"Gather the other tribesmen in the village square. We will need to organize our battle plans quickly. I will make sure my daughter doesn't escape again."
When Manaia rushed out of the hut, Te' struggled to stand. Her father placed his hand gently on her head and motioned for her to stay seated.
"I'm sorry to have to do this Teuila, but I can't afford to lose you again." He kneeled down and wrapped some thick strands of hibiscus twine around her binds then tied the new rope around a sturdy branch in the side wall. "You'll have to stay here until we sort this other matter out. And this time Nona won't be here to help you."
As her father stormed out of the hut and Te' struggled against the sharp twine digging into her wrists, a lone tear dribbled down the front of her cheek. It looked like regardless of the outcome of the looming war between the tribes, she'd soon be bound into the arms of one power-hungry man or another. She wiggled her leg and felt Jade's stone rubbing against her thigh.
Stay safe, my love, she thought. Hopefully at least one of us can escape this madness.
21
I woke up at first light the following morning with a growl in my stomach. It had been twenty-four hours since I'd eaten anything, and I swallowed hard realizing I was left to my own devices to feed myself. But I had more pressing immediate matters to attend to. I needed to see what had become of Teuila and find a way to extract the two of us safely from the village. We only had a little over thirty-six hours before all hell would break loose in the camp. The safest place for both of us would be as far away on the other side of the island as possible.
I slowly lifted myself up and parted the leaves of my bush, peering in the direction of the village. The square was busier than usual for this time of the morning, with sentries posted at opposite ends of the esplanade. A large group of tribesmen sat in the middle of the square sharpening stones, tying them carefully to the ends of long spears and arrows. Manaia paced around the circle, gesturing and barking orders like he was in command.
I glanced in the direction of Te's hut and saw that a guard was standing on all four sides of the structure. There was no sign of Nona or the chief, and from the stillness of the cabin, I assumed that Teuila and her family were still sleeping. After another twenty minutes or so, her father stepped through the front door and called to one of the tribesmen in the working group. He walked to the bottom of the steps, and as Nona and Teuila's siblings streamed out the front entrance, the chief motioned for them to follow the tribesman toward the lagoon. I took this to mean that Teuila had notified him of the other tribe's invasion plans and that he was taking no chances leaving the women or children unattended.
At least he's aware of the danger now and is taking necessary precautions, I nodded.
But where was Teuila? Why hadn't he sent her down to the lagoon with the rest of her family to attend to her morning ablutions? Was he going to leave her under armed guard in the hut all day, where she'd have to take care of her private affairs in a bowl?
I shook my head at the barbarity of his decision.
He's not taking any chances with her, I thought. It's going to be next to impossible for her to escape with an armed guard surrounding her cabin and with her grandmother not allowed to go anywhere without an escort.
I glanced toward Manaia again, wondering what he was up to. After destroying the village's only means of marine navigation, instead of slipping into the forest to join his comrades from the other clan, for some reason he'd chosen to stay behind and help his tribe prepare for the attack.
Was he going to join his tribe in battle, then turn on them at the last second? Or was he waiting for the right time to slip away and alert the other tribe that his village had been forewarned of their intentions?
I still wasn't sure if the chief intended to defend his village against the attack or if he planned to take preemptive action. Either way, Manaia couldn't be trusted. I needed to find a way to warn Teuila and her father before it was too late. The other tribe looked to be at least twice as large as Teuila's. The only chance her group would have to prevail in the looming battle was to maintain the element of surprise. Manaia surely would have already informed the other side of her village's defenses and battle readiness. If he were to switch sides in the heat of the fight, that could easily turn the tide in favor of the other clan.
But how could I get close enough to her hut to send her a signal? Trying to whistle again was out of the question. After my last pitiful attempt to mimic the local wildlife drew her father's attention, I couldn't risk betraying my position again. My only chance was to leave some kind of message with her grandmother. But how could I draw her attention when she was being watched so closely?
I paused to rack my brain with every possibility. Then it suddenly dawned on me. Teuila had told me she'd studied many of the same subjects as me during the time missionaries visited the island. What if she could read English as well as she spoke it? If I could get her grandmother to pass her a note, I could warn her about Manaia's intentions and see if her father might relax his restrictions.
But how could I write her a message? I didn't have any writing material, and I'd left my phone in my bag in her hut when we escaped three days ago. I looked around for any object that might serve as a writing tablet, then I noticed a mulberry tree like the ones Te' said her tribe used to make their skirts and dresses. I knew that the inner layer of its bark was thin and pale. If I could strip a piece off, maybe I could carve a message into its pulp-like skin.
I got up on all fours and crawled toward the tree, keeping a close eye on the village square to make sure nobody saw me. When I reached the tree, I used my small paring knife to cut a four-by-six-inch piece of bark off the trunk, then I lay it flat on the ground and found a small sharp stone nearby. Realizing I wouldn't have long before Nona and the rest of Te's family returned from the lagoon, I scrawled a rough message into the backside of the strip.
Watching close by. Manaia burned the canoes. Warn chief. Will wait for you at our lagoon.
I hid my adze and knife under the bush then stuffed the piece of bark in the back of my shorts and carefully circled around toward the lagoon. By now, I had a decent understanding of the layout of the village, and it didn't take long to wend my way through the woods near the trailhead to the bathing lagoon. When I got there, I saw Nona and the children walking single-file up the path with the tribesman urging them on from the rear.
I waited until she was close to my position, then I shook the branch of a low-lying tree to get her attention. She glanced in my direction and when she saw me hiding in the brush, she paused as I tossed the piece of bark toward her. The guard yelled something to her, then she kneeled on the ground and leaned over, pretending to be sick. The tribesman hurried past her with the rest of the children as he grimaced in her direction. Nona picked up the piece of bark and noticing the strange writing symbols on it, tucking it under her tapa dress. Then she nodded toward me and joined the rest of the group while the guard waited impatiently.
As the group continued marching up the path toward Teuila's hut, I doubled back to my
previous hiding place and waited for her grandmother to deliver the news. When they returned to the hut, the chief stood on the front porch with his arms crossed and ordered them all back inside. A few minutes later, Nona stepped through the front door carrying a large wooden bowl and the chief jerked his head in the direction of the jungle. She tiptoed down the steps cradling the bowl carefully, then disappeared behind the hut and returned a few minutes later, sprinkling some loose sand inside the container.
So it's true, I grimaced in disgust. The chief is making her do her business in a pail. At least it's affording her a little privacy to receive my message.
Nona disappeared back inside the hut for a few minutes, then she stepped out and spoke quietly with the chief as she glanced nervously in Manaia's direction. The chief shook his head angrily, then he flipped open the door flap and stormed back into the cabin. I could hear he and Teuila talking in strained voices, then her father stepped out onto the porch and motioned for Manaia to join them in the hut. For the next minute or two, the sound of angry voices emanated from the building as the rest of the tribesmen turned and looked at one another in confusion.
Finally, the two men stepped out of the cabin and the chief said something to Manaia as he pointed toward the men working in the square. Manaia scurried to join them, but this time he sat quietly among them, joining them in their labor. Then the chief sat on his chair on the porch, motioning for the four guardsmen guarding his hut to maintain their positions.
That's it? I thought. He's letting Manaia off scot-free? What about Teuila? Is he just going to leave her in there? Didn't she tell him about Manaia's treacherous behavior? He must have convinced the chief that she was making it all up to drive a wedge between them in the hope of rejoining her white girlfriend.
It looks like we're on our own again babe, I sighed.