Chapter Twenty
Back in their hotel room, Andrea bent down, placed her hands on Camilla’s shoulders and jostled her. “Would you like to go on a picnic?” She grabbed some dry clothes and then headed for the bathroom to change leaving the door open a crack. “Brian and I have decided to rent a boat for the afternoon. So we thought…” Andrea stepped out of her wet swim suit.
Camilla had decided she wanted to wear her new shorts. “Oh Mam’selle Andrea could we? I ‘ave never ‘ad a picinic. What is a picinic?”
“Picnic, not pic-i-nic. A picnic is when we get the hotel to pack us a scrumptious lunch with lots of good things to eat; we boat to a beach somewhere, spread a blanket on the sand and eat, swim, and laugh a lot.”
“Oh mais oui.” Camilla squealed with delight, a sound that Andrea never tired of hearing. “Can we take my new swimsuit, can we?” Camilla jumped up and down in excitement. She steadied herself and then slipped her head into the t-shirt part of her ensemble.
“Yes, you certainly may. The suits will be wet but maybe by the time we decide on a beach, they’ll at least be warm from the sunshine.” Andrea exited the bathroom just as Camilla grabbed her swim suit. “Here let’s put these into this plastic tote. We’ll put some dry towels in as well.”
“Mam’selle, why you bring Camilla wit you? Nobody care about Camilla…till you come…except for ma mama et papa.” Camilla looked intently toward her benefactor, clearly wanting to understand.
Andrea sat on the bed and gathered the little girl to her. Her voice cracked. “Camilla, where we come from, people take care of children. They are not left to wander the streets alone.”
“Oh…but. . Mam’selle Andrea…”
“No buts. We, both Brian and I, care about what happens to you and we will not let anyone hurt you ever again, if we can in any way help it. Now let’s go meet Brian. He was going to order our lunch and meet us downstairs.” Andrea swiped a tear from her eyes before it trickled down her cheek. How could anyone abandon such a sweet child?
She locked the room door and walked toward the elevator. “I’m looking forward to another boat ride, aren’t you? Let’s hurry.”
The elevator door opened. Camilla skipped out first and ran headlong into Brian. He laughed and wrapped one hand around her thin shoulders. He held a bulging basket of food in the other. “They are still apologetic over the break-in.” He lifted the basket indicating this was the hotel’s way of making up for it.
Andrea looked inside. A scream erupted from her lips. Lying on top of the food, with blood dripping over the sandwiches, was a dead chicken still attached to its feathers this time.
Brian swung the basket away from her line of vision and marched back to the front desk. “Look at this.” He held the basket toward the concierge. “Someone in your hotel is responsible for this and probably the other creepy stuff that’s been going on. I want an explanation.”
“Oh monsieur. Not my staff. Someone must have come into the kitchen when ma wife was not looking, non?” The man was beside himself. “We will make another basket, only this time you do not pay for anything,”
“Somebody sure buys into this voodoo stuff here. Do you know anyone who works here that goes to the ceremonies?” Brian handed over the basket.
“Non, monsieur but then I do not ask what they do when they are not ‘ere. I am not responsible. But ma wife? Huh. When she want to go, I say NON.” He stomped his foot.
“I’m sure glad we discovered that before we left. Can you imagine what our lunch would have looked like if we’d waited till after a long hot boat ride? What does this mean?” Andrea stood beside Brian at the desk as the concierge took the basket back to the kitchen.
“Who cares what it means, It’s not going to scare us away from doing what we know is right. Besides we have Christ to protect us.”
A tiny voice spoke beside them. “What is this Christ? Why feathers not scare you?” Camilla was obviously curious about why her new friends didn’t believe what she’d grown up believing was normal. “I hear you talk much about heem, but I never hear about heem before.”
“Let’s go outside while we wait for our lunch.” Andrea and Brian walked toward a swing on the veranda, lifted Camilla into the seat and then sat on either side of her.
