Island Fire

by Bobbi Smith

  Mitch and Tommy returned from their fishing to find Luatu waiting for them on the shore in the company of a native they didn't recognize. They frowned in expectation as they nimbly jumped from their craft and came forward to greet him.

  "Luatu, this is an honor and a surprise," Mitch called as he came up the beach.

  "The surprise will be yours and Tommy's," the old chief told him as he gestured to his companion. "This is Haki, a messenger from my friend Chief Kinatu on the island of Kikini."

  A thrill of hope surged through Mitch as he suddenly realized the nature of Luatu's news.

  "There is news of a ship?" He was incredulous.

  Luatu nodded. "It is one of the China trade ships on its way back to San Francisco, so I am told. It is taking on supplies and water at Kikini, and will be here to pick you up within the next day or two."

  Stunned, Mitch stood silently for a moment as conflicting emotions washed over him. A ship! Home! But what of Espri? He knew he had to go to her.

  "Has Espri heard the news yet?" he asked.

  "I don't think so. It would be best, I'm sure, if she heard this from you."

  "You're right. Thank you, Luatu. I'll be back to speak with you later. And, Haki, thank you." He glanced at Tommy, who had remained strangely quiet throughout the entire conversation. "Tommy? What's the matter?"

  As if jarred from deep thought, the younger man faced him, assuming a pleased expression. "Nothing. You go on."

  Mitch knew that this news would be traumatic for Espri, but he was determined to try to make the transition as easy as possible for her. He was disappointed when he returned to their hut, though, for she was not there. Eager to tell her about the ship, he searched for her on the beach and at the bathing pool, but he could find no trace. Expecting her to return at any moment, he settled in to wait for her.

  Espri looked at her father worriedly. "But what am I to do?"

  "Since you have no idea what Mitch's plans are, I think you should ask him."

  "What if Mitch plans to leave me behind?" Her panic was very real. The way he'd been treating her lately, she had wondered if there was a future for them even on Malika . . . but in San Francisco?

  "Do you honestly believe that's a possibility?" Jacques gave her a measured look.

  She thought long and hard before answering. "I don't know, Papa."

  "He's your husband, Espri. You are bound together in God's eyes. Mitch took that vow seriously, and I don't think he would consider leaving here without you."

  "But I'm not sure I want to go."

  "Espri." Jacques's voice contained condemnation. "You are his wife. You must go where he leads; it is your duty."

  She paled at his words. "I know you're right."

  "You love him, don't you?"

  Sighing, she reflected on the tenseness of her relationship with Mitch, then answered honestly. "Yes."

  "Then your place is at his side," Jacques told her. "Has he heard this news yet?"

  "No, I don't think so. He was out fishing with Tommy."

  "Don't you think you should be there when he finds out? I'm sure he will be excited at the prospect. It is, after all, what he's been waiting for all these long months."

  Nodding, she hugged him. "I love you, Papa."

  "And I love you." He returned her embrace. "Now, go to your husband."

  As Jacques watched her leave, a great sadness overcame him. She had been his entire life for years. He did not want her to leave Malika, but he knew it would be wrong to encourage her to stay. He only hoped that Mitch was the man Luatu believed him to be.

  Uneasy, Espri returned home, and she was surprised to find Mitch already there.

  "You've heard the news?" she inquired quickly, not looking at him.

  "Yes. Luatu met us on the beach. He said the ship should be here within two days to pick us up."

  "You will be glad to go?" she ventured, wanting him to tell her his plans.

  "Malika is very beautiful, but it's important that I return home," Mitch stated determinedly. He was becoming increasingly excited by the thought of going home.

  Espri paled at his use of "I" and not "we." She knew then that her worst fears were coming to pass—he intended to leave without her.

  "I know it won't be easy for you, but with time . . ." he continued, hoping to ease any anxiety she was feeling about leaving her home and going to a strange new world.

  "I'll be fine." Espri was becoming angry at his seeming unconcern for her plight.

  "Good." Mitch had expected to find her reluctant to go with him, and he was pleased by her seeming willingness to do so.

