by Carlos Eyles
* * *
Moses came in the late afternoon with a rumor of fuel but he came on the strength of his arms at the oars and he brought little else. He had discovered which village the fisherman Peter lived in and had attempted, unsuccessfully, to track him down. He did, however, speak to a man who had fished the Fourteen-Mile Reef on a big boat and had given him bearings.
"This man say that the reef come up very high at low tide. Where is the white water, we move north two miles and there is the fish. Also he say that the Sea God is on that reef."
The image of the Sea God bearing down at close range rose vivid and clear in Compton's mind. At was not without effort that he blinked it away.
"I'm not going to worry about that," he said. "I'll just quietly sneak in and take the fish before the Sea God knows I'm there. It can be done with the one shot spear."
Moses agreed. "You stop all that thinking and the world come right the proper way."
"Does that same law apply to Sinaca?"
Moses shrugged. "Maybe it's better that you don't see her again. All that happened at the village is in the proper place, eh. You get your fish and then you go. All stays proper."
"I don't believe that, Moses. I should say, I don't feel that in my heart."
"Let me ask you something, brother. You did not make love to Sinaca when she was here, eh?"
"I made a fool out of myself before we could. Why do you ask?"
"If she is from the Sea God then no man can make love to her. She only makes love to the dolphin in the water. That is her marriage, to the dolphin."
"If I make love to her, will you believe that she is a woman of flesh and not the mistress of the Sea God?”
"If you try and make love to her, Keli, her brothers will punch you up again," said Moses giggling.
"It's odd that you should bring up a dolphin because yesterday I had an incredible experience with one." Compton recounted his moments with the dolphin.
When he had finished, Moses shook his head in that familiar way Compton had come to recognize as a precursor of disturbing news.
"It is amazing, eh, that such a wise creature would make a visit. This thing does not happen to the Fiji diver. Sometimes they see the dolphin but it is only a quick look, eh. But this one, it came near and stay with you in the water. And you were able to touch it? And you see it before?"
“Yes. Three or four times since I’ve been here. And I did touch it, with my fingers. It was an incredible sensation. Magical!"
Moses stared out to sea.
Here it comes, thought Compton.
"First the Sea God," said Moses in a voice that baffled Compton in its intent, "and now you touch a dolphin."
"Why does it trouble you? This sort of thing happens all the time in different parts of the world. I've heard about men and women touching dolphins all the time."
"But not the wild dolphins, Keli."
"Why don't I have a good feeling about this. What does it mean when a person touches a wild dolphin?"
Moses inhaled a breath that seemed to fill his body. Slowly he turned to Compton as he let out the breath.
"A person does not touch a dolphin. It is the dolphin that lets the touch happen."
Compton had no idea where he was heading. "Yeah, so, what are you getting at? What's this all about?"
Moses finished his exhale as if to engage the words he was about to speak but they would not come. After a long pause he said, "It is nothing, Keli. You must leave Sinaca to the village. She cannot come here and you will not find her if we go there. It is the wisdom of the village."
"I won't argue with that but I won't ignore her. If she comes, I'll take her in my arms."
"If she come, there will be no wrong doing on you," counseled Moses, who was now looking out across the strait to a low sun over Taveuni that glowed crimson through a narrow vein of muscled, charcoal clouds.
"That is an amazing color," he said, "like blood."
39
Compton dove the deep reef twice a week for three weeks, spearing seven mackerel, stoning all but one. The one fish had been mortally wounded but had come off the spear and fallen to the top of the reef ninety feet below where it convulsed in its death throes. He had dropped down to the reef, retrieved it and lifted its forty pounds up through the immense pressure to the surface, a feat that four months ago he could not have imagined much less accomplished.
He continued to hunt for his daily food off the East Poing nd maintained the same masterly level of accuracy, supplying both himself and Moses with an abundance of seafood.