Andrea was the first to speak. “Christ is the Son of God. Do you understand who God is?”
Camilla shook her head. “He punish us if we are bad. The ceremonies…”
Brian sighed. “The ceremonies have nothing to do with Him, Camilla. They are the people’s way of trying to reach God but He doesn’t want anyone to do that stuff.”
“God’s Son, Jesus, came to earth a long time ago to die on a cross for the things we do wrong. We don’t have to dance in the moonlight or any of that.” Andrea tried to form the words from the Gospels into language this child could understand. “God tells us how to behave in His Bible.”
“Oh oui. Bible. Ma mere, she ‘as one but…she don’t know how to read so…” Camilla shrugged her shoulders. She hung her head again as if ashamed that her parents were members of the uneducated.
This society sure has people fooled about what’s important. Andrea continued. “After Jesus died on the cross, He came alive again, and then went back to heaven to talk to His Father about us and for us. That’s like a present for us. All we have to do is take it. Do you remember all those nice clothes we bought for you? Those are presents from us to you. You had to take the presents, didn’t you and then they were yours. God wants us to take His present too, so when we pray He can hear us. Oh…it’s too complicated for someone as young as you to understand, I think.” Andrea scratched her forehead.
Camilla shook her head. She spoke clearly. “You tell me dat dis Jesus is de Son of God. ‘e died. Why ‘e ‘ave to die?”
“A long time ago, before Jesus came, a man named Adam sinned, did some bad things. God told him that now he would die. Before that people did not have to die. Anyway, God allowed people from then on to be forgiven of their sins when they put a new lamb to death as an offering. Jesus became that offering once and for all.”
“Ah-h-h…and is now in heaven speaking for us. Dat is a gift. I accept, non?”
Brian sat back on the swing and looked at Andrea before answering. “We just have to tell Him that we know we do wrong things.”
“Ah oui. I steal when I am ‘ongry.” Camilla shook her head again.
Brian continued, smiling at the little girl’s understanding. “Then we ask Jesus to live inside us …. .”
“You mean like a ghost …” interrupted the little girl.
“No …. Like the God He is, the One that made us, the One who loves you even more than your mama or papa. Then He helps us through the good times and the bad times when we ask and He changes us so we become more loving…”
“Like you are to me?”
“Yes, Camilla. But even if you weren’t the nicest person we know here, we’d still love you. That’s the way God wants us to love…all people, all the time.”
“Oh, I want that,” she said in her tiniest voice. “Can I ask Heem now?”
“Sure you can.” Andrea glanced up just as the concierge brought their basket of food to them. She thanked him and then turned back to Camilla. “Just say this prayer with me. Lord Jesus, I am a bad girl sometimes. Please forgive me and come into my heart. Amen.” Camilla repeated the words in her broken English. When she’d finished, tears ran down her face, her happy smile contradicting the watery evidence.
Andrea hugged her first and then Brian, also teary eyed, gathered her to sit on his knee. “You are now God’s child. Even if your parents are never found, God will always be your parent. Do you understand?”
“I do, I do. Will Jesus come with us when we go for our pic-nic?” She said the word slowly.
“Yes, He will, if we ask Him to.”
Camilla immediately bowed her head. “Jesus, please come with us today. Amen”
Brian grabbed the bas
ket. “If we don’t get going there won’t be much of the day left. I’m already hungry enough to eat a horse.”
Camilla giggled. “That’s a tough thing to eat, a horse. Too big to bring in a boat, non?” She skipped along beside them all the way to the pier. “I ‘ave Jesus now.” She slid her hand into Brian’s, a gesture of total trust for the first time since they’d met her.
The man looking after the boat rentals pointed out an aluminum craft about 16 feet long. “You cannot take this boat out in the ocean. This is only for traveling along the shore.” He took their money and went on to explain the workings of the little craft. “Stick close to shore. Watch out for rocks and if you want to land it on a beach, cut the engine just before you hit the sand.”
