Surviving the Dreams

Chapter 10 - St. Augustine's

The sounds of boats and men getting ready to depart awakened both Greg and Susan just before dawn. Drawn by the smell of hot coffee, Greg wandered down by the fishing piers.

"You, English, want a job?" a little Polynesian man asked.

Greg had to think about it only briefly. "What kind of job?" he asked.

"Pulling nets. Pay for today is one American dollar," he said.

Greg looked towards Susan. "It's not much, but it's a start," he said.

Susan nodded. "When would you be back?"

"By night. If you do good, more tomorrow," the little man said.

"I'll go," Greg told him and climbed aboard. "I'll meet you at the Wilson's tonight?"

Susan nodded. "I'll see you there."

She watched for a while as the fisherman put Greg to work preparing for the day. The boat set out before very long and she turned back to the town on the hill.

"Maybe I should check the stores today," she suggested to herself. "Maybe one of them needs help."

Evening found Susan waiting at the Wilson's for Greg's return. She borrowed a shower at the mission earlier and was visiting with Jessie in the children's room waiting for him to arrive when Greg appeared with a knock on the door. Mrs. Wilson went to answer it and Greg came in with a basket of fish and a dollar in his hand.

Susan rose to greet him with a smile. "They let you keep some?"

"A few. I thought perhaps the Wilson's could use some here at the orphanage," Greg explained.

"Can I help you with the fish?" Mr. Wilson offered as he hurried to give Greg a hand.

The two men each took a handle then carried the basket of fish into the kitchen where it was turned over to a cook for cleaning and storage.

"Is there someplace I could clean up for dinner?" Greg asked.

"Your things are over there, just inside the school building. I'll show you where," John said to Greg.

Greg did as their host said and followed John back out to a shower.

"So how long have you been here?" Mrs. Wilson asked Susan as they waited for Greg in their living room.

"Only a couple of days. We came with Father Yuen from the Catholic Mission on the other side of the island," Susan explained.

"You must mean Father Juong's place," Mr. Wilson said.

"You know it?" Susan asked.

"Most of us know each other more or less. How did you get there?"

"We came with a relative of his from one of the outer islands when they came to trade," Susan answered.

"I didn't know Father Juong had any relatives anywhere close."

"They don't," Greg said as he rejoined them, clean, groomed and dressed in the best he had of his ragged clothes.

"Susan, you are telling the story backwards," he admonished. "If you're going to do that, you might as well tell them that we're dead."

"What?" Mrs. Wilson asked in alarm. "What's all this about being dead?"

"Well, we've been declared dead," Greg told her. "At least that's what we read."

"The newspapers did say there were no survivors," Mr. Wilson commented.