Two Tamas In Paradise; Episode 17, Sneaky Pete's

This is the seventeenth episode of the novel Two Tamas in Paradise. It is the fourth novel in the Trace Troy South Pacific Adventure series. It will be posted in episodes. The plan is for two or three a week. There are fifty episodes. It has not been published yet. The reader is given a sneak preview. 

It suffices to say that because this is one novel in a series, there may be things not understood unless one knows what has taken place in previous novels from this series. Here is a link to the first novel in the series: The Big Gamble in Paradise, paperback or Kindle. 

Sneaky Pete's

Adam stopped at the rustic swinging doors. “It’s the same smell.” He turned to Trace. “I just had a hundred or so images pass through my brain from that one smell.”

They walked through the doors. Adam stopped and looked around. “It’s the same place. It’s a little cleaner, but it’s the same.”

They walked toward the bar to the right of the door. A man behind the counter stood tall and broad, wearing a red and yellow flowered shirt. Grey hair fell to his shoulders. 

Adam whispered to Trace before sitting, “That has to be Pete.”

The man turned around. He wore a grizzled stubbled beard and a scowl.

His scowl drifted into a slight smile. “Hey, Adam, who’s the old turd you brought with ya?”

Adam lurched toward the bar with his hand extended. 

“That won’t do,” the man said. He came from behind the bar and embraced Adam. “My god, man, it is as if God sent an angel.”

“Pete,” Adam said as they let go of their embrace, “I was just telling my son about you. This is my son, Trace.” 

Pete hugged Trace. “You look just like you tama the last time I see him.”

“Tama!” Adam exclaimed. 

“Oh, yeah,” Pete said, “I have Fiji wife and son. He call me Tama instead of Dad. Wife say respectful. Norwegian men are strong but know who boss is. Our sons must meet.”

“We will make it happen,” Adam said.

“He is away, now,” Pete said, “but some day.”

“Like I was telling you,” Adam said, “I was telling my son about you; how many men have you given headaches, how many men have you sent to the hospital, and how many men have you sent to the morgue? 

“It’s been a while,” Pete said. “People not as rowdy as they used to be, but each time I tell the stories, the count goes up.”

Pete looked at the only two customers; two men sitting at a table. “Thomas,” he said to one, “put the closed sign out for me. If you two stay, you have to serve youself, but it’s not free. And, Shultz, get three beers.”

One man hung the closed sign, and the other got three beers.

They began drinking the beers.

“Allie called me a couple of days ago, “ Pete said. “I’ve been looking for you, and you didn’t show up. I thought you forgot about Pete.”

“I wanted to wait and come in here with my son,” Adam said.

“I’ve heard all about you son,” Pete said. “He wins a schooner and starts his own shipping business, just like his tama.”

“I think he’s doing better than I did,” Adam said. “The only experience I had sailing was when I sailed the Tiki down here from Hawaii.”

“I remember the first time you dad come in here,” Pete said. “He needed a crew.”

“I heard this was the place you go to when you need a crew,” Adam said.

“Did you find one?” Trace said. 

“Ha, ha,” Pete laughed, “You sometimes had to fight other captains for a crew. There was guy we called, The Gorilla. He was looking for crew, too. Now, you dad is quite a man but The Gorilla was more than a man. Just looking at them, you’d never put you money on your dad.”

“And I knew that,” Adam said.

“You dad look around the bar,” Pete said. “And he says, ‘Okay, who’s gonna help me, cause I don’t want a man who won’t back me.’ Well, that showed everybody you dad was reading everybody’s mind. Everybody was afraid of The Gorilla and wanted to see him whipped. Three guys stepped up. The Gorilla looked at them and looked at you dad. Then he said, ‘Take ‘em.’ The Gorilla walked out and never seen again. Did you dad ever tell you that on?”

“No,” Trace grinned, “I don’t think he ever did. But he did tell me about you closing the place down and sailing with him.”

“Oh, yeah,” Pete said, “we had quite a time. It was good thing there were no pirates. I was seasick the whole trip. I never sail with you dad again. I think he look for waves to make me sick.”

“Nah, Pete,” Adam said, “after a couple of day you were fine. You’d have made a great sailor. Pete did the work of two men.”

“I had to,” Pete said. “I was it. I had to take over cooking. You dad terrible cook. He fix food for you?”

“He’s improved,” Trace said. 

“So you big time rancher now?” Pete said.

“I have a decent spread,” Adam said.

“Send me a cow and I fix it up,” Pete laughed. “That’s all you dad talk about—ranch and Texas. He talk about Texas and I talk about Norway.”

