Hawaiian Crosswinds Read online

  “Oh, I’d never do that, Mr. Easton; I need an escort for the fancy dinner-ball at Iolani,” she parried lightly.

  “There’s nothing like being needed.”

  “Seriously, is there any news about Sen Fong?”

  “Nothing but our past suspicions. Mine haven’t changed. The marshal is watching the gambling dens, following a suggestion he may find something, but I doubt he’ll come up with anything to identify the assassin. Now …” He smiled. “Why am I being escorted to Kakaako?”

  Her eyes met his. “Money.”

  “That’s what I thought. How long is this tour? Afterward, I’d like to have a little chat with you on a few matters.”

  “It won’t take long.” Eden walked on toward the Kakaako Leper Detention camp, explaining the desperate needs to Rafe as they walked.

  “I’ve spoken to Dr. Bolton about things, but it’s way beyond him, and it’s no one’s fault, really. The funds just aren’t available.”

  Kakaako was not a new or pleasant camp for the suspected lepers to wait out their verdicts. The area was like a wasteland, absent of trees and foliage, and there was no shade except by the sides of dilapidated huts on posts. They had been constructed on stilts because the strong south wind often brought the sea rolling in across the mud flats, flooding the area. The situation only encouraged idleness, adding to the squalor of the detainees.

  No words were needed for Eden to explain her concerns as they walked slowly past unclean holding cages with suspect lepers wearing blank expressions, as if they had long ago given up all hope.

  “If God’s Word could convert an opium kingpin like Sen Fong, then it could do a work here as well,” Rafe commented as they walked back toward Kalihi Hospital. “Liberty begins with a heart reconciled to God. What the lepers need most is hope, hope from the Bible that transcends their situation. I’ll ask Ambrose to begin a ministry here. At any rate, I’ll bring up the needs in the Legislature again. The last time they voted it down. Even if they won’t allocate more money to the Board of Health, we’ll get publicity in the newspapers, and maybe some interest from charitable institutions and individuals. And let’s get Zach to do a big write-up in the Gazette on the urgent needs. Maybe Parker Judson and Celestine could do something in the mainland to interest the American churches. In the meantime …”

  Eden brightened. “Rafe, those are wonderful ideas. I’ll talk to Ambrose and Zachary at the family meeting tomorrow. There are also some nuns here,” she said quietly. “Walter Murray Gibson brought them, and built them a handsome nunnery, and a small hospital on Molokai.”

  “With Priest Damien having gone to Molokai years ago, it probably encouraged Gibson to bring in the nuns. If Gibson ever thought that brought him any merit, it didn’t do his character any good. He remained a corrupt political official until they ran him out of Hawaii.”

  As Walter Murray Gibson was leaving he had nearly been lynched by some of the people from Honolulu who had heard about his financial dealings, but Sanford Dole had rushed down to the wharf and saved his life. Gibson, then boarding the steamer for San Francisco, had died on the way.

  They’d reached the lawn in front of Kalihi, a much more pleasant spot for conversation, with rustling palms, leafy banana trees, and blossoming bushes. Rafe stopped and faced her, taking hold of her arms. He smiled. “And now for good news. Kip is going to be secure. My reason for entering the Legislature has met with surprising success. I’ve obtained legal permission to begin adoption proceedings for Kip, though I’ll need to go through the San Francisco agency.”

  Eden caught a breath. “Oh, darling, that’s wonderful news.” Unable to contain herself she hugged him; then, a little embarrassed over her exuberance, she gave a little laugh and was about to step back when his arms tightened.

  “Not so fast.” His vital gaze held hers. He kissed her lightly. “The full reward will be collected another time. Am I to assume by your delight that you still fully agree to becoming his mother?”

  “Darling, I’m looking forward to being his mother,” she said firmly. “Those green eyes of his—” She stopped as soon as she spoke and then rushed on, hoping he hadn’t noticed, but that would be unlike Rafe, and a brow lifted curiously.

  “What about his green eyes?”

  She tried to shrug it off, to steer him away, and said lightly, “Oh, well, I have green eyes and I shall be his perfect mum.” Even that didn’t succeed, because he was linking Kip with her.

