“Look, Buddy, can you see it?” We were up on the deck, and the Hawaiian Islands were just coming into view.
Buddy’s head bobbed up and down. “It’s bigger than our island.”
“Yes, quite a bit. It’s still a lot smaller than the mainland where we’re going tomorrow, though.”
“But there’s a beach at our house, right?”
I’d already heard that Sam still lived in the same house, so I knew the answer to Buddy’s question. “Well, it’s not a beach with sand, and the water isn’t the ocean, it’s a lake. But yes, our house is right next to the lake.”
“And my very own bedroom is bigger than our whole shelter, right?”
“It sure is.”
Buddy smiled contentedly. He was already adapting. I was glad the rescue operation hadn’t been more rushed, because our time on the Coast Guard cutter had been a good trans
