Fire Maiden (9 page)

D
aylight lasted until Darby sighted the broodmare pasture and then, as if someone had pulled a silver curtain, fog crept over ‘Iolani Ranch, blurring the edges of the foreman's house and Sun House.

She took her time grooming Judge, checking his feet for stones and feeling his legs for hot spots, since this was his longest journey carrying a rider for some time. Actually, the old horse seemed revitalized by the ride and reluctant to move off and eat, even when Darby released him.

When she walked into Sun House's kitchen, Darby didn't mention the missing pie, but she noticed. Her guess was that it had been carried upstairs to Aunty Cathy.

Without Cathy Kato in charge, the ranch wouldn't run smoothly for long. She not only cooked and kept the ranch finances straight, she monitored the interaction between domestic animals and Hawaiian wildlife. And even though he wouldn't admit it, Jonah knew Aunty Cathy's background in tourism could help save the ranch if tougher times came.

Even now, as they picked through the newly organized cupboards for a semblance of dinner, Darby could see Jonah trying to listen through the ceiling. She'd bet her grandfather had used delivery of the pie as an excuse to go up and see how Aunty Cathy and Megan were doing.

Darby wanted a slab of that pie for her own, too, but first she sat down with a sandwich and milk.

When Jonah balanced a mound of unheated pork-fried rice on a plate and headed for the lanai, Darby asked if she could just sit at the kitchen table and call Ann.

“Have at it,” Jonah said with an offhand gesture.

Darby learned that the same sort of casual evening was going on at Ann's house. Together they ate, talked about Aunty Cathy's concussion and Darby's interview with Tutu, and in whispers, the possibility that Megan would not be able to ride along on their research trip. Finally, Darby told Ann that she'd been grounded from Navigator.

“Do you fall off a lot?” Ann asked.

“Well, no, but I'm not off to a good start. Really,”
Darby said when she heard Ann giggle, “I've come close a bunch of times. Like, dozens.”

“I think I know your problem,” Ann said.

Darby waited in silence.

“Let's see,” Ann said. “You've been riding for, what? A couple months? And you never rode before, did you?”

“Well, no, but—”

“Not around in a ring, not up and down a bridle path, or anything, and now, suddenly, you're in situations that even a real paniolo would find challenging. The whole thing with wild pigs, idiots like Manny.” Ann lowered her voice. “Oh, and let's not forget earthquakes!”

“If I put it that way to my mom,” Darby said quietly, “she'd probably think it was child abuse.”

“Not if she rode as a kid,” Ann declared. “She did, right?”

“That's what they tell me.”

“She'd probably understand, then. I mean, I've been riding all my life. Really, my mom has a photo of my dad carrying me around on his cutting horse when I was just a month old. And sometimes I still fall, or slip off to keep from being bucked off. I hate it worse than poison, but it happens if you push yourself.” Ann paused, and Darby heard a voice in the background.

“My mom says I have to get off,” Ann said, “but she also says she's looking forward to meeting you
when we pick up you and the horses on Monday.”

“Tell her I'm looking forward to meeting her and your dad, too,” Darby said politely, then added, “I'll remember everything Tutu said and be the storyteller while we're riding.”

“This is going to be so much fun,” Ann said.

“I can hardly wait,” Darby agreed.

Just as Darby hung up, footsteps sounded on the Katos' stairs. Jonah already had the front door open.

“Do you need my help?” he asked.

“No,” Megan said, looking surprised at his greeting. “My mom says that since she has to stay awake, she might as well be lazy and watch whatever's on television.”

“Good,” Jonah said. “That's what I told her to do, and she needs something to eat. Soup, maybe. She wanted to stop for groceries, but the market was too busy. People restocking ruined food,” he explained, and Darby could imagine Aunty Cathy wanting to stop for food and Jonah insisting on bringing her home, per the doctor's orders.

“She just wants a soda and popcorn.” Megan barely got the words out before Jonah stalked toward the cupboards and flung open door after door. “I can fix it,” she added.

“I'll do it,” Jonah said.

He sounded so determined, Megan just shrugged and rolled her eyes at Darby. When their eyes met, Darby was pretty sure Megan had figured out what
she just had: Jonah was in the habit of being the boss. When an accident happened, maybe he couldn't be in control. But he could be in charge. Even if that only meant making popcorn.

