His Island Girl

Chapter Eighteen

FLASHBACK (continuation)...

With no place to call home and no one to call family, Leo decided to join the military in a far away country away from Duke's Valley. Though it was difficult for many to get enrolled into the military without any sponsorship, luck was on his side.

There in military school, he made new friends who became family while others turned to foes. The most prominent of amongst his friends who had turned to be a family was Jeffrey Orman, while Mario Kish turned out to be a snake.

In the military academy, he did so well in all aspects that he was almost top in class. The only competitor who had been a hindrance to his success was Mario Kish and that had only been because he was mostly favoured by almost all superiors. He was favoured because he was the son of the then elite Jon Kish. The Kishs were very famous and respectable elites since way back and they were known to possess all the best things of life. That alone was the greatest advantage Mario had that Leo didn't, and so many times, Mario received most of the praises and rewards instead of Leo.

Nathan Henson and Jeff Orman were two of Leo's very good friends. The three of them together with Mario were in the same platoon. Mario had been very tricky and despicable since way back. He had wanted to be close with Jeff because Jeff had been one sophisticated young soldier who was good with machines and also from a high class. But Jeff was more close and acquainted with Leo and because Leo was not from the rich class as him, it always made Mario envious.

After their graduation, surprisingly the four men, Leo, Jeff, Mario and Nathan were recruited into the Navy according to their areas of specialization. They were all on the same team and it was just as if fate had tied their destinies together. Leo got married to his late wife Betty and they had a daughter Mirabella. Jeff also got married but Nathan and Mario got married much later.

In the Navy, Mario was promoted to a top rank and the other men were below him. Due to his strong aversion towards Leo, he had always sent him on tougher and riskier missions and assignments.

One day, a heavy flooding occurred in a northern state of the country and Leo's team together with other teams were sent as a rescue aid. They helped the citizens to safety though many lives were lost.

When the task was over and they got on their way back to the base, they decided to navigate through a safer part of the sea. While in the boat, Leo and his friends who were all part of the rescue mission saw this beautiful island standing alone above peaceful waters and the fantasy of owning a private island came to their minds.

After months of heavy duties, the team was given a short break from service and so Leo and his friends Jeff and Nathan decided to go on a cruise at sea. While at sea, they sailed towards a different part and approached an island not too far from the mainland, it appeared to be the first and closest island to the mainland and they decided to explore it for fun. Starting from the seashore, the island was quiet and empty, devoid of any human soul. However, there was a huge rock at the middle of the shore with an inscription "FOR RENTAL" neatly carved out of the rock with some digits that seemed like a number to be contacted. They went on to explore further and they loved what they saw.

The environment was peaceful and superb, perfect for a family camping or picnic and perfectly okay for living in a natural environment and for that reason, they decided to rent it from the owner after going through all the legal processes. They had wanted to purchase it fully no matter the amount but the owner was only willing to rent it out to them.

It was their greatest fantasy to live an independent life away from urbanization with their families after retirement and therefore purchasing the perfect island was the only means of actualizing their dreams. The three friends had wanted to live together in harmony on the same island with all of their families and so they each contributed one third of the annual rent. They didn't build on it nor performed any legal or illegal activity on the island. They did that just to prove to the owner how serious and interested they were on the land. From time to time, they had often visited the island to camp for some days and to check on its safety.

Then one fateful day they discovered a huge depression with gentle sloping in an isolated part of the island. The depression had a small water body located in it which looked like a stream There was also a tunnel-like structure deep inside the depression where the water flows out to a different canal, it was a rare sight of nature that looked so aesthetically pleasing. Out of curiosity, the three friends Leo, Jeff and Nathan decided to explore further and eventually they discovered that it was an old abandoned gemstone mine. It appeared to have been abandoned for so many years and the precious stones which were supposed to be hidden and embedded within the earth were so visibly seen and broken down due to the pressure exerted on them by the action of running water and other geographical conditions.

Many of the precious stones could be seen below the clear water and easily picked with little or no applied force because they had undergone natural cleaning and polishing. The men were able to pick out as much gemstones as they could but some were still embedded and hard to dig out. They continued to collect gemstones most times and in no time they became rich.

The biggest mistakes of their lives which led to the beginning of their troubles was when they had to inform Mrs Percy the woman who owned the land about their discovery. Mrs Percy had been so excited and surprised to discover that her island had been a treasure mine all along. However, as the saying went, "when a secret leaves your lips and is heard by a third party or someone, then it is no longer a secret"

The news of an island which had an abandoned gemstone mine travelled around and got to Mario's father Jon Kish and he became so desirous of the land. At all cost, he was willing to do or give anything required to lay his hands on that land be it legally or illegally. He became so overly ambitious and filled with greed.

When Jon Kish discovered that the three friends indirectly had access to the land more than anyone else, he began to device means of getting them out of the way. The men were falsely accused of illegal mining but were able to scale through with the help of their lawyers. For the fact that they were lease holders, the men were freed. Months later, Mrs Percy was nearly tricked into signing papers that would transfer the ownership of the land to the RKGC through a false business deal. But the three men had been wise and quick enough to stop Mrs Percy.Then again there was a failed attempt to take the life of Mrs Percy's son by unknown evil gang.

