Catastrophe at Castaway Cove (Kristi Cameron Book 8)

by Cynthia Griffith

  All around them, people lay crying and moaning on the ground in shock and exhaustion, but as they listened to the young people and old woman praying aloud in simple faith and trust, one by one they quieted and in their own hearts began to pray, as well. In the shelter of the trees, many of them turned to the Lord in their time of need.

  “Should we go back and look for them?” Skeeter finally asked. “You and me, I mean, Pete. We’ll leave the girls here.”

  Pete shook his head. “We will, Skeeter, but not yet. We’re going to have to wait for the water to go down some. It’s too dark out here to try to get through the flood right now. It would be terrible if something happened to you, and then we found out your folks were okay all along. I’m sure they would want you to wait until it’s safer.”

  “Pete’s right, Skeeter,” Mrs. Manoa said. “We’ll mount a search party when the water goes down, or when dawn starts to break—whichever happens first, okay?”

  Skeeter knew they were right, but it was hard to sit still and wait. It was pitch black in the forest, and difficult to make out the shadowy forms of his friends just a few feet away from him. Every now and then they would feel the earth tremble beneath them as small aftershocks continued to shake the island. Each time they would hold their breath, looking fearfully up in the direction of the trees towering above them, but the tremors were slight and only lasted a few seconds, and no more damage was done.

  It was chilly in the rainforest at night. They huddled together for warmth and talked softly or prayed. The whole night seemed surreal. They had enjoyed the day and evening on Paradise Island so much, only to have it suddenly turn into a frightful nightmare. The morning hours when they had been working at Castaway Cove seemed to have been a lifetime ago. The morning to come seemed an eternity away. They felt trapped in the darkness and cold and uncertainty.

  The minutes and hours dragged on. They could hear the others around them, talking quietly, or calling out to one another. Finally they heard one man say, “I think the water’s receding! I walked back a few hundred feet, and the ground was wet and soggy, but except for a few puddles, it was okay!”

  “We need to go back then!” another voice said.

  “Not yet!” the first voice replied. “There is still water surrounding the town. Who knows what it’s like there where the water rushed through.”

  Skeeter jumped up. “I’m going back!” he said. “I’ll stop when I reach the water,” he added when Mrs. Manoa started to object, “but I need to get as close as I can and see if I there are any signs of my family. I have to!” he stubbornly insisted when she tried to argue.

  “I’ll go with him,” Pete spoke up. “He’s right. He has to go. You girls wait here, but as soon as it starts getting light you can follow if you want to. Just be careful where you’re walking.” The two boys melted into the darkness with no more discussion.

  They walked close to one another with their hands out in front of them, carefully feeling with their feet as they went along for obstacles hidden in the black of night, or patches of water. Still, they fell every now and then or ran into small trees and bushes until they were scraped up and bruised. The moon remained behind the clouds through most of their walk, which made their progress slower and far more difficult, but at least there was enough of a glow behind the clouds that they could see where the moon was and keep their bearings. The last thing they wanted was to get lost in the rain forest at night.

  They didn’t talk much except to warn one another of a rock in the path or a low branch. It was like trying to walk blindfolded through an obstacle course. Finally Skeeter asked in a low voice, “Pete, what do you think happened to my dad? Do you think he made it, I mean? All those people on the beach—do you think any of them made it?”

  Pete didn’t speak for a moment, but then he said, “Skeeter, if anyone could make it, I think your dad would. He’s strong and smart and he trusts God and lets Him lead him. Of all the men on this earth, I have more respect for your dad than just about anyone, other than my own dad. I don’t know what happened out there on the beach, but I know one thing—none of those people out there would have stood a chance if it hadn’t been for your father running back to sound the alarm. If anyone made it out alive, it was thanks to your dad’s bravery.”

  “I keep remembering the verse, Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. I keep wondering…did my dad lay down his life for those people? I just keep picturing that wave coming straight at him.” Skeeter could hardly choke out the words.

