The Islands (59 page)

‘What's with the chickens everywhere?' asked Mollie.

‘Dey all escape da farms in Hurricane Iniki in '92. You want chicken souvenir?' He pointed to postcards, mugs and tea towels decorated with chickens.

‘We'll pass on the chooks, thanks,' said Mollie.

The old swinging bridge, recently repaired, dangled over the river but Mollie refused to walk across it. They marvelled at a house that was a collection of art pieces and eccentric architecture. An old black pick-up truck painted with raging flames along the bonnet and sides had its open back filled with dirt from which spilled trails of scarlet bougainvillea.

They drove up the hill and took more photos of the view out to the ocean.

‘Anything else?' asked Mollie.

‘I guess not,' said Catherine. ‘I keep expecting to see the people I knew here looking exactly as they used to.'

‘Well, at least this is one place that hasn't been buried under cement. Let's go and see Aunty Lani. They're hanging out to see you.'

It was a small house tucked next to a small plantation shadowed by high cliffs into which red and green whorls had been carved by the wind and rain. A lone coconut palm waved by the front gate.

As they turned in off the road, the old couple were waiting for them. Uncle Henry was stooped and grey haired and Aunty Lani as energetic as ever.

‘I've been telling Uncle 'bout that party. He loves your book, Catherine.'

‘I was so glad you came over,' said Catherine. ‘Sorry you missed it, Uncle.'

He was smiling broadly, his eyes sparkling and he couldn't speak as he embraced her.

They settled themselves on the porch facing the magnificent mountains.

‘You're not lonely out here, Aunty? You seem far away from things.' Catherine was thinking of their house near the beach back on Oahu which had always been filled with people, where there always seemed to be food or a party and music happening.

‘This is the land they gave us. Because we are Hawaiian people,' said Aunty. ‘This is our land now, no-one can take it away. We have a ninety-nine year lease, so even our children can live here.'

‘That's if they want to live out here,' said Uncle Henry. ‘We're not so far from Beatrice's house and we still got lotta friends here. Miss my kids on Oahu, though.'

‘Kiann'e comes to visit a lot doesn't she?' said Catherine.

‘Yep. She becoming a very important lady in the Islands now. She going to get us sovereignty. Now you girls eat up this haupia cake.'

The time flew by, Mollie made Uncle giggle like a schoolboy with her jokes and teasing. He kept slapping his knee and shaking his head.

‘You bring dis girl back. She good medicine, Catherine.'

Mollie carried the plates inside and Uncle followed her. Catherine reached over and took Aunty Lani's hand. ‘It's so good to see you. I hadn't realised how much I missed you all. I'm going to bring my girls over to the Islands to see you.'

‘You do that. Maybe you write another book, eh?'

‘I don't think so, Lani. I'll take some photos though.'

‘That's a good thing you do that book. Poor ol' Lester. Too bad he never see it.'

‘I think he knows. He must have left me his albums for that reason.' Catherine sighed. ‘I think he must have been lonely in his old age. He lived such a long time. And no family. Though, you know, I found a letter in one of the scrapbooks. He really loved a lady once and he wrote her a letter, a beautiful letter, asking her to come back and marry him if she could only take him and how he lived in the Islands as he was. But he never posted it.' Catherine shook her head. ‘So sad. I wonder who she was. There were blank spots in the photo albums, like he'd removed the pictures of someone. It must have been her.'

Lani stared at Catherine. ‘You don' know? He always love that lady. And in her way she loved him. But they never meant to be together, oh no.'

‘You know? Who was it? Who did Lester love so much?' asked Catherine curiously.

‘Why, that be Eleanor, of course. They met in the war. But she was ambitious lady. She knew Lester never gonna change.'

Catherine drew a sharp breath. ‘Yet she came back to the Islands.' Suddenly things she'd wondered about, things Lester and Eleanor had said, now made sense. ‘And she married Ed. Was she happy with Ed? And she looked after Lester.'

‘Ah, that much later. She and Ed were very happy. Both business people. Lester never had business head. Ed understood Lester, he loved Eleanor and she adored her Ed. Lester was someone she knew at a certain time in her life.' Lani gave her a shrewd look. ‘People come into your life, they go, life goes on, eh?'

‘So that's why she let him live in that apartment. That's nice,' said Catherine.

‘You been back to the Palm Grove?' asked Lani.

‘No. That's our last stop.'

Lani patted her hand. ‘Don't be sad. Remember how it used to be. And we got a lot of good pictures and memories, haven't we?'

‘Pictures up here.' Catherine tapped her head.

Catherine remembered the last time she saw the Palm Grove and described again to Mollie the terrible tsunami, the water and the destruction of the hotel and the sadness at the loss of Abel John.

‘He always said something awful would happen because they started to clear the heiau,' said Catherine.

‘You sure it's on this road?'

‘I think so, but there are so many buildings along this stretch of coast, I'm confused. Maybe it's behind that glass monstrosity,' said Catherine pointing to a large luxury resort.

Mollie turned the car between the massive lava rock gates that led to a driveway lined with young coconut palms. ‘This looks like it.'

Catherine was too stunned to speak. At the entrance was a sign, ‘The Palm Grove'. But there the likeness ended. Emerald lawns, fountains, a huge open-air glass and steel foyer filled with orchids that cascaded down a waterfall in the lobby confronted them. A concierge in an elaborate uniform came and opened the car door.