A few minutes later, Jonah had drizzled the popcorn with melted butter and handed it to Megan. She was just about to leave when she stopped and pointed at Darby. “My mom wanted me to make sure you'd called Ellen back.”

“My mom called?” Darby asked.

“Yeah. Of course, she might have been a little confused,” Megan said, “but she told me that she left something”—Megan turned and scanned the refrigerator—“here.” She tapped a note in Aunty Cathy's handwriting.

“How could I have missed that?” Darby wondered out loud.

Megan was gone by the time Darby turned toward Jonah. He'd seen her trying to call her mother at least twice. Why hadn't he mentioned that her mother had gotten through?

“Don't worry,” he said, nodding toward the yellow note. “Cathy musta told her no one was killed by that little quake.”

“Not so little,” Darby said. “Six point oh.”

Jonah shrugged.

Darby didn't like confrontations with anyone, and she and Jonah were just moving past the one from last night, but the flutter in her stomach wasn't
a good enough reason to back down.

Hands on her hips, Darby said, “Plus, that was hours ago. I've been thinking my mom was so worried!”

She was prepared for Jonah to come back at her with a roar. For a minute, his gaze locked on hers, but then he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. When he opened his eyes again, he just looked tired.

“Truly, Granddaughter, I forgot,” Jonah confessed. “I am sorry.”

Unsettled by his apology, Darby said, “Uh, that's okay. I'll try to call her again now.”

But the phone rang just as Darby reached for it.

“Hello?”

“What did you break?” Ellen demanded.

“Nothing, Mom.”

“I mean, body parts, not fine china,” she urged.

“Mom, I'm fine. I didn't even get a bruise. Honest!”

She heard her mother's sigh before she went on a bit more calmly, “But with the intensity of that earthquake, Darby, there had to be damage everywhere. What about your horse?”

Darby felt a glow like candlelight in her chest. Ellen knew what was most important to her daughter.

“Hoku is just great,” Darby began, and then she described how they'd set all the horses free, and her mom sounded excited. When she explained how the
impromptu herd had assembled to protect themselves, her mother said she wished television cameras had been there to catch it. And when Darby admitted wearing her short pink nightgown to tromp down to the pasture, her mother laughed and said she'd bet that had been something to see.

With a pleased sigh, Ellen asked, “And you went to school?”

Did it take distance to make you really appreciate your mother? Darby wondered. Twice, Ellen had zeroed in on what Darby held important: first horses, then school.

She explained about the delayed start, and had started detailing her science and story project before she bit her tongue, afraid her mother wouldn't approve of her riding up to Two Sisters.

It was like Ellen read her mind.

“Don't even think of going alone,” she said.

“I won't. I'm going with two other girls. Megan's older and she's been raised on the ranch.”

“Okay,” Ellen said cautiously. “Just the same, don't go past the stone trees.”

“What are the stone trees?” Darby asked.

“Only one of the best things on the island.” Her mother sounded as if she was bragging about her birthplace, and Darby was pretty sure she'd never heard her do that before. “Sometime thousands of years ago, lava covered the trees, but the trunks and branches inside lasted long enough that they gave
form to the lava before it hardened. Of course, there's a less scientific explanation, too.”

Maybe it was the long, tiring day that made tears spring to Darby's eyes when her mother's voice turned dreamy. But Darby didn't let on that she was touched by her mother's tone. If Ellen thought she was crying, or hiding something, she'd have her on the next plane back home.

Darby cleared her throat and asked, “Is there a story to them? Would Tutu be able to tell me?”

“Of course she would,” Ellen said. “You know, she's my grandmother and she did her best to help me through a very difficult time. But she seems like something out of a fairy tale now.”

“She's still here, and she's real,” Darby said. “I just saw her today for my project.”

“Next time, tell her I miss her, will you?” Ellen said, and then she cleared her throat before adding, “So that's what you have planned for spring break? Homework?”

“Pretty much,” Darby said.

“Well, have a little fun, too.”

Darby thought her mother was about to hang up, but she seemed unwilling to end their talk.

“When I talked with Cathy—who was very understanding, but a little preoccupied—”

“The whole kitchen kind of caved in,” Darby explained. “It looked like a gigantic tossed salad, except there were pots and pans mixed in.”