  “I’ll tell you what, Skeeter—whatever happened, God is taking care of your dad right now! Let’s just keep trusting Him, and for now see what we can do to find your mom and Dan and Kristi.” Skeeter nodded, and prayed along in his heart while Pete prayed out loud. They kept walking in the darkness, even while they prayed.

  It seemed they had been stumbling along for a very long time when Skeeter finally stopped and said, “Don’t you think we should be there by now? Do you think we’re lost, Pete?”

  Pete looked up at the patch of sky that was visible through the trees. “I don’t know, Skeeter. I’m pretty sure we’re going in the right direction. We may have missed the edge of town in the darkness, but then we would hit the beach if we miss the town. We haven’t even come to any flooding yet. We’ve had to go pretty slowly. Maybe we haven’t gone as far as we think we have. Let’s just keep going.”

  They had only gone a few more steps when suddenly Skeeter said, “What’s that? Did you see that, Pete?”

  “What? I didn’t see anything.”

  “That! That light! Someone’s flashing a light! Do you see it now?”

  “Yes! I see it now! It looks like someone has a flashlight up ahead!”

  Just then they heard a faint voice in the distance. “Help! Help!”

  Skeeter took several steps forward, wanting to run toward the voice and the light but hindered by the darkness all around him in the forest. “Hello!” he yelled at the top of his lungs. “Where are you?”

  “Here!” The flashlight beam darted back and forth.

  “Keep shining the light and yelling so we can find you!” Pete yelled.

  “Pete? Skeeter? Is that you?”

  “Dan? Dan!” Skeeter did take off running then, but after just a few running steps forward he fell flat on his face. Pete helped him up and they hurried as quickly as they were able in the direction of Dan’s voice.

  By that time Rachel and Kristi were screaming their names, as well. Tears of rejoicing were pouring down their faces as they realized that Skeeter was alive, and most likely their friends were alright as well. “Skeeter! Skeeter! Are you okay?” Rachel couldn’t help yelling out into the darkness. She had to hear for herself that he was well.

  “Yeah, I’m okay. So is everyone else! Are you all okay?” he yelled back.

  “Yes! Yes! We’re on the roof of the store!” There was a pause and then his mother’s voice came back, not quite so loudly, “Skeeter, have you seen Daddy yet?”

  Skeeter swallowed hard. So his dad wasn’t with the others then. Somehow he had hoped when he found his mom, brother and sister, his father would be with them and they would all be reunited. “Not yet, Mom,” he called back. “I think he’s still in the rainforest, helping people. I’m pretty sure that’s what he’s doing.”

  There was another pause and then, “Yes, I’m sure you’re right, Skeeter. I’m sure that’s what he’s doing. We’ll see him soon.”

  There was silence for a few moments from the people on the rooftop, though Dan kept the flashlight moving. At last Skeeter and Pete stumbled out of the trees and to the edge of the water that still filled the main street of Palekaiko. They could see the little general store on the other side of the flood, with its broken windows, still standing but on a slant. And there looking down on them from the edge of the roof were Rachel, Dan and Kristi.

  For a moment they could think of nothing but their joy at seeing one another again. They chee
red and waved wildly at one another across the water. Skeeter would have plunged right into the water to go to his family’s aid, but Pete held him back and Rachel called down to him, “No! No, Skeeter! Wait! We’ll do it safely! Hold on a minute while we make a plan!”

  A couple minutes later Dan appeared at the door of the store. The water was up to his chest. He had a rope and he called across, “Catch this and tie your end to one of those trees. I’ll tie the other end to something in here and then we can hold on to it as we cross over to you.” He threw one end of the rope to Pete. “I’ll be right back!” he shouted.

  The little old shopkeeper was clinging to Dan when he came back to the door. The water would have been nearly over her head, but the young man protectively held her up and even crossed over with her, lending her his strength as she clung to the rope. Pete grabbed her from him as they reached shallow water and Dan went back for his mother and Kristi.

