The Hawaiian Quilt (26 page)

Sadie felt bad for Gideon, but at the same time, she hoped nothing was occurring between him and Barbara. Mandy would be devastated if she came home and found out he’d become interested in one of her friends while she was gone.

I wonder if I should talk to Barbara about this
. Sadie bit her lip.
Regardless, now is not the time
.

Lihue

“Are you two ready to experience an evening you won’t forget?” Ken asked as he led Mandy and Ellen to a table near the stage. He’d upgraded their reservations so they could have better seats.

“Yes, definitely!” Mandy looked down at the lovely flower leis she and Ellen had received when they’d entered the grounds. She was glad they’d both worn a muumuu tonight, rather than their Amish dresses. It made them blend in more with the crowd, even with the scarves they wore pinned at the back of their heads.

“The
imu
ceremony was interesting,” Ellen commented.

Ken nodded. “Yes, and you’ll enjoy eating some of the tasty pork during the meal we’ll be eating soon. Since we have VIP seats, our table and the others closest to the stage will be called to the buffet table first.”

“You shouldn’t have spent the extra money.” Mandy spoke softly. “We would have been satisfied to sit at any table.”

Ken leaned closer to Mandy, touching her arm. “I wanted you to have the best seats so you could see the show up close and be transported to ancient Polynesia during the time of their migration to the islands.” He pushed his seat back and stood. “Now, can I get either of you a glass of Hawaiian fruit punch while we wait for our meal?”

“I’d like one,” Mandy replied. “But if you show me where to go, I can get it myself.”

“Nope. You two are my guests this evening, and I’m going to wait on you.” He looked at Ellen. “Does some punch sound good to you?”

“Yes, please.”

Ken left the table and returned with two glasses of punch, which he handed to Ellen and Mandy. Then he went back and got one for himself.

A short time later, someone came and told them it was time to go to the buffet table.

“This reminds me of the buffet we serve at the restaurant where I work in Middlebury,” Mandy whispered to Ellen as they took their plates and began dishing up. “Only the food’s a lot different here.”

“Be sure you try some of this to go with your kalua pork.” Ken pointed to the container marked
Poi
. “It’s made from the taro plant.”

Mandy wrinkled her nose. “Luana told me about poi. She said it tastes rather bland.”

“It’s more of an acquired taste, but I think it’s pretty good; especially when I dip the pork into it.”

“Think I’ll pass and have some purple sweet potatoes.”

They continued down the line, filling their plates with stir-fried vegetables, teriyaki chicken, pan-seared filet of ono fish, tossed green salad with papaya dressing, taro rolls, and steamed jasmine rice. Mandy’s mouth watered thinking how good it would all taste. As they passed the dessert bar, she noticed rice pudding, coconut cake, and pineapple upside-down cake, as well as several kinds of tropical fruits. She would wait until she’d eaten the main meal to get dessert, in case she was too full to enjoy it.

When they returned to the table, they bowed their heads for a silent prayer. As they ate their meal, Ken told them about the Kilohana Plantation, where the luau was being held. “There’s a train ride you can take around the 105-acre historic plantation,” he explained. “We could have ridden it this evening if we’d gotten here earlier, but I wasn’t able to quit work in time.”

“It’s okay.” Mandy forked a piece of pork. “What we’re doing now is exciting enough.”

“Maybe we can take the train ride another time.” He pointed to the poi on Ellen’s plate. “What do you think of it?”

“It is rather tasteless but not too bad. You should have tried some, Mandy.”

“I might some other time.” Mandy put another piece of pork into her mouth, enjoying the tender, succulent morsel. “Right now, I’m enjoying this moist, delicious meat.”

When the meal was over and they’d finished dessert, the lights lowered and the entertainment began. Mandy sat mesmerized as an incredible tale unfolded through dance, song, and the rhythm of Tahitian drums. The story showed the depths of one family’s great effort as they sought courage and vision to carry them on a voyage from Tahiti to Hawaii.

She sat in rapt attention as the theatrical luau ended with a dream scene featuring fire poi balls and the traditional fire knife dance. The world seemed to slow down as she thought about the difficulty of leaving the only home they’d ever known and traveling to a land far away to begin a new life. She’d been away from her family more than two months. Could she remain on Kauai, knowing she may only see them on rare occasions? It was a question never far from her thoughts these days.

Saturday, January 16

Mandy placed her journal inside the tote bag she’d brought along and drew a deep breath. It had been several days since she’d written anything in it because they’d been so busy at the B&B. It felt wonderful to sit here now, enjoying all the sights and smells around her. This morning, when Ken stopped by and asked if she and Ellen would like to watch him surf, Luana had insisted they go, saying she could manage on her own for a few hours.

Turning to face Ellen, sitting on the blanket beside her, Mandy observed the plain dress Ellen had made. Except for church, Mandy hardly wore her Amish clothes anymore. The muumuu was comfortable and modest. Wearing it made her feel as if she belonged on Kauai. She had to admit, even though Ellen didn’t have the exact pattern for an Amish dress, she’d done a good job with what she’d had to work with. She hoped her friend wouldn’t hold it against her because she’d strayed from their traditional dress. Sooner or later, Mandy would have to change back to her customary clothing. If she were to arrive home wearing a muumuu, her family would be stunned and no doubt displeased.