“I know she mentioned something breaking,” Ellen insisted. “That's why I was worried about your arms and legs.”

“Well.” Darby looked around at the neat kitchen, then gazed out the window. “It could have been almost anything. The foundation on the foreman's house cracked, and a horse got locked inside the tack room and tried to paw his way out, plus lots of glass-ware broke….”

“But you're all fine?”

“All except Aunty Cathy. She got hit on the head with, uh, I think she said a number ten can of pumpkin.”

“My goodness, is she all right?”

“She saw the doctor—”

“Will wonders never cease,” Ellen interjected, but Darby wasn't sure what she meant by that, so she went on.

“And she has a concussion, so she's upstairs resting.”

The silence that hummed over the line lasted so long, Darby was pretty sure that she and her mother had been cut off.

“Mom?”

“That's a shame about the concussion, but Darby, did you say ‘upstairs'?” Ellen asked.

Now it was Darby's turn to be quiet while she thought. Aunty Cathy had told Darby during the first week she was here that Jonah had built the little
upstairs apartment for Ellen, hoping she'd come home if she could have her own private space. But she hadn't come home.

“You know, Mom,” Darby nudged her mother's memory, “the little apartment over Sun House that Jonah built for you? But I guess you never saw it, so maybe you forgot it was there.”

“Maybe I forgot a lot of things about Jonah.” Her mom's wistful tone had turned unforgiving, but she got her voice back under control so quickly, Darby wondered if she'd imagined the change. “I'm glad you're having fun and doing things you won't be able to do at home, honey.”

“Like riding on the slope of our family volcanoes?” Darby suggested.

“Exactly,” Ellen said. “Because a trip to Wild Horse Island only comes once in a lifetime.”

A
ftershock!

Darby's bed swayed. Instantly awake, she ordered her feet to run outside. Then Darby realized she wasn't alone.

“Darby…” Jonah stood so close to her bed, she smelled leather polish on his boots. He was shaking her shoulder.

“What? Was there an aftershock?”

“Probably hundreds of 'em, but not just now. The telephone. It's for you. I came in because I didn't want to yell and wake them upstairs,” he explained.

Darby blinked her bedroom into focus. Sunlight streamed through her window, spotlighting her lucky bamboo plant, so it wasn't early.

The telephone. It could only be Ann or her mom, or maybe her dad had finally gotten through to check on her.

Darby didn't glance at the clock. She'd stayed up way too late last night. She'd written in her journal, stared at her bedroom ceiling, and listened to the Katos' television, which she could hear quite clearly if she laid still.

Her mind had darted from Judge's ability to climb the slopes of Two Sisters, to wondering what her mother had meant when she'd said a trip to Wild Horse Island was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. And when she finally did fall asleep, she dreamed she was clinging to the mane of a fog-white stallion, racing against a black mustang with one blue eye. And coming up behind them all, she'd seen Hoku. Except it wasn't Hoku, it was Fire Maiden, the horse incarnation of Pele….

“Shall I tell him to call back?” Jonah asked.

Darby had been about to doze off again, but Jonah's voice snapped her awake.

Shall I tell
him
to call back, that's what Jonah had asked, right? Him, so it must be Dad.

“No. I'm up. Honest,” Darby assured her grandfather.

Barefoot, she followed Jonah down the hall, toward the kitchen aromas of coffee and toast, and grabbed up the phone.

“Hello?” Darby said, but she only heard a click,
then a dial tone. Jonah looked at her with raised eyebrows.

“Whoever it was hung up,” she said, answering his silent question. “Got tired of waiting, I guess.”

“Some phone and power lines are still down from the earthquake,” Jonah suggested, but just then the phone rang once more.

“I'll get it,” Darby said. “Hello?”

The caller clicked off. Again.

“Someone's pranking you,” Jonah said. “A boy about your age, by his voice.”

Tyson, Darby thought immediately. But why?

“You know who it is,” Jonah said.

“No, I—well, maybe,” Darby admitted.

“The Tyson kid that Kimo told me about?”

Too tired to argue about the latest invasion of her privacy, Darby sagged forward until her chin rested on her crossed arms on the kitchen tabletop.

“And they say girls gossip too much,” she grumbled.

“The ranch, it's like a
kipuka
, yeah?” Jonah said unapologetically.

Darby knew about
kipukas
.

