The three women looked at each other in silent agreement. They’d had such a small margin of error and nearly died. Others would surely perish.
“So what do we do?” Sandy asked. “We’ve all got families and we want them to know we’re all right.”
“Just send them telegrams saying that you are safe in California and that you got out via a neutral freighter. Tell them you’ll elaborate later. And later will come when we either liberate the islands or the war is over. When that happens, you can write a book or proclaim your truly wonderful story from the mountaintops for all anybody cares. In the meantime, we just don’t want anybody else to die trying.”
“That’s good,” said Amanda. “We’re all nurses, you know, and we’d like to go back to being that. Along with needing to earn a living, we’d like to be helpful. Now, how do we get back to work, and we’d prefer San Diego.”
Harding grinned. “Ever think of enlisting? We’d make you officers right off.”
“No,” Amanda said, and the others nodded. “We enlist and we could get sent anywhere in the world. No, thank you, but I’ll stay in California.” She didn’t add that she wanted to find Tim Dane, although Harding’s expression told her he understood her motives.
Harding stood. For the first time, Amanda noticed that his left hand was permanently set in a claw and that he had a Purple Heart on his chest.
“Where?” she asked, looking at the medal.
“The Philippines. I was in the Fourth Marine Regiment and got lucky. I was wounded very early on and evacuated before the place was cut off by the Japs. All I lost was the use of my left hand. I’m right-handed so it’s not that much of a loss.”
Grace took his arm and examined the hand. There were burn scars on his wrist and forearm. “Can you use it at all?”
“A little, and they say it’ll get better.” Harding gently pushed her hand away. “Based on the info you gave us, we’ve been contacting your schools and places you worked before going to Honolulu to establish your credentials so you can go to work in your field. When that is done, you’ll be free to travel to San Diego or wherever else your hearts desire. Do you agree to keep this whole thing quiet, at least for the time being?”
As usual, Amanda spoke for them. “Of course. We wouldn’t want anybody to die as a result of our actions. However, I do have to wonder if staying in Hawaii is the better choice for starving people.”
“So do I, and so do a lot of people,” he said. “We can all only hope and pray that we make the right decisions.”
“Are we still restricted to here?” Stacy asked.
“Nope. Now that we’ve talked and come to an agreement, you’re free to go and do whatever you want. Housing’s really short around here, so you might want to stay here for a while, gather your strength, and let the government pay for your room and board until things get squared away regarding your work status.”
They agreed that it was a splendid idea. Harding said his wife lived a couple of miles away and would get them some clothing so they could get started on some real shopping without having to wear hospital gowns.
“Just curious, but what would you have done if we’d said we wouldn’t cooperate?” asked Grace.
Harding smiled grimly. “Then we would have moved you to a place in the desert with real guards and it would have taken decades to find your nursing credentials.”
Grace nodded. “Keeping mum sounds like a splendid idea to me.”
Harding turned and smiled at Amanda. “And I do hope you find your boyfriend in San Diego.”
Amanda blushed. “Are my motives that transparent?”
He laughed. “Yes.”
Amanda flushed. “He’s a navy officer and his name’s Tim Dane and he was supposed to leave Hawaii on a sub. Have you heard of him?”
Harding shook his head. “No, but it’s a big navy. I’ll check around. Any of you other ladies have anybody you want me to check up on?”
Ruby Oliver and her little band of soldiers had been augmented by one more GI who carried a tattered duffle bag instead of a rifle. He explained that he was the base photographer and that the major had told him to take pictures of his troops fighting off the Japanese.
“And I did what he said, Miss Oliver, and it made me sick,” said Private Perkins.
Ruby took him aside so they could talk privately. “First of all, call me Miss Oliver again and I’ll be forced to kill you and it will be painful. Understand?”
Perkins was a scrawny kid who was well outmanned by Ruby. “Okay,” he said with a shy grin. “Ruby.”
“Now, what kind of cameras do you have in that bag?”
“Ah, one eight-millimeter movie camera and a couple of regular cameras. The eight-millimeter’s one of those that’s sixteen millimeter and takes pictures on two halves.”
Ruby had no idea what he was talking about, but decided it didn’t matter. “And you took pictures of everything?”
Perkins face fell and his lips began to tremble. He had seen much too much for a young kid. “Yeah. I started shooting when we pulled out of the base and kept it up when Jap shells started clobbering us. I started to help some of the wounded, but the major told me to keep filming so people would know what had happened, so I did. Then he got killed along with the wounded I was trying to help. When I realized I was alone, I ran into the town and watched as the Japs massacred the prisoners by shoving them into the ocean.”
“You got that on film?” Ruby asked incredulously.
“All of it, Ruby. Every second of it,” he said and started to cry. “They were my friends.”
“How old are you, Perkins?”
“Seventeen. I lied to get in. I’ll never tell a lie again. I’d really just like to go home.”
She held him to her bosom and hugged him until he calmed down. None of the others could see the exchange, so no one would mock him for being a sissy and breaking down in front of a woman. If they had, she would have chewed them out until they’d cried as well. None of them had handled this disaster very well, and a couple looked like they too were on the verge of emotional collapse.
“You have any film left?”
“Lots, and of both types.”
She took him back to the others and introduced him. They were from different units and didn’t know him very well. The men were uninterested until she told them he was going to take their pictures and send them home to loved ones. At that point they brightened up. Maybe life wasn’t so futile after all.
First, though, they had to find a place that was far enough from the Japs and where they could communicate with the rest of the world either by phone or radio. Maybe she could arrange for a small plane to land somewhere and pick them up along with Perkins’s films. Remembering the massacre of the prisoners made her angry once more, but having proof of it would be vindication. Let the world see what miserable, barbaric sons of bitches the Japs were.
She looked at her nervous and frightened flock, and wondered—what have I done to deserve this? “I know you’re all soldiers and the highest ranking one of you is supposed to lead, but let me make a proposition. I’m from here and I know the area. I’m confident I can get us all to safety, including Perkins and his magic cameras. If you don’t want me to work with you, that’s okay too, and I’ll just strike off on my own and leave your worthless asses here to either starve, be eaten by grizzlies, or be captured and you know what’ll happen to you then.”
One of the soldiers, a PFC, stood and smiled. “My name is Crain and we’ve already talked it over and I guess I’m senior and would normally be in command. However, back at the fort I was a cook and not really much of a soldier. None of us are so stupid that we’d reject your idea, and we’re all willing to follow your lead.”
“Good.”
“One thing, though. When we get back to the real world and the real army, please tell them you were just advising us, won’t you?”
Dane’s first view of the attack force that would strike the Japs at Anchorage came from one of the inadequate windows of the C47 that was carrying him and others to Puget Sound. Below, the twelve PBYs looked like either strange toys or a flock of large but truly ugly birds sitting on the water. More and more he doubted the wisdom of launching an attack on the Japanese invaders with such unwarlike planes. He was beginning to deeply
