High Seas Series : The Mary Joyce

Captain Jenkins was waiting at the hatch in his eagerness to get off the plane, the pilot, Major Richardson, USMC, told him to be careful and he would help him across the icy runway. The two men came into the Meeting House as the crew from the first flight was unpacking medical supplies. They had brought two doctors with them and they were checking the field surgery that had been done on the victims. Pedro's face turned bright red when one of the doctors said, "This is one fine piece of field surgery, this guy is gonna be ok!" Captain Jenkins asked for Bill Quinn and Oscar took him over to where they had set up a coffee and sandwiches table. The Captain spotted the man he knew as Bill Quinn and came up behind him. Tears were already flowing down his face as he asked, "Mr. Quinn, are you actually William James Jenkins?" Bill turned in his seat and said quietly, "Yes sir, I AM your son. I had to be sure before I told you, I didn't want to hurt you or myself." He grabbed the older man in a tight hug and they both bawled on each other's shoulder. Bill said, "I wanted to tell you before this, but I just couldn't find the right moment and Mother always told me what a monster you were."

The Coast Guard Cutter Hamilton finally arrived, bringing supplies and the Governor of Alaska. The town's fuel supply had been stolen by the raiders and the Hamilton was able to pump enough fuel into their storage tank to hold them over the winter.

The grateful villagers put on a feed for their rescuers and there were all kinds of delicacies put out on the tables. Much of it was peculiar to the native peoples of the region and some of it was known internationally. There were mounds of lobsters on the half-shell, a platter of fresh crab and more halibut than anyone in the lower 48 even knew existed!

The two surgeons had their heads together and were overheard by the Governor. He interrupted them and told them he would help with their plan. The three men agreed and then they sat down to a seafood feast fits for kings.

They waited until everyone had finished stuffing themselves with crab, halibut and lobster and then the Governor stood and tapped his glass to get everyone's attention. The Governor said, "Folks, I'm not much of a one to give speeches, but this one is likely the most important one I will ever give. Mr. Pedro Robbins and his Father, Mr. Oscar Robbins, please come up to the head table"

When Oscar and Pedro got to the head table, the Governor said, "Folks, this young man spent hours digging bullets out of those who had been shot, treating their wounds and binding their hurts. Doctor Payson, sitting at my side here, is the Chief Surgeon at Anchorage Medical Hospital. He tells me that the work young Mr. Pedro Robbins did on the wounded and brutalized civilians in this room, was so professional, so good, there was nothing he needed to do to make them heal any faster! Pedro, the people of our Great State of Alaska would like to thank you for what you have done for them. Pedro Oscar Robbins, it is with great pleasure that I award you with a complete scholarship to the University and the School of Medicine of your choice anywhere in the United States of America. You will make a fine doctor for all Americans, no matter where you go. This scholarship will cover all your undergraduate work as well as your MD and will include books, lab fees, living expenses and a stipend of $500 a month until you graduate with your MD. May God Bless you, Pedro, you are a hero to the people of Alaska!"

It was a toss-up who was grinning the most, Pedro or his Father, Oscar!

Wil was pretty damned proud also, he felt that he was, at the very least, an Uncle to young Pedro Robbins!

All the boys rushed up to the head table to hug and congratulate Pedro, whose eyes were still spinning. Oscar was hugging his son and Pedro was stammering, "I can go, Papa, I can become a real doctor now!"

Oscar was thinking, "From an abandoned boy in a fruit shed to a respected medical doctor, the best thing I ever did was to tie up with Wil O'Toole!"

Oscar grabbed Wil and planted a kiss on his cheek and said, "Let's make it official?"

Wil agreed and he said to all present, "This man, Oscar Robbins I do take as my Life Mate, let none dare to separate us."

Everyone clapped, there was no sign of disapproval among those in that room, and all those who mattered to them were there clapping. They had no worries that Uncle Joe nor Johnnie nor Patrick would have a problem with it either!

Everyone was emotionally and physically exhausted and winter was fast closing in. Wil announced that the Mary Joyce would need to depart the next morning, otherwise she might be trapped there until the spring thaw. Wil and Oscar headed back to the ship, surrounded by the men and boys who loved them both.