  The thoughtful silence held them. Oh no, if his thoughts begin to move toward that possibility. … She saw a curious spark in the depths of his gaze. She anxiously tried to think of something else to say to detour his thinking, but her mind seemed to freeze. Inevitably, she waited for the next question: Rebecca has green eyes, doesn’t she?

  It seemed an awkward minute had passed in silence before he spoke. When he did, his voice glossed over the question, leaving it unspoken as though nothing had occurred. But she knew he’d been remembering her mother Rebecca … Molokai … the baby left on the beach … a woman hiding in the rocks who refused to reveal herself and had run away when she saw that he’d rescued the infant from certain death.

  “Yes, you do have provocative green eyes,” Rafe said. “I’ve always thought so.”

  She rushed in. “And so, darling, when will you bring Kip to Hanalei?”

  “I thought I’d wait until we’re married and settled, ‘adjusted’ to each other is the way Ambrose put it.” His eyes flickered with amusement. “I don’t know whether I’ll ever ‘adjust’ to you or not, but I’m anxious to find out.”

  “I shall be the perfect helpmeet for you,” Eden said piously. “But why must you adopt Kip in San Francisco?”

  “A safeguard. He was aboard the Minoa when I first docked there after French Guiana.”

  Eden remembered. She’d been attending Chadwick’s Nursing School when Great-aunt Nora arrived with King Kalakaua’s entourage staying at the Palace Hotel. Eden had gone to the hotel to meet Nora and have dinner with a large group of people the king was entertaining. She’d met Rafe at the hotel, and what a shock it had been. The next day she’d visited him on the Minoa to see and taste the new pineapples he’d brought back. Parker Judson, also in San Francisco, at the time had shown great interest. Eden had discovered Kip aboard and had unfairly thought ill of Rafe. And Rafe had stubbornly refused to convince her the baby was not his biological child. What a drama that had been between them! That was when Grandfather Ainsworth was trying to get Rafe and Candace to marry.

  Eden instinctively laid her palm on his arm as if he might slip away from her heart again.

  “And so Kip will remain with Celestine in San Francisco until after we’re married and adjusted,” she said, clearly getting the plan laid out in her own mind. She wouldn’t mind at all if Kip was to be with them from the very beginning of their marriage, but if Rafe preferred to wait she wouldn’t protest. Kip was in wonderful hands with Celestine, one of the finest ladies with Victorian conduct that Eden knew. Since it had been Rafe’s idea to adopt Kip from the beginning, as well as Rafe’s scheme to snatch him away to San Francisco to prevent the Board of Health from sending him back to Molokai, Eden accepted the plan he wanted.

  And what if her suspicion about Kip and Rebecca turned out to be right? How would Rafe react to the news?

  As soon as I discover the truth on Molokai I shall send him a message by the supply ship, she thought, and asked, “When will the adoption officially take place?”

  “It will take six months, then I can sign the final legal paper.”

  Time enough to meet with Rebecca and to get the facts back to Rafe. And if she were wrong about her nagging suspicions? Well then, Rafe need never be bothered about it.

  “And now,” he said, “you have something you’d like to discuss with me before I leave for the mainland? Perhaps you’re hesitant to bring it up because of modesty?”

  At first she thought he spoke about Sen Fong and the suspicious happenings of a few days
earlier at Hunnewell’s, which unfortunately remained unsolved and as murky as ever, perhaps worse, as the days moved on. Then it struck her that perhaps she hadn’t been as subtle as she had thought when it came to the problem of raising the money to buy the printing press. Dr. Jerome was much concerned over the need for a loan to pay for supplies and the construction needs for the clinic. She had entertained the notion that she might get a loan from Rafe, but couldn’t bring herself to ask.

  She drew in a breath and decided that she would approach the matter with the straightforwardness Rafe appeared to like from her. He disliked coyness, or the feminine art of wiles.

  “It’s about the printing press,” she said. “I’ve mentioned it before. Rebecca first brought it up in the letter I received several months ago. Perhaps you remember?”

  “I do. Ambrose has spoken of it as well. Rebecca knows of a discouraged young lad there who still has good use of his hands. Ambrose says you want to teach the patients there to print children’s books, even some Bibles. And both of you are hoping Ambrose might teach him to run the press, and create a paper for the colony. The press is your idea, I believe. I’m not surprised, my sweet. I expected as much. Your heart is moved by spiritual needs and hopelessness. You see, darling, I do pay attention to your interests.”