“Luana’s such a nice lady,” she said, setting aside her thoughts. “Just think, if we hadn’t missed the ship, we’d never have met her and Makaio.”

Ellen nodded.

“It was good of her to let us have time off this afternoon to spend time on the beach. And look at the beautiful water. It stretches out as far as the eye can see.” Mandy adjusted her sunglasses so they wouldn’t keep slipping on her nose where she’d put sunscreen.

She focused her attention on Ken when she noticed him talking with two young women on the beach. She assumed he must know them fairly well, for the dark-haired woman wearing a navy-blue swimsuit stood close to Ken, with her hand resting on his arm. Mandy felt a twinge of jealousy but reminded herself that she had no claim on him. They were only friends and would be saying goodbye, most likely for good, when she left Hawaii.

Refocusing, she noticed that Ellen’s mind seemed to be elsewhere as she watched a stray dog digging frantically in the sand close to the surf.

“What’s the crazy
hund
doing?” Mandy chuckled as the shaggy mutt continued to dig and spin around in circles.

“I don’t know, but he’s certainly energetic. Determined, too.” Ellen laughed as the critter threw clods of wet sand into the air.

“The dog’s not the only energetic one.” Mandy pointed to the frothy water. Ken was paddling out from the shore. “It amazes me the way he paddles out with his board, then stands up and rides those big waves back in. I’d be exhausted if I tried that, not to mention making a fool of myself.”

“But now you could swim, or at least stay afloat.”

“No way! I’m not a strong enough swimmer yet. Even if I was, I wouldn’t have the strength or nerve to do what Ken does.”

“Me neither. It takes a lot of practice to master the art of surfing. Fortunately, where we live, we don’t have to worry about such things. Swimming in my folks’ pond is good enough for me.” Ellen grabbed a handful of sand and let it sift through her fingers.

Swimming in a little pond won’t be near as exciting as paddling around in the ocean
, Mandy thought, but she didn’t voice the sentiment to her friend. She looked back at Ken and the enormous wave forming behind him. She sat up straight as the current swelled like a huge wall coming up from the ocean floor. This was the biggest wave she had seen. Ken turned and obviously saw it as he readied himself on the board. She instinctively stood up, watching Ken use his arms to paddle as the wave approached. In no time he was on his feet, riding the water’s crest as if it was as easy as riding a bike. Ken rode the wave beautifully and crouched a bit on his board as a huge curl formed alongside of him. Then quickly, he disappeared, as if the water had swallowed him up.

Not far from where Ken was last seen, another surfer was engulfed in a separate tube of water. Mandy covered her eyes, peeking through her fingers to watch as the surfer lost his balance. The power of the water flipped him into the air, and then he landed on the backside of the swell. He seemed to be okay after retrieving his board and simply waited for another wave to ride.

Mandy kept watching and silently said a prayer.
Please Lord, keep Ken safe and don’t let him fall off the board
.

Ellen stood up, too. “I can’t see Ken anymore, can you?”

“No.” Mandy held her breath for what seemed like many minutes, looking for any sign of him. It wasn’t like she hadn’t seen this type of surfing when Ken took her to the beach a while back, but this was different. It was Ken out there in the unrelenting ocean.

She was about to run down to the water’s edge—to do what, she didn’t know. A sigh of relief escaped her lips as Ken, still on his board, emerged, skimming skillfully out of the curling wave. She watched in awe as he continued surfing the swell until it weakened and brought him in to shallower water.

Ellen sat back down and Mandy followed. “Wow, he had me scared for a minute.” She smiled when Ken raised his hand to wave at them. Then he turned back toward the ocean.

“He seems to know what he’s doing,” Ellen said. “Look at him. He’s going back out for more. I have to say, a huge wave like the one he rode would have been enough for me. Imagine being in a wall of water like he was. Makes me shudder, even thinking about it.”

“Me, too.”

“Do you think that silly hund belongs to anyone?” Ellen pointed to the dog again. “I don’t see his master anywhere.”

“Maybe whoever he belongs to is up the beach a ways and the dog wandered off.” Right now, the animal was of little interest to Mandy, as she breathed deeply to quell her rapidly beating heart. She watched Ken float casually on his board to wait for another wave to swell. A short time later, he came out of the water, laying his surfboard on the sand. The dog raced over to him, barking and wagging his tail.

“What do ya want, boy? Wanna play?” Ken bent down, grabbed a stick, and flung it into the water.

The dog bounded in after it, swam back, and dropped it at Ken’s feet.
Woof! Woof!

“So you do wanna play, huh?” He picked up the stick and threw it again, a little farther out in the water.

Once again, the dog retrieved it, looking up at Ken as if begging for more.

“Okay, one more time, boy, and then I’m done. I need to go rest awhile.” He tossed the stick, and as the dog swam out to it, Ken plodded up the beach and dropped onto the blanket beside Mandy.

“Do you know who owns the dog?” she asked.

“Nope. I’m guessing he’s a stray.”

“He was digging furiously in the sand a while ago,” Ellen spoke up. “It was comical to watch him—especially when he looked over this way, with sand on his nose.”

“For sure, he has a lot of energy.” Ken chuckled.

“After watching you in those waves, I’d say the dog isn’t the only one with a lot of energy.” Mandy tilted her head. “What kind of dog do you think it is?”

He shrugged. “Hard to tell. Looks like a mixture of terrier and spaniel.”