The plane crews and their passengers, except for Captain Jenkins, left immediately, fearing they might not be able to take off if they waited until morning. Captain Jenkins had no intention of being separated from his son, Bill, and he had asked Wil if he could ride with them back to San Francisco. Even had he been so inclined, the pleading look on Bill's face would have softened the hardest heart. The Captain could sleep in the Guest cabin and, if they wished it, another bunk could be placed in the room so they both sleep there. They did!

They got underway at first light, Wil blew the air horn, saying goodbye to their friends in the village. They got the sails up and were blessed with a strong wind at their backs, the Mary Joyce O'Toole was skimming the waves at sixteen knots heading south on sails alone. The quiet of the Arctic Ocean was broken only by the slight slapping of waves against the hull. Each man was in deep thought, perhaps the deepest of all was young Pedro Rollins.

Pedro was on "cloud nine", he could almost hear the words, "Paging Dr. Robbins, Paging Dr. Pedro Robbins"!

Wil and Oscar were up in the wheelhouse watching Pedro and some of the crew repair a broken hasp on the cleaning gear locker. Wil said, "We are gonna miss Pedro around here, but I know he will be a wonderful Doctor and Healer!"

Oscar replied, "Little did we know when we found those boys in that old fruit shed, that we have been given a true gift in those boys and our lives are the better for their having been with us!"

Wil could only agree. Wil was thinking of both Johnnie and Pat, he wondered how Pat was getting on at the Naval Academy. He hoped and prayed that both boys were experiencing their life's dream and were charging forward on the course each had chosen.

He needn't be concerned, Patrick James O'Toole was taking to life at the Naval Academy like a duck takes to water, he was excelling in his classes and he had won the respect of both his classmates and also of the upperclassmen. The instructors had already noted him as a classroom leader and the Academic Board was watching him closely! It showed that he had both shipboard AND command experience, only a few of his classmates knew of his history, where he had been and what he had done and, those few, had nothing but respect for Patrick. They ALL knew that he was going places and would do things that would shake up the lives of all those around him.

Johnnie was continuing to amaze Madam Lo Chi and she was determined that she was going to feature Johnnie at the annual music festival next spring. It was to be held at the Tea Garden at Golden Gate Park and was the major fundraiser for the Chinese Community for funds to help destitute children and their parents who had fled the Communist regime in China.

Johnnie was practicing hard not only to please Madame Lo Chi, but he was working on a surprise for his Papa, he had composed his own "Happy Boy Song" and he planned on surprising his Papa when he came home. He practiced in secret, but Joe had heard him, each time the boy practiced his new song, Joe was left weeping, both in amazement and giving thanks that he had been privileged to witness such a magnificent voice,

The Joyce had just passed the entrance to Puget Sound, they were making good time and expecting to be entering the Golden Gate in another four days! The seas remained calm and, for once, the area was not socked in with fog.

They had slowed down for the night, the shipping lanes were quite congested and Oscar was manning the radar fulltime until they got south of the San Juan de Fuca channel. He kept picking up an intermittent return on the radar screen and he called Wil over to get his opinion. It was as if a contact was playing hide and seek with him, it would be there and then it was gone.

They were twenty miles south of Cape Flattery and Wil knew of no boat harbors or other facilities until they got to the Destruction Island Light. What was a small boat doing out here, he thought. He called out the off duty watch and told Oscar to feed him range and bearing of the blip. While it was strange, he was not yet worried, after all, it could just be a patch of more dense fog or even a floating log.

He sent a seaman up to the top of the wheelhouse and to light the big searchlight and start sweeping the ocean ahead of them. The power and range of the light could reach out at least five miles and light up any solid object like daylight.

Pedro came up to assist as did Juan and Jose. The three of them stood out on the catwalk with binoculars sweeping the ocean's surface, their gaze followed the sweep of the searchlight. Oscar kept the range and bearing coming and let the boys know the bearing relative to the ship's heading, so that they would know where to concentrate their search.

Finally, Oscar was about to lose the blip in the surface clutter, he hollered, "Whatever it is, it's ten degrees off the Port Bow!

The three boys crowded over to the port bridge wing and stared intently through their binoculars. Jose screamed, "THERE IT IS, ITS A SMALL BOAT!"