  Eventually they were all on the same side of the water. Rachel held all three of her children close to her, and then reached out and pulled Pete into her grasp, as well. “Thank You, Lord,” she prayed. “How can I ever thank You? Please, Father, bring Steve back to us, as well, we plead, if it is Your will.”

  They introduced Mrs. Onakea to the boys and then Kristi asked, “What about Robyn, Anna, Leilani and her grandmother? Where are they?”

  “They’re back in the rain forest. They’re fine. Just waiting for daylight to find their way back,” Pete said.

  “What should we do next, Mom?” Kristi asked.

  “Dan, shine that flashlight on my watch, will you, please?” Rachel asked. “It’s four o’clock. Dawn will be breaking soon. Let’s just wait it out, and as soon as it starts to get light we’ll go look for the others.”

  “What about Daddy?” Kristi asked.

  “Well, honey, I think we’ll leave you and Skeeter, and Mrs. Onakea with the others, and then Dan and Pete and I will go looking for him.”

  “No way!” Kristi and Skeeter exclaimed together. “We have to go with you, Mom! We have to!” Kristi implored. Please don’t make us stay behind.”

  “Let me think about it, Kristi. We’ll talk about it when the time comes, okay? For now, let’s just try to find a dry spot to sit down until the sun comes up and we can go.”

  There were no dry spots—at least none that they could find in the dark. Mrs. Onakea was dead tired and hardly able to walk. They were all tired. At last they collapsed on a soggy little patch of ground and tried to forget about the wet and get a little nap.

  Rachel woke them all an hour later. The sky had a pinkish glow to it and they could make out the scene of the devastation in the dim light of dawn. The water was quickly receding now, and leaving behind a horrendous trail of destruction. They turned their back on the mess in Palekaiko, though, and headed into the rain forest to look for their friends.

  With the light of day, the hike through the trees went much more quickly. Barely ten minutes later they found the group of people who had taken refuge from the flood in the rain forest. Most of them had finally fallen asleep as they waited for the dawn, but Anna saw them coming and leaped up to run to them. Robyn and Leilani woke up at her movement and jumped up, as well. The girls threw their arms around Kristi. They tried to be quiet so that they would not waken the exhausted sleepers around them, but their joy was difficult to contain, and one by one, the others around them opened their eyes and smiled at the joyous reunion.

  Mrs. Manoa hurried over to them. “Oh, thank God! Thank God! You are all safe! Oh, Mrs. Onakea! Was it you they went back to help?”

  The old lady nodded her head. “Yes, these wonderful, wonderful people saved my life—and risked their own lives to do it!”

  One man hurried over to them. “Is the water going down in town?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Rachel told him. “It’s probably safe to return—but be prepared for a horrible mess. What the earthquake didn’t destroy, the tsunami wiped out, pretty much. I’m so sorry. For all of you,” she added as more people joined them to hear the bad news.

  “Did you see anyone else in town?” a woman asked. “I don’t know where my husband is.”

  Rachel shook her head. “We didn’t see or hear anyone else. We were on the roof of the general store most of the night. Don’t lose hope, though. My husband is missing, as well. I am hoping we’ll find them, and many other people, in the rain forest, just as you were, and today as everyone returns, we’ll all be reunited with our loved ones.”

  “Well, it’s time we go back and face the bad news,” the first man said. “Who’s going back with me?” Several of the men and women volunteered, but there were a few who said they would wait.

  One of the women hurried over to Mrs. Onakea. “Oh, Nana! You’re okay! I’ve been worried about you all night! Come over here with me and you can rest for a while. You look as if you are ready to fall over!”

  The old woman turned to Rachel and said, “This is my niece, Malia! Do you mind if I go with her now?”

  “Oh, no, Mrs. Onakea! You go right ahead and try to get some sleep before you return to Palekaiko. We will see you later, my dear, I am sure.” Mrs. Onakea hugged them all and with many thanks again she left with her niece.

