Beside A Burning Sea Part 14

Akira set aside the coconut husk that he'd been scrubbing his toes with. "You did none of these things to me, Annie." Before she could reply, he added, "So please do not worry about them. Besides, I do not blame your captain for what happened. He did what he should have done."

"But Roger?"

"Roger does not trouble me. I have met his kind before."

Annie had never seen Akira shirtless, and was surprised at how muscular his compact torso was. His chest, which was almost free of hair, looked hard and lean. Dropping her gaze to his leg, she said, "Your wound is healing wonderfully."

"I have a wonderful doctor, yes?"

She smiled. "I'm a nurse, Akira. A nurse."

"Ah, but better than a doctor, I think." He politely motioned to an empty spot on the rock beside him. "Would you care to sit?"

Annie nodded, taking his hand as he helped her climb atop the rock. She put her feet into the water and felt the sun against her back. "This morning, why did you go with Joshua?"

"He was going to bury the airman. But he needed to burn him."

"Is that what . . . what Hindus do?"

"Yes, though I am Buddhist."

"Oh," she muttered, putting her hand in front of her mouth as if to keep it from revealing any more of her ignorance. "I'm sorry."

"Please do not be. We have never spoken of this before."

She took his coconut husk and began to absently scrub the back of her calf. "Can you tell me something of Buddhism? Enough so that when I meet another Buddhist I don't sound like a complete fool?"

Akira put his hands in the water and splashed his face. "The sea feels good, yes?"

"It feels perfect."

He smiled, remembering how it felt to be a young boy and to dangle his feet in the Kamo River. "Buddhists believe that life is reborn. Like a tree that goes through the seasons. Each leaf on the tree is a new life, and each life is reborn with the spring."

"You're talking about reincarnation?"

"Yes. Or rebirth. We believe that once someone experiences enough rebirths, and once they release their . . . attachment to desire, to themselves, that they will go to Nirvana."

"And Nirvana is like heaven?"

"Yes, in a way."

Annie rinsed his coconut husk in the water and handed it back to him. "Sorry," she said sheepishly. "I should have asked if I could borrow it. You'd never take anything from me like that."

He handed her back the husk. "I am glad that you do not feel the need to ask."

"What else do Buddhists believe?"

"You truly want to know? I would not want to bore you."

"I do."

Akira smiled and said, "Buddha's four n.o.ble truths are quite simple. One, suffering exists. Two, a cause for suffering exists. Three, an end to suffering exists. Four, only by accepting suffering, by releasing desire, can one end suffering and ultimately reach Nirvana."

Annie pondered his words as she watched fish swim about their rock. "Can you . . . do that? Accept suffering and . . . and release desire?"

"No, I cannot. I still have desires, and I would rather not suffer."

"So you're not anywhere near Nirvana, are you?"

He grinned. "I am not near Nirvana. Although with the water on my feet, the sun on my back, and . . . and with my wonderful nurse beside me, this is a good day. Yes?"

Nodding, she replied, "A good day."

Akira noticed Nathan emerge from the distant jungle. Shielding his eyes from the sun, he headed toward camp. "I like him," Akira said. "A simple man. But simple men are fine men."

"He misses his family so much. He must constantly think about his wife, because he's called me by her name more than once."

"I hope he gets home to her soon."

Annie's gaze followed a manta ray that glided over the sand below. "May I ask you something, Akira? Something personal?"

"Of course."

"Do you have a wife? Children?"

He turned to her. "In j.a.pan, the oldest son takes care of his parents. When my father died, maybe seven years ago, I moved into his house. I have lived with my mother ever since."

"And you've never met someone?"

"No. I was a teacher, so I only met young people. And I had to take care of my mother."

"And you're alright with that?"

He shrugged. "I have no choice. It is my duty and . . . and my honor."

Annie shifted atop the rock. She watched as he gently stirred his feet in the water. Something in the way he moved intrigued her. It was almost as if he took great pleasure from the feel of the sea against his skin.

"Now may I ask something of you?" he questioned, the movement of his feet pausing slightly.

"If you're brave."

"I am being brave right now, I think."

"Well, then, ask away."

"What of your fiance? He makes you happy, yes?"

Annie started to reply but stopped. She'd asked herself that same question a thousand times and was still unsure how to answer it. "Ted makes everyone happy," she finally said, wondering why it was so easy to share her thoughts with Akira. "And for a while, that made me happy. But now . . . now sometimes I think that I'd rather be with someone who only made me happy."

"Does-"

"I know that makes me sound terribly selfish, and I'm sorry for that. But it's true. I'd rather have him be more concerned about me than everyone else."

Akira looked at her feet beneath the water, noting how small and slender her toes were. He experienced a sudden impulse to touch those toes, to see if they were as supple as he imagined. He also wanted to tell her that she deserved all of her fiance's attention, that the man didn't understand the gift that had been bestowed upon him. He wanted to tell her so many things. Instead he asked, "May I share a story with you?"

"By all means."

"I am sorry?"

"Yes, yes. Please tell me."

Akira looked from her toes toward the horizon. "In j.a.pan, beautiful gardens have existed for several thousand years. These gardens are full of stones, of ponds, of red maple trees. In the springtime, cherry blossoms cover the ground, and moss turns a deeper shade of green."

"How wonderful."

"Yes, very much so," he said, wishing she could see such sights. "As a young man, I used to often visit a garden near my father's house. There the same tree had shed cherry blossoms since the time of the shoguns. I would sit beneath this tree and write poems. And when words escaped me, I would watch the gardener. After many months, I noticed that he spent most of his time attending to a single bonsai tree. It stood on a small island within his pond, and each day he would cross a stone bridge and inspect this tree with great care. He would remove a leaf or twig or insect from it. He would brush it with a damp cloth. For many weeks, I did not understand why this man spent so much time on this one miniature tree when so much other beauty existed around him."