Wil ordered the sails dropped and the engines started, he maneuvered the Joyce alongside the small boat as BOATS leaned out with a grappling hook and snagged the boat. He pulled it alongside and made it fast to a deck cleat.

Whatever was in the boat was covered with a tarp, so after they secured the boat to the Joyce, Boats climbed down and jumped into the boat. He carefully lifted the tarp and the Old Man began screaming frantically, "THEY BE KIDS SIR, CHILDREN HURT!" Boats was frantic, he saw children and blood under that tarp and he envisioned the very worst!

It was more than the old man could stand, he started passing the children up to the waiting crewmen, tears were running down his face as he saw mangled bodies and broken limbs! Blood was running down his shirt unnoticed as he handed up the children to waiting crew members.

Wil counted six children passed up to the waiting hands of the off-duty crew, they were bloody with cuts, bruises and open sores all over their naked bodies.

Pedro started pulling out the med kit and he laid clean sheets on the mess table, telling the crewmen to bring the kids in there. He turned up the electric heaters to take the chill off the room as he turned on all the lights and began working. The broken arms he could only stabilize, but he sewed up the gaping wounds and dressed the oozing sores. He told Cap'n Wil that they were all boys, about ten to fourteen years old, he couldn't tell for sure, but he thought they might be Korean.

The outside temperature began to fall and the rescued boys were all shivering, Pedro turned the room heaters up to max and asked the crew to look for any portable heaters to warm the room.

The enginemen lit off the donkey boiler and started the steam heat system to supplement the electric heaters; they had the second generator on the line and everything they owned that produced heat was rushed up to the mess.

Pedro got the bleeding stopped and two broken arms and three broken legs stabilized with splints. He dosed the children with sufficient painkillers to take the edge off their wounds, he didn't want to overdose them and cause problems for the Doctors when they got the children to port.

The oldest boy, Pedro guessed his age at about fourteen or fifteen, started to groan and thrash around, Pedro held his upper body on his own lap and brushed the boy's hair out of his eyes. He spoke calmly and gently to the boy, asking him who he was and what had happened to them.

The boy looked around and saw none who were threatening him, he struggled to sit up. The boy's English was poor, but understandable, he said, "Me Trong Hyud, wes 'scaped bad mens, us slaves."

It was all Pedro could do to not scream, the two crewmen who were assisting him had to leave the compartment, their anger was too great for them to contain! Jose and Juan stepped into the mess and took over helping their brother and all three of them had tears running freely down their faces.

Wil was beside himself, he couldn't leave the bridge and there were kids hurt on his ship! Oscar secured the radar and went below to see what was going on. He looked at each child and then conferred with his son, asking, "Son, should we make for the closest port or should we hightail it for home?"

Pedro thought for a few minutes and then replied, "Papa, if we head to the closest port, who will take care of these kids? Let's head for home and I will take care of these boys!" All I need is a real doctor to set their broken limbs.

Oscar went back up to the bridge and relieved Wil, telling him what Pedro had said. Wil replied, "OK, head for home, put both engines on line and lets see what this ol' girl can do. I'm gonna go below and see for myself how our new kids are doing!" He had already decided that the new children were gonna be theirs!

As Wil headed down the ladder, Oscar told the enginemen to put both engines on-line. As soon as he heard the second engine start, he started pushing the bridge throttles towards maximum. Soon, the two engines were screaming in protest and the decks were throbbing with the beat of the engines. The deck crew got the sails back up and they were flying through the water at eighteen knots according to the pit-log!

They were squeezing every ounce of speed out of the Mary Joyce O'Toole, the sails were drawing tight and the two engines were running red-lined! The exhaust pyrometers were hanging in there, a hair's breadth under the red line. Gone was the nice, easy, quiet voyage, the ship was pounding her way through the waves, straining even the foundation bolts that held the engines down. Pedro was doing everything he knew how to do to ease the injured boys and he and Oscar sat with them through the remainder of the night, holding them and letting them know they were safe. Pedro allowed them small sips of water and some dry soda crackers just in case they were going to need surgery.

