get him first.”
It sounded like more than a promise. It sounded like a dare.
AUGUST 17, 1974
ABOUT NINE o’clock the following morning, Sanders returned from shore with a Buck knife. “I traded Roy for it,” he explained, sliding the knife from its leather sheath to reveal a broken blade. “These knives have a lifetime guarantee. All I have to do is mail it in and they’ll send me a new one.”
“What’d you give him?” Wolfe asked.
“Just a large can of chili. He said he was starved for meat.”
“Jennifer brought over a loaf of bread,” Wolfe said. “I didn’t want to take it but she insisted. It was pretty pathetic-looking. I threw it away.”
Wolfe didn’t tell his shipmate that he thought of the missing rat poison when Jennifer presented her small, hard loaf of bread, though he had a difficult time picturing the friendly woman stirring such a witch’s brew.
Clearly, it was time to get out of here. Although Palmyra exerted some sort of primal attraction, Wolfe no longer wanted to be a part of the dangerously strained atmosphere. There was a curious tension in the air, like the oppressive sense of heat before a storm.
At noontime, Mac and Muff came alongside in their Zodiac, and Muff handed Wolfe a bundle of letters to mail in Samoa. With Mac’s help, Wolfe slipped the Toloa’s mooring lines off the dolphins.
Sanders put the auxiliary engine into reverse, and the Toloa backed into the center of the lagoon. He shifted into forward and they motored toward the channel.
Wolfe waved to Jennifer, who waved back from the deck of the Iola. She seemed listless. Roy was nowhere to be seen.
Mac and Muff escorted the Toloa down the channel as if she were a departing ocean liner. As he felt the roll of the open sea, Wolfe cranked up the main and jib.
Pulling up at the reef near the entrance to the channel, Mac and Muff climbed on top of a big rock and stood there, waving. Wolfe and Sanders returned their farewell salute. Soon, the wind filled their sails and the Toloa sped southward.
Mac, Muff, Jennifer, and Buck were now alone on Palmyra.
CHAPTER 14
LATE ON THE AFTERNOON of August 17, long after he’d lost sight of Palmyra, Tom Wolfe went below to write a friend in California. The letter would not be mailed for days—not until he reached Samoa—but Wolfe wanted to put his feelings into words while his impressions were fresh.
“We sailed 1,000 miles to a tropical island named Palmyra,” he began. “It has plenty of room, an abundant supply of water and coconuts, and good fishing. It’s really a beautiful setting, right out of a South Pacific movie, with a lagoon, palm trees, beaches, coral reefs. But living there are two couples who are close to war. It’s amazing. I mean, we came to paradise and found resentment and distrust. Isn’t that a sad commentary on the world we live in?”
ONE OF the letters Muff had given Wolfe to mail was addressed to the Leonards on Kauai.
August 16, 1974
Dear Evelyn and Bernard,
On August 13th another boat arrived en route to Samoa. The dogs attacked one of the fellows from the boat, biting him on the stomach. We wanted to go out and shoot or poison the dogs but didn’t.
These guys who are leaving tomorrow and taking this letter with them said they felt tension the minute they stepped ashore and started walking around. I think this place is evil. Mac cut his leg again with the machete, this time while killing a pesky sand shark that was interested in nibbling on his toes. I can’t believe how he’s had so many injuries here and hardly any in six years of cruising around the world.
Hope we’ll see you someday soon.
Love,
Mac and Muff
Another of Muff’s letters was sent to Mac’s mother, with a carbon copy to his sister.
August 16, 1974
Dear Mother and Kit,
Well, life continues to be full of excitement on this practically deserted island. I’ll fill you in.
August 10: Cloudy in the morning but turned gorgeous. Mac exploring. I’m cleaning cupboards. The books and everything else are going moldy from the humidity.
August 11: I could not start the generator, so Mac had to work on it. I cleaned the cabin top and decks and have discovered a menagerie of lizards, which swim out to the boat from shore. I’m afraid they will be coming inside the cabin. I’m getting so jumpy from seeing so many lizards that I won’t move anything unless I jiggle it first to see if something will run out from under it.
Mac finally got the generator going. Seems it was the fuel pump. I pray nothing will happen to it as we use it to power everything, including the two-way radio. Without it, we wouldn’t be able to talk to Curt and Momi, as our batteries wouldn’t hold out for long.