  Good! she thought furiously. He was going to desert her and their unborn baby, and because she'd said she'd be fine, in a stroke of perverse independence, he was willing to drop the subject that easily! Her pride surging forth, she stiffened and started to walk away.

  "Espri? Is something wrong?" He frowned as he noticed that she seemed upset.

  "No. Nothing's wrong." She tried to keep her tone steady. "What things do you plan to take with you? Shall I start getting them together now?"

  A cold dread filled him as he listened to her words. She sounded as if she wanted him to leave, alone, and that she couldn't wait to see him off. How she must hate him—but hate or not, she was married to him.

  "We will pack our things together," he stated emphatically, his dread turning to icy fury. She was his wife, and by God, she was going with him! He'd be damned if he'd leave her behind.

  "Our things?" Espri glanced at him quickly in disbelief.

  "Don't say a word." His voice was cold. "You will be ready to go with me when the boat comes. Do you understand?"

  "But . . ."

  Needing to get away before he said something in anger that he might regret, Mitch turned from her. "I'll be back."

  Espri watched him go, her heart heavy. His obvious anger convinced her that he resented taking her with him, yet she silently prayed for a chance to make their marriage work.

  Tommy was desperate. While the news of his imminent rescue should have made him ecstatic, it had only filled him with despair and confusion. What was he going to do? He loved Tikiru deeply and he couldn't bear the thought of being separated from her. It was difficult enough being here on the island and knowing that they couldn't meet, but if he returned to California, he knew with a certainty that he would never see her again. Tormented by the decision he was being forced to make, he knew he had to see Tikiru once again.

  Biding his time, he nervously anticipated nightfall, for when darkness enshrouded the land, he intended to go to Tikiru, dangerous though it might be. The hours passed slowly, and when at last it was reasonably safe, he started off toward the sacred temple.

  Nelani was shocked when she saw Tommy approaching, and she rushed forward to try to send him back to the village.

  "You must leave," she ordered, attempting to keep him from Tikiru.

  "I have to see her. Where is she?" he demanded in a lowered voice.

  "She's not here. Now, please go," Nelani pleaded, knowing that if they were discovered the price they would pay would be high.

  "I will wait."

  Nelani was about to say more when Tikiru appeared nude on the veranda of her hut.

  "Nelani? Where are you?"

  Tommy brushed past the servant and hurried up the few steps to take Tikiru in his arms. Holding her close, he kissed her deeply before she had a chance to protest his coming.

  Overwhelmed by his unexpected appearance, Tikiru permitted herself to enjoy his forbidden embrace briefly before struggling to break free.

  "Tommy! You must go. Manti could come here at any time!"

  "Tikiru, I have to talk with you. I can go on like this no longer." He kissed her again desperately.

  "No . . . not here." She pushed away from him with all her might. "Please, Tommy, go. I will meet you later on the bluff, but it will have to be the very last time that we see each other."

  Knowing that it very well might be,
he stepped back, his passion-darkened gaze sweeping over her heatedly. "I'll be waiting for you."

  After Tommy had disappeared into the forest, Nelani rushed to Tikiru. "You don't really plan to meet him there, do you?"

  Tikiru's expression was troubled as she turned to her slave. "I must."

  "Let me go in your place. I will tell him that you hate him and never want to see him again."

  "He would know that to be a lie," she answered sadly. "I love him, Nelani, more than my own life."

  "You'll be careful?" Nelani insisted, and Tikiru nodded.

  It was well after midnight when Tikiru finally felt she could slip safely away. Wrapping the concealing cloak about her slender figure, she hurried off into the night to rendezvous with her love.

  Tommy had not bothered to return to the village. Tense and on edge, he'd gone straight to the bluff in anticipation of Tikiru's coming, and when he finally saw her racing across the stark open terrain toward him, he opened his arms to her and clasped her to his chest.

  "Ah, my love . . ." His words were heartfelt, and his mouth claimed hers in a devouring kiss that told her of his hopeless passion.

  Swept along by the power of their need, they moved in unison to seek out the soft grass that had served them so well in the past, and their clothing was hastily discarded as they lay upon that natural bed.