Trong Hyud was able to stay awake and watched these two strangers, a white man and a brown boy, work together to help him and his companions. They were very much different than the evil white men who had snatched him off the sidewalk in Pusan. They didn't hit any of them and they were taking care of them and the brown boy had fixed their cuts and made their legs and arms not hurt anymore. The brown boy even brought him a small cup of soup that was thick with meat and vegetables. It tasted so good, he held the bowl up for more and the brown boy explained to him as best he could that he would have to wait until it was determined he did not need surgery.

The white man called the brown boy, P'dro and hugged him. The brown boy was definitely not a slave to the white man. Another brown boy walked in and hugged the white man who called himself Os'kr. It was most strange, it was almost as if they were family. Did white people have brown babies? He could hardly think, the nice warm room and the food in his tummie was making him sleepy

The white man called the new boy, Bob'ee and treated him like he was his son. Do white people have brown babies? It would be some time before Trong got it all straight in his head and, by that time, a big white man, who called himself Bil, had claimed him as his own son!

Trong's eyes were getting heavy, the room was warm and, for the first time since he had been captured, he felt warm and safe. His tummy had some food and he was cuddled in the strong arms of Os'kr. He closed his eyes and he was gone instantly.

The next thing he knew, it was daylight and he was still snuggled in the big white man's arms and the white man named Bil was reaching out to take him from Os'kr. He reached up with his good arm and felt Bil's face, it was rough with stickers, like a scrub brush, but the huge man leaned over and kissed his forehead. It felt so good, so right and honorable, Trong sighed and snugged deeper into the white man's arms and returned to his sleep.

Bill chuckled and said, "Ya know, Oscar, I could learn to like this, I wonder if I could adopt this boy as my own son?"

Oscar replied, "Why not, he is going to need someone and I have my eye on that little one sleeping over there."

Bill looked where Oscar was pointing, a tiny boy, no more than four or five years old was curled up in a blanket and sleeping peacefully, despite his splinted leg and bandaged wounds. The tiny child had a peaceful smile on his face and every once in a while, he would snuggle deeper into the blanket.

The child began to stir and Oscar went over to him and cradled the child in his arms. Without ever fully waking, the tiny child snuggled down into Oscar's arms and went back to sleep with a sigh. Oscar was hooked! So, also, was Bill! Both men would have sons soon after The Mary Joyce docked.

The Joyce's race for the Golden Gate was almost comic, all six of the boys they had fished out of the sea were being held on the lap of a white man and all six boys were being claimed by that man as their sons!

Trong was the oldest and Bill was able to learn that there had been a fire on their captor's ship and, while the crew was fighting the fire, Trong had gathered up the boys and they hid in the boat. There was an explosion and their boat was thrown clear of the burning ship, the ship sank almost immediately and there were no survivors. One of their captors laughed when he told them they were to be sold at a place called "Prtlin" and that all the white men were gonna be rich! Trong was the only boy who spoke any English at all and he had not told the other boys what the awful man had said. Now, he was glad he had not, he could take that knowledge to his ancestors and the other boys didn't need to know anything about it.

It was not long before Boats, Andrew McKesson, had latched on to a young boy, Kee, who was ten years old. Kee had seen the man when he had jumped down into their boat and lifted the canvass they had pulled over them. Even though the man was a round-eyed white man, he seemed so kind and good, Kee reached out and put his arms around the man, Boats was a prisoner, a jail term that would last for the remainder of his life! It was a sentence he joyfully accepted!

Soon, all six of the boys had "captured" their own protector and all their hurts and broken bones were nearly forgotten. For the first time in their lives, their tummies were full and they had a warm place to sleep that was safe and clean. Nobody was chasing them with orders to work, they had not been kicked since they came to these strange people and nobody was screaming and shouting at them. They were either dead, or had been taken up to the lands of the Ancestors.

The Joyce finally reached the Golden Gate and Wil steered them under the bridge and headed for Daly City and their own pier. He had radioed ahead to warn Uncle Joe of what they were bringing with them and, as the Joyce eased up to their pier, Uncle Joe and Johnnie were there to receive the lines and wrap them around the cleats, making the Joyce at home!

Johnnie knew a few words of Korean and he came up to the Mess, looking for Wil and these new boys. Trong was sitting there, propped up on the seat, happily eating a warm biscuit that had been slathered in butter and grape jelly. He looked up to see another brown boy and he happily offered to share his biscuit with the boy.