Meanwhile, rumors persisted on Taveuni that fuel was on its way and, indeed, Moses had made a trip to the island a week before and discovered that five hundred gallons had arrived a day earlier and every drop had been sold within six hours. He had become angry with the Indian for not holding twenty gallons but would not advance the money as Compton had suggested.
"We would not see the money or the fuel. It is better that he knows I have the money. It will make his desire strong to take it from me. We wait."
In his travels, Moses had located Peter the fisherman and found that his bearings for the Fourteen-Mile Reef were consistent with those of the big boat fisherman. He was confident that with these bearings, sea conditions permissible, they could find the reef. "But if the sea changes," he cautioned, "then we turn around and come back, eh. I'm the captain on this trip and if I lose my boat, I'm finished."
Moses was leaving for Taveuni with the last mackerel and put his nose in the air. "I can smell the fuel on Taveuni, brother. Get the spear ready. We go in three days when the moon and tides are right."
Moses’ intuition, as always, was faultless. The fuel had come in and he returned with fifteen gallons, scarcely enough for the round trip voyage. Stopping off at Orchid Beach, he gave the news and a bag of rice to Compton.
"I also have other news," he said slyly. "The planes are going again."
Compton considered this new development with mixed feelings. The timing was right. Perhaps it was time to leave. Maybe I should listen to Moses instead of my heart and let the village have Sinaca. Before Compton's thoughts could fly unchecked into the future, Moses had him shove the boat off the sand and into the water.
"I come by in a day," he called out. "We can check everything then, eh."
"We should go over the bearings," agreed Compton, "and be ready to leave early Thursday morning."
"Right," said Moses pulling on the oars, stretching his back toward the East Point. It pleased Compton that although he had the fuel, Moses had elected to row and he watched him snatch up the sea in easy, strong strokes.
That night Compton was awakened by the sound of dripping water. As he looked through the gauzy netting, a shadow fluttered before him and he blinked to clear his eyes of sleep.
"It's me, Keli," said the soft voice of Sinaca, who revealed her face through the netting.
Compton lifted the netting, bringing Sinaca into focus standing before him in clothes wet and clinging.
"Sinaca," whispered Compton, whose hands reached for her but fell short of their mark in awkward indecision. Moving past her, he found a towel and placed it over her shoulders, wrapping it around her and squeezed tightly. "What are you doing here? I thought they were watching you night and day?"
They walked outside and Compton lit a lantern. Its light scattered the land crabs that were scavenging the kitchen and he made tea and sat next to her at the table.
"You leave soon, eh," said Sinaca. "I come to give goodbye."
"How did you know? How did you get away?"
"Moses say to a man from the village who was at the Indian store that when you have the big fish you go back to America."
"Fiji communication," conceded Compton, "never ceases to amaze me. Even my private thoughts become common knowledge."
Sinaca stood quietly while he pondered yet another Fijian paradox.
"How did you get away? Moses said you were being carefully watched."
"They
must sleep, eh. When they sleep, I run, swim."
Sinaca's face radiated in the lantern light, her full mouth open slightly. There was confession in her breaths. Under curling lashes her eyes spoke to Compton in undertones of desire and he put his arm across her shoulders and lifted her mouth with his hand so that he could kiss it. The salttaste of her lips combined with the sweetness of her mouth was an aphrodisiac eagerly swallowed. She yielded to his kiss and freed herself from the towel and put her arms around him. He expected her body to be cold from the damp clothes but it was hot and steam rose from her armpits and between her breasts. Compton lost himself in her heat and was filled with a passion that was a mindless and exotic thing that rendered his sense of touch acute and wondrous. Sinaca's breasts were both hard and soft and where her nipples rose and pierced his palms, were both smooth and rough.