“How often do you go back?” Trace said.

Adam and Pete glanced at each other. Trace sensed he had said something wrong.

“You never tell him?” Pete asked Adam.

“I never tell anyone,” Adam said.

Pete looked over at the two men sitting at the table. They were entrenched in their conversation, paying no attention to Trace, Adam, or Pete. Pete leaned into the table and whispered. “I kill a man. Okay, two men, in Norway. I can’t return. Maybe I can return. Probably not time in prison. It has been so long. When it happened, I thought my life was over. Norway is lenient. I would probably be out in ten years. But I was attacked by two men. I did not know when to stop. I’m not that man anymore. At least up until a couple of years ago,” he smiled.

“Some tell me, go back and clear it all up,” Pete said, “Truth, it’s not my home anymore. I go back one time. Ten years ago. It just wasn’t my home. Truth, maybe it never was.”

“You’ll keep that to yourself, right?” Adam said to Trace.

“All I ever heard was how much Pete loves Fiji and never wants to go back to the weather in Norway,” Trace said. 

Pete leaned back in his chair. He smiled broadly and said loudly, “I come to Fiji with nothing and I still have it all.” 

They laughed and finished the beers. Trace called to the other table, “Another round.” He smiled again. “Why hire a waiter?”

The man brought the beers and they continued to drink.

“How long you plan on staying?” Pete asked Adam.

“Until you drag us out,” Adam smiled.

“Not here,” Pete said. “I mean in Fiji.”

“I have a buddy from back home with me,” Adam said. “It might depend on him, but if he wants to go and I want to stay, I reckon he can find his way back on his own.”

Adam looked over at Trace. “I’d like to go out to sea again.”

“Sure,” Trace said,” we can do that.”

“You know,” Adam said, “after she’s been dry docked, you might take her for a test drive; maybe a couple of days.”

“That would be great,” Trace said. “Maybe you can show me a couple of old tricks.”

“You leave the tricks to the circus,” Adam said. 

Trace smiled and eased back in his chair. He imagined drinking in the sea with his dad on The Tramp Islander’s deck. Adam and Pete continued to talk and laugh about old times, old friends, and growing old. 

New Novel Released, Two Tamas In Paradise

For the last couple of months, the novel Two Tamas in Paradise has been serialized and featured on The Jittery Goat. Several months ago it was published in full on Amazon. It may be purchased there as a paperback or in the Kindle digital format. 

For those unfamiliar with the series of novels based on the character Trace Troy and his adventures in the South Seas, Trace is the son of Adam Troy. Adam Troy was the character played by actor, artist, and writer Gardner McKay. He was the star of a television series in the late 50s and early 60s entitled, Adventures in Paradise. 

By this time (2025), I might well be writing about Adam Troy’s grandson, but the series is written about Trace Troy, Adam’s son, and takes place on the South Seas during the early 90s.  

If you wish to read more about Trace Troy and his adventures in paradise, here are the links;

A Coup in Paradise

The Big Gamble in Paradise

Gold in Paradise

Thanks for following along in the current series.  If you want to find out how it ends, click the links in the first paragraph.

Two Tamas In Paradise; Episode 16, Adam and Coyote

This is the sixteenth episode of the novel Two Tamas in Paradise. It is the fourth novel in the Trace Troy South Pacific Adventure series. It will be posted in episodes. The plan is for two or three a week. There are fifty episodes. It has not been published yet. The reader is given a sneak preview. 

It suffices to say that because this is one novel in a series, there may be things not understood unless one knows what has taken place in previous novels from this series. Here is a link to the first novel in the series: The Big Gamble in Paradise, paperback or Kindle.

Adam and Coyote

Adam Troy and Coyote Wingate were an unlikely duo. Like their sons, Trace and Sage, they had been friends since before going to school. Coyote, unlike his son, who stood over six feet; Coyote stood five or six inches shorter but built like a barrel of beer. 

Trace navigated The Tramp Islander against the dock. Sage and Makani tossed the lines to Adam and Coyote, and they tied up the boat. 

Sage jumped ashore. He shook hands and hugged Adam and his dad. Trace did the same. Excitement and surprise filled the reunion.

“Dad,” Trace said, “how long have you two been here?”

Adam glanced at Coyote. “Would you say a week?”

“Sure,” Coyote said. “A week and a day, for sure.”

“We were about to send a search team out for ya,” Coyote said.

“I met up with Allie,” Adam said. “She told me you went off to Bora Bora.”

