Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Ken Filing is a retired entrepreneur who founded an international scale manufacturing company. He joined the U.S. Navy at seventeen and served during the Korean War. He and his wife, Teddy, have three children. They own a forty-two-foot trawler docked in Cleveland, Ohio, and divide their time between Ohio and Florida.

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UNFINISHED FLIGHT

Trafford Publishing

Chapter One

The small, tropical island of Tongolo is located in the South Pacific just west of and a little north of the Phoenix Islands. It is sometimes thought to be a part of those islands but is, in fact, its own entity and owned by no country. It is far removed from the shipping lanes in that part of the Pacific Ocean and is seldom visited by anyone other than the occasional cruising sail boat and a supply ship that visits it every two or three months. It's located close to the intersection of the equator and the International dateline which gives it a year around tropical climate and because of the unique currents and upper atmosphere winds, typhoons very rarely happen. The severest weather for over one hundred years on this island has been an occasional tropical storm.

It is in this idyllic setting that we find Kent and Teddi Allison sitting in the shade of a palm tree enjoying their breakfast. Their two children, Eva Rose and Ross have just left to walk to the village school, which is taught by their good friend Marte, the wife of Adam, an old crew member of Kent's and a very close friend.

As they were finishing their breakfast, the village chieftain Ben Fletcher Adams approached and said "Good morning you two. Are you ready for our trek into the hills?"

"We sure are" said Kent "we've got our hiking and camping gear inside and all packed for a three day trip. The kids will stay with Adam and Marte while we're gone and I'm sure they will have a great time with their kids. It will be one long sleep over and I'm sure Adam will be pulling his hair out by the time day three rolls around."

Ben chuckled "Yes when those five youngsters get together its non stop fun and games. Okay let's make preparations. The boys will be along in a few minutes with their machetes. We've got some pretty thick jungle to go through before we start the up grade to the caves where the old villagers stayed during the Japanese occupation. It will take most of the day to get there and set up camp. We may have some time left to locate some of the caves today but tomorrow is when we'll really get to explore them. It's been several years since I've been there and I really never got deep into the caves where they lived. Some of our villagers have explored them and found many artifacts of their ancestors. The only one still alive that survived the war and remembers the horrors they went through is Kellea. She's old and frail but still pretty sharp and will talk about the war if asked."

"I'm so anxious to see the caves" said Teddi "it just intrigues me how a group of villagers could fight back and survive the horrors of the occupation by a modern Japanese army. After we get back I'm going to sit down with her and record everything she remembers before it's lost forever."

"Grab your gear" announced Ben "I hear the boys approaching and we don't want to lose any daylight."

The group of five loaded their backpacks and trudged through the village to the edge of the jungle. The first part of the journey was easy going. There were well worn paths leading away from the village but it wasn't long before the growth got thicker and the two strong, young men started hacking away with their machetes to clear a path so they could make some headway.

Even with the growth cut back, Ben, Kent and Teddy found the hike a struggle. There were the ever present insects buzzing around their heads and biting their bare arms and legs and the stray uncut branch, with leaves as sharp as a knife that would snap back. At one point, one did so and put a neat little gash on Kent's forearm. Ben called the procession to a halt and insisted that Kent tend to the wound with an ointment that Ben carried in his pack.

"What is this stuff Ben?" said Kent "it sure has a strong odor. In fact it smells awful."

"You don't want to know" said Ben with a slight grin "but it will keep it from getting infected."

The two machete wielders mumbled something in Polynesian, glanced at Kent with a sly grin and then both rose to their feet while chuckling in that deep guttural way of these island people.

Kent wrinkled up his nose, picked up his pack and started off walking next to Teddi.

"She gave him a strange look and wrinkling up her nose sweetly said "why don't you just trail behind us for a while honey?"

They soon were back on their way and after another hour or so the terrain became less dense and the going was much easier. The machetes were only used occasionally and soon not at all. Most pleasant of all, the temperature seemed lower and the humidity lessened. Kent's aroma also lessened as the day wore on.

Ben said "The thick jungle is behind us but soon we'll have some steep elevation to contend with. Let's break for lunch."

While they were resting and enjoying a bite of lunch, Ben asked "You've told me the story of your trawler, Kent and how you and Teddi met and married in Honolulu, did you always live there?"

"No Ben" said Kent "I was born on a farm in Ohio which had been in the family for well over one hundred years. I was told that the land was some kind of grant from Connecticut and was known as the Western Reserve in the early days. My early life was one of helping out in the orchard in which we grew mostly apples but also some peaches, plums and cherries. Apples were the cash crop and the Ohio climate was very good for them. My dad took us boys to Lake Erie one summer and when I saw that huge expanse of water, I was dumbstruck. I knew that some day I would end up going to sea. Every chance I got I'd make my way to the lake and one way or another, hitch a ride on a boat or volunteer to crew on racing sailboats at a yacht club in Cleveland. I'd do anything to be near the water. I loved it, especially the sailboats. I graduated from high school at seventeen and left for the U.S. Navy within weeks of graduation. My mom and dad died in a house fire while I was away and after the funeral I agreed that my brother should get the farm. I knew that I would remain at sea after my tour was done and that's when I settled in Honolulu and became a fisherman. The rest of the story you know. How I met Teddi, bought the trawler, got hijacked, sailed the Caribbean and ended up here on Tongolo."

"Well I'm glad you found your way here. You and Teddi are like family" said Ben. "Okay let's hit the trail."

The next several hours were a steady rise to the top of a foot hill that led to the two twin peaks at the center of the island. When they crested the top of the hill a beautiful, lush valley came into view.

"Isn't it beautiful?" said Ben "We'll go through the valley and about one third of the way up the south peak we'll find the caves. There's a pasture area near to them where we can pitch the tents. That was the common area for gardening and a pig sty for the war time villagers. It was pretty well hidden until you rounded the outcropping"

They reached the small pasture just before sunset and Ben said "Let's pitch the tents and set up camp. We can locate some caves later but we better wait until tomorrow to explore them. Some of them might be populated with wild boar or some other varmints."

Later, as they sat around the camp fire after the evening meal, they reminisced about how the island must have been an entirely different kind of place back in the early 40's. Suddenly there was a rush of wings and high pitched squealing.

Teddi bolted...