Inside The Rainbow. Sandy Sinclair
After a full week in Cold Bay it was obvious I was not a patient of the Air Force nor the Navy, so I asked the medic to send a radio message, in the blind, hoping to connect to Chris Gunderson's boat radio on Sanak. Chris had brought it into his cabin and always kept it turned on each evening for any urgent communication. I asked to be picked up whenever the weather would permit. I was still weak and had a swollen throat and tongue, but it was clear that I would need to be responsible for my own recovery, not the Navy or Air Force.
While I was in the Cold Bay infirmary, Marie had been carrying the full load at school. Two fifth grade girls, Lorraine and Kristin Gunderson, volunteered to stay with her. Some nights Martha Wilson, who had been orphaned by the murder of her mother, would also stay. She had been farmed out to various homes since the tragedy. All three girls slept on the bed-couch and Marie slept on the floor. Norman and Andrew Wilson, the other two orphans, hauled in the domestic water for the school, dumped out the drain water, filled the fuel oil for the stove and filled the gas needed for each Coleman lantern so that school was ready for the next day.
Marie taught all the kids for a short, but legal, day of school which was acceptable under the strained circumstances. She was able to use the lesson plans I had prepared in advance, but only half of the students showed up because the epidemic had spread to many of the island families by this time.
Halloween was approaching so Marie, Kristin and Lorraine made cookies for an afternoon party at school. Olga and Karl Luff had given the school a case of orange pop so they wouldn't get trick or treated. On Halloween night, the healthy kids dressed up in paper masks and visited all the cabins to trick or treat and get candy. When Kristin and Lorraine came back they sat for hours and talked about their dreams for the future. They both wanted to get away from the island and experience the big world. As it turned out, their dreams of leaving the isolated lifestyle never happened as they both married men of the Aleutians, though they did leave Sanak.
One night when the girls weren't with her, Marie went up to the spring for her domestic supply of water. The water bubbled out of the ground into a wooden barrel right next to this ominous cabin whose occupants had a very bad reputation. There were sounds of yelling and conflict coming from inside the walls. Under this insecure situation she quickly filled her buckets and stumbled her way back down the hill. A girl out alone at night in this particular setting was the same as being in the wrong part of town of a big city. In her stress, she spilled most of her water, making it a night time Jack and Jill episode.
Nov.1st Today didn't go so good. Kids were really noisy and I was in an awful mood and I said something to make Merle cry. How long can this go on? Each day gets worse. If he doesn't get well and come back soon I'll go crazy. Can't stand the nights, even with the girls here. Nothing I do keeps me from worrying about my husband. When he left during that stormy night, his condition was life threatening. I haven’t heard anything since! Is he still alive?
Nov 4th Went for a walk to the point. The mountains were beautiful all covered with snow and the sun shining on them. Stayed out at the point awhile, watching the water and mountains. Nature is beautiful but I've never been so lonesome in my life! This is a serious village epidemic. Kristin and Martha stayed with me tonight. I'd like to stay alone but am afraid to. Never know what the drunk men may do! If only I would hear some news from Sandy. I've been knitting to keep my mind off the situation..
Nov. 5th Chris Gunderson came by and gave me a message from his radio from Sandy. He is better and ready to come home! Just knowing that makes me feel excited. Washed my hair and took a bath in the wash tub.
It was wonderful just to return back to the island. The place had seemed like a hellhole when I left. There was no sense of safety. We had a murder, many drunk and unruly villagers, continuous wind, primitive living conditions and finally this death-threatening disease. But somehow, that same place had magically transformed into a paradise when Chris’s boat chugged home through the Pillars of Hercules. There I embraced a calm, bright, green island full of beauty, a loving wife, some grateful students and a rewarding career all wrapped up inside our cozy metal cocoon. Above all, I had returned alive which at times for me was in doubt. I became optimistic about our future. Life was good!
Soon after I got back, however, additional symptoms of the original malady seem to grip the village. We thought that perhaps we had a case of rheumatic fever with the Holmberg girl, five cases of streptococcus throat and many people with a stomach illness similar to the flu. There were some dogs and cats that took sick, so we had to dispose of them for fear of spreading their unknown condition to the islanders. In a village conference of Marina Gunderson, Ol Chris Halverson and my school agent Chris Gunderson, we discussed the possibility that we might be experiencing a repeat of the world wide pandemic flu of 1918 which killed millions worldwide. They’d heard old fishermen tell about remote villages in Alaska being wiped out even when no germ carrying outsider had visited them. Contamination from that flu was said to have spread not from one infected person to others as with other diseases but seemed to be airborne.
Our situation was serious and someone on the island had to make some medical decisions quickly. If only I could get advice from some medical authority.
Over the years, the Alaska Dept. of Health had heard too many false emergency calls that they had developed a reputation of being reluctant to respond. To them a frantic call from a first year bush teacher might be considered just an over-reaction. I knew I might be ignored but sent a message anyway through our makeshift radio relay set-up. I asked for aid, but had no way of knowing whether the message got through or even if they would respond. But, when the weather cleared two days later, we heard an airplane. That Coast Guard amphibian was the first plane to visit Sanak since World War Two. We all ran out to see it drop a parachute high in the air. Even though it was a PBY-5A, capable of landing in our protected waters, the pilot chose not to put down in the unknown waters of Pauloff Harbor, but instead he delivered the cargo a quicker way. Their aim was perfect, as they dropped a cargo parachute directly on top of our bright green, newly painted, Quonset hut.
I picked up the chute and unwrapped it. There was just a bottle of pills without a label. There was no written information. Soon the natives started arriving at the school. I couldn’t send them away so made up a prescription. “Take 2 every 4 hours with lots of water,” I said, thinking it sounded very professional. When an official message arrived by mail-boat two weeks later, I learned that I’d been close. It said, "For severe cases, take 4 tablets to start with, then one every 4 hours, but never more than 6 tablets in one day and always with lots of water to flush the system." By that time, however, that sulfa drug, they had dropped along with my make-shift prescription, had cured the village.
One of the first community responsibilities, Marie and I learned, was to order Christmas presents for every child on the island. The order had to be sent out on the October mail boat so as to get the returns back by Christmas. One evening Marina Gunderson, old Sophie Holmberg and Marie sat down with the latest Sears catalog. They went through it ordering one present for each student and pre-school child on the island, selecting what they thought that child might like. A collection was taken from all the families to pay for the order.
Nov.28th Kids sure got on my nerves today. They just wouldn't settle down at all. Made a banana cream pie using just what I had-banana extract. We had been making model airplanes the day before and Sandy said the pie tasted like airplane glue! Well, that's the last time he'll ever get a pie from me!
Dec.10th It's been six months since we were married. Had a roast Emperor goose that Sandy shot for dinner. Sandy had to eat it all because I am getting a terrible cold. A fishing boat, the Alaco 2 came all the way from Sandpoint with the old used light plant Katie Morris sent to us.