Over the Rainbow - Book One - 'The Gathering Place' (14 page)

“
Oh- SHIT!” he exclaimed as the
massive giant dissolved into foam on the shore, and Sonny spun his
board around and pounced face-down upon it, frantically flailing
his arms into the water as he raced back into the waves. Blasting
through a rising swell, Sonny emerged beside Chris’ abandoned
board, ripped off his own leash, and dived beneath the placid
surface.

Down, down he swam, the murky, turbulent water
limiting his visibility to only a few feet in any direction. After
what had already seemed an eternity, his lungs burning for air,
Sonny saw him, floating just above the sea floor, limp and
unmoving. Sonny kicked his legs with fury and sped toward the
lifeless form of Chris, snagging him by one wrist and kicking hard
against the sand, shooting to the surface before the sea claimed
them both.

As they exploded through the
boundary between sea and sky, Sonny curled his arm under Chris’
chin and hauled him over to his board, struggling to shove Chris’
limp and unresponsive body onto it. Gulping a quick gasp of air,
Sonny looked to Chris and feared the worst- he looked
dead.

Alani tore the binoculars from her
eyes and her hand flew to her mouth in horror as she watched the
drama unfold on the waves. She felt somewhat guilty about watching
Chris, but rationalized to herself that it was more out of a
peculiar curiosity than genuine interest, and now that curiosity
turned to dreaded concern.
He
wasn’t
dead
, was
he?
Alani banished this terrible thought
from her mind and returned to the reasons she was watching in the
first place.

More than just another stupid
Haole tourist, Chris had something-
weird
and yet oddly intriguing about
him, a strange familiarity that she couldn’t explain, one that came
from another place and time and that tugged insistently at her
soul. And then of course there was that bizarre moment when she
touched him after the plane crash-
What
the hell
was
that?
She pondered, her brows
creasing in renewed curiosity. Shaking the nagging questions
temporarily from her mind, Alani raised the binoculars again and
focused into the distance.

“
Don’t die on
me, dude!! You
owe
me!” Sonny yelled in frustration and pounded on Chris’
lifeless chest, then put his mouth to Chris’ cold lips and
blew-

Chris coughed and spewed water, gagging and
sputtering. “Ohhhhh- shit!” he moaned, his eyes fluttering open. He
squinted into the sun, blinking sand and salt from his eyes,
finally focusing on Sonny sitting astride the board beside him,
“Whoa! What the hell happened?

Sonny grinned, “That, dude, is called the Blue
Crush! You okay?”

Chris coughed and spat, wiping his mouth as the
color began to return to his face. He spat out another salty
mouthful of the sea, and asked, “Whoa-! Did you-?”

Sonny interrupted, avoiding the awkwardness of the
reality, “Did I save your sorry ass? Yeah.”

“
Wow, uh- thanks.”

“
I didn't have a choice. You owe
me money. I can't collect if you're dead.” Sonny grinned, the
moment passed, and as if on cue, the rescue complete, Chris’ board
drifted lazily over to them. Sonny snagged it and said with a
smirk, “Think you can manage to ride back in without
dyin'?”

Walter stood on the far side of
the green, glowering down at his ball, which was now resting cozily
in the sand trap on the
other
side of the green. “Dammit!” he grumbled, and
then turned to Abigail, who was wandering near the opposite side of
the green, her hand shielding her eyes as she searched for her own
ball in the nearby rough, “Abby, I don't see it anywhere over here.
Are you sure it's not over by you?”

“
No. I've looked
everywhere…” Abigail suddenly straightened and tilted her head
oddly to one side, almost as if she were
listening
to something and said,
“Walter, check in the hole.”

“
In the hole? Honey, I'm sure I
saw it go over…” Walter shrugged and walked briskly to the flag,
convinced that Abigail was confused, and looked down. There, to his
astonishment, was a bright pink Hibiscus logo facing sunnily up at
him. “Well I’ll be damned…” he muttered, yanking the pin and
lifting the miraculous occurrence from the hole. The ball trickled
slowly down the green to rest at Abigail’s feet, where she stared
at it in shocked amazement.

“
Oh my Goodness!
It really
was
in
the hole. I never…” Abigail lifted her gaze to that of her husband,
who was standing still and thunderstruck by the bizarre turn of
events, “Walter- that was only my second shot! What on earth do you
call
that?”

Walter replied with a slow gust of breath and roll
of eyes masking his shock at the miracle that had just unfolded,
“That, my dear, is called an Eagle...”

“
A
what
?”

“
An
eagle
- a score typically
reserved for players… like me.”

Chris and Sonny emerged from the whispering surf
clutching their boards beneath one arm, then simultaneously planted
them both nose-down into the soft, white sand as several curious
onlookers looked on mutely.