“We were about to fly there,” Coyote said. “But Adam knows these parts and how the freight business is. It’s like being a long-haul trucker. You take a load one day away and come back thirty days later.”

“Where are you two staying?” Sage asked.

“Some place called The Coral Inn,” Adam said. “Coyote wanted some place with the looks of one of those old movies; overhead fan, louvered doors, and louvered shutters—we had to settle for less.”

“Yeah,” Coyote said, “no fan, a steel door, and no shutters.”

“But at a good price,” Adam said.

“The Tramp Islander is going to be dry docked for a week,” Trace said. “When we saw you two in the binoculars, we started making plans.”

“We’ve been here over a week,” Coyote said, “we’ve seen everything—twice.”

“I’ve seen some old friends,” Adam spoke despondently. “Suva seems to have swallowed up the old port. Maybe we could rent a boat and go to a few of the outer islands. I have some old friends out that way. At least I think they’re still around.”

Trace noticed the disappointment in Adam’s voice. 

“Hey,” Trace said, “they’re coming by to get The Tramp Islander in an hour or two. There’s a load of coffee onboard. We can have the distributor unload it. Let’s get our gear off and find a room at their place. And Sage and Coyote, if you don’t mind, I’d just like to spend some time with Dad. I’ll have Makani stay here until the coffee is unloaded and they get the boat for the dry dock.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Sage said.”Let’s saddle up.”

Trace and Sage went back onboard and packed their gear. They had to explain the forty pounds of gold each that they had in burlap bags. Adam had a rental car, and they drove the gold to the nearest bank and deposited it in safety deposit boxes. Then they drove to The Coral Inn. Adam and Coyote checked out. Then they drove to a beachfront motel called The Pacific Royale. Adam and Trace got one room, and Sage and Coyote got another. 

Trace rode with Adam on a drive along Suva’s waterfront. 

“I’ve thought about coming back here for thirty years,” Adam said. “And here I am.”

“You sound disappointed,” Trace said.

“I was hoping it would all be the same,” Adam said. “I was hoping Allie would be young and beautiful and her husband, my friend, would share a drink or two with me. We’d all get together and reminisce. That’s what I hoped for but didn’t expect. Allie was great to see. She still has that sparkle. I just wish Frank was here.”

“Are you regretting this?” Trace asked.

“Not in the least,” Adam said. “I’m just being nostalgic.”

“By the way,” Trace said, “where are we going?”

“There was this joint I used to hang out, Sneaky Pete’s,” Adam said. “I’d like to see if it’s still there. It was one of those places where there were enough people to keep you from being lonely and at the same time not enough to bother you. I used to say it was the most perfect bar in the world. Best Singapore Slings this side of Singapore.”

Trace smiled. “I hope it’s still there. I’m eager to try.”

“You have to be careful,” Adam said. “They sneak up on you. Pete Jorgensen owned the place; big, tough, Norwegian. You had to be in those days. It was a sailors' joint. If somebody gave him trouble, he’d say, ‘Which do you want—headache, hospital, or morgue?’ One man said, ‘A headache will do.’ No one saw the punch. We just heard a crack, and the guy crumbled to the floor. It took the guy a couple of minutes to get to his feet. He walked over to the bar and asked for a beer and two aspirin. Pete charged him double for the beer. The man complained. He thought the extra was for the aspirin. Pete said, “Aspirin is free. I charge for the headache.”

They laughed.

“There was the time I was shorthanded,” Adam said. “My crew quit on me because we were going where there was heavy pirate activity. I needed the money. Pete closed his place down for a week and came with me. The rumor got around Pete was with me—no pirates.”

They laughed.

“Dan,” Trace said, “I hope he’s still around.”

Adam’s head darted forward, and his eyes flashed wide open. “Look at that sign, Sneaky Pete’s.”

Adam parked on the opposite side of the street.

Before Adam was able to lunge out the door, Trace placed his hand on his forearm. “Dad,” Trace said, “it’s been almost thirty years. When I came home the last time, I went to see my first-grade teacher. They told me she retired. When I went to her home, she didn’t remember me. It broke my heart.”

“Son,” Adam said, “I’ve lived over twice as many years as you. I’ve had a lot more heartache. One more ain’t gonna make me or break me.”

“I just…” Trace said.

Adam interrupted. “Son, I’m not fragile.” He winked. “Come on, Son, let’s have a drink. If it isn’t what it used to be, let’s show ‘em how it used to be.”

Trace smiled. “Yeah, let’s go.”