Camilla jumped into the boat and then sat quickly as the boat rocked with her movement. Andrea stepped in next. She had mixed feelings about their afternoon. She knew they’d be looking for any sign of habitation off shore, a place where those thugs had taken the people last night. But she was also in a celebratory mood. Camilla, just yesterday, had nothing to call her own, not even a family. Her life held no hope, and now she had the assurance of heaven to look forward to. God is so good.
“Let’s get this new adventure underway.” Brian sat at the stern where the motor was. He started it and then steered them out of the harbor.
“Aye, Aye, me capitan.” Andrea spoke in a grizzled sort of way. “We’re pirates looking for buried treasure. Aye me hearties.” Her voice rumbled in her throat.
Camilla giggled and then her face turned serious. “Pirates are bad, non? God doesn’t want me to be bad anymore.”
“Oh, we’re not going to do anything bad. We’re just pretending. It’s fun to pretend. We’ll just look for treasure, okay?” Andrea hugged the little one seated on the bench seat beside her. “Look at all the water out there.”
Brian and Andrea scoured the shoreline, trying hard to determine where the men had landed their boat last night. They traveled for about an hour, doubling back as they guessed the distance they’d walked to the ceremony and in what direction. Camilla sang a little French song to herself and dangled her hand over the side of the boat. Water splashed up her arm.
“Andrea, do you think that might be the spot? If it is, look.” Brian pointed just off shore where a stretch of land could be seen just off the horizon. “It’s probably only a mile from shore. It might not be the same place but at least we have an idea where the boat might go when they leave this island.” He tried to speak so Camilla couldn’t hear. The child seemed in her own world at the moment.
“I guess we won’t know that until…” She looked toward the child. “Camilla, look. Do you think that might be a good spot to look for buried treasure?” Andrea pointed toward the shore where they thought they had been the night before. “I’m hungry too. Brian, let’s go ashore. We can explore for buried treasure and eat.” She winked at him. “Don’t run the boat all the way in though until we’ve had a chance to see if this is where they beached their boat last night. We don’t want to mess up any telltale signs.”
Brian steered toward shore, rubbed his tummy for Camilla’s benefit, and then turned serious eyes toward the beach. He stopped in three feet of water.” Andrea, my shorts are all I brought. I planned on swimming in them anyway so I’ll walk the boat in from here.” He slid into the water, felt around with his feet for any rocks that might be in the way and then pulled the boat with the rope attached to the anchor at the bow. He looked for any signs of another craft landing. There, just to the right. A ridge in the sand.
Andrea looked toward the spot Brian pointed out. She could almost see the path leading to the water’s edge as well. She shivered. “Let’s pull in over there.” She indicated a spot well away from the previous night’s activities. “I see a perfect spot to spread our blanket.”
After they had all stepped onto dry land, Andrea spread the blanket and opened the basket of food, carefully this time. Nothing there. A whoosh of breath escaped her pursed lips. Thank You Lord. “Wow, look at all this food.” She began pulling plates, napkins, and forks out of the hamper.
Brian tethered the boat’s rope to a tree after taking the anchor off. Camilla was busy throwing stones into the water. She was soon chasing a crab across the sand. Andrea decided to reel her in. “Camilla, that’s far enough. It’s time to eat.”
The child ran back toward their picnic. “Can we swim as soon as we eat, huh, can we?” Her excitement was spilling over.
“We’ll see. Maybe we’ll go look for some treasure for a while…to let our food settle. What do you think?” Andrea dished up some of the salad that the hotel had added to their sandwiches.
“Oh-h-h, the sandwiches, they look so good.” Camilla stuffed a big bite into her mouth.
“Wait until we have asked God for his blessings.” Andrea looked toward Brian. “Could you pray for the meal?”
“Certainly. Dear Lord, thank you for the food you have provided. Thank you also for a successful lesson and for protecting Andrea when she needed it. Place your hedge of angels around us now as we swim and enjoy some of your creation. Amen”
“What is creation?” Camilla spoke as soon as Brian had finished his short prayer.