Annie leaned closer to Akira. "Why did he?"

"Because, I think . . . I think he understood that life is precious and lovely and fleeting. And I think that this bonsai tree, with its imperfections and frailty, reminded him of these things, reminded him of the good in the world. And because of that . . . I think because of that he loved the bonsai tree. He loved it because it inspired him."

Annie noticed that his feet had stopped moving. "Why, Akira, why are you telling me this?" she quietly asked.

He sighed. "Because precious things are sometimes . . . overlooked. But such things should be cherished. Poems should be written about them and they should not be forgotten. And . . . and . . ."

"And what?"

"And though I know so little of the love between a man and a woman, it seems to me that it should be like the love between that man and his miniature tree."

"And you think . . . you think that's the kind of love I should have?"

He paused to consider his response. "I think you deserve such a gardener," he finally replied. "And I do not think you are selfish for wanting one."

She smiled, and beneath the water her foot touched his.

DAY EIGHT.

She came from the sea Like a pearl forged from the deep.

Light melts an old snow.

Confronting the Past and Present

It's almost as big as a house," Joshua said excitedly, addressing the group. The nine survivors of Benevolence Benevolence had gathered on the beach near the banyan tree to talk about his discovery. For the first time since they'd been on the island, he looked people in the eye and tried to truly lead. Though he still didn't feel as comfortable in this position as he once had, he didn't have to force himself to speak either. "And it's got more fresh water than we'll ever need," he added. had gathered on the beach near the banyan tree to talk about his discovery. For the first time since they'd been on the island, he looked people in the eye and tried to truly lead. Though he still didn't feel as comfortable in this position as he once had, he didn't have to force himself to speak either. "And it's got more fresh water than we'll ever need," he added.

"How do you know the little monkeys won't find it?" Roger asked, though he realized it must be well hidden, since he hadn't discovered it.

"If the j.a.ps come," Joshua answered, "they'll land in the harbor. Their base will be right where we're standing. They're not going to waste much manpower on the other parts of the island. And the cave is almost impossible to notice from the sea. Even from the beach it's awfully tough to spot. And if we camouflage the entrance, no one will ever know it's there."

"What about food, Captain?" Jake asked. "Fishing this harbor is easier than shucking corn. It ain't gonna be good to leave them fish."

Joshua nodded. "You and Ratu can spend a few more days fishing here. Catch as much as you can. Dry the meat in the sun and we'll bring it to the cave. That way we'll have extra food in case . . . the fishing over there isn't like shucking corn." As if a teacher in the cla.s.sroom, Joshua studied the faces before him, trying to discern where thoughts lay. Isabelle followed his every word. Annie was with him one moment and gone the next. "We should leave in a few days," he continued. "That will give us enough time to collect food, erase any trace of our presence here, and row the lifeboat to the other side of the island."

"Can I ride in the boat, my captain?" Ratu asked. "I can help you row."

Smiling, Joshua replied, "Of course. You can lead us to the other sh.o.r.e."

"And, sir, the dried fish and the other supplies, they'll go in the boat?" Nathan wondered.

"Exactly. We'll transport most everything in the boat. Much easier to get it to the cave that way than lugging it through the jungle."

Jake put a fresh blade of gra.s.s in his mouth, savoring the faint taste of mint. "The goose sure honks high, don't he, Captain?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Oh, that's just something my daddy used to say. It means that everything's rattling right."

Joshua repeated the line and grinned. "Let's make this simple," he said. "Simple for everyone over the next few days. Jake and Ratu, kindly catch as many fish as you can and dry the meat. Cut it as thin as possible. Nathan, you're in charge of getting the lifeboat ready. Our lovely nurses can erase our existence from this spot, erase it so well that the j.a.ps will never know we were here." Joshua turned to Roger. "Could you continue to scout the island? Two caves would be better than one. And, Akira, I'd like you to walk the beach, to look for things that washed ash.o.r.e from Benevolence Benevolence. If any new arrivals find items from our ship, they may wonder if survivors made it here too."

Roger twisted his spear b.u.t.t deeper into the sand, hating the way that the captain was once again in control. "You trust the Nip?"

"Obviously, I do."

"But he'll leave some sort of message. He'll scratch a message on a rock and tell his fellow j.a.ps all about your great cave."

Joshua glanced at Akira, who was standing like everyone else, no longer favoring his wounded leg. "And risk getting himself hung by us?" Joshua asked. "Besides, he's earned my trust. He's earned it several times over. And so he'll walk the beach."

"If I had such a pretty wife, I wouldn't be so quick to trust the monkey. He sure hasn't earned my trust. He-"

Waving Roger to silence, Joshua said, "Someday, Lieutenant, when you're in charge, you can give the orders. Understand?"

Roger spat and walked back toward the banyan tree. Though frustrated by Roger's increasing and almost intolerable insubordination, Joshua's spirits were buoyed enough by the discovery of the cave that he quickly turned back to the group. "Please, if anyone has ideas about the cave, let me know. Let's talk them through."

"Are there bugs?" Scarlet asked. "I've had my fill of bugs already."

Joshua held up his arms. "See? Not a single new bite. So you won't have to worry about any more bugs."

"Then let's get to that cave," she replied melodramatically.

As several people laughed and the group dispersed, Joshua stepped toward Isabelle, wanting her to be the first to see his discovery.