To be alone with Hoku, she'd crossed a bed of spiky
a'a'
lava, until she'd reached an island of rain-forested oasis. With rainwater pools and wildlife, it was a world with beauties and problems all its own.

She supposed Jonah, in his storyteller's way, was trying to excuse his prying.

“So, this Ty character called you a haole crab, yeah?” Jonah asked.

“Yeah, but Ann said he might not have meant anything bad by it.”

“Why make excuses for him? If he didn't mean to hurt your feelings, he would've stayed on the phone just now. And he wouldn't have called you haole crab, but
malihini
.”

“That's like a newcomer, right?” Darby asked. She still felt awkward using Hawaiian words, but she was picking up a lot of them.

This time, she was right. She could tell by Jonah's pleased nod.

“You know, I didn't do anything to Tyson or his friend.”

“You didn't have to.” Jonah must have seen that his response didn't satisfy her, because he went on. “He did it because he could. Guy don't feel so good about himself? He wants everybody down in the dumps.”

“I guess,” Darby said.

“I'm not one to give advice”—Darby almost laughed—“about personal stuff, but this Tyson mentioning crabs reminds me of something your tutu told me when I was your age.

“I didn't get on well at school. My father was what educated people called an eccentric. Most just wrote him off as an oddball. So, no matter what I tried to do at school, I was that oddball's kid.

“Then your tutu told me school is like a bucket of crabs, all trying to get on top.”

A bucket of crabs. Darby pictured dozens of pointed, pinkish legs thrashing and clacking together.

“Sometimes they climb over. Just as often, they get pushed under. And maybe their claws clamp onto another crab and drag him down, too.”

It didn't take Darby long to make sense of the story. Her cousin Duckie had made it onto the team and clawed her way to the top, beating out athletes from other schools and other leagues. When she'd learned Darby was a good swimmer, too, Duckie did everything she could to remain number one on the school's swim team, even getting Darby in trouble with the swim coach.

Honors students were no different than athletes. Darby knew from experience that getting an A wasn't enough. The minute graded work was returned, the kids checked out each other's papers, hoping their A was worth more points than anyone else's.

When Darby's mind circled back to Ty, she supposed he was the same. It just made sense that all the tough kids wanted to be the toughest.

Ty must have gotten some bad information somewhere,
Darby thought,
if he believes he'll look tougher by dragging me down.

Suddenly Jonah set a mug of hot chocolate on the table, next to Darby's hand, and she realized he'd
been making it while she stared off into space.

“What did Tutu tell you to do about, you know, all the other crabs?” she asked Jonah.

“She didn't. I decided on my own that there was no place for me in that bucket.”

“You didn't drop out of school!” Darby stared up at Jonah, who still stood next to her. His grin seemed to be applause for her appalled tone.

“No, I just got outta the way and let 'em pinch each other.” Jonah turned toward the kitchen window. “After a while, just dodgin' their claws wasn't enough for me. I tipped the bucket over and crawled away home.”

Hands on hips, Jonah faced her, picked up his cup of coffee, and took a sip before saying, “Turns out this is the only place in the world I cared about being on top.”

Darby took a deep breath and released it.

What if I feel exactly the same way?
she thought.

Darby didn't have time to ponder the idea before Jonah demanded, “Haven't I told you not to let me waste time talkin' story?”

“No, but—”

“It's time I checked on the invalid.” Jonah pointed up toward the Katos' apartment.

But Jonah didn't go anywhere; he just asked, “How'd you like Judge?”

“Judge is great,” Darby said. “I'm not sure he's in shape for climbing, though.”

Jonah waited.

“So, if I'm going to ride up to Two Sisters to do this school project…” Darby let the sentence dangle, but Jonah didn't take the bait.

“Better get some breakfast down, before you start your chores,” he said.

Darby realized she was going to have to come right out and ask him if he'd allow her to ride Navigator on her trip.

“When I got home from school on Thursday, you seemed to agree with Kit that Hoku was ready to start carrying a rider—” she began, and this time Jonah cut her off.

“I still think she is,” he said, looking puzzled.

“Oh.” Darby's sigh left her feeling both deflated and excited at the same time. “I thought because of what happened with Navigator—”

“What's that got to do with Hoku?” Jonah's head was tilted to one side. “She's ready to be saddle-schooled. I'm just not sure that you should be her first rider.”