  "I want you so, Tikiru," Tommy told her huskily as he pressed fevered kisses to her throat and bosom.

  "Oh, yes. Please love me, Tommy," she urged him, intertwining her legs with his and moving wantonly against him. "I have missed you, and I need you so."

  The flame of her desire consumed him in a fiery frenzy, and he mounted her quickly, seeking and finding the heated depths of her body. Tikiru trembled with the force of the emotion that surged through her as she clung to him, insatiable in her passion. Each powerful thrust of his driving hips brought her closer and closer to the edge of ecstasy, and she arched in abandon as the pleasure took her, pulsing through her in endless waves of exquisite bliss.

  Tommy felt her shudder, and he knew a moment of male pride. He had pleased her; he had given her the gift of his love. Continuing to move in steady rhythm, he cupped her hips and lifted her tightly to him, penetrating her to the fullest and eliciting a groan of sensual excitement from her. He peaked then, emptying his life-giving seed deep within the fertile depths of her body, and they collapsed together, sated and fulfilled.

  Reason returned as they lay side by side, and it was with deep regret that Tikiru faced him.

  "Tommy . . ." She reached out to touch his cheek.

  "I know, Tikiru." His voice was toneless as he captured her hand and kissed the palm. "I have news that I must tell you."

  "What is it?" She was instantly alert.

  "There is a ship at a neighboring island. It's coming here next."

  "A ship? You will be leaving Malika?" Her eyes widened at the possibility.

  "You tell me, Tikiru"—he pierced her with a serious look—"should I stay?"

  Stricken, she looked away. She knew it had to end. If he were to leave the island . . .

  "We can never be together, Tommy, and I should not have come tonight. The only reason I did was to tell you that it cannot happen again," she told him, though it pained her to do so. "You should go with the ship when it comes because both of our lives would be at stake if we were discovered and the risk of that is growing too great."

  "Come with me." The idea suddenly occurred to him. "Since we cannot share our love openly here, run away with me. We could sneak you onto the ship, and no one would ever have to know. By the time they'd discovered you'd gone, we would be far out to sea and on our way to America. Marry me, Tikiru, and I will spend the rest of my days loving you."

  Her eyes brightened with hope. Could she do it? "I don't know . . . you want me to leave my people?"

  "I love you, Tikiru. I will let no harm ever come to you. Say you'll come with me."

  "I'll come," she agreed hastily, knowing that the rest of her life would be empty and meaningless without him.

  Overcome with joy, Tommy embraced her excitedly. "When the ship arrives, I will send word. Until then, do nothing."

  She nodded, her heart pounding at the thought of being with him forever. "I love you, Tommy, and I will do whatever you want if it means we can be together."

  "Good." He kissed her tenderly, understanding the sacrifice she was making so that they could be together. "You'll never regret this, Tikiru. I promise."

  She wrapped her arms about his neck, and they clung together, oblivious to the tragedy the future held for them.

  Chapter 17

  Manti awoke suddenly. The dream he'd been having had seemed so real and so threatening that he was confused and disoriented. He tried to remember all that he'd envisioned, but could recall only fragments of it. Upset and unable to go back to sleep, he began to restlessly pace his chamber. Something was about to happen; the sense of foreboding he felt was almost overwhelming.

  It was not often that he sought out Tikiru, but knowing that she was gifted with the power to interpret such visions, he went to her then, without pause, in the middle of the night. It was dark and quiet as he made his way to her hut, but he was so intent on discovering the meaning of his dream that he did not notice. And when he reached her abode, he stood before her hut as was customary, calling out to her a chanted, authoritative summons to which she could not, by law, fail to respond.

  Nelani had been resting in her own bed when she heard the high priest invoking Tikiru to come forth. Sitting up panic-stricken, she quickly debated the chance of finding Tikiru and bringing her back before Manti would get suspicious, but she knew there was no time. Manti was here, now, and he was demanding an audience with the taupau. Rising, she dressed, lit a torch, and went out onto the veranda to speak with him.

