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My Kind of Town Don Chapman |
Light in the dark
>> Off the Big IslandAboard Wet Spot, Sonya Chan was trying not to panic. Because somehow, while she was below deck catching a couple hours of sleep, the girl Magdalena had not stayed at the wheel as she had promised, and when she went to use the head the girl Poincietta took the wheel, became confused, and steered off course. Magdalena didn't notice because she was just worried about keeping two lines on the compass aligned.
Sonya made an abrupt left, hoping to spot the Big Island before dark. She could, of course, use the radio to call for help. But there would be questions. How did she come to be skippering a boat the authorities were looking for? What happened to the missing crewmen? In answering those questions, she would have to reveal that her fiance Daren Guy was not dead after all, and Sonya would forfeit the insurance money, probably the Lotto money too. Then there would be questions about these 12 Filipinas, illegal aliens.
So as the sun set, Sonya angled the boat on a southeasterly path, looking for a light on shore that would tell her where the Big Island was exactly.
Unknown to Sonya, she was being followed. Had been since the previous night when they'd dropped Daren and Sushi Leclaire at Daren's old fishing boat and they'd taken the motor launch to shore.
For Mano Kekai, at first it was just natural curiosity -- sailors and fishermen are notoriously niele. As he was heading out in the wee hours of the morning to do some fishing, he saw the yacht Wet Spot had returned to the bay, again within shouting distance of his friend Daren's boat. And so, with running lights off, he followed Wet Spot out of the bay and south, since he was heading in the same general direction anyway.
When the sun arose, Mano hung back and used his binoculars to see who was driving the boat. It was a bunch of brown-skinned beauties, none older than their early 20s. Not a male in sight, including the old guy who had been skippering the boat earlier. That didn't make sense. Neither did their sudden change of direction, which was taking them away from the Big island.
And then Mano was shocked when Sonya came up on deck and took the wheel.
Watching through the binocs, it was obvious to Mano that Sonya was lost at sea. And so now, with darkness upon them again and the running lights still off, he used the power of the engine to skirt around the yacht and position himself directly in Sonya's path. And then he turned on the running lights.
At the wheel of Wet Spot, Sonya saw the boat lights suddenly appear, and no Christmas tree lights had ever been so comforting. In this way Mano led the yacht back to the Big Island.
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Don Chapman is editor of MidWeek. His serialized novel runs daily in the Star-Bulletin. He can be e-mailed at dchapman@midweek.com