part0028

There was no instruction manual on how to escape from an island intent on destroying itself by fire and water. As the escapees were tossed about in the amphibious landing craft, it seemed as though all the elements had collided, forming a perfect storm from which there was no way out.

In the first few minutes of their voyage, they were pummeled with black ice stones from high-level thunderstorms — black because of the soot in the air. The lightning bolts were not visible because of the smoke and ashes which had created early-afternoon darkness, but the nebulous flashes followed by thunderous explosions drew terrified screams from most of the kids.

The landing craft had two decks. The lower deck was only five feet in height, but most of the children could stand up. At least they were not as exposed as they would have been in an older vintage landing craft.

Cody and Victor kept an eye peeled for the barrier reef. The low visibility made them reluctant to cruise more than 7 knots. They decided to head north toward Puerto Rico, a distance of about three hundred miles. The boat, which cruised at a depth of only four feet when fully-loaded, had not run aground earlier when it had drifted north of the reef, so it made sense that north would be a safe route of escape.

The boat continued to pitch up and down and roll side to side. Many of the kids were nauseated. When the air began to clear, Victor called out another warning sign to Cody.

“Look at this!” Victor pointed to something in the water.

Cody came over for a look. The water was bubbling. The sulfur smell was overwhelming.

They looked toward the island three miles behind them. The mountain was still in full eruption mode. They could see an orange glow reflecting through the scattered clouds, and red-hot lava flowing down from the peak. The ice pellets had ceased but the rain continued to pelt the deck of the boat, and distant thunder rumbled through the sky like a million stallions.

The sulfur odor and the bubbling water made Victor’s heart race. “I wish I had your faith. You’d better pray this bubbling doesn’t mean the ocean is gonna turn into a bath of hot magma!”

At that moment, Diamond came up the steps to the top deck. “I have never seen a volcano before.” She was still wearing the bikini top, but had found some blankets below and had wrapped one around herself.

“Here are a couple of blankets for you guys,” she said, handing them each one. “The rain’s cold. You gotta be freezing.”

All of a sudden, an orange fountain of molten lava burst into the air about 100 meters behind the boat.

“Get below! Everybody get below!” Victor shouted.

They scrambled down the steps and closed the hatch. Screams and cries from the children filled the already-tense air.

They waited an hour before opening the hatch again. The rain had ceased. The air had cleared of smoke, and the island was visible again.

Was it time to relax?

They increased their speed to 14 knots. The late afternoon winds had died down and the water was calm.

Cody walked below again. Freddy was waiting for him at the bottom of the steps. When the child reached up to him, Cody wearily lifted him off the floor.

“I knew you would come back, Cody Musket. Mama Diamond said no weapon could hurt you. I hope you don’t leave again.”

Cody was too weary to notice that he had caught everyone’s attention the minute he had arrived. He held the child close and began whispering in the boy’s ear. Diamond stood near enough to sense that Cody’s emotions were testing his limits. He was wound up tighter than a hang noose.

When he finally set Freddy down, the boy was smiling. Maggie and Kennedy wanted to talk to him, but Diamond stepped in. “Ladies, this man has already had a long day. He’s exhausted. I need to put him to bed.”

Cody didn’t argue. She led him to a bunk near the stern. Some of the guys had placed blankets down for him.

“I need to see Parker. I heard he was shot.”

“He’s asleep. We finally got him some pain meds here on the boat. I doubt he’ll make it. He was shot in the upper chest. He was unarmed. It was Pablo.”

“Can you explain to me what happened to Pablo’s three henchmen at the cave? Why didn’t they come out to fight?”

She spoke softly. Most of the kids were listening. “Pablo loaded his pockets with jewels from the pirate stash, so the other three guys went down there. They started shouting that the jewels were no longer there. The entire treasure had disappeared, so they said. Then we heard them yelling for help, and the whole place shook. That was it.”

Cody showed no expression. He knew more than he let on, but she had become accustomed to it. She wasn’t about to ask.

He removed his wet shirt and wrung it out. “A helicopter is supposed to arrive in the morning. Medical supplies, food, a doctor.”

“That’s wonderful. How long will it take us to sail to Puerto Rico?”

“About twenty four hours, give or take. It’s too bad there’s no hot shower on board. This isn’t exactly a cruise ship. I need to at least get outta

“You’re always crashing something, and you’re always needing your clothes dried. Here, get under the blanket. Hand me your shirt and pants. I’ll hang ‘em up to dry. We have a lotta little eyes watching,” she chuckled.

