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“The ers was the commander of this side of Guadalcanal—an officer—colonel—who they call the dragon He like a devil, an evilMost the Japanese leave us alone, but he different”
Rubo described a ed children fro every able-bodied htfall as slaves while their sisters, spouses, and children disappeared Rumors circulated about experiine, whole faony, their bodies carted away by their relatives at gunpoint and thrown into the ocean for the sharks to feed upon once their usefulness was over
Toward the end of the occupation, a group of about a hundred of the most able islanders were forced to cart what Nauru described as many dozens of extremely heavy crates, made from crude planks cut from the local tre
es, into the mountains The trip took days in the extreme heat with the impossible loads and only survival rations of water
At the end of their journey they deposited the crates deep in a cave, a forbidden cleft in the earth that was avoided by the locals because it was believed to be one of the entrances to the land of the giants Once the trove was hidden, the Japanese devil ordered his h stealth and luck that Nauru and his cousin escaped undetected back into the syste to venture out When they did, they ca bodies of their kinsmen, every man murdered where he stood, the corpses bloated in the heat—those that hadn’t already fallen prey to local scavengers
They stayed in the o anywhere near their old village, wandering the jungle and living off the land When they finally made it back to their home, they found it deserted, the population eradicated down to the last baby None of the villagers was ever heard frole Eventually, the Allies controlled the island, and Nauru and his cousin went to work for theirls in nearby villages—living in simplicity until called to the afterlife, as Nauru was even now
Sam and Remi tried to keep their expressions calue Remi cleared her throat
“That’s so sad He’s lucky to be alive” She hesitated, trying to figure out how to frame the question delicately “Does he knoas in the crates?”
Rubo asked Nauru the question in a gentle voice and the ancient islander grunted in a way that required no translation Saaze
“Where is the cave?”
Another exchange with Nauru produced a few sentences, and then s
“He no know Up in the mountains Bad place”
“Can he be any et that would help us locate the cave would beiain”
Rubo did as requested, and this ti After a time, Rubo shook his head “Best leave hi he ever will”
The swelter in the confined space see e with him