The hipp
ie couple brought some mullet fish by. The mullet are delicious—taste like trout. Mullets are vegetarians, so they won’t bite a hook or go after bait. You have to catch them in a net.
August 12: I finished cleaning the cupboards this morning and made some delicious pancakes from scratch, using soya flour my mother gave me (and three eggs) and boy, they were good. Mac said they were the best I ever made. The cases of food that have been in the cockpit all this time have now been merged with the supplies down below. We will supplement our diet with fish, coconuts, and palm hearts, which are very good, either raw or fried.
Roy came over to get Mac to help him with his generator. Mac fixed it. There was an icebox left here and the couple have a Sears generator, so they plugged the icebox into the generator and keep fish and coconuts and she makes coconut ice cream. They also have vegetable seedlings they are going to plant in this garden they are making on the roof of a cement blockhouse. I wonder how successful it will be. They plan to stay here and live off the land. I wish they would sail away, but no such luck. They are expecting friends with supplies.
Wind very strong from the southeast, up to 20 knots in our little cove, so it must really be blowing outside. Looks like rain. Mac is reading and resting. The only time he rests is when he is recuperating from his wounds. He came back this afternoon with his second machete wound in three weeks. He was mad at himself for doing it again.
On Kit’s copy, Muff wrote an additional handwritten note.
I just wish that couple would leave with their damn dogs. They’ve attacked two people. Now I don’t walk around without a big stick. I just know the hippie couple will never leave, though.
Love,
M and M
After the Toloa left, the weather broke. It rained hard for two solid days.
Jennifer put out buckets to collect drinking water, then sequestered herself in the Iola’s stuffy cabin, reading Michener’s Drifters between naps. During the deluge, she left the boat only once, to gather coconuts to grind into several servings for Puffer. She was determined to make the last sack of commercial dog food last as long as possible.
The weather got even worse the night of August 19. Jennifer awoke with a start sometime after midnight. The boat was tossing in the howling wind. As she came to in the dark, she thought they were at sea again. The lagoon had never been this choppy. The mooring lines must have snapped and the boat must have drifted out of the channel into the ocean!
Jennifer vaulted from the bunk and stumbled through the pitch-black cabin, banging her knee painfully on something unseen before reaching the steps that led to the deck. When she gained topside, she was relieved to see that the boat was in fact still safely tied to the dolphin. She stood for a moment in the drenching wind, amazed at the intensity of the gale. The coconut trees rattled insanely. She hurried back below.
In the morning, after very little sleep, Jennifer was delighted to find that the storm had passed and the sun was shining brightly again in a clear teal-blue sky.
Buck showed up in the afternoon. He went right to the galley without saying anything.
“What are you doing?” she asked, following him.
“Making cookies.”
“We have so little flour left. Why don’t you have a coconut instead?”
“I’m tired of coconuts, Jen. And I’m fucking hungry.”
August 20. Transferred dirt to roof. Gave R a haircut. Soybeans for dinner. And a beautiful sunset.
August 21. Very calm day—no wind. Dug 5 loads of dirt. Wrote another note to Dickie. Will have Mac relay via ham radio to Curt Shoemaker if we don’t hear something soon. Rowed out to channel, fishing. No luck at all. Loaded up on some sprouted coconuts.
August 22. Today was a day of good news and bad news. The good news was that Dickie and Carlos finally sent word via Mac that they’d be down. The bad news was that they would not be able to make it until the end of October.
Mac had written down Curt Shoemaker’s message in full: “We have been delayed by unforeseen circumstances, but hope to see you in October. We’ve enjoyed your letters very much. Of interest is the fact that bird eggs are considered superior eating to chicken eggs in many European countries. Hopefully, we will bring everything you need. We promise to bring a turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. See you. Richard Taylor.”
October was a long way off, given their low supplies. Rough trip or not, sailing to Fanning for food was their only option, and Jennifer and Buck immediately began to make preparations for their departure.
The first thing Jennifer did was remind Mac of his offer to buy their portable generator.
August 23. Mac gave us $50 for the generator. I started cleaning up and hauling things not needed to shore. R took motor off compost shredder and converted it to bilge pump, in case manual pump breaks down.