  Eden couldn’t keep her surprise from showing. She’d thought she might have to go into long detail to explain why the printing press was needed and important.

  “Ambrose has also suggested that maybe you would consider the use of the Minoa to bring the press to shore,” she said meekly.

  “Where do you expect to get a printing press?”

  “Well, Ambrose mentioned one could be bought in and shipped from San Francisco.”

  “That would take months. I assume helping this boy find a purpose in life is somewhat urgent. Why not buy one from your Great-aunt Nora? I’m sure the cause will appeal to her. Don’t worry about the money.”

  “From Nora …?” she said, bewildered.

  “If I recall correctly, she ordered a new one for the Gazette a year ago and isn’t using it. Since she’s obviously in no hurry, I’ll buy it from her and she can reorder when she’s ready.”

  Eden broke into a smile. “Of course! I remember now, it was Zachary who talked her into buying it and she was quite displeased about it afterward because of the cost. Darling, that’s wonderful. That press must be better than any I could have wished for. And does this mean you can actually deliver it?”

  “To see such a happy smile and have your eyes light up? Yes. When I return from San Francisco, or else Keno can deliver it sooner. Ambrose can go with him and set it up. And yes, my sweet, I shall loan the money to build the clinic. There must be a satisfying reason for sponsoring a cause which I’ve opposed all this time, but I just can’t figure out what it is,” he said wryly.

  “Oh darling! You will? Oh Rafe, I shall never forget your generosity! I love you so much.”

  “I knew there was a reason—that must be it.”

  She laughed. “Wait till my father learns it’s Rafe Easton who’ll loan him the money to build the clinic. He won’t know what to think about the change that’s come over all of us.”

  Rafe smiled. “I think he’ll know what to make of it, all right. A wise man signs a peace treaty with his soon to be father-in-law.”

  She supposed her father would also prove wise enough to make peace with Rafe. It wasn’t lost on her that in the end, Rafe’s favor put Dr. Jerome in his debt.

  “Speaking of Keno,” he said. “Strangely enough, Ainsworth is offering him land on the Big Island to grow cane, and a financial loan. I’ve had a look at it. It’s decent sugar land. Trouble is, Keno isn’t of the sugar-king mentality; he’s pineapple or coffee.”

  Eden looked at him quickly. She had spoken to Ambrose about vows and he’d given her his wisdom on what Scripture taught. He had mentioned Jephthah who had made a rash vow to God, and because of it his daughter had remain unmarried to serve in the tabernacle at Shiloh all her life. In those days for a Jewish woman to remain unmarried and childless was a shameful fate, and so Jephthah’s daughter had mourned what would befall her because of her father’s hasty vow. There were other rash vows as well, but the worst, in Eden’s opinion, was wicked Herod. In order to keep his rash vow he had ordered the death of John the Baptist! Ambrose hadn’t told her what to do. He’d left the conclusion to her. Eden had made up her mind. How could she keep the truth back from Rafe when their upcoming marriage was certain? She couldn’t!

  “Do you think Keno will accept the agreement?” she first asked.

  “I haven’t told him. Ainsworth has asked me to play the third party and to keep it a secret from Keno. There’s something about the plan that makes me uncomfortable. I’d rather everything were in the sunlight when it comes to Keno. He trusts me, and I plan to keep it that way.” He looked at her. “I’m not insulting your grandfather by any means, as I think by and large he’s a good man. But there’s something more behind his offer. He isn’t the sort for philanthropic deeds without a solid reason for doing them. Keno’s been ignored by your grandfather—even when Candace was out beating the drums for his merits. Now that she’s broken off with Keno to marry Oliver, why would Ainsworth decide to be his benefactor? Rather intriguing, don’t you think?”

  She felt the discerning gleam in his gaze.

  “You’re right,” she admitted. “There is something unseemly. And I know what it is.”

  He looked at her intently. “I thought you might.”

  “I couldn’t speak about it before. Candace was adamant about vowing my silence. I acted rashly and have relented. It’s been troubling me ever since. I’ve talked to Ambrose about breaking a vow, but I didn’t explain what was troubling me.”

