“What do you presume all that weather was about?” James asked.
“I do not pretend to know her mind and speculation usually leads down the wrong path. Let us look onward. Now, my dear,” Luno said, looking at Kilani. “How long do you estimate our arrival at the first of the three widows?”
“At our current speed, I’d say less than twenty minutes.”
“Excellent, we will drop anchor on the western side of the island and row to shore. All three widows are approachable from the west, which will make our trip briefer than if we had to circumnavigate each bloody island looking for a place to land.”
Luno had done his homework. During his tenure on the island he’d explored most every crack and crevasse The Never had to offer-that is, with the exception of the six perimeter islands. It had taken him decades to map everything. He had lost several people who’d volunteered to accompany him and been injured more times than he cared to remember. From the cliffs on the northern cape, Luno could see that each of the three widow’s western sides had white sandy shores. A perpetual mist hung over their centers, preventing anyone from seeing far past the coasts.
“What is the plan if we cannot find running water on the island?” James asked, recalling that one could not drink standing water in The Never without dying a terrible death.
“You worry too much, my friend. We drank just before we left and have more than enough time to find water,” Luno replied.
“And if we don’t?” James asked.
“Depending on how long the exploration takes, we can either move on to the second widow or make our way back to Harbor Town.”
“I have a suggestion,” Kilani said.
“By all means,” Luno said.
“Finding running water should be paramount. We move swiftly to that end. If, by midday, we do not find any, James and I make our way to the second widow to search there. We meet back at our landing point before sundown and either return to Harbor Town or to the water source. If we do discover running water, we set up our camp there.”
“A brilliant idea,” Luno said, smiling as he walked back toward the wheel.
James looked at Kilani, who gave him a wry smile and continued securing the supplies that had been strewn about in the storm. Once complete, he made his way toward the stern to make sure the dinghy was still tethered to the rear of the boat. Despite everything they had set out to do on this voyage, his mind couldn’t help but return to that which had infested it as long as he could remember. The prophecy. Here he was, in a place far away from his home and once again he was the one everyone was depending upon. He thought it ironic that the moment he’d arrived at this place-once he’d regained his lucidity, that is-that he had felt a weight lifted from his consciousness.
The moment Luno told him he believed James was the one who could return them to their world, it came rushing back, sitting squarely upon his shoulders. He hadn’t realized what a burden it was until it had returned with the force of a massive boulder. Never free to live his own life, James had always been expected to serve others. Despite his outward appearance of strength and acceptance of this destiny, James struggled with this responsibility every day. What if he didn’t live up to the expectations? What if he couldn’t? It is never easy to live under the shadow of greatness. Especially when you’re expected to fulfill the expectations everyone has laid out for you since you were a child.
And yet, in this place he had found reprieve. Not once, but twice. First upon his arrival and second through the touch of a woman. Despite their age difference, James and Kilani had grown close. Her relationship with Luno was complicated at best. Every time James asked her about it she deflected the question and steered the conversation in another direction. Nobody in Harbor Town shared residence, which James found particularly odd since there were equal numbers of men and women dwelling there. He couldn’t get a clear answer to that question either. Kilani spent a considerable amount of time with Luno. Virtually every moment she was not with James she spent with Luno. Every morning when they’d meet to explore or study, Kilani would come walking out of Luno’s house. Every night she would retire to her own.
Luno had sent James and Kilani to confirm his map details in grid 14, which was on the western coast. Kilani and James talked constantly during their trek. Kilani always spoke about the plants. He quickly learned she was the resident horticulturist. When they would go on mapping expeditions, Kilani was always on the lookout for undiscovered plants. She invariably returned with bundles of plants and leaves with which she would conduct experiments.
She was the one who discovered the fire trees of the west. When the fire tree’s leaves touch, they immediately burst into flames. The sap of these trees is also highly flammable. This discovery was the catalyst for the construction of nearly all of the modern amenities at Harbor Town. Most of all, Kilani was hell-bent on finding a local plant that would enable her to make transporting powder.
As they reached the lichen-choked boulders that lined the small cove (aptly named Lichen Cove) on their map-plotting mission, James and Kilani sat and looked out over the sea.
“Do you truly believe we will ever leave this place?” she asked.
“Do you?” James replied.
Tears began streaming down Kilani’s cheeks. It was the first time James had ever seen her show any emotion other than excitement. She looked out over the water and let the tears come. James looked at her. Her blue-green eyes, glassy with tears, appeared to have left this world. Minutes passed. Kilani continued to stare out to sea. Finally she spoke.
“When you first arrived and Luno believed that you were the one who would get us off this island, I was excited. We all were. But a year has passed and we are no closer to finding a way out. I want to believe in you, James. But here,” she placed her hand over her heart, “deep inside lies doubt. Luno inspires hope, that’s what he does. I think he truly believes you will do what he thinks you’ve been brought here to do. That gives me hope. I suppose I’ve always had trouble blindly following. Blindly believing.”
“My entire life has been filled with the expectations of others. And all my life, I have held onto doubt. Perhaps I am not the person Luno believes me to be. But I will promise you this, Kilani,” James took her hand from her heart and placed it over his. “I will try with every ounce of blood that pumps through my heart to live up to those expectations.”
“Why burden yourself with that?”
“Because without hope, there is nothing. And I will not live in a world where there is no hope.”
Kilani broke her gaze for the first time and looked where James had placed her hand. It still rested on his chest with both his hands covering it. Their eyes met and locked, tears still streamed down her cheeks. Kilani reached her other hand and cupped the back of James’s neck. He felt a flash of heat rush down his spine. It surged back up and spread across his shoulders and down to his fingers. The tension that strung across his shoulder blades like piano wire melted away.
“I want to believe. Make me believe. Tell me you’ll take me away from this place. Be who you are supposed to be.” Kilani said these things not because she wanted a response from him but because she wanted to motivate him to press on, to keep trying.
As the heat dissipated, it was replaced. It wasn’t the emptiness or pressure James had come to expect but desire. Desire to fulfill the destiny Luno had laid out for him. Not for Luno or the others trapped on The Never but for her. Just her. Her approval, her acceptance, her love. Kilani released her grip on his neck and let her hand fall from his chest. Despite his immediate longing for her touch, he felt invigorated. James wondered what she so longed for but knew she would tell him only when she was ready, if at all. On that day for the first time, James felt as if Kilani saw him as a man rather than just a boy.
A cry of “Land ho,” returned James to the present. In that simple phrase James realized there were only two true mariners aboard the ship. He was grateful to have William and Roger and understood why Luno kept them close in his council during the planning phase of the expedition. He had even allowed them to name the ship, which they called The Queen Mary, after their wives, both named Mary.
“Bring her about the western point and look for a suitable place to anchor,” Luno shouted from the bow. “Aye, aye, Capin’,” Roger shouted from behind the wheel.
Luno slowed the ship as it rounded the point. For the first time, James saw the second widow, which was
