The day after New Year’s Day, the men would gather at Arajuno, the staging ground for Operation Auca, and Nate would ferry them and their supplies to Palm Beach.
By now Nate had recruited another participant for Operation Auca, Roger Youderian. Roger and his wife, Barbara, were missionaries among the Jivaro Indians to the south. Roger had been a paratrooper in the Second World War, and Nate felt he would be a great addition to the team. This brought the number of men participating in Operation Auca to five. This created a problem, however. Jim had already prefabricated the tree house they would build in the tree at the end of the beach. But he had anticipated only three people sleeping in it at night and had designed it accordingly. The tree house would have no room for an extra person to sleep. It was decided that since Pete was the lightest of the men of Operation Auca, he would fly out with Nate each night and sleep over at Arajuno.
Betty joined in the conversation among the men whenever she could and spent the rest of the time helping with the meals and watching the children—ten-month-old Valerie, along with Stevie and Mike McCully.
After enjoying a delicious Christmas dinner prepared with supplies Nate had flown in especially for the occasion, the Elliots returned to Shandia to conduct the end-of-year Bible conference. The conference was a great success, and Betty marveled at the spiritual growth she saw in the lives of the young Quichua Christians who attended.
The Bible conference ended on New Year’s Day 1956. When everyone attending had departed, Betty turned her attention fully to Jim’s needs. January 2 was the day the five men were scheduled to meet at Arajuno. Operation Auca would begin the following day.
Coincidentally, Rachel Saint had been asking about how the missionary work at Shandia was progressing, and Betty had invited her to come and see for herself. Rachel had accepted the invitation and decided to visit Shandia at the same time Operation Auca was about to begin. This posed a problem, since Rachel had been told nothing about the operation. Because Jim wanted things to stay that way, he led Rachel to believe that he was off to run a weeklong series of meetings at Arajuno and that it would be a great idea for her to stay with Betty at Shandia while he was away.
Betty helped Jim pack a few clothes, along with anything she could think of that might interest and amuse the Aucas Jim and the men hoped to meet. Among the things she helped him pack were a harmonica, a View-Master with several different picture reels, and a yo-yo. She watched while Jim slid the last item into the pocket of his bag—a small pistol. Betty knew that the men had agonized over whether or not to take the weapon with them. After all, they were coming in peace to make contact with the Aucas, yet they also realized that the jungle was a dangerous place. Pumas, alligators, and snakes were sure to be lurking around Palm Beach, and the men needed some way to protect themselves. In the end they decided that they would take the gun for protection, but under no circumstances would they fire it at the Aucas if they were attacked. If it came to losing their own lives or taking the life of an Auca, the men all agreed that for the sake of the gospel they would choose to lay down their lives.
Finally everything was ready. Nate radioed that he and Rachel were ten minutes away in the plane. Betty’s heart beat hard at the news. She picked up Valerie and walked outside, turning just as Jim closed the door behind him. A chill ran down Betty’s spine. “Do you realize that you may never open that door again?” was what Betty wanted to say to her husband, but she kept silent. She knew that Jim did not need an emotionally distraught wife right now. His mind was totally settled on this course of action, and she determined to support him in it.
Jim and Betty walked to the airstrip just as the yellow MAF Piper Cruiser circled for a landing. Betty shifted Valerie from one hip to the other and waited. Soon the plane was on the ground and had taxied to a halt. Rachel and Nate climbed from the plane, and the four of them had a brief conversation. Then Jim kissed Betty, threw his bag into the back of the plane, and clambered into the right front seat. Nate cranked the engine back to life, and with a wave the men sped off down the airstrip. Betty watched the plane lift off and then bank in the direction of Arajuno.
As she escorted Rachel back to the house, Betty prayed for Operation Auca. “Have Your way, Lord, have Your way.”
The next few days were difficult for Betty, who had to continue as normal, since Rachel was with her and there was little radio contact because everything was kept secret. Marj did manage to keep Betty partially updated with a few coded messages. In one message she stated that Nate had spotted a “commission of ten” coming from “terminal city.” Betty knew that this meant that ten Aucas had been spotted coming toward the men from the nearby Auca settlement.
On Wednesday, January 4, 1956, Nate flew into Shandia and delivered a note from Jim to Betty that filled her in on what had happened so far. Betty quickly unfolded the note and read. Jim explained that things were going well at Palm Beach. Nate had ferried them and their things in flawlessly, and they had set to work building the tree house. The house was located thirty-five feet above the beach, and getting it up there had been quite a struggle. But now that it was up, it was comfortable and safe and well worth the effort. In the night they had heard the sound of a puma and discovered its tracks on the beach in the morning. It was also much hotter at Palm Beach than at Shandia, and Jim and the others were perspiring a lot. Jim ended his note by saying that they had seen no sign of the neighbors, but they were hopeful that they would show up. In fact, the men were about to descend to the beach with the gifts and novelty items Jim had brought along and wait to see whether any Aucas showed up. When Betty had read the note, Nate added that they were hoping for contact with the Aucas the next day.
On January 6, Rachel and Betty waited for the radio to beep—Rachel because she expected Marj to call and tell her that Nate was in the area and would soon be landing to pick her up and fly her back to Shell Mera, and Betty because she had not heard an update on the men since the day before.