August 24. Made further strides in getting the boat seaworthy, tho hardly looks it at a cursory glance. R started in on front hatch—he’s going to fiberglass it watertight. Mac passed final death sentence on our poor old outboard. It’s too far gone to be fixed. So ends our day—no dinner other than a coconut milkshake.
August 25. Not what I consider a very high energy day—but then we haven’t been eating very high energy foods lately. Collected 19 sprouted coconuts and R husked some for the trip. I resumed trying to get the boat stowed and orderly but another day is needed to finish the job. For the first time in 3 days, we’ll have something other than coconut for dinner—beans. Maybe we’ll generate more energy tomorrow.
August 26. Got a few things accomplished today. Between R and me, we must have gathered 20-plus sprouted coconuts. Started charging the batteries. Mac brought by Fanning chart, which I copied. R put fiberglass over bow hatch due to leakage.
August 27. Gathered another 16 coconuts. Charged batteries for another several hours. At this rate, we’ll be here another week.
August 28. I husked coconuts. R fixed bow hatch and did some work on bilge pump. All the while the hum of the generator attests to the charging of batteries—from morning till night. Today’s Wednesday. Winds willing, we shall be ready Saturday.
August 29. Husked rest of coconuts—we have 30 to take with us. Still charging batteries. Have decks cleared and ready for a swabbing—swabbed cockpit.
KAMUELA, HAWAII
SEPTEMBER 4, 1974
“KH61HG calling W7VXV, over.”
In his secluded home on the mountainous northern slope of the Big Island, Shoemaker released the talk button and waited for a response. There was none.
“Come in W7VXV,” he repeated. “This is KH61HG.”
It was Wednesday night and Shoemaker had been calling Mac for the past twenty minutes. The expert ham operator had checked and rechecked his equipment. Everything was A-OK on his end, and he was tight on the same frequency he and Mac had always used for their radio communications these past months. The well-organized Mac would not forget their scheduled Wednesday-night talk. He was so precise. To Shoemaker, it seemed more plausible that his friend on the Sea Wind might be having trouble with his radio or antenna or even the generator. It was also possible that something had come up ashore and Mac couldn’t get back to the boat in time for their weekly chat. Too bad, Shoemaker thought, because he had new letters for the Grahams, and he knew how much they liked hearing news from home.
“Mac, I don’t know if you can hear me,” Shoemaker finally said. “But I’ll try you again next Wednesday night. Same time as always. Take care, pal.”
The following Wednesday evening at exactly seven o’clock, an anxious Shoemaker, with Momi at his side, tried again.
But again, there was no response from the Sea Wind. For more than thirty minutes the only sound from the set was the muffled static of a radio channel not in use. There were no garbled transmissions or disrupted signals—nothing at all to indicate Mac was trying to contact him. Just maddeningly meaningless pops and hisses.
“There’s just nothing,” Shoemaker said resignedly to Momi. “I’m afraid something has h
appened.”
When Shoemaker miserably flipped off his transmitter, his shirt was wet through with nervous perspiration. He was worried for his friends on Palmyra. Very worried.
Though it was still possible that equipment on the Sea Wind had failed, Mac had made no mention of having any problems during their last contact, August 28. And even if something had acted up, Curt knew that Mac could repair the damage from his complete store of spare parts, tubes, and wiring. Shoemaker just couldn’t visualize the very capable Mac seated helplessly in front of a broken-down radio set or defeated by a malfunctioning generator.
So, where were Mac and Muff? Curt’s thoughts went immediately to the hippie couple on the leaky boat who were almost completely out of food. Had they stolen the Sea Wind and left the Grahams stranded on the island?
First thing the next morning, Shoemaker called the U.S. Coast Guard and told the duty officer about his unsuccessful attempts to reach the Sea Wind.
“We can’t do anything until we know a boat is missing,” the officer replied.
“I tell you they are missing.”
“Just because you couldn’t reach them by radio doesn’t mean they are in trouble,” the officer explained patiently. “Boats sail to different ports all the time.”
“But my friends wouldn’t have left Palmyra without contacting me,” Shoemaker insisted. “Something has happened to them.”
And the Sea Will Tell Page 15