Johnnie tried his few Korean words on the boy, and the youngster's eyes flew open in surprise. It was an instant bond of friendship, the two boys would carry their friendship through their old age. They would be friends for life!

Wil had asked Uncle Joe to have a lawyer on the pier when they got there, they needed to get these boys "legalized" before the child welfare scoundrels heard about them. He did even better, he got his childhood friend, Superior Court Judge, Albert Tryson, to come also.

Before the child welfare people ever heard about the incident, the six boys had new families and were already registered for school! One of the social services investigators referred to Judge Tryson as a "Stupid Ass" and Judge Tryson was happy to make the man a guest of the county for ninety days!

The night they got home, everyone had bathed and were sitting in the living room. The doctors at County General had patched up all the boys and complimented Pedro on his fine first aid work.

Johnnie stood up and said, "Papa, I have song for you." The room got very quiet and Johnnie began his own composition of the "Happy Boy Song". The boy's voice curled around all those listening and the high notes swirled up to the ceilings, the crescendo splashed over their amazed faces and tears were flowing down all their faces. No one could speak, they were astounded at what they had heard. Not for the first time did the adults wonder how so much music could come from such a small boy!

For a few minutes after Johnnie has finished, there was absolute silence. Johnnie was beginning to think they did not like his song. Everyone let out the breath they had been holding and his brothers grabbed Johnnie and hugged him, tears were dropping to the floor. Pedro was crying in Thanksgiving that God had allowed him to witness such a wonderful event.

Wil exhaled and finally said, "Johnnie, you are God's Gift to us all. I have never heard anything so beautiful as your song, Iii..." He could not continue, he just sat there, hugging his son.

Uncle Joe was in the kitchen, trying to make some coffee through his own tears, he finally gave up and they did without coffee for that night.

The California Child Welfare investigators came down hard and told Wil and Oscar they were going to take the children from them and to have them ready by the following Monday. It was already Friday afternoon and there was no way they could get a court order to stop them.

Pedro said, "Its warm in Hawaii!"

The more Wil and Oscar thought about it, the better the idea sounded. Oscar called Madam Lo Chi and asked her if her grandson could round up some strong boys to help them move. It was an emergency, he told her. She asked him some questions and soon understood what was going on. She had two daughters and a son living in Honolulu and she agreed it was a better place to live.

She called her Grandson, Tojon, and told him to get some men and boys and get Captain O'Toole moved that very day!

She then called her oldest son in Honolulu and explained the problem to him and told him to find an "appropriate house" for the Captain and his family! NOW!

Tojon arrived with twenty young Chinese men, all of whom looked like understudies for King Kong! They laid battens and mats in the refrigerated hold of the Joyce and proceeded to fill both the refrigerated hold and the dry hold with everything that was in the house.

Wil and Pedro took the injured boys over to County General for a final checkup before they headed to Hawaii. The doctors were pleased at the boys' progress and pronounced them fit to travel.

They finished loading out the Joyce on Sunday morning and Tojon said, "Captain, my Father and older brother will meet you in Honolulu, they will have a house for you in Hawaii and my other brother, Caso, is Assistant Port Captain for the Port of Honolulu. He will let my Father know when your ship arrives. Do not worry, Cousin Fong is the Deputy District Attorney for the City and County of Honolulu, he will make sure you are protected from those bandits who are trying to take these boys away from you!"

The young man hugged Wil and Oscar, then he leaned down and wrapped his arms around Johnnie, "Jowto, keep up your singing, you will still go to the Julliard and Grandmother Lo Chi will move her festival to Honolulu, so practice hard my brother, and make us all proud!"

Wil caught the "Jowto" and wondered if that were Johnnie's Chinese name, he would ask him as soon as he got some time to sit down with his children.

Trong had developed serious feelings for the young singer, Jowto, there was only a year's difference in their ages. He would ask his Papa if he could move in with Jowto.

Sunday afternoon, they left the house keys with a realtor with instructions to sell the house and their cars, then they slipped over to the Standard Oil pier to fuel the ship. They had already stuffed food and water on board and Wil had called Captain Jenkins from the pier to let him know they were moving to Honolulu, and why.

