The Royal Handmaid (27 page)

Travis said, “Then you’ve got nothing to lose, Karl. She’ll die if you don’t do a caesarean, and maybe she’ll live if you give it a try. Come on. You have no choice.”

“Are you crazy, Travis? A caesarean? Out here? I’ve got no anesthetic, no surgical tools, no nothing!”

“Listen,” Travis said. “You know we have a good assortment of knives, and we’ve got a few supplies in the first-aid kit. Besides that, we have Chip’s anesthetic. I know it’s not what you’d have in a hospital, but it’s better than nothing.” Travis took a deep breath and put his hand on Karl’s shoulder. “We’re all believers. We know that God can help. We’re going to pray right now that God will help you to do what needs to be done.”

Karl stared at Travis for a long time, and then a tear trickled down and into his beard. “It will have to be God who does it.”

“We’ll pray,” Rena encouraged, “and God will give us a victory. You’ll see.”

The three bowed their heads, and Travis and Rena held on to Karl. They prayed fervently, and when they lifted their heads, Karl was a changed man, glowing with optimism. “All right,” he said. “I can guarantee nothing, but I’ll do my best.”

“And God will do His best.” Travis smiled. “Come on. Let’s go.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

New Life

All three returned to the camp, where the air of tension was almost unbearable. The missionaries had returned in groups of two or three, hating the screams but wanting to be nearby if they could be of any assistance. Karl said to them all, “God will have to do a miracle here.”

He started giving orders as authoritatively as any head surgeon. “Pete, I need you to get our best fillet knife and get it as sharp as you can. Lanie, bring me the first-aid kit and make sure the stitching supplies are ready to go.” He turned to Rena and Meredith and said sternly, “You two will help.”

It was not a request, and Rena cringed at the task that lay ahead. She saw that Meredith was also stunned, but she said, “We’ll have to do it, Meredith.”

The two women went into the shelter with Karl while Pete and Lanie ran off on their assignments. Travis joined the others around the fire. He noted that of the various reactions of the group, Professor Dekker seemed the most bothered. His eyes, behind his thick glasses, were puzzled, and he said, “Travis, I don’t have any experience in this. I guess I’ve lived too long away from real life.”

Travis laid his hand on the professor’s shoulder. “Well, you’re getting a dose of real life now.”

“Do you think Karl can help her?”

“I think God can help her, and He’ll use Karl. Don’t you believe that?”

Professor Dekker had lived most of his life alone, never
having married, and had devoted himself to the world of scholarship. He had been prepared to lead the missionaries, teaching them daily from his deep understanding of the Scriptures. Now he realized that his world had been turned upside down. “I’ll have to find God in some new way, Travis,” he whispered. “It’s not enough to know the Book about God. We must know God himself.”

Travis smiled. “I think you’re right about that.” He left the professor to his thoughts and went to talk to Oscar, who was cleaning fish. “Need some help, Oscar?”

“No, I could do this in my sleep.” He looked up and said, “I hope the little lady’s all right.”

“I believe with God’s help, she’ll be all right.”

“Look, Travis, I hope you know that me and Chip and Shep, we ain’t in this thing with Cerny. He’s wrong.”

“I knew you weren’t in on it, Oscar, but I appreciate you coming right out and saying it.”

****

Abby’s screams finally quieted and were replaced with the squeal of a newborn. After a moment the baby stopped crying as well. Karl stepped out of the shelter and walked quickly over to Jimmy, who was speaking quietly with Travis.

“How is she, Karl?” Abby’s husband asked.

“She’s going to be all right,” Karl assured him.

“Thank God.”

Travis’s arm went around Jimmy, for it was obvious he was so shaken he could barely stand up.

“Thank you for what you’ve done, Karl. I am so grateful.”

Everyone gathered around Karl, and as Travis saw the new confidence in the man’s face, he realized he had passed some sort of test within himself.
He’s going to be a better man because of this,
Travis thought.

