Prints in the Sand: My Journey with Nanea

I blurt out that the note is written in secret code. Mrs. Lin’s eyebrows lift with delight, and she taps her cane against the sidewalk, waiting to hear more of what sounds to her like a fun little mystery. Nanea seizes the moment to offer up that chicken recipe Mrs. Lin was asking about, and the two of us bolt back toward Nanea’s house before we have to explain anything further.

Nanea leads me to the backyard, where she steers me behind a bush so thick with waxy leaves and red blossoms it smells like a florist’s shop. Mele sprawls on his stomach as though to stretch out for a nap.

Nanea pulls the folded gecko note from her pocket while I dig out the crane’s message, and side by side the two notes show the same tiny capital letters clustered into groups like words. Neither of us recognizes a single one at a glance, but Nanea proposes hunting for the shortest, most common words instead, things like “and” or “the.”

Scanning the first row of my note, I spot a three-letter cluster, W-O-H, and point it out. Nanea says maybe W stands for A, O for N, and H for D. We look over the paper, but that doesn’t seem to make sense.

Then it occurs to me the letters might just run backward, since flipping W-O-H spells how. Nanea’s excitement flares, only to fizzle once no other word cooperates the same way. Concluding the letters must be scrambled instead, she darts into the house to get a pencil.

With Nanea gone, I keep working the crane’s note alone, rearranging the opening letters until when emerges. By the time she returns, I have already puzzled out nine words running, “When I grow up, I want to be a…” Peering over my shoulder at the stubborn final word, Nanea and I crack it together: cryptologist. Strung together, the message reads, “When I grow up, I want to be a cryptologist. How about you?” Nanea wonders why someone would write something so strange. And if it was a kid, why would they write with such neat handwriting?

Turning our attention to the gecko’s note, we decode it using the same trick, and it reads, “Does Mele know how to bark in code? Maybe ‘bark’ means ‘fish, please!’” Something clicks for me, the old rumor about dogs barking in code, and Nanea scratches her chin trying to figure out who else could possibly be in on it. Just us two, she says slowly, and Gene, and…

“Lily!” The name bursts out of both of us at the same moment. Nanea declares a jinx, laughing at how thoroughly her friend sent us chasing our tails, and we take off toward Lily’s house to report our victory.

Halfway there, a chilling thought stops me, and I ask Nanea what might have happened had we accused Lieutenant Foster of spying instead of holding our tongues. She shivers at the very idea, agreeing it could’ve landed him in serious trouble. It’s a good thing neither of us said anything to Mrs. Lin. She would’ve broadcast it to the entire neighborhood within the hour. I nod along, still rattled by how close I came to letting my suspicions spill out.

Lily is out sweeping her porch when we arrive, and spotting us sets her whole face glowing. It sure took us long enough! Nanea points out that the handwriting didn’t match Lily’s usual loopy scrawl. She shrugs and admits she had Gene help her out with the writing and hiding notes. She confesses that being a part of the scheme made her feel like she was sleeping over with us even though she wasn’t.

I nearly blurt out our fear about Lieutenant Foster, but the words lodge in my throat, so instead I just ask why she chose to leave the notes by the bicycle. Lily explains she had Gene tuck them beside Mele’s water bowl, certain we would check it at least twice a day.

Nanea predicts Lily will grow into a fine cryptologist someday. After all, it’s important work. I add that it’s tough work, too, more than a little embarrassed by how long two simple messages managed to stump us.

My mind drifts back to our earlier conversation about jobs open to women, and it amazes me how much has unfolded since then. We rolled bandages and collected books and magazines for soldiers all weekend. And we avoided hurting a soldier by stopping a rumor before it started.

Leaving Lily’s behind, I finally feel ready to go home, back to the beach and to Mom, Auntie Oli, and my brothers. Rather than spending the whole weekend simply reading about someone else’s mystery, I got to live through one right alongside Nanea. I know I’ll probably never be able to tell anybody about it though. Who would believe me?

That’s okay, I tell myself. Maybe the best secrets are the ones we keep to ourselves.