He asked, "Is my son, Bill, going with you?"

Wil replied, "Yes sir, he is standing right here, I will put him on the line."

Wil handed the phone to Bill, telling him it was his Dad. Bill explained to his Father what had happened and the Captain sighed, "Maybe it is time for me to retire, will Captain O'Toole have room for an old man in Hawaii?"

Bill replied, "I don't know Dad, but one way or the other, we will find a place for you! See ya' in Hawaii!"

Bill told Wil what he had done and Wil said, "Well, why not? I am sure we can get a house big enough for us all, maybe on one of the other islands, like Maui or Kauai?"

They sailed directly from the fueling pier, they could not know that the State Officials were already at the door of their house to arrest them all and grab the children.

The Joyce was a little crowded, but everyone knew it was only a short time before they arrived in Honolulu. The little boys thought it was great fun to be sleeping three boys in a bed!

The Joyce was fully loaded, she was down on her load limits and Wil could feel the ship wallowing in the seas. It was fortunate that it was the calm season and he did not expect any heavy weather before they reached Honolulu.

To get there faster, Wil had the two engines started. There was no danger of bad weather, but their most critical problem was fresh water. All the boys were being very careful not to use too much water for their showers, but that many people were a terrible drain on the tanks. Just drinking water consumed many tens of gallons for that many people. The level in the water tank continued its slow drop towards empty.

Pedro went below and performed some of his "magic" on the distiller and the level in the water tank slowed its frantic race to the bottom of the tank! He knew they would run dry, but not before they made Honolulu Harbor. It was only a nine day trip and the tanks were still more than half full.

Nine days later saw them rounding Diamond Head and, when they contacted the Harbor Master for berthing instructions, they were sent to their regular slot at the Marina.

There was a car with official plates on it waiting for them. It was Assistant District Attorney Fong, Caso Lo Chi and his Father, Cao Lo Chi. They all introduced themselves and then Cao Lo Chi asked to discuss security arrangements in Lihue. He then said that his son Tojon, wanted to work with security and wanted to help protect all the boys whom he had come to love. Wil chuckled and replied, "Mr. Lo Chi, I suspected there was something between the boys and I have no problem with your son being with my son. We call him Johnnie, but we do understand that his own name is Jowto." He added, "He and his friend Trong, a boy we recently rescued from being a slave have grown very close, I suspect they will soon have something to tell me."

Cao spoke up and said, "Tojon just wants to be their brother and watch over them. They BOTH will be safe with him around."

Caso jumped up and let out a piercing whistle and waved at the car. The car door flew open and a frantic Chinese boy, Tojon Lo Chi, came racing across the lawn and leaped up on the floating pier that the Joyce was moored to. The three boys held each other in a tight hug, as if one or both of them were about to run away! Jowto was in a quandary, it was Trong whom he loved, but, did he really want to leave his Papa, Wil behind? He liked Tojong too and the three boys would soon become inseparable. Tojon would spend the rest of his life guarding the two boys whom God had given to him to protect.

Cao Lo Chi said to Wil, "We have found you a splendid home in Lihue on the Island of Kauai. It has nine bedrooms, two family rooms, a large kitchen and dining room as well as a play center downstairs. Also downstairs is a large office area. There are guest quarters in a separate building, a swimming pool and the property is fully fenced with provisions for a security service and it has its own docking facilities for your ship. It is available for $3.2 million. Are you interested?"

Before Wil could say a word, Uncle Joe spoke up, "It sounds great, we will fly over tomorrow and take a look, but I think it is exactly what we are looking for."

Mr. Lo Chi added, "There is also a pier in Nawiliwili Harbor that goes with the property and the house staff all live nearby, except for the housekeeper, she lives in one of the guest cottages."

Then, Mr. Lo Chi took them to the Princess Kaiulani Hotel, it was an older hotel, but it was very quiet and private. The property was fenced with security guards around it, so the boys would all be very safe there. Mr. Lo Chi whispered to Wil, "The gangsters who had captured your boys are still looking for them. My contacts in Hong Kong tell me that they are ruthless, but they have no idea what your name is, nor do they know where you live. We plan on keeping it that way!"