“Can I see her, Doc?” Jimmy said.

“Yes, of course. Go on in. And congratulations! You have a fine baby boy.”

Meredith came up to Karl and said, “You did a wonderful job, Karl.”

“And so did you,” he replied, “but you know, it was really God who did it.”

“Yes, I’ll say amen to that.”

Travis saw that the group was relieved and a sense of well-being enveloped them. The crisis had almost destroyed them, but now they were rejoicing together in God’s goodness. Travis breathed a prayer of thanks for the outcome, then went to see about Novak. On his way, he ran across Lars Olsen, who looked at him cautiously.

“How’s the lady?” Lars asked.

“She’s doing fine. Where’s Cerny?”

“What do you want with him, Travis?”

“Just to talk.”

“All right, but he’s pretty sore. He’s down the beach a ways. Try not to stir him up.”

Travis nodded, then walked on quickly down the shore until he reached Novak. The sailor was sitting on a rock staring moodily out at the sea. When Travis came closer, he called out the man’s name and sat down next to him.

“Abigail’s all right,” Travis began, “and the baby too. It’s a boy. Just thought you’d like to know.”

“That’s good,” he grunted. His face was battered, and there was a look that Travis could not identify in his eyes. “You cut me up pretty bad, Winslow.”

“Sorry about that. You and I shouldn’t fight.”

“I meant what I said,” Novak came back. “Don’t challenge me, and don’t come at me again.”

“I’ll do what I have to do to keep peace on this island. We all have to live together.”

“Sure we do, and someone’s gotta make the rules. I’ve been bossed around all my life, Winslow, but I’m better fitted for living in this place than any of those weakling preachers.”

“Physically you’re the strongest, Cerny, but there’s more to life than that.”

“Not to me there ain’t.”

Travis had prayed much for this big man. He was a rough individual on the surface, but there had to be more to him than met the eye. Travis hesitated, then said, “One of these days, Cerny, you’re going to be old, and you’ll lose your strength. You won’t be the strongest anymore.”

“I don’t think about things like getting old.”

“No, we never do. But we should. The time’s going to come when you’re going to need more than the strength of your arms.”

Cerny smiled, his battered lips twisting cynically. “You gonna preach to me?”

“No—no preaching. I just want you to know that if it weren’t for Jesus, I’d probably be dead.”

“Save the sermon.”

“Sorry, I can’t do that.”

Cerny stood up. “I don’t want to hear no more about God.” He stalked off down the beach, not giving Travis a chance to answer.

Travis watched as the figure of the bulky man grew small. “Lord,” he said, “I pray you’ll bring that stubborn man to his knees—whatever it takes.”

****

It was close to the end of March, two weeks after the birth of the baby, whom the parents had named Michael. All the missionaries helped with the newcomer in whatever way they could while Abigail recovered from the traumatic birth. Despite the severity of her experience, she did recover quickly. She was able to nurse the baby without any problem and was tremendously proud of her son. Jimmy was as proud as a man could be, and neither of them could let Karl pass without giving him a word of thanks and praise.

Karl repeatedly said to Travis, “I wish they’d be quiet about it.”

“I don’t think they can,” Travis always responded with a
smile. “It meant so much to all of us. You’ve become a better man, and I’m proud of you too.”

Travis himself had been drained by the crisis. He was thankful that Cerny had kept to himself lately, not offering any more insults. But Travis continued to pray for him and sought others to join with him. Early one morning he got up, ate breakfast, and prepared to leave camp.

Rena was up early too and asked him where he was going.

“I just need to get away for a while.”

“Let me go with you,” she said.

Travis shrugged. “Sure. Come along.”

The two left, carrying enough food with them for the day. Travis set out at a good pace, and he was pleased to see that Rena kept up with him. They hardly spoke to each other until they stopped to eat an early lunch. Then he found himself telling Rena about his difficult childhood. She listened patiently and with interest until finally he stopped and said, “I shouldn’t be burdening you with all this.”