Andrea swept her hand in a half circle around them. “That’s all the things that we see here. God made or created everything on the earth, so we are thankful that he made many beautiful places for us to enjoy. We believe that God made you and me and Brian and all the other people here and elsewhere in the world. As His creation, we can be thankful every day for His provision.”
“What is provision?” asked the little girl between mouthfuls.
“Provision …. Um-m-m-m …. Did your Papa go to work?” asked Brian. He scooped some of the salad onto his plate. “This looks so good.”
“Oui, he work at plantation.”
Brian lifted a forkful. “When he got paid, he bought you and your family food, didn’t he?”
“Oui, just a little. Not like we have here. Nothing like this.” Camilla swept her hand across the items lying on the blanket.
“Well that is called providing or provision,” said Brian. “Your father worked to provide you with food and God has helped the planters grow food, so we can eat such tasty things. He has provided.” Brian took a large mouthful of fresh pineapple and smiled at the wonderful flavor he was enjoying.
The rest of the meal went very quickly. Camilla was so anxious to look for buried treasure; she had a hard time eating. Andrea packed away the leftovers. “There’s enough here for another meal at least. Maybe we can eat the rest in our room tonight instead of going downstairs to eat.”
“Sounds like a plan to me. Speaking of plans, let’s check out that path over there; see if it leads to the clearing.” Camilla was bouncing from rock to rock. “We can disguise our search as a treasure hunt.”
“Good idea. Camilla let’s look for treasure.” Andrea brushed the sand off her clothes. She walked toward the edge of the trees with Brian right behind. “You have to turn over rocks, dig into the sand with your toes, see if there’s anything hidden.” She showed Camilla how to look under a rock nearby. Then once the child was happily searching, she and Brian wandered casually down the path. Camilla followed, looking by tree roots, and under anything along the way.
“Andrea, I think this is the path. Look over there. Isn’t that the same tree we hid behind last night?”
“You’re right Brian it looks the same. But let’s continue until we see the clearing, Then we’ll know for sure.” Andrea walked a little faster while Brian lagged behind Camilla, “Brian, come here.” Her voice carried over the birds singing and the crickets chirping.
“We were right. This is the spot. That means that the land we saw is probably the place they took those people and could be the place where they have Trent and Diane. We are so close. Brian, do you think we could go there by boat today?”
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea. What if they c
atch us? Then we’d be no good to the Michners or anyone else. We’ll wait till the night of the ceremony so we’re sure it’s the same place, okay? I know you want to find them. So do I but…”
Andrea turned to walk back to the beach. “You’re right. We’ll wait. I just wish…”
“I don’t like this place. The ceremonies ‘appen ‘ere.” Camilla looked around and then ran back down the path ahead of Andrea.
Andrea ran after her. “It’s alright Camilla.” She stooped to the child’s level, wrapped her in her arms. “Let’s go swimming, okay?” Andrea’s face showed her seriousness to Brian. “I think you were right about following them under water. It shouldn’t take too long, if that’s the right place.”
“I’ll make some inquiries in town to see if anyone knows anything about that place. In the meantime, Camilla has earned her swim, don’t you think?” Brian ran toward the water with Camilla close behind.
“Camilla and I’ll catch up to you. We need to change into our swim suits first. Camilla, let’s get you changed and then I’ll change.” Andrea and Camilla walked behind some bushes.
•
Brian turned toward the ocean. That island. Looks close enough to swim to from here. Trent and Diane could be on that island. So close and yet so far. It’ll be hard to wait for the next ceremony.
He walked a little further out into the water. Seems to be pretty close to the harbor as well. I wonder if people have any idea what’s going on over there. He turned toward shore just in time to see Andrea and Camilla lay their clothes on a nearby rock and skip down the beach toward him.