Chris shook his head and grinned as he unwrapped his
water-proof wallet, peeling it open and hauling out a dozen-odd
bills. He handed them to a beaming Sonny, who carefully counted
them, and then without explanation handed a pair of them back to
Chris.

“
Here, Dude, I can't take all your
money! Today- you get the board for a 'discount', you earned it. I
ain't nevah seen no haole tourist ride that way, first time out!
You got mad skills, bro! Where'd you learn to ride like
that?”

Chris responded with a shrug, “Vermont. Aspen.
Telluride. The Alps. Anywhere there's snow. You ever been
snowboarding?”

Sonny replied with hands in pockets, kicking at a
patch of sand as they trudged toward the rear of the store, “Nah, I
ain't never got off this island, ain't never seen no snow.”

“
Bummer. Dude, you'd totally dig
it, it's like riding a two-mile wave.”

Athletically mounting the steep wooden stairs in
clumps of twos and threes, the boys emerged onto the crowded
open-air patio that was filled to overflowing with lunch-time
tourists, all of whom went suddenly silent as a group, collectively
having just witnessed the recent near-death experience that none
had found in their tour-books.

Sonny smiled smugly and strode through the thronging
crowd like a visiting rock-star, a slight nod of acknowledgement to
the gathering as he passed. He turned to Chris as they reached the
door at the rear of the store and asked, “Hey! You thirsty,
Haole-boy?” He grinned and fanned the sheaf of bills in his hand,
“I’m buyin’.”

Walter glowered over his ball, nestled deep within
the one lone divot in the middle of the pristine fairway. Looking
down-range to the group on the green, he shook his club at them and
yelled pointlessly at the distant golfers, “Damn Hackers! Fix your
divots, you morons!”

Abigail just tut-tutted and replied, “Oh for
goodness sake, Walter, don't make such a big deal about it. Just
take a drop.”

“
But, Abby, I…”

Abigail glared at Walter and scoffed in annoyance,
“Oh, for God's sake, Walter, you're not playing in the Masters!
Just take a drop.”

Walter stooped and picked up the ball, a sheepish
grin on his chastened face as he said, “I suppose you're right.” He
raised the ball to shoulder height, and dropped it. The ball
bounced softly off the carpet of green, and almost mockingly rolled
slowly back into the same hole. Walter cursed softly under his
breath, “Oh, for Pete’s sake…” as he bent and retrieved the ball
and again held it out to his side. He released the ball again,
watching it with a look of chagrin that abruptly changed to
consternation as it rolled straight back into the same hole,
rocking almost comfortably into its embrace. “Oh-God-DAMMIT!” he
said through gritted teeth, and raised his club threateningly as if
to beat the recalcitrant orb into submission.

A poorly suppressed burst of giggling interrupted
his gesture of malice and he looked to Abigail, who reddened and
began to laugh in coughing gasps.

“
It’s not funny,” he retorted,
propping himself on his club as he contemplated the ridiculousness
of the situation.

“
Oh, I'm sorry- I know it's not
dear, but I can't help but think... Well, remember what I said at
the club, about how you need to relax?” Abigail took a breath to
quell her laughter, and continued, “Have you ever thought that you
just might be being taught a lesson?”

Walter rolled his eyes heavenward and then frowned
at his still-tittering wife. “Oh, dear Lord Abigail, are you
serious? A test of faith? Like Job? Out here on the golf course?
Come off it Abby, I'm just having an off day…”

And without another word Walter stepped in and swung
violently at the ball, gouging up a huge chunk of sod that flew
further than the ball itself. Walter slammed the club into the
ground, burying the head into the turf and punctuating the blow as
he exclaimed, “DAMMIT!”

Chris followed Sonny into the rear of the store,
passing by a small lunch counter that stood curiously absent of
lunch-time guests, a pair of colorful individuals busily working at
a grill that sizzled and smoked with delicious smells that tugged
at Chris’ nostrils as they passed. As they approached the narrow
archway leading into the main part of the store, Chris noticed a
pair of long, brown legs rolling by on the library-style ladder. As
they crossed into the darkened interior of the store, Chris glanced
upward and saw Alani, her lovely thighs leading to- heaven. As she
slowly rolled away, deftly propelling herself along the shelves
with casual flicks of her hand, Chris found his gaze riveted to
her, taking in all her glorious proportions as she paused and
delicately plucked an item from an overhead shelf. Alani looked
down and gave Chris a quick flickering glance, at first coquettish,
then suddenly withering as she noticed the focus of his observation
and flung herself along the wall, disappearing behind a tall set of
floor-to-ceiling shelves.