Lieutenant Kate De Marco, an army nurse, and Captain Robert Coleman, an infantry officer, met in the Philippines in 1940. Finding themselves in one of the most romantic locations in the world, their love grew even as the winds of war threatened to drive them apart. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, their lives changed completely, as American and Filipino soldiers surrendered to the Japanese in Bataan. Kate and Robert were separated in the melee. Evacuated to the relative safety of nearby Corregidor Island, Kate kept a diary, where she recorded her longing for Robert's safe return. Meanwhile, Robert opted not to surrender and instead swam the precarious two miles from Bataan to Corregidor in search of his love. As the Japanese threatened to take Corregidor, Kate hid her diary in the walls of an underground tunnel, where it stayed for seventy years. In 2012, Lisa Newhouse and Brandon Wales, two graduate students from the University of Tennessee, travel to Corregidor with a study group and discover Kate's lost diary. Inspired by her words and her love for Robert, they too admit their shared feelings. Although the intersection of their lives with that of Kate and Robert is coincidence, the diary leads them on a journey, which will change their lives forever.

Intersections

A NovelBy Mark T. McCord

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2012 Mark T. McCord
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4759-4590-4

Chapter One

Lisa and Brandon

Corregidor Island loomed in the distance, still guarding the mouth of Manila Bay as it had for generations. Its guns were long ago silenced and the foliage that had been blown away along with the hopes and dreams of its inhabitants in 1942 had returned, carpeting the island with lush forests, which included mango groves and swaying coconut palms. The sea was choppy, disturbed by low-hanging clouds gorged with mid-summer rain. Somewhere in the distance, thunder erupted like one of the island's dormant coastal guns, which had long ago pounded enemy intruders. Lisa Newhouse closed her eyes and tried to imagine the sound of the guns as they illuminated the night sky, warding off enemies with their rhythmic cadence. Seventy years had passed since those guns had made the earth shudder with their explosive power. Now they stood as silent witnesses to the darkest days of World War II for the some 12,000 Americans and Filipinos who took refuge on the island's rocky shores after the fall of neighboring Bataan.

Adjusting her windbreaker against the breeze, Lisa held firmly to the ship's rail and guided herself to the other side of the deck, where in the distance the Bataan Peninsula lay shrouded in mist. As a graduate student in American History and the granddaughter of a Corregidor survivor, Lisa had dreamed her whole life of visiting the island, but now that she was here it was difficult for her to grasp the magnitude of what happened during the five months when American and Filipino forces had held off a large Japanese army only to eventually succumb to inevitable defeat and surrender. She desperately wanted to connect with this place ... to feel its power and experience its mystique ... but with only three days to absorb its history, she doubted whether this was possible.

Lisa was so engrossed in her surroundings that she was startled when Brandon Wales, a classmate from the University of Tennessee, tapped her on the shoulder. Brandon was by far the most knowledgeable historian she had ever met, even surpassing most of her professors in the sheer volume of information he possessed, as well as in his passion for the subject. World War II was his area of specialization, so she was fully aware that he was in his element. At five-feet eight with a slight build, Brandon seemed even smaller when surrounded by the vast bay. His longish black hair blew helter-skelter as light rain began to fall, and soon the lenses of his glasses were dotted with mist. Not being comfortable in social situations, Brandon had few friends outside of Lisa, who had been his study partner for almost a year. Standing on the deck, he looked at her with the same seriousness she had seen many times, but the twinkle in his eyes belied his excitement.

"I didn't mean to startle you, I'm sorry," he said softly, his speech slow and deliberate as always.

"Don't worry about it. I was just lost in thought. Are the others driving Dr. Wilcox crazy yet?" Without thinking she touched Brandon's arm to steady herself as the boat pitched against the choppy sea, making him blush and avert his eyes.

"Actually, I think he's asleep. The jet lag really hit him hard last night. Most of the others are asleep too."

Lisa smiled. "But not us, huh partner?" She gave him a playful punch on the arm, causing him to blush again. "There it is," she sighed contentedly, "The Rock. We've waited a long time for this, haven't we?"

Brandon nodded his head, absently pushing his glasses higher on his nose. "I can't believe I'm here. Three days and two nights on Corregidor," he said incredulously, shaking his head and running a hand through his unruly hair.

Looking at him as he struggled to maintain his balance against the wind and flailing seas, Lisa remembered the day their lives had intersected. Knowing Brandon by reputation, she had intentionally picked him as her study partner, as he was by far the smartest person in her graduate seminar group. She was a serious student and she wanted to study with someone who was equally serious. She had also picked him because she was sure no one else would. When she entered class on the day of the selection, Brandon was sitting in the corner front row seat, which he always occupied, lost in his reading while others chatted about last night's party or tomorrow's assignment. Lisa determined then and there that when her turn came, she would pick him as her study partner. When she did, her best friend Rachel Owens snickered loud enough for their professor, Dr. Wilcox, to give her sharp look. That had been more than a year ago and since then Lisa and Brandon had formed a strange bond, which not even they fully understood.

"It is pretty unbelievable," Lisa said, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. "My grandpa always wanted to come back here, but he never had the money. I wonder how he would have felt visiting Corregidor again after all those years?"

"It would probably have been strange," Brandon said quietly. "Too many memories."

"Maybe, but he used to tell me that defending this island was one of the most important things he had ever done. He was very proud to have served in the Philippines. He always said that he lived history, and I guess he was right," Lisa said as she took off her orange Tennessee Volunteers cap and tied her blond hair back in a ponytail. "Well, here we are."

The staff of the Sun Tours ferry that had brought them from Manila stepped onto the deck to begin the procedures for docking at Corregidor Harbor. On shore, other staff members maneuvered thick ropes into position to tie up the ferry when it docked. Behind the group standing on the dock was a sign, which said in large, black letters, "Welcome to Corregidor." In the parking lot adjacent to the dock, tour guides waited patiently by their open-sided buses, ready to welcome the more than one hundred tourists who had braved the wet weekday weather.

Lisa put her hands in the pockets of her windbreaker and shivered a little as the rain began to fall harder. She glanced at Brandon, whose eyes gleamed like stars on a dark night. His understated excitement made her smile. As an academic, he was trying so hard to be professional, but she knew he was ready to jump out of his skin

As the ferry captain moved the boat into position for docking, Brandon pointed to the first bus on the right. "There's bus number five ... that's our bus."

"Wow. Really?" Lisa asked playfully. "I didn't know you were good at math too." She bumped him with her hip, making him steady himself against the rail. "You really do have to eat something or you're going to blow away in this wind."

Brandon did not take his eyes off the island, but his smile denoted his acknowledgement. "I thought it was you cheerleaders who didn't eat?"

"I haven't been a cheerleader since high school, thank you, and I eat plenty. I just can't gain any weight. I've weighed 110 pounds since I was ..."

"Born," Brandon said almost inaudibly, shocking her with his attempt at humor.

"Brandon made a funny," Lisa exclaimed, clapping her hands and hopping up and down in feigned excitement. "I can't believe it."

Smiling again, Brandon turned to go inside as the crew opened the doors to let the passengers file onto the dock.

"Hold on turbo," Lisa said. "They aren't going to leave without us. There are only fifteen in our group and we have a whole bus to ourselves, so you'll get a window seat for sure."

Her remonstration came too late, as...