Over the Rainbow - Book One - 'The Gathering Place' (19 page)

Alani and Chris drove down the winding road in
silence, neither wanting to address the topic of the bizarre
incident, neither knowing that it had mutually occurred to them
both. Alani finally broke the silence, and broached a different
subject, “So what happened to you in that- that airplane? How come
you crashed like that?”

Chris paused in chagrin, remembering, and then
stated with a note of ironic humor, “Would you believe I was struck
by lightning?”

“
You're kidding?
You were struck by
lightning
?”

“
Yeah. Not only
once, but
twice
.
I mean, I always said I was the exception to the rule, but-
man...”

Alani mused, “Geez, struck by lightning, then
Buddy-? You nearly drown at the beach? You must have some very
dedicated angels on your shoulders.”

Chris laughed and then replied, “Yeah, probably some
damn tired ones.”

The tension finally broken, Alani laughed as well, a
musical accompaniment to Chris’ own, and then she suddenly stopped
and gestured to the in-dash clock. “Shit. Is that really what time
it is?”

Chris checked his watch and nodded, “Uh- Yeah-
why?”

“
Because, I got
to be there, like-
now
. Can you step on it a little?”

Chris smiled impishly and replied, “Thought you’d
never ask.” And with a mischievous grin and a crinkle of eyes he
down-shifted the car and roared ahead.

Flying around corners, the wind whipping her hair,
Alani peered intently ahead, apparently looking for a specific
landmark. Suddenly she cried, “STOP!”

Chris screeched the car to a halt, and looked to
Alani with concern, “What?”

Alani was pointing across his chest to a narrow,
almost invisible track that wove through the tall grass on the side
of the road. “There it is! Take that path, I know a
shortcut...”

Chris narrowed his eyes, failing for a moment to see
this miraculous shortcut, finally seeing a faint set of parallel
tracks that disappeared into the jungle. “That? Are you
kidding?”

Alani replied with an eye-roll, “Do I look like I'm
kidding? Just- do it. It's safe…” A tiny smirk tweaked at the
corner of her mouth and her eyes creased in amusement. “I
promise.”

Chris revved the engine and
slapped the car into gear, “O-
kaaaay…”
And with tires squealing,
he spun the car abruptly to the left and splashed through the tall
grass, plunging into the dark tangle of trees without
hesitation.

Almost immediately, the verdant jungle opened up
into an airy cathedral of towering banyan trees, the canopy of the
forest nearly a hundred feet overhead. The Mustang bumped over a
large root, and Alani scrambled for a hand-hold, shouting over the
roar of the car, “Hang on! It's a little rough!”

‘
A little
rough’
was an understatement. The road was
indeed rough, and littered with potholes, the enormous roots of the
surrounding banyans effectively creating a convoluted arboreal
obstacle course. Chris, however, was apparently now in his element,
and swerved and slalomed with ease, popping gears and yanking the
handbrake as he wrenched the wheel from side to side, turning what
was initially merely a bumpy ride into a wild and exhilarating
experience that rivalled the best that an amusement park could
offer.

Nearly tipping the car onto two wheels as he
viciously swerved around a final giant tree root, Chris found the
car on a long narrow straight-away that framed an azure patch of
ocean beyond. He deftly slipped the car into a lower gear and
stomped the gas, a gleeful ‘YEEE-HA!!!’ erupting from his lungs as
he raced to the finish line.

As they burst from the trees onto the wide, deserted
beach, Chris whipped the car around in a hand-brake power-slide and
stopped. With a wide grin, he looked aside to Alani, who was
flushed with excitement from the ride herself, and who now nodded
sideways with a smile of satisfaction through the windscreen.

Chris followed her gaze with his own and his eyes
widened in pleasant surprise. For there, before his eyes, was their
destination just ahead, glowing magical and pinkish in the fading
afternoon light.

Abigail carefully lined up her putt, a miracle-shot
nearly 60 feet from the hole. Smoothly stroking the Hibiscus-logo
on the ball, it slowly snaked its’ way across the green. And as it
did, it began to slow, and slow, and then stopped, perched on the
lip of the hole. Abigail frowned in disappointment- and then the
ball dropped in.

Shrieking with amazement, Abigail leaped into the
air, and then landed in another happy-dance as she twirled her
putter overhead like a majorette, finally sheathing it with a
Chi-Chi Rodriguez-like flourish as she turned to her husband, her
face falling into a mock-pout as Walter scowled at her childish
display.

Walter focused on the ball at his
feet and softly tapped it toward the hole. It was an easy ‘gimme’,
a simple three-footer that inexplicably caught the lip, rolled
around, and around, and
out
.

Walter bellowed with rage,
“AAAAAARGH!!! God dammit! That's IT! I have had
ENOUGH!!
” And then without warning
he violently flung the offending club away, watching with a nod of
grim acceptance as it whirled away in helicopter fashion and
disappeared into the sea.

Abigail just stared in shocked silence as Walter
stomped back to the cart and slammed it into gear, angrily backing
the vehicle up and slamming to a halt within inches of her toes.
She timidly climbed in with a frown, and then frantically snatched
for a hand-hold in fright as Walter floored the accelerator and
raced away from the scene of his misery.