  "Oh, High Priest, why do you summon the taupau?" she asked, bowing in homage before him after she'd placed the torch in a rack.

  "I must see her," he answered without hesitation.

  "But she is resting and bade me not to disturb her," Nelani lied, she hoped convincingly.

  Manti's eyes flashed with anger. "I am the high priest. She will see me—now!"

  Nelani was afraid, but her years of training to be faithful and submissive to Tikiru steadied her. She knew she could not abandon her mistress now. Turning, she disappeared into the hut and knelt down beside the deserted bed to pray to the gods to save Tikiru from Manti's wrath.

  Manti waited impatiently before the hut, and as the minutes slipped by, he became increasingly suspicious. By sacred law, he was forbidden to violate the sanctity of Tikiru's hut, but he knew he had no choice.

  "Nelani! Bring forth your mistress!" he ordered, and when there was no response to his call, he entered the hut.

  Manti stared incredulously at the slave girl praying beside Tikiru's empty bed.

  "Where is she?" he asked as he stood rigidly behind her.

  "I do not know," she answered truthfully.

  His hand snaked out to grasp her by her hair, and he pulled her back against him, holding her so tightly that her neck arched painfully. Nelani gasped as he lifted his sacrificial knife from his belt and ran the sharpness of the blade softly yet threateningly down her cheek, then pressed the point to her throat.

  "I would know where Tikiru is," Manti demanded again, letting her feel the prick of the bodkin. He watched with cold indifference as blood began to flow freely from the cut.

  Nelani shuddered in fear more than pain, but her loyalty held her steadfast against his cruelty. "Perhaps at the bathing pool," she finally offered as she felt the warmth of her own blood on her breast.

  Manti nodded in silence and shoved her back to the floor. "I will see."

  Stalking from the hut, he covered the distance to the secluded pool quickly and was infuriated to find it deserted. Tikiru was gone . . . but where? His patience at an end, he raced back to the hut to get the answer to his question.

  "Yo
ur mistress is not at the pool, Nelani, and I have a feeling you are not telling me all you know." He smiled lethally at the cowering slave. "I want to know where she is. You know it is forbidden for her to have contact with anyone. Has she been meeting someone?" He delved deeper into the mystery of her disappearance. "Was that really Tikiru I saw the other night on the path?"

  "I do not know where Tikiru is," Nelani insisted again, refusing bravely to give him the answers he so craved.

  "Then you will die for your ignorance," he declared calmly, dragging her to her feet. Violently he stripped off her sarong, and tearing the fabric, he bound her wrists and ankles with it. Pushing her roughly to the floor, he left the hut and returned to the temple to summon his male servant Nahi.

  "Go to Tikiru's hut and bring her slave girl to me, here," he ordered.

  "Manti!" Nahi protested quickly in outrage. "It is forbidden for me to go there!"

  "By my decree, you are free to enter without punishment. Go now, and hurry."

  "Yes, Manti." Nahi rushed to do his bidding.

  Nelani lay where Manti had left her. Shaking and helpless, she realized that there was little hope of rescue, that only Tikiru's return could save her from certain death. When Manti's servant entered the hut, she was startled, and she became more frightened.

  "What are you doing here?" she asked desperately, but he ignored her question and bent to pick her up. "No! Please don't do this! I have done nothing to displease the gods!"

  Nelani tried to struggle free of the man, but he only tightened his hold on her, his vicious grip bruising her tender flesh. Sobbing, she collapsed against him, knowing that her struggles were futile.

  Nahi displayed no emotion as he carried her to where Manti waited at the altar, and at the priest's instruction, he placed her carefully atop the stone slab.

  Vulnerable and guiltless, Nelani lay before the high priest. "I have done nothing to deserve this, Manti."

  But his glittering eyes conveyed only contempt. "Perhaps if Tikiru comes in time, you will live," he told her casually. "Begin the drum."

  Nahi pounded out the message loudly on the ceremonial drum, and the throbbing tones swelled across the island, alerting all to come to the temple. Manti turned back to the slave, and pouring a potion into a cup, he lifted her head and forced her to drink of the bitter brew.