A lot happened in just a short while and Mrs Percy decided to sell the land permanently to the three men. She had to do that all because her life and that of her only son seemed to be in danger because of the same island which she had owned for a long time. She didn't want to leave that legacy behind for her only son either because she feared it might be forcefully taken away from him or his cut short as a result of it. For that reason, she sold the island to the men and moved out of the country with her son.

The land finally became officially and legally owned by the three friends and they each had a copy of the documents while they all agreed that the original copy stayed with Jeff Orman. It was at that period that Leo lost his wife to a deadly disease. His wife had to leave behind her husband and 7yr old daughter. Jeff's wife was pregnant with her second child as at that period and Nathan only got engaged to the love of his life.

A year later, Jeff and Leo were made to lead the team on an assignment in the northwestern part of the country while Nathan was placed in another team carrying out a mission within the state capital. During the course of the assignment, Jeff got injured by a stray bullet when some group of unknown gunmen opened fire on them. So many atrocities took place in a twinkle of an eye and all were chiefly linked to Mario and his father Jon Kish. Jeff sustained greater injuries and doctors had to recommend that he be dismissed from the military for the safety of his health. Jeff left the military and took over the family business from his father.

Leo was falsely accused of committing series of military offenses, everything was planed and set up just to kick him out of service. Therefore he was expelled from the military and several times, an attempt was made to take his life. Mario wanted to wipe him off the surface of the earth because Leo had been able to prove a lot of atrocities he (Mario) had also committed which also got him disgracefully kicked out of the military only a year after Leo was expelled. To sum it all up, Jeff, Leo and Mario all left the military without reaching their age of retirement.

The city became unsafe for Leo because his archenemy Mario wanted his head by all means and so he had to start living on the island where he would be safe. Nathan and Jeff always got his back and provided him with everything they could afford while he became the caretaker of their land. Leo had to disguised himself whenever he went to unsafe places. Jeff's company which seemed to flourish more by the day made him more wealthy and well known. He made sure that his best friends Nathan and Leo benefitted more from his wealth after his family.

Three years later, a terrible insident occurred when Nathan's home got raided by hired assassins at a time when he was alone at home and Jeff and his family were on vocation. Nathan got shot and his copy of the island documents were taken away from him. Leo had to rush down to the hospital immediately he got the news. Jeff also returned as soon as he could. Though Nathan survived only for few days, he asked his friends to look after his family and unborn child.

"Don't give up the fight boys. We've fought for long and lost so much we must not let them defeat us after everything. Do it for our kids so that when we're all gone, these little ones that are coming up will enjoy the legacy of their fathers" he said to his friends on his dying bed. Those were his last words to them before he finally gave up the ghost.

He gave up the ghost on the fifth day after the incident occurred. The feeling that had came with the shocking news of his death forced his wife into labour at just eight months of pregnancy. She gave birth to the cutest girl ever but later died as a result of some complications when the baby was only nine months old.

Leo had to take the baby with him to the island for her safety and also because it was both of her parents wish that he took her as his own so that she too would have a home. He had not adopted the baby or given her his name because he had wanted her to take on her father's name and continue his lineage. However, that baby became his greatest treasure after his daughter Mirabella. He made sure she was safe under his care and took it upon himself to bring her up in the proper way. Her parents had named her Noella even before she was born because they believed she would be their greatest source of joy.

Jeff on the other hand made sure that his friend Nathan's legacy would be enjoyed and later inherited by his daughter when she came of age. So he built a small abode mainly for Noella on the island and that was the place where she grew up under Leo's care. Jeff provided every means of comfort required for living on the island and together with Leo, they decided to sponsor everything their children would need in life including their education. As a means of protection, Jeff provided every sophisticated machines and equipments needed by Leo to guard himself and Noella and also the entire island from illegal trespassers and intruders.

Jon Kish later died from sudden heart attack however, his son Mario was bloodthirsty and kept seeking for revenge through every means he could just to get back at Leo and Jeff.

Years later, Leo's daughter Mirabella's court wedding was done behind closed doors because they had wanted to be discreet. After her wedding, she and her husband moved out of the country to live their newly wedded lives.

Many months later, travellers began to settle on the island while others patronized the beach and sea. Most of them were people driven or forced out of their homes as a result of some circumstances and they came to regard the island as a treasured land. The few of them had wished to live on the island even if it meant paying rent to the real owners monthly. Jeff and Leo considered their situation and allowed them stay because they reasoned that if more residents began to live on the island, they'll gain more reliance and strong support that even the government will not take it away that easily talk less of other people.

Leo's daughter Mirabella later returned to the country after she was abused and divorced by her husband. He had to bring her down to the island to live with him and she became a sister figure to Noella. Unknown to her or her husband, she was three months pregnant before they got divorced. She was divorced because she was unable to conceive after years of marriage and so she decided to keep the pregnancy and raise the child by herself. Leo became the backbone and support of his two daughters, Noella and Mirabella. After six months, his grandson Adrian was born and even when his bossom friend and major support Jeff lost his life, these three people became his greatest treasure and he was ready to protect them to the last drop of his blood. He had lost his friends and everyone he'd ever loved to the cold hands of death and these young ones were all he had left.

Who would have thought that this man who was once lonely after going through a lot would one day raise a generation...