“Seems like this is getting old.” Cody pulled up the blanket.

“I have to tell you something, Cody. That little Maggie has carried those dirty dungarees with her everywhere. She even brought them on board. She hasn’t looked at what’s inside the pockets, but the curiosity is killing her. She also has a surprise for you. She took a risk to get it before I could stop her.”

“What sort of surprise?”

“I’m not going to ruin the surprise. She can hardly wait . . . Uh, Cody? Cody, are you still awake?”

Tige and Betsy hung near. “Your man’s out like a light. Looks like he needs somebody to strip him again. You want help?”

“It might take all three of us. Try not to be too obvious, with all these little eyes watching.”

Cody slept well until after sundown. None of the children slept a wink. Everyone was tired and hungry, but no one wanted to sleep.

Cody arose and wrapped the blanket around himself. He walked by the children and greeted them all. Some reached out to touch him as he passed, while others showed no life in their eyes. He slowly walked up the steps and set foot on the deck.

Diamond was sitting alone near the bow listening to the water ripple past the boat. The motors were humming in sync. The half-moon had risen in a clear sky. The glow of molten lava spewing from the mouth of the volcano sixty miles off the stern created an eerie sense of irony. From here the volcanic wonder of nature was beautiful, calm, serene. Up close, it had been the nature of Hell itself, as though someone had opened the gates.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” she told him. “I hung your clothes here so they would dry faster in the breeze. They’re dry if you wanna put ‘em on.”

While he put on his shirt and dungarees, she looked up at the moon. “Do you think anyone will ever live up there? On the moon?”

“Why do you ask me that?”

“Well, Mr. Gunfighter, I was just wondering what it would be like to start the human race over somewhere else. Like, would there eventually be evil again like we see on this planet, or would it be all good?”

“It depends on who you start over with.”

“Cody, this day will be forever etched in the mind of every child. I knew you were coming back. I knew nothing would touch you.”

“How did you know that?”

She put her arms around his neck. “Do you remember when I told you I had prayed to God for the first time?”

He sighed. “I do remember. You said you weren’t sure God had even paid attention, or something like that.”

“I said I had asked Him to reveal Himself to me, but that nothing had happened. Then I told you I had dreamed something really crazy. The dream was about riding in a black airplane with two blond teenage girls. That made no sense at the time.”

A smile crept across his weary face. “I barely remember that.”

“So, when I got into that plane today and looked back and saw Ken and Maggie, I remembered the dream.”

“But the Beaver was yellow.”

“Not after you got through flying around in all that soot. The plane was almost completely black. That’s when I knew God had heard me, and I knew this would be a day of beating the odds.”

Cody turned and stood by the rail, looking over the side of the boat at the gentle wake rippling in the moonlight. He covered his face.

“When I saw those sixty kids in that . . . that dark holding cell . . . cold, hungry, some dying . . .” He stopped to breathe deeply. “I mean, my dad once tried to explain what happens in your head when so much sorrow and so much anger take over your mind at the same time. Today, I found out. I . . . I let it affect me. I let a good man die. Scott . . . he pushed us aside and took on six men alone. I’m alive ‘cause he died instead of me. Angel’s dead, Jesse Flores killed, Parker’s hurt. Why am I still walking around?”

Cody did not know that Maggie and Ken had followed him to the deck, and that they were listening in the shadows. Ken had brought little Freddy with her, and most of the other kids had decided to follow.

Diamond noticed the audience. She moved toward Cody who was still staring over the side of the boat, and put her hands on his shoulders.

“Cody, you need to turn around.” She gently turned him toward her. “Look at all these children. Yesterday, they had no hope. They needed an avenger. Now they need an evangelist. Your job isn’t finished.”

Maggie had waited long enough. “Mr. Musket, I found something in a corner of the cove growing all alone. I want to give it to you.”

Cody spoke with a ragged smile. “Okay, Maggie. Diamond said you had something for me.” His hard eyes softened. “I been waitin’ to see it.”

She held up Pablo’s smelly dungarees and reached into one of the pockets. “I put it in here so I wouldn’t lose it.”

She pulled out the wounded rose that she had carried through hell in a pair of dirty dungarees. The petals were crushed. The stem was broken.