  Rachel turned back to her little group then and said, “I have to start looking for Steve. I would rather leave Kristi and Skeeter here with you, Mrs. Manoa, but they are insisting they must go with me, and after thinking about it for a while, I think maybe they’re right. Do you want to stay here with the other girls, though, and wait until we come back? I hate for you to have to go tramping all over the rain forest if you don’t need to.”

  Mrs. Manoa shook her head. “No, Rachel, the best thing is for all of us to stay together now. I am not nearly as old as Mrs. Onakea, and I assure you, I will be able to keep up with the rest of you just fine! Besides, I am anxious to return to Castaway Cove and see if it is still standing and the fastest way is to cut through the forest, straight across the island. We have no vehicles now, and the road—if there is any road left, that is—around the coast is very long by foot. Besides, Leilani and I know our way around somewhat. Not very well, I’m afraid, for we haven’t been here long, but at least better than you. You may need our help.”

  “Alright then. Thank you Mrs. Manoa. Let’s get going.”

  “Wait a second, Mom. I’ve got bottles of water and some candy bars left in this little cooler I brought with me. We’ll have to share, but it should help refresh us for the search.” Dan opened the small cooler and brought out four bottles of water and four candy bars. There was one of each left in the cooler. “I’m saving those for Dad when we find him,” he said with confidence.

  They started walking, sharing the candy and water as they went. They went back toward Palekaiko, hoping that perhaps Steve might have returned to the town looking for them. The group who had left before them was already there, still standing on the outskirts of the village looking with dismay and sorrow at what had once been a pretty, if simple, little piece of paradise. There was no sign of anyone else in town yet. “Let’s go on to the beach,” Rachel said with a lump in her throat. That was the last place they had seen her husband.

  They skirted around the edge of town, having to pick their way over piles of debris and around fallen trees. It took them longer than it normally would have to walk the short distance out to the beach, and they were disappointed to see it was empty when they got there. They had expected to see at least a few people out there, perhaps looking for lost loved ones as they were, but there was nothing but a few scavenger birds picking at the dead fish that had been left behind by the tidal wave.

  Many of the trees that had fallen during the earthquake the night before had simply disappeared, washed out to sea by the tsunami. As they moved toward the tree line, though, they could see where the water had left its mark at its highest level. The waterline was some twelve or fifteen feet in the trees—far above their heads. They prayed as they viewed that ominous sign, that all the
people out there on the beach had somehow made it to safety before the wave reached them.

  Mrs. Manoa stopped suddenly. She pointed to a spot just ahead of them. “The water washed away the paths into the forest, but you can see where they were to some extent by the distance between the trees. Let’s go in there. I’ve been that way before. If we don’t find Steve, maybe we’ll find someone who’s seen him.”

  They agreed. That way was as good as any, as far as they could tell. Mrs. Manoa and Leilani led the way. They shouted Steve’s name as they went, over and over again. No one answered. They could have been totally alone in the ancient forest, for the silence in the dawn after the destruction was deafening.

  They kept walking, trying to keep their spirits up, praying and supporting one another. The further they walked, though, the more Kristi trembled on the inside. She felt sick to her stomach, almost, and as if she was walking through a nightmare—trying and trying to get somewhere, but the more her feet moved the further she seemed to be from her destination.

  Dan, Pete and Skeeter yelled in unison, “Steve! Steve Cameron! Anyone? Hello? Anyone?” They paused. From somewhere, deep within the rain forest, at last they heard a shout.

  They all started calling then, stopping every few seconds to listen for a reply. They hurried forward, their hearts in their throats. At last they heard the sound of many voices and they broke through the trees.

  They were in the clearing by the waterfall they had visited a few days earlier. Its beauty was unmarred by the natural disasters that had occurred on Palekaiko the night before. Gathered at its base around the pool of water, was a large group of people. And rising from the center of the group, where he had been kneeling at the side of an injured child, was Steve Cameron.

  Kristi cried out and ran into her father’s arms.

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  CHAPTER ELEVEN

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  A Serpent in Paradise