She led him onto the sand where she lay in the moonlight at the edge of the slipping shore. Compton lay beside her and began to kiss her again. He rolled onto her and kissed the sea salt from her neck and undid her blouse as she wrapped her arms around his back and pulled at his skin, turning it to fire. He knelt over her and removed her blouse and dress and with each article she became sleeker, more fluid, as if her flesh were turning to molten carbon. He fumbled clumsily at his own clothes as if his hands were meant for her body alone. She lay naked and black against the white sand. The sudden contrast aroused him further and he reached his hand down as a child might and stroked her legs, his fingers brushing the tight curls between her legs. She gave a small shudder, caressing his leg and running her hand up and over his stiffening member. They both watched it enfold from its whiteness as if it were an exotic shell the sea had washed up and made magic.
The spell was broken when a large wave crashed and caught them by surprise. Sinaca held him and they rolled in the sand and water, across the flat rock that was covered by the incoming tide and into deeper water. No thoughts of danger entered his mind. His only desire was to hold her and not lose the bond of her warmth.
Dreamlike they floated through the coral maze in water as warm as a womb and came to the small canyon of deep water that was protected from the current. She turned to him and, with both arms around his neck, kissed him again. He did not know how they stayed afloat nor did he care and when they kissed again and sank beneath the surface he did not leave her mouth. Their hands slid over each other like anguished eels. Wherever they touched became a heat that conquered the coolness of the water. He felt no need for air or sense that he was under the water or that he was rising or falling in the sea. Sinaca's body was strong and at times she seemed to carry his full weight under the water and could lift him to the surface in a way he did not know. He penetrated her and her legs locked around his hips. In the wild water they thrashed and sank and rolled, having lost any notion of where they were. In great shrieks of animal sounds they reached their peaks of desire and spent them, lost and storm-tossed, orbiting in spirals to the sandy bottom twenty feet below.
When they returned to the surface they floated next to one another in the manner of lolling whales, their hands resting on the other's breast as if to feel the heart beat. They lay in the undulating water, their breaths in perfect harmony, communicating in the way of animals, without thoughts and words. Then Sinaca took Compton's hand and led him back to the beach where they sat on the sand and let the night breeze waft them dry.
"I leave soon," she said softly. "I must be in the bure before the light comes."
Compton turned and placed his hand on her breast again and looked at it for a long while.
"I can't let you go," he whispered. "Something has happened to me. I've never had such feelings. They're so strong."
Sinaca placed her hand on top of his and held it.
"I must leave. It be very bad if I stay, eh."
"I know." Compton's voice whispered in disheartening acceptance. "Moses says that for me to get back in the good graces of the village I must give a gift. But he won't tell me what it should be. Do you know?"
"To honor the village, you bure bethink like Fiji man. The answer will come."
"And if it doesn't. What about us?"
Sinaca lowered her head and did not answer for a long moment. "I don't know such things. I know that if you go to the far reef you will find what you want."
"The mackerel, yes, I know it, too. I can feel it. It's a strange thing."
"Be careful, Keli. It is very dangerous water. You could also die."
She stood and picked up her clothes and walked into the water leaving him before he could respond.
He shouted after her, "Io, vinaka, Sinaca," and then softer so that she could not hear, "I love you."
40
Moses arrived two days later with a boat cleaned of its clutter and outfitted for the voyage.
"We have fresh water, plenty of coconuts and tools and fishing gear to catch the fish to eat. Also buckets for bailing and cloth for the wood to fix if the seams split and we leak."
Compton brought tea to the table.
"You make it sound like we're heading out into the North Atlantic. I thought this was the South Pacific?
"It is a very strong ocean, brother. Break up our little boat like it was a bit of straw in a hurricane.
"You sound worried, Moses. I've never seen you worried."
“The unknown is worrisome, eh. I can feel this Qamea water when it is ready to do something. That outside water has currents that can push my small boat wherever it wants. I have no feeling for its moods. There are reefs out there that no one knows. They come up high and the waves build very big and give no warning."
"We'll be fine," assured Compton. "I know it."
"Has the voice spoken to you?"