“This is for you, Mr. Musket. You said it in the plane, remember? Some days, guns. Some days, roses.”

Cody dropped to one knee and wrapped Maggie in his arms. His trapped feelings, the stress of leadership, his grief for fallen friends in a battle he did not choose. His shoulders began to shake with emotions hidden in his deepest soul. When Diamond lost her composure, the children became hushed and tearful, but the poignant moment soon transformed into a celebration.

Cody looked into the eyes of the unassuming thirteen-year-old. “I heard you took a risk to bring me this, Maggie. This is no small thing you have done.” He stood and lifted up the rose. “For all of us, and . . . for those we’ve lost . . . for all the ones who bravely sacrificed their lives to bring us to this moment, yeah . . . we’re going home. This is a day for roses.”

He presented the rose to Diamond. She held tightly to the rose while he kissed her, and kissed her, and kissed her.

The children mumbled, then applauded. Kennedy, still holding Freddy, came near and nudged Cody.

He turned around. “You’re a loose cannon, child.” He paused. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way. But I gotta say, if I were your dad I wudda grounded both of you for gettin’ outta that plane.”

The two girls straightened their faces and exchanged a long glance.

Maggie’s vocal cords were barely audible. “We don’t have a dad.”

“So, your mother is a single mom? The mom who’s afraid to fly?”

“We don’t have a mom either.” Kennedy’s voice quiet as a feather. “Maggie and I are the ones afraid to fly.”

“You both did fine today,” Diamond said. “So how do you feel about flying now?”

Kennedy wrinkled her nose. “After flying with Cody? Are you kidding?”

“Yeah,” Maggie said, “never again!”

Cody folded his arms. “So, if you don’t have a mom and didn’t steal her car like you said, what’s the real reason you ended up on that island?”

Both girls stood tight-lipped. Finally, Ken decided to end the charade.

“It was Mr. Carpenter’s car I stole. My third different foster dad. He was mean to me, so I drove his car to Garden City to pick up Maggie.”

“See, we were in two separate homes. Ken picked me up, but a Kansas State Trooper arrested us and drove us in a van with some other kids to Kansas City. Then this judge sentenced us.”

“Yeah,” Kennedy said. “After that, they flew us to some far away airport near the ocean, then made us get on this nasty old boat that took us to that island. We didn’t even know how many years our sentence was.”

“What?” Cody winced. “You girls weren’t arrested. You were abducted. How long ago was that?”

“Thirty-two days.”

Diamond took Cody’s arm. “I think Mr. Parker is awake. He was asking for you a few minutes ago. He wants to see us both.”

Cody nodded. They began making their way below to Parker’s bedside. Diamond lowered her voice. “By the way, Mr. Parker and Tige had a rather lengthy discussion while you were asleep.”

“Not sure, but Tige has not left his bedside since.”

They approached the bed and Cody placed his hand on Parker’s arm.

“My time has come, Cody.” Parker’s voice low and raspy. “I see that God has graced you with marvelous young associates who need parents.”

“How did you know they didn’t have parents?” Diamond asked.

“I’m Thirsty Giant. I’m supposed to know,” he chuckled. “Cody, here’s a hand-written document I created today.” He wheezed. “It makes you the soul trustee of . . . all assets owned by my company. My two associates in Barcelona are named here. They’ll complete the transfer and . . .”

“Save your strength, Joe. Get some rest. We can discuss this later.”

“Lemme see your hands, both of you.”

Cody and Diamond joined their hands with his.

“What God has joined . . . let no man . . . put asunder . . . Amen.”

The death of Thirsty Giant saddened everyone. There was a stillness, the acknowledgement that a rare soul was making his flight to Heaven. The soft hum of the motors, the gentle parting of the waters as the boat cut its way toward a peaceful harbor with 92 souls aboard.

“Greater love has no man . . .” Cody said quietly. “I’ll see you on the other side, my friend.”

In the quietness, someone was crying softly. Cody opened his eyes to see Tige standing at the foot of the bed. She offered Cody a bitter-sweet smile with a tearful nod.

Cody turned around holding Diamond’s hand and allowed himself a safe smile. He picked up Freddy with his free arm, then connected eye-to-eye with Ken and Maggie. “No more stealin’ cars, ladies.”

Diamond leaned close to Cody and spoke softly. “Now what?”