Adam got out of the car and hurried across the street. Trace jogged to keep up with him. 

Adam stopped before walking inside. He scanned the building. It was a wood structure with peeling white paint.  A sign from driftwood hung above the entrance, which read Sneaky Pete’s. Screens hung over oblong windows with tattered shutters. The roof was wood covered with thatch. 

“Nothing has changed,” Adam said. “But the road was dirt and one lane back then.”

Adam looked at Trace standing next to him. He smiled. “Let’s go in.”

Two Tamas In Paradise; Episode 15, Arrival At Suva

This is the fifteenth episode of the novel Two Tamas in Paradise. It is the fourth novel in the Trace Troy South Pacific Adventure series. It will be posted in episodes. The plan is for two or three a week. There are fifty episodes. It has not been published yet. The reader is given a sneak preview. 

It suffices to say that because this is one novel in a series, there may be things not understood unless one knows what has taken place in previous novels from this series. Here is a link to the first novel in the series: The Big Gamble in Paradise, paperback or Kindle.

Arrival At Suva

Suva protrudes like a lush green thumb from Fiji Island, dotted with houses and buildings. The harbor is busy. The danger is the more than a dozen sunken vessels scattered in the harbor.

Trace’s time on the Bering etched in his mind to never take anything on the sea or harbors for granted. A boat is a dangerous place, whether sailing or moored.  

Suva was not home to Trace like Texas. But for now and the near future, it would have to do. ‘Finally,’ he thought, looking at the harbor, ’a long time coming.’

He grabbed the mic. “Makani, Suva starboard. Wake Sage.”

Fifteen minutes later, Sage dashed up the companionway with his hair combed and a fresh shave. 

“Look at you,” Trace said, “you look like you’re ready for a photo shoot. Expecting to meet someone?”  

“Nah,” Sage said, “when I go for a room at a hotel, I don’t want them to take a look at me and say there’s no vacancies.”

“I called ahead a half an hour ago,” Trace said. “Our usual spot is open. We’ll dock there. The dry docking is set up for two days from now.”

“When do you want the sails dropped?” Sage said.

“I’ll call Makani and do them now,” Trace said. 

“I’ll get ‘em myself,” Sage said.

As soon as the sails were dropped, Trace started the engine. He slowly made a starboard turn into the harbor. He pointed the bow toward the far end of the harbor.

After securing the sails, Sage came back into the pilothouse.

“Take the wheel,” Trace said and grabbed the binoculars from a hook next to the chart desk. “I’m going to scan ahead and make sure there’s nothing new in the way.”

Trace walked to the pulpit and put the binoculars to his eyes. He scanned The Tramp Islander’s path from the shore to the dock. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. However, as he sighted the area they were going to moor, he noticed something that surprised and startled him.

He rushed back to the pilothouse.

“We have trouble,” Trace said.

“What?” Sage said, “The police.”

“Worse,” Trace said.

“What could be worse?” Sage said.

“My dad is sitting on some wooden crates,” Sage said.

“Your dad!” Sage said. “That’s great.”

“Not really,” Trace said.

“Nah,” Sage said, “father and son together again. And in a place where he’s a legend, that’s great!”

“Before you get all sentimental,” Trace said, “Coyote is with him.”

“Coyote,” Sage said slowly, “my dad!”

“Yep,” Trace said.

“My dad alone or your dad alone would be great,” Sage said, “but together.” 

“Well, one thing is good,” Trace said.

“And that would be?” Sage said.

“They’re not in handcuffs,” Trace said.

Sage broke into laughter. “That means they escaped.”

They said nothing until Trace swung The Tramp Islander to pull next to the dock. 

“Look,” Trace said, “we’re going to be dry docked for a week. Let’s have a good week with our dads, keep them out of trouble, and at the end of the week send them on their way.”

“I think if we stay focused, we can pull it off,” Sage said. “Quiet days at the beach, Snorkeling for a day.”

“Fishing,” Trace said, “they’ll like fishing.”

“What else? What else?” Sage said. “We need more.”

“Tourist boat around the island,” Trace said.

“Yeah, yeah,” Sage said, “that’s good, a whole day.”

“We can rent a car and drive them around the island,” Trace said. “Bang, bang, bang, all those things right in a row. We won’t have to worry about the next couple of days, at their age, they’ll be worn out.”

“That’s the plan,” Sage said. “Great! You got rid of two no-account connivers, you can handle two old has-been ranchers.” 

They looked at each other. And said at the same time, “Who are we kidding?”

“It’s worth a try,” Sage said.