  “You were wise to discuss it with Ambrose and come to an upright conviction. I think I know what’s behind Ainsworth’s unusual generosity, yet I need to hear it from you.”

  “Grandfather means well by Candace, and I suspect by all of us. As you say, he’s a decent man, but well, he does have stringent ways as you know when it comes to ruling the Derringtons.” She frowned. “There’s no excuse for the way Keno’s been treated, and he’s manipulating Candace. I can’t see any other way to explain it.”

  “Then he’s rewarding Candace by granting Keno plantation land if she’ll marry Hunnewell?”

  “Yes, but there’s more. If she doesn’t marry Oliver, then he’s stated clearly that he’ll run Keno out of the Islands.”

  Rafe’s jaw set. She saw anger in his eyes as she’d expected. Rafe had himself experienced banishment from Townsend similar to what Ainsworth had warned would happen to Keno. A few years earlier when Rafe had worked for Nora at the Gazette he’d written editorials supporting the monarchy that had made her grandfather livid. He had feared Rafe could turn the planters against annexation. Ainsworth had given Townsend permission to harass Rafe and run him out of Hawaii. So much had changed since those early years that Rafe was now a dedicated annexationist. Townsend’s threat to run him off the Islands had been greeted with a challenge, but Rafe had already intended to go to sea. He left for French Guiana, only to return one day with the means to thwart the Derringtons. Now, of course, Ainsworth’s feelings toward Rafe were the very opposite, and it was Townsend who had to leave Hawaii due to his own sinful ways.

  “But Candace knows Grandfather can send Keno away, and would do so if necessary,” Eden went on.

  “I challenge that,” Rafe stated. “As long as I have anything to say about it, Keno isn’t going anywhere. If necessary I’ll convince Parker Judson to let Keno buy into Hawaiiana. I mentioned something of that idea to Ainsworth when he came to me about the land on the Big Island.”

  She was not surprised. She had the horrible notion that if Ainsworth moved against Keno there would be a standoff between Rafe and the Derringtons that would lead to an iron-clad dispute.

  “Well, Candace took Grandfather seriously, and in order to see that Keno has
the opportunity to fulfill his dreams she agreed to the ultimatum. The land, she thinks, will make up for Keno losing her, and that he’ll find someone else to marry.”

  “Very sacrificial. But unwise. We’re not going to allow Ainsworth and Thaddeus Hunnewell to ruin their chance for happiness by recreating a new Romeo and Juliet scenario. Keno’s mad about her. He’ll never get over losing her. I know him too well.”

  “What will you do?” she asked urgently.

  “I’ll make certain this scheme is brought out into the sunshine, my sweet. Keno’s going to know the reason Candace has been running from him, and Ainsworth will be told there’s no deal on his bribery plan. Keno’s going to get his own plantation all right. But not from Ainsworth. There’s no question about Keno getting land. He and I made an agreement before we went to French Guiana that I’d back him financially. We’ve been waiting for Hawaiiana to begin producing. But I don’t need to wait for that any longer. The Easton legacy was turned over to me, and soon the pearl beds, so there’s enough to back Keno now.”

  She couldn’t restrain her response. A smile struggled to her lips. “That’s what I was hoping you’d say about standing up to Grandfather. He thinks most highly of you now. If you insist on standing up for Keno, then I’ve a notion Grandfather will relent.”

  “On a marriage with Candace?” he asked doubtfully. “I can’t see it.”

  “Perhaps you’re right about the marriage, but if Candace decides Grandfather won’t be able to ruin Keno’s future in Hawaii, then, well, I think she may revert back to being the Candace we both know. What are you going to do?”

  “There’s still a few things that don’t fit. I’ll need to look into them before the steamer leaves on Sunday. I do know that I won’t be duping Keno into accepting a land grant, however grand, as a result of losing the woman he loves.”

  Yes, that’s right, she thought with a shudder. If Keno ever discovered the deceit that was played upon him, he may come to hate the very soil he walked on, knowing the price that was paid by the woman he loved and lost. Rafe as the third party would be seen as part of the deceit. She was relieved that Rafe had recognized the serious risks and stepped back.