Cody breathed a deep sigh of relief. “Let’s all go home.”

The next instant, several older children began screaming on the upper deck. Something was wrong. Cody and Victor raced up the steps.

The commotion came from near the stern, where a crowd had gathered. The kids were jumping up and down, yelling and pointing.

When Victor and Cody arrived, they aimed a flashlight in the direction the kids were pointing. They could not believe their eyes. Gripping the retaining rail on the side of the boat were two hands larger than iron beach balls with hairy fingers long enough to fit around a grown man’s head.

When Cody looked over the side of the boat, he discovered that the hands belonged to a monster of a gorilla. The giant animal stared back at Cody and then pulled himself up and onto the deck, causing Victor and Cody to back up, giving this guy plenty of room.

The gargantuan beast must have pulled at least twenty gallons of saltwater on board with him as he came straight out of the ocean dripping wet and water-logged. He stood to a height of nearly ten feet, beating his chest and yelling. His wild eyes blinked excessively, perhaps irritated by the salty water, and maybe because of the bubbling up of the sulfur earlier. How long had he held onto the side of the boat? How long had it been since he had eaten?

Cody and Victor began pulling the children back, afraid of what was getting ready to happen. They recognized the giant ape. It was Godzilla the Third, the crafty anthropoid that had given Cupertino the slip.

Then as if there had not been enough surprises for one day, the children came running from all points and began crowding around the magnificent animal, calling out, “Godzilla! Godzilla!”

The large beast sat on the deck, his eyes soft and endearing as he let the children sit in his lap and climb upon his great shoulders.

Having endured so much, the kids now frolicked around a lost friend who, like them, had been in a cage.

They had put over sixty miles between themselves and the island. Now the last survivor had finally come aboard.

“Gunfighter, how are we gonna get this beast off this boat? I mean, he looks even bigger here than on the island.”

“Tell me something I don’t already know. I guess a little genetic experimentation goes a long way these days.”

Diamond finally stepped up next to Cody. “Look how sad his eyes are since he saw the children. Cody, he loves these kids.”

The creature made sharp eye contact with Cody and showed his teeth. He couldn’t speak any human languages, but the message in his suddenly menacing eyes was plain enough: “I’m coming with you.”

The lights of Puerto Rico had finally come into view flickering faintly in the distance. The voyage from X-ray Island had lasted thirty hours, and they were scheduled to dock at 2 a.m.

Normally the sight of land would have solicited cheers of joy from everyone, but most of the exhausted children were bedded down. Everyone was stuffed after a full meal. Some of the older kids had utilized a makeshift shower which recycled the water throughout the day. They also helped bathe some of the younger ones.

Two transport helicopters from Saint Vincent had brought food, drinking water, medicine, a doctor, fresh clothing, and toiletry items such as soap and shampoo that morning. Children in greatest need had been taken aboard and flown to a hospital.

Another helicopter had arrived for the gigantic gorilla. Four animal experts had tranquilized the gentle beast, had loaded him into a padded cage, and had flown him to a wildlife preserve in the Lesser Antilles.

Cody and Diamond had taken most of the day to rest and had finally rinsed the salt, sand, and soot out of their hair. As the afternoon had progressed, Diamond observed that Cody had become moody again. The nearer to their destination, the more melancholia he displayed.

Moments before midnight, they stood alone on the bow watching the smooth water reflect in the scant moonlight.

“So, Mr. Cody, just Cody, you said we should all go home. What exactly did you mean? Where exactly is home? Houston? Or, do you seek refuge wherever the wind takes you?” She ran her fingers over his cheek. “You need a shave by the way. I guess you know that.”

“So, you think I should shave before I take refuge?”

“Oh, it wouldn’t hurt.”

He locked his tired eyes on her face. “It fits.”

“The name, Sweet Ebony.”

“Oh, is that my codename?”

His blue eyes saddened. “I’ve had time to think during the past twenty-four hours.”

“I can see that,” she whispered. “You have another mission. You’re going alone to Barcelona to meet with Thirsty Giant’s associates. You have to complete the transaction and integrate their organization with yours, whatever it’s called.”

He nodded. “I wanna take some people I love, but it’s too dangerous.”

“And just who would those people be?”

He held her shoulders. “I think you know.”

“Oh, you mean moi? And what about your two blond teenage car thieves from Kansas and your five-year-old Panamanian swimmer?”