"No, not really. What about you?"
"No, and it is troublesome, eh."
In the silence of the moment Moses caught Compton’s eyes and then nodded. “There is something, eh. What is it, Keli?”
Compton smiled, never quite used to the employment of Moses’ gifts. "Sinaca came two days ago. We went out into the water at night and made love. As you can plainly see, I am still here. No Sea God ate me. She is a beautiful woman who the village is afraid of simply because she can spear fish like a man. Come on, I want to hear you admit you were wrong."
Moses cut a piece of meat from an opened coconut and chewed rapidly, not speaking until he had swallowed.
"You made love in the water, did you?"
Compton was mildly surprised at Moses’ inquiry.
"Yeah, and it was incredible!"
"When you touched the dolphin the last week I began to think. Very dangerous for me to do that but soon I am understanding what is the liking between you and Sinaca."
"Well, what's this theory of yours. Let's hear it."
"You might not like what is it. It will disturb your ideas."
"I doubt that. I'm so in love with her nothing will disturb me."
"Do you understand that if Sinaca is of the Sea God then she can only fall in love and have sex with a dolphin?"
"Moses, this might come as a shock to you but I am not a dolphin. I am a man, flesh and blood."
Moses worked his jaw muscles and licked his lips while glancing at the sea. Finally he returned his gaze directly to Compton. "It is known among the old ones that the creatures of the sky and earth and sea visit our homes and villages to know what it is to be human by dreaming a person into life."
"What do you mean, ‘dreaming them into life?’"
"At a time when a human is near death a creature can dream them back to life. You say you almost died before you came to Fiji, eh."
"Yes."
"It was in that time that a dolphin dreamed you back to life."
Compton was staggered by the absurdity of Moses’ declaration.
"That's incredible! You're telling me that I'm actually the dream of a dolphin! Compton dramatically pinched himself on the arm and then slammed his hand down on the table. "I'm as real as this table!"
; "Keli, you dream are not the people and the things in the dream real while you are dreaming? You feel them and they bring fear or joy, eh. The dream only lasts a short while but while it lasts, they are as real as this table."
"Yeah, I suppose so," conceded Compton, still agitated. "But that's got nothing to do with this. This is real life," sweeping his arm to the entire panorama.
"Do the people in your dreams know they are being dreamed?"
Compton cast a disconcerted look at Moses, then stirred the shells on the table.
"This is bullshit. You're saying that I'm being dreamed by a dolphin."
Moses remained impassive.
"How do you know it's a dolphin?" asked Compton, now feigning mild amusement. Moses looked out to the sea again and licked his lips, then turned to Compton, his countenance changing to a deeply resolved man who had a task before him. “Esther saw it first. She and Mariah have the gift of seeing those who are dreamed. Since Mariah was a little girl, the people whose lives are confused come from all the islands to find out if they are dreamed and to get a reason for their confusion. You are the first white man she has ever seen who was being dreamed. Esther has the gift as well but did not know what to do with you when she saw. She wasn’t sure with the white people. So she sent you to Qamea for Mariah to have a look. She see that the dolphin dream you but still she did not know what to do. ‘He is not a full man’, she say, ‘and he will not believe if we say the truth.’ She say, ‘Moses, you make him a Fiji man so he can hear the truth. If you do not do this then we send him back and the dream will soon end and he will die.’ So I say yes and then we trick you. We bring Abraham who tells you that you will meet a man. He knows nothing but the sea, but he knows the man you meet will be yourself, a Fiji man once the sea change you. I tell you what to do, get you on Orchid Beach so you can become Fiji man but also the dolphin has been with you, each time to help keep you here. So you come to Orchid Beach and become a man, not just a Fiji man, but a true man. The creatures pick the special people, they do not dream anyone to life who is not worth visiting. That was why we never see a white man before. They are no longer men, their lives are false, they are confused and frightened and who wants to have a dream like that?”