Hawaii - James Michener [33]
"How many days?"
"Some men say thirty, some say fifty."
"Teroro, if we decided to sail with the next big storm that brings us a west wind, how many people could we carry on our canoe?"
"Would they let us take Wait-for-the-West-Wind?"
"If not, we would have to fight for it."
"Good!” Teroro grunted, for now he could begin to see specific action.
"How many men?" Tamatoa pressed.
"About sixty."
"And all supplies?"
"Everything."
"And a house for our gods?"
"Yes."
The brothers lay on the matting with their faces at arm's length apart, whispering, and finally Tamatoa asked, "Who should join us?"
Teroro quickly rattled off the names of many warriors: "Hiro, Mato, Pa . . ."
"We aren't going to battle," Tamatoa corrected. "We are going to the north . . . forever."
In the hushed room the word overcame Teroro. "Leave Bora Bora forever?" He leaped to his feet and cried, "We'll kill the High Priest tonight!"
Tamatoa grabbed him by one leg and hauled him down to the matting. "We are concerned with a great voyage, not revenge."
But Teroro cried, "At the convocation I and my men were ready to fight all the islands if anyone touched you, Tamatoa. We would have strewn the temple with bodies. We feel the same way now."
Tamatoa smiled and said, "But the High Priest outsmarted you, didn't he?"
Teroro pressed his fingers into a tight knot and mumbled, "How did it happen? Our plan was so good."
"Oro has triumphed," the king said sadly. "We had better take our gods and go."
Teroro growled, "I should like to be set free on Havaiki one night before we go. They'd never put out the fires."
"Is there anyone on Bora Bora who knows the directions north?"
"Our uncle. It was Tupuna who taught them to me."
"Is he loyal to Oro?" Tamatoa asked.
“Yes, but I think he is also loyal to you."
"Impossible," Tamatoa objected.
"For wise old men like Tupuna, many things are possible," Teroro laughed. "Do you want me to call him?"
"Wait. Won't he be in session with the others?"
"They don't pay much attention to him," Teroro explained. "They suspect he's loyal to you."
"We wouldn't dare take so long a voyage without a priest," Tamatoa said gravely. "To be alone on the ocean for fifty days . . ."
"I would want a priest along," Teroro agreed. "Who would read the omens?" And he sent a messenger to fetch old Tupuna.
In the interim the brothers resumed their positions and their planning. "Can we gather all we need?" the king asked.
"We can get spears and helmets . . ."
"Brother!" Tamatoa cried impatiently. "For the last time, we are not going forth on some adventure. What I mean is can you get breadfruit shoots that will survive? Seed coconuts? Bred sows? And some good eating dogs? We would need a thousand fishhooks and two thousand lengths of sennit. Can you get those things?"
"I'll get them," Teroro said.
"Keep thinking about whom we shall take with us."
Again Teroro rattled off the easy names and again the king interrupted: "Find a man who can make knives, one who can strip pandanus, a good fishhook man."
"Well, if we take sixty men it ought to be easy . . ."
"I've been counting the spaces in my mind," Tamatoa reflected. "We can take only thirty-seven men, six slaves, and fifteen women."
"Women," Teroro gasped.
"Suppose the land to the north is empty," Tamatoa mused. "Suppose there are no women. We would watch our friends set their feet upon the rainbow, one by one, and each man as he left would be forever irreplaceable. There would be no children."
"Will you take a wife?" Teroro asked.
"I will take none of my present wives," the king replied. "I'll take Natabu, so that we can have royal children."
"I'll take Marama."
The king hesitated, then took his brother by the hands. "Marama may not go," he said gravely. "We will take only women who can bear children."
"I would not want to go without Marama," the younger man said. "She is my wisdom."
"I am sorry, brother," the king said with complete finality. "Only women who can bear children."
"Then I won't go," Teroro said flatly.
"I need you," the king replied.