“I want to take ‘em home with me, but . . .”

“I know, Gunfighter. You’re like the passing clouds, always on the go to who knows where. It’s always dangerous, and it’s always urgent.”

“I’ve already explained it to them. Mom and Dad will meet us in Puerto Rico. Planned Childhood will find good homes for them.”

“Mr. Parker held our hands and said something about what God has joined together. Did that mean anything special, or . . . official?”

Cody cleared his throat. “We just gotta figure out how to make all the pieces fit.” He forged a delicate smile, but he could not hide his feelings.

Diamond’s soft raven curls swayed easily in the warm Caribbean breeze. Her wistful eyes like ebony pearls were troubled and silent. She had never known love before, but somehow she knew this was the moment when love either speaks or forever holds its peace.

“I have seen flashes of joy in your eyes, Cody. But mostly, I see sadness. You’re haunted by suffering children, especially the ones you can’t save from the garbage bins, and the others that you can’t be there to rescue. You’re a victim too, Cody, because you cannot take the time to let somebody love you, to give you babies of your own. Is that part of your calling, or shouldn’t you also be whole?”

“It won’t always be this way,” Cody breathed with a lumbering sigh. “So, are you headed home to Malibu for a while?”

“Actually, Global Direct Motion Pictures wants to start filming Land Without Shame on location in Venezuela in three weeks. I haven’t decided yet. I suppose that’s where I’ll be, unless . . .”

“Maybe people will take you seriously for a change.”

“That makes no difference now. I have the same vocabulary I’ve always had, but my definitions have changed. Five days staring death in the face and seeing my own reflection . . .” She shook her head. “Discovering who Jesus is . . . I mean, something’s different inside me that I can’t explain. Not yet, anyway.”

“I should be finished in Barcelona in a couple of weeks.”

“So, what then? Your work is important, and it never stops, right?”

“I wish I had a better answer.”

“So, I’ll go to Venezuela and do the film. Cupertino is dead and his organization is in chaos. The film might just finish them off.”

“It’s a dangerous country.”

“Cody, I will probably spend the rest of my life in the most dangerous hotspots on the planet.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because that’s where I will most likely find you.” She kissed him on the cheek. “I’m tired. I’m going to get some sleep.”

Her abrupt departure stunned him. Was she right? Was he a victim? As he watched her walk away, leaving him standing alone, a sudden panic took him. It pulsed through his veins like fire.

“Wait.” Cody put his hands into his front pockets.

Diamond turned around and stood quietly for a moment, then spoke passionately. “I can read your face from here, Cody Musket. It tells me that those three kids are just tearing your soul apart. They aren’t just any kids. Those three have marched right into the battle with you.”

Cody deliberated, then walked slowly, nervously across the deck and eased his arms around her. “And, how ‘bout you, Sweet Eb? Wavin’ a flare in that monsoon? And that stunt you pulled on Pablo, makin’ yourself a target to protect two girls you’d never laid eyes on?” He smiled circumspectly. “I hardly recognize you anymore. All the Musket women seem to have it.”

“You’re amazing. I mean, you have a way of saying things . . .”

“And, if you’re so bull-headed and determined to return to Venezuela, I’m comin’ with you. Like I said, it’s dangerous over there.”

“So, how does a girl like me become, as you say, a ‘Musket woman?’”

“You’re either born a Musket or you marry someone in the family.”

She began to tremble like the distant island when it was ready to explode, fire and rain in her eyes, her lips next to his. “So then . . . maybe there’s a chance for me?”

“You think?” He kissed her. “Wow. I’ve been such a moron.”

“Oh, you think?” She shook him by his shoulders. “Kiss me again.”

For five-year-old Freddy and two Kansas car thieves staked out on the mid-ships observation deck, the moment was picture-perfect.

Their tiny whispers were barely audible.

“What’re Cody and Mama Diamond doing? I never see that before.”

“Shhh! They’re kissing, doh-doh head!”

“Yeah, in the moonlight and everything.”

“Does that mean Mr. Cody and Mama Diamond want us?”

“Ha! I told you she would make him change his mind!”

The three children quietly bumped knuckles and high fived. A wide beam from Cody’s flashlight caught them in the act.

“Cody Musket, you have made me the luckiest . . . I mean the most blessed woman in the world! Do I get a codename? What about a callsign? Cody?”