Chris and Alani sauntered back
toward the Hotel, lightly holding hands by the tips of pinkies and
laughing. Chris gave Alani a final platonic squeeze and released
her hand as he turned to her and said, “Thanks. That- was totally a
blast. Most fun I’ve had all day.
Way
better than
any
video game.”

“
I know, right? I drive through
there all the time.” Alani turned to face him, taking both of his
hands lightly in hers, contemplating a kiss, and then deciding
otherwise- at least for now. “Uh- thanks for the ride, okay? I
gotta go- I'm late.” Reconsidering the kiss, just not the one she
really wanted, Alani leaned in on tip-toes and bussed Chris
chastely on the cheek, releasing his hands almost reluctantly. And
then she whirled away and broke into a soft jog, looking back over
her shoulder with a wide smile and a wave as she disappeared around
a distant corner.

Chris slowly turned away, his gaze lingering over
his shoulder in the direction she had gone, and then he thrust his
hands into his pockets with a tilted smile of his own glued to his
face, and casually sauntered off in the opposite direction as he
whistled a happy tune. He had barely gotten ten steps when he
rounded a corner of a fragrant plumeria hedge and nearly collided
with his mother, who was chatting animatedly to a glum and
glowering Walter.

“
...and could
you believe that putting…?” Abigail queried to her silently fuming
husband, commenting with an ebullient and unrestrained excitement
as she nearly danced along the curving path, “I mean- Wow! It
was
amazing
! I
have never putted like that in my life! Oh, if only I had video to
show the girls…”

Walter replied, his voice dripping
with sarcasm, “Yes, you were brilliant. Tiger Woods at Augusta
simply
pales
by
comparison.”

Chris raised a hand in greeting, “Hey, guys-!” only
to have his father brush brusquely past him, violently stuffing the
offensive record of his failure into a nearby trash can. He
addressed his mother with a shrug of annoyance, “Sheesh! What’s
with him?”

“
Oh, pooh! Never mind him. He just
had an off day. You know how he gets...” Abigail paused, looking
stealthily around to see if anyone was looking, and then dug the
crumpled card from the trash and waved it triumphantly in the air.
“I, on the other hand, was brilliant!” She proudly thrust the
scorecard in Chris’ face. “Look, look right here- an Eagle!” Her
eyes creased in puzzlement, and then she smiled her own lop-sided
smile as she mused to herself, “And on hole number 13! Isn't that
just too odd? What are the coincidences of that?”

As Chris and Abigail entered the spacious hotel
lobby, a Bell Captain approached, smiling broadly as he addressed
the beaming Abigail, “Mrs. Matthews. Did you enjoy your golf?”

“
Oh, it was absolutely delightful!
Thank you!”

The Bell Captain gestured to her clubs, “May I?”

“
Oh, certainly... Mahalo!” Abigail
smiled sweetly and then looked to Chris, nodding her head sideways
to the Bell Captain, who was obviously awaiting his tip.

Shaking his head in silent amusement, Chris smiled
and reached into his wallet, fishing out a single bill. The Bell
Captain’s mouth dropped open as he looked to the bill in his hand,
and then he smiled widely as he bowed and backed away, again
looking at the bill in his hand to confirm its’ denomination. Yup-
Benjamin.

Abigail sighed contentedly and
looked Chris up-and-down with an appraising glance, “Good to see
you didn't die! Your father will be
so
disappointed. Have
fun?”

“
Killer. I wrecked a plane, saved
another, and bought a surfboard- all in all, not bad. Oh- and I ran
into the same girl three different times.”

“
Really? How odd- three times in
the same day?”

“
Yeah, and that's not even the
strangest part...” And then Chris went silent as he suddenly
remembered how truly strange it had been.

Abigail coaxed, leaning in to see Chris’ face,
“And-? The strangest part was...?”

“
What? Oh, not now- take too long.
Tell you later. Say tonight- after dinner? And several
drinks?”

“
Deal. Speaking of which, I'm
famished, why don't you get us a table at the restaurant. Get a
seat by the window. See you there in about half an hour?” Abigail
leaned up and kissed Chris fleetingly on the cheek, playfully
tousled his golden-blond curls and began to head towards the
elevators, turning back and addressing him as the doors opened,
“And order me a drink, I feel like celebrating.” Abigail slapped a
high-five to the startled bellman, grinning from ear to ear as the
doors closed with a soft chime.

Chris turned from the spectacle of his mother with a
bemused smile and began to saunter past the glittering displays of
a closed and darkened jewelry store, his gaze focused on the
restaurant ahead, when a tiny flash of something caught his eye. He
slowly turned and leaned in to peer through the sparkling window
and saw what had snagged his attention.

Spotlighted on a small glass
pedestal was a pair of delicate crystal sea turtles, their features
edged in sparkling gold that twinkled and gleamed back at him
through the glass. Chris leaned in closer, marveling at the
exquisitely delicate work, and then suddenly stiffened as he heard
a sound both exotically strange and oddly familiar. It was the
distinct sound of drums and chanting, a driving Polynesian beat,
rising and falling on the breeze that wafted through the open-air
lobby, and one that once again suddenly, inexplicably-
stopped
.