•
Diane looked toward the piece of land in the distance. Do people know we are here? She watched Jeffrey playing at the water’s edge. “Keep your shoes dry, Jeffrey. They’re the only ones you have.” She was thankful her captors had decided to let them walk along the beach a little today. It’s good to be outside.
Furtively, Diane looked at the boat tethered to a cement block at the water’s edge. It was large enough to take them the short distance to that other island but what if it too was uninhabited like this one. A large chain was padlocked in place. These guys didn’t trust even their own people, it seemed.
A small motor was attached to the back of the boat. Every now and then she’d heard a motor put-putting away but then a short while later, it would return. Usually at night. Diane walked closer to the water’s edge. She stood just beside the boat. She glanced back at the man guarding them. His attention seemed elsewhere at the moment. She looked into the boat. It seemed to be sound, no holes or cracks.
“Hey, what you lookin’at?” The large beast of a man grabbed her arm and pulled her up the bank. “Don’t go getting any ideas, hear? Your man’ll pay if you try anything.” He continued hauling her toward the cabin. “Play time’s over.”
“Jeffrey.” Diane screamed her son’s name. “Come here…now.”
“That’s right lady. You keep your kid in line too.” He laughed at the fright he was causing her and yanked all the harder on her arm.
“Jeffrey.” The little golden haired urchin appeared over the embankment. He raced toward his frantic mother.
•
The rest of the afternoon flew by. Andrea and Brian taught Camilla to dog paddle and then float. For a child who’s not been swimming before, she’s sure picked it up fast. Andrea watched as Brian carried her on his shoulders and then ducked under the water with her head still about the surface. The child’s giggles echoed off the shoreline. Anyone passing by will surely hear us but…so what. We’re tourists enjoying the laughter of a little child. Nothing more.
The water was cool, the sun very hot. Sunscreen was applied liberally but Andrea and Brian were soon a little pinker than they thought was healthy. It was time to leave. Camilla, in typical childlike fashion, wanted to continue to play in the water, but Brian and Andrea were adamant.
“Maybe we’ll come here again tomorrow, eh Brian?” Andrea grabbed their clothes while Brian dried off in the sunshine. “Let’s get out of these wet sticky swim suits. We’ll have a shower to wash off the salt when we get back to our hotel room.” Andrea took Camilla back to their changing area, helped the child towel off and dress. “Camilla, go keep Brian company. I’ll be out in a minute.”
As she dried herself off and changed into her clothes, a thought skittered across her brain. If those men were ruthless enough to kill Max and torch her house, would they use Camilla to get to them? Would they hurt the child? Andrea shuddered and then hurried to the beach where her two companions waited. The girls piled into the boat as Brian untied its tether and then pushed them toward deeper water. He tried not to get his pant legs too wet but still ended up soaked to his waist when he got aboard.
Andrea waited until they were well underway. Camilla was absorbed in making the water spray up her arms again. She lowered her voice and spoke her fears to Brian. “Do you think they would hurt a little girl?”
“Whoa. Where did that come from? I hadn’t thought about that but, yes, I think they are capable of almost anything. Whatever it is that they are up to; you can bet they don’t intend to let us stand in their way, if they can help it. As long as Camilla is with us, I guess she’s in as much danger as we are.” Brian’s eyes betrayed the anguish this thought brought to his mind.
“Then we have to make sure she is some place safe before we go ahead with our plans. I mean, we can’t risk her life, can we? But where do we take her?”
“I don’t know. It seems most of the people here don’t care one way or another if these little ones live or die. I don’t know whether they have a place to care for them or not, but I would guess they do not.”
“Maybe we can find some private agency or something. In the meantime, I don’t plan to let her out of my sight.” Andrea rubbed Camilla’s arm. Her brow furrowed, worry causing her stomach acid to flow freely. How do we find a safe place for her? How do we leave her some place…without us? I’ll miss her so much. The motor chugged, carrying them toward the harbor and the boat landing.
* * * * *