Darby wouldn't have believed her heartbeats could drown out Jonah's words, but that's exactly what was happening.

“Megan's the right size. Or your friend, crazy Ann…”

“You changed your mind because of the earthquake?” Darby asked faintly.

“I haven't changed my mind. I'm still deciding. And it has nothing to do with the earthquake.”

“It does,” Darby insisted. “Research says animals can be early-warning systems for earthquakes. I'll find you articles to prove it. And”—Darby took a breath, searching her mind for more evidence—“remember how the dogs were howling? And when Francie broke loose? She never does that! And Joker was pawing at the bunkhouse door, all sweating and nervous the night before.”

“So, you think Navigator's bucking was all about what was under his feet, and had nothing to do with who was on his back?” Jonah demanded.

“Yes! No. Well, mostly it didn't,” Darby nearly shouted.

“
Shh.
” Jonah made a lowering motion with his hand. “That mean you want another chance?”

“Of course I—”

“Because I'm telling you, Granddaughter,” Jonah warned, “once you girls get up on Two Sisters, you're on your own for a while. No cell phone works up there. The university's monitoring station is outdated and unstaffed. It's a steep ride up and a roller coaster comin' back down.”

Was Jonah talking himself out of letting her go?

“The only shortcut down is one you don't want to take with that filly of yours,” he said.

“I'm not sure Judge can make that climb. I
wouldn't force him if he wasn't in shape for it,” Darby said, and Jonah could tell that she wasn't just making an excuse.

“I know,” Jonah said.

“That's the main reason I'd like another chance to prove I can ride Navigator. I know he'll take me all the way to the top and back down.”

Jonah rubbed his right ring finger, the one a long-ago teacher had broken with a ruler because he'd spoken Hawaiian in class.

“You got yourself a bargain, Granddaughter. Show me you can ride three horses safely”—Darby pictured herself standing with a foot on the backs of each of two horses while another ran in between—“and we'll see about Navigator. And as soon as you get home, we'll go back to saddle-schooling Hoku.”

“Thank you.” Darby's eyes closed in gratitude.

 

Darby hurried to her room to change into jeans, but first she sat on her bed and took a deep breath. She did it again and still couldn't hear herself wheezing.

She hadn't had asthma for days, but her chest felt tight. Taking her inhaler on the camping trip would be good insurance, and it should only take her a minute to find it.

She was looking through her dresser drawers when voices from overhead sifted down to her.

“Jonah, there's smoke on the mountain. Don't tell me you're letting her go?”

“It's mist.”

Even though she couldn't see Jonah talking to Aunty Cathy, she knew that tone of his. Her grandfather's eyes would look black. He'd stand solid as a wall, certain that he was right.

“This isn't a good idea.” Aunty Cathy sounded just as sure that
she
was right.

On her first day at ‘Iolani Ranch, Darby had realized Aunty Cathy had a different relationship with Jonah than anyone else. He didn't intimidate her, so she spoke her mind.

Now, they lowered their voices. Quick sentences flew back and forth, but Darby couldn't decode them through the ceiling.

Not until Jonah's words rang as clearly as if he'd shouted into a microphone.

“I don't know how long she'll be here. Or if she'll ever come back. Riding up her own volcano.” Jonah's awe painted a picture that made Darby shiver. “Think of that, and tell me for certain she'll ever do anything like that, ever again?”

“…dangerous…”

“Hawaiian volcanoes are slow and quiet, remember?” For a moment, Jonah sounded as if he was teasing, but then his voice turned sad. “Cathy, when she's an old woman, she'll remember the Two Sisters and maybe, if she's lucky, Pele's fireworks, too. I can give that to Darby. Why shouldn't I?”

Aunty Cathy was insisting something when
Jonah boomed, “…Ellen too close. Never let her go anywhere or do anything, just in case.”

Light footsteps went up the stairway to the Katos' apartment. The door opened and then Darby heard Megan's voice.

No wonder Aunty Cathy and Jonah had been having such an unusual conversation. They had—or at least they thought they'd had—no audience.

Darby walked to the entrance hall, sat on the bench, pulled on her boots, and sighed.

It was totally frustrating that she couldn't ask for clarification about what she'd heard, because she'd learned it all by snooping.