Betty looked at the clock. She had expected a call around four o’clock in the afternoon, and now it was four thirty. Betty tried to shake off the feeling of gloom that engulfed her; surely she would hear from Marj soon. Valerie cried, and Betty got her up from her nap and fed her.
It was 4:45 pm when Betty decided that it was time to contact Marj herself. She went to the radio and spoke into the microphone. “Shell Mera, this is Shandia. Come in please.”
At first Betty heard nothing but static and crackle, and then she heard Marj’s voice. “I read you, Shandia.”
“Any news?” Betty asked, being careful not to say anything specific about Operation Auca.
After a second’s hesitation, Marj replied, “No news of the boys. Sorry I can’t tell you anything. Nate has not come back. Johnny Keenan, our reserve pilot, is going to fly over the Curaray at first light to see if he can spot anything. Over.”
Betty and Marj chatted for a couple more minutes, and then Betty put down the radio microphone. What had happened to the men? Perhaps the little yellow Piper Cruiser had become bogged down in the sand and they were all going to have to walk out from Palm Beach. Or perhaps something more sinister had happened. Betty explained to Rachel that the plane had been delayed, which was technically true.
Betty spent a fitful night tossing and turning in bed and praying for good news in the morning.
Chapter 16
Tragic News
Betty strained to hear what Marj was saying through the static. “Johnny has found the plane on the beach. All of the fabric is stripped off it. There is no sign of the men. Over.”
Betty’s hand flew to her face at the news. She turned and saw Rachel standing in the doorway. “I copy you, but I have to go, Marj. Rachel is here. Can Johnny come and get us? I think we should all be together right now. Over.” Betty said over the radio, her voice quivering.
“I was thinking the same thing. I’ll radio you back when he’s in the air. Over and out.”
Betty pushed back her chair and slowly stood. She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Rachel. I didn’t want you to have to find out this way,” she said, “but the men are in trouble. We’ve lost radio contact with them, and it doesn’t look good.”
Rachel stared at Betty, her eyes wide with disbelief. “Why didn’t you say anything sooner?” she asked.
Betty poured a cup of coffee and then sat down and began unraveling the whole story to Rachel. As she spoke, she could see the hurt in Rachel’s expression at not having been informed what her brother was up to and not having been told the reason that she and Jim had visited her informant Dayuma.
There was little Betty could do now except explain as best she could that Jim and the other men involved in Operation Auca had agreed to total secrecy, which included not telling their churches back home, their parents, or even their senior missionary, Dr. Wilfred Tidmarsh.
The radio burst to life again just as Betty finished explaining things to Rachel. Marj was calling to inform them that Johnny was on his way to Shandia to collect them. Betty threw a few things into a bag for herself and Valerie, and then the three of them headed down the track to the airstrip. So much had happened since the last time Betty had walked down this same track with Jim.
Johnny brought the plane in for a landing, and Rachel and Betty, with Valerie on her hip, climbed in. Moments later they were airborne. Betty looked down at the dense jungle as it passed below them. Was Jim somewhere out there trying to get back to her? The three adults in the airplane sat in silence for most of the twenty-minute flight. What was there to say? Johnny had not spotted any of the men, and there had been no word from them. Betty comforted herself with the knowledge that if the men had fled when the plane was attacked, it would take them over a day on foot to reach civilization. It was too soon to draw any conclusions.
Johnny dropped Betty, Valerie, and Rachel at Shell Mera and took off to pick up the other wives, Marilou McCully, Olive Fleming, and Barbara Youderian.
Marj welcomed Rachel and Betty to the house and apologized to Rachel for her having to find out about Operation Auca in such a difficult manner. Rachel did not want to talk about it, and a tense silence pervaded the room. Valerie crawled around after Kathy Saint, who was supposed to be celebrating her seventh birthday that day.
Things at the MAF house in Shell Mera remained solemn. A single question hung in the air: what should they do next? No one seemed to know what the best thing to do would be. Should they contact the Ecuadorian army? The United States embassy? The local police?
As the women sat pondering their next move, they heard a knock at the door. Betty and Marj turned toward the door at the same moment. Perhaps it was the men! Marj rushed to open the door, and there stood Larry Montgomery, a pilot for Wycliffe Bible Translators. Marj invited him in.
Larry quickly explained why, unexpectedly, he was at Shell Mera. “I was passing through Quito, and I had the strangest feeling that I should get on a bus and come visit you folks. It took thirteen hours to get here, and I apologize for not letting you know I was coming.”
Betty and Marj looked at each other in amazement.
“Come in and sit down, Larry,” Marj said. “We have something to tell you.”
Soon the story of Operation Auca tumbled out. Larry sat and listened, occasionally interjecting a question for clarification of some point. He wanted to know how long it had been since Johnny had spotted the plane on Palm Beach and whether the aircraft looked as if it had been wrecked before its fabric skin was stripped off.
When Betty and Marj had told him what they could, Larry stood and said, “If you will allow me, I think the best thing would be to contact my friend General Harrison by shortwave radio. General Harrison is the U.S. military officer in charge of the Caribbean region. He’s a devout Christian, and I know he will help us.”