The next day, they motored the Joyce to Nawiliwili Harbor to take a look at the house. They preferred the Joyce to flying in an airplane. They loved it at first sight and Uncle Joe insisted on buying the house. They made arrangements with Kailua Security to maintain security for the house and grounds. Wil did not know that his Uncle was independently wealthy in his own right and he dedicated his entire worth to the boys and their living with them.

Wil spoke with Mrs. Tangimora, the housekeeper and she was to make arrangements for a house staff and a couple of yard men to maintain the grounds.

Johnnie was dancing on his toes wanting to ask Wil something. Wil was pretty sure what the boy wanted, so he took Johnnie over to a small picnic table set in a grove of bamboo for privacy.

Wil said, "OK, Jowto, what is your problem?" Johnnie's eyes were beginning to leak, "Papa, please, I am your little boy, Johnnie. Do not throw me away!"

Wil hugged the boy tightly and whispered in his ear, "I would not throw my Happy Boy away, not in a million, million years!" Johnnie's eyes glowed with happiness and he broke out in his Happy Boy Song.

Everyone on the property stopped what they were doing to listen to the song of gladness that was erupting from the little bamboo grove. It twirled and floated around the property like a wisp of smoke, tantalizing their ears and bringing their own joy and happiness to the surface.

When he had finished his song, he looked shyly at his Father and asked, "Can Trong stay here with me?"

Wil smiled and replied, "Of course he may, as long as his Papa says it is ok."

Johnnie went looking for a telephone to call Trong.

The phone had hardly beeped when Trong picked it up and said, "Is it OK, My Love?"

Johnnie shouted, "YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!"

Trong was trying not to cry in happiness, "I will get my Brothers to help me move to your room. So it was that a young boy who had been found in a fishing shack on a small Pacific Island had found his life's mate and happiness and another young boy, thrown away as useless, had found a new family and someone to love. Their love would be life-long and they made no attempt to hide the love they had for one another.

Wil could see transportation was going to be a problem, so he called a taxi to take him to Lihue Ford, where he made arrangements to purchase a fifteen passenger van, a pickup truck and a four-door sedan. He told them he would take delivery on the sedan and they could deliver the two other vehicles the first thing in the morning.

Wil hired some young local men to start moving their things from the Joyce to the house. There were four of them and they were all very polite and got the work done sooner than Wil thought possible. The fact the four young men looked like understudies for King Kong just might have had something to do with their speed in unloading the Mary Joyce!

The leader of the young men said, "Sir, may I speak with you privately, sir?"

Wil wandered back to the table set in the bamboo and said, "OK, what's up?"

The young man replied and he pulled his wallet out of his pocket, "Sir, I am Danny Tangimora, I am your Housekeeper's son and I work for Kailua Security. I am also the head of your security detail. Mama also works for Kailua Security. We are going to keep you all safe, Mr. Lo Chi has informed us of the problems and those guys will have to go through us to get to your sons! We are going to move your ship closer to the house and put in a new pier that we can walk down to check the ship regularly. We are not going to go around like policemen, we are just going to be regular fellows, but never fear, we are all well trained and there are more of us that you have not spotted yet!"

He let out a whistle and men began to pour out of the bushes!

He continued, "There will be six men on duty at all times. We all live nearby, so commuting is not a problem. We do insist, however, that we drive you wherever you wish to go and we will keep all your cars under our own control. We will do all the maintenance on the vehicles and no one but ourselves or your folks will be allowed anywhere near them unless you are with them and they are your guests. If you are ever being coerced or threatened, you or your family is to call out, Mr. Nagasaki, I need you! That is a code that you are being threatened."

He showed Wil his credentials that had been issued by the National Security Agency in Washington and the snub-nosed .38 Police Special he carried in a holster under his shirt. He looked directly at Wil and said, "Captain O'Toole, there is gonna be NOBODY get through us to hurt you OR your family! My youngest brother, Min, is also a licensed Third Mate and will be with you whenever you are onboard your ship. He is also certified by the NSA!" Wil shook his head, wondering just how far up in the government their support went.

It looks like Wil and Oscar are setting up a small Kingdom on Kauai, nobody is going to hurt those boys again, EVER! We have to wonder just who or what Mr. Nagasaki is?