“You had a hard time of it, Travis.”

“Not as hard as some.”

“My childhood was easy,” Rena admitted. She leaned back against a tree trunk and watched a group of gulls fly over. When they disappeared, she turned to him and shook her head. “I’ve been so rotten all my life.”

“I don’t know why you’d say that.”

“Because it’s true,” she said, a tinge of bitterness in her voice. “I was spoiled rotten. I thought I knew everything. I was smarter than most of the people I knew and had more money, and somehow I let that blind me to many of their good qualities.”

It was Travis’s turn to listen, and he did not attempt to stop her. As he watched her talk, he saw a teasing expression suddenly come across her face, a provocative challenge. She laughed, and color ran freshly across her cheeks. “I never talked so much like this to anyone in my whole life.” She got to her feet and turned away from him. He rose and came to
stand at her side. He touched her arm, and she turned around. “We’re friends, aren’t we, Travis?”

“Of course we are, Rena.”

“We weren’t at first, though. I was so beastly to you.”

“That’s in the past. I’ve learned to bury those things. I used to worry about all the sins I committed, but an old missionary once told me that Jesus takes all of our sins out, dumps them in the deepest part of the sea, and then puts a No Fishing sign out. We shouldn’t be dredging them up again.”

She looked up at him and smiled. “You’re good for me. Let’s start all over right now.”

“Sure,” he said. A light danced in his eyes, and he said, “Don’t you think friends should express themselves with some sort of symbolic gesture?”

Rena laughed. “Is that your way of asking if you can kiss me?”

“I guess it is.”

“You kissed me once and it frightened me, but I could never be afraid of you now, Travis.”

He lowered his head and kissed her, and an unexpected wave of emotion flowed through her. She stepped back, feeling heat rise in her cheeks.

“You’re a woman to be desired and to be loved,” Travis said simply.

The words stirred her, and she could not answer for a moment. Finally she said, “I . . . I think we’d better go.”

He did not argue with her, but simply helped her gather up the remains of their meal and put them into the sack. “Say,” he said, “would you like to see one of my favorite spots on this island? We’re not far from it now.”

“Sure. No one’s expecting us back soon anyway.”

They headed for the far side of the island, directly across from the camp. Both remained silent as they walked, thinking of what had passed between them.

Before long, Travis said, “I can hear the ocean. We’re almost there.”

They were approaching the top of a cliff. Travis had sat there on other occasions, scouring the horizon for ships. They reached the edge of the cliff and looked down, shocked at what they saw.

“Look at that,” Rena whispered.

“I can’t believe it.”

Neither of them could say another word. There beneath them on the beach, a large vessel built like a catamaran was pulled up on the sand, and a group of people were cooking around a fire. Rena broke the silence between them. “We’re not alone, Travis.”

“No, we’re certainly not. That’s a strange-looking vessel. I wonder how far they’ve come in it. There must be another island close by—one that’s inhabited!”

She took a deep breath. “Come on,” she said with excitement. “Let’s go down.”

“Wait,” he cautioned, taking her arm. “They might be cannibals or headhunters.”

Rena had been so excited at seeing other people she had not thought of the potential danger. “What do you think we should do?”

“Let’s go back to the camp and tell the others. We’ll have to decide as a body.”

“But they might leave before we can return.”

“I don’t think so. It looks like they’re settling down. They’ll still be here if we hurry. It won’t take us nearly as long to get back as it did to get here, since we weren’t taking a straight path this morning.”

“Let’s go quickly, then.”

Travis led the way, quickening the pace to a jog. As they excitedly made their way back to camp, Travis said, “I hope either Chip or Meredith can speak their language!”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

A Group Decision

Oscar Blevins looked up from the coconut he was chopping to the nearby shelter, his brow furrowed. “What’s all that racket about? Why are them women being so noisy in there?”