‘Welcome to the Palm Grove, ladies.'

‘Is this where the original Palm Grove hotel was?' asked Mollie.

‘It is the same site. But the land has been filled and the grounds extended. It used to flood you know. Are you checking in?'

‘No,' said Catherine. ‘I used to come here a long time ago. Can we look around?'

‘We'll have something to eat. Maybe a drink later,' said Mollie taking Catherine's arm and leading her into the foyer. ‘My God, look at this place. It's stunning! Gorgeous. Look at the French antiques! Why aren't we staying here?'

‘They probably charge thousands a night. Mollie, this is awful. I can't believe it!'

‘It's divine! I love it. Plush, plush. Look at that pool. Ooh, this is movie-star stuff,' breathed Mollie, quite awestruck.

‘But think back to what it was, what Eleanor created . . . But of course you never saw it.' Catherine stopped a passing staff member. ‘Excuse me, is there anything left of the original Palm Grove hotel?'

The girl looked confused. ‘Sorry, I'm new. The old area is out the back. Over there.'

‘Well, thank heavens for that. Come on.' Catherine headed through the lobby in the direction the girl had pointed. Mollie trailed behind her taking in the décor with its life-size portraits of Hawaiian royalty and marble tables with huge crystal vases of flowers, the Aubusson carpets and deep comfortable furniture in beautiful silk fabrics.

‘Can you imagine what the suites must be like?' breathed Mollie.

Catherine didn't answer. This was not like anything that Eleanor had tried to do. She followed the path through the grounds, surprised she couldn't see anything familiar, but then she saw a discreet sign pointing to ‘the sacred grove and temple'. She strode past the day-spa area and through a small gateway in an old lava stone wall by a tiny waterlily pond. Then she stopped and stared.

This was the heiau, almost unrecognisable in its transformation. As Abel John would have wished, the sacred stones, the original temple walls and altar, had all been exposed in situ and sat amidst clipped lawns. Small plaques with artists' impressions of how it might have looked hundreds of years before were displayed before each group of stones. And at the far end was a thatched roundhouse where it seemed dances and ceremonies were held.

Mollie caught up to her. ‘Hey, what a groovy place. They must hold weddings here.'

‘It's the heiau. A sacred place,' said Catherine quietly. ‘Even this has become a tourist attraction.'

‘Where are the old palm trees? You know the ones with names on them that you told me about?' asked Mollie.

‘I don't know. So much was destroyed in the tsunami, but I can't believe it's all gone. I'm so glad Eleanor can't see this.' Catherine stood there a moment longer, her eyes closed, then turned on her heel and walked away.

‘Are we going to have a drink? It's hot and the bar looks amazing.'

‘Mollie, I'd rather not. Let's drive a bit.'

Catherine directed Mollie out to her last stop on this odd pilgrimage and was relieved to find she remembered her way along the coast road. But there were cars and car parks at every possible location as well as expensive-looking homes. The road that had been a dirt track was now paved and part of a residential area. It was hard to recognise where
Nirvana
had been, but as they passed one sprawling suburban house with a large garden Catherine exclaimed, ‘I think that's where it was. The trees look familiar. And the setting. Gosh.'

‘Not exactly an out-of-the-way hippie dropout place now,' said Mollie. ‘Where to?'

‘One last shot and that's it.'

They parked off the road, locked the car and Catherine led the way along the beach. A wind had sprung up and there was no decent surf so the rocky beach was deserted save for a lone fisherman. At the end of the beach she found the path used by surfers to reach the rocky point.

‘Where are we going? This doesn't go anywhere. Dead end ahead, Cath.'

Catherine didn't answer as she studied the rocks blocking the track and then gave a short cry. ‘Here.' She pushed a rock and it rolled to one side. No track was visible, just short grass. Catherine plunged ahead. ‘Follow me.'

And then, there it was, just as she remembered. The goddess pool. ‘See, the tidal pool. It's a special women's place. And the tide is out. Let's go.'

‘Go? Where?' asked Mollie. ‘What're you doing?'

Catherine was peeling off her clothes. ‘We have to go in. Come on.'

Naked, she picked her way across the rocky foreshore and settled herself in the clear water caught in the circle of rocks hidden by the cliffs.

‘When in Rome . . . whatever.' Mollie followed and eased herself into the water and leant back. ‘Hey, this is mad! I love it!'

The two friends splashed and giggled.

‘This would be fun to do with the girls,' said Mollie. ‘Y'know, you can kind of believe in all the myth and magic stuff about the Islands when you're here, in a place like this.'

Finally Catherine felt herself letting go of the old memories.

‘Like Aunty Lani said, this was all part of a certain time in my life but I moved on and I've been so fortunate that I'm so happy. But I'm glad I came back. And I'm glad you're here too, Mol.'

They returned to Honolulu and, at Kiann'e's invitation, stayed at her house for their last two days.

Now, it's shopping time,' announced Mollie. ‘Ala Moana, here we come.'

They were due to fly out in the evening. Catherine was shopped out, but Mollie had gone back to get some things she'd been undecided about and now wished she'd bought. They arranged to go to dinner with Kiann'e and Willi before Kiann'e took them to the airport. So while Mollie was in her final burst of shopping, Catherine caught the bus down into Waikiki. She felt like a tourist who'd had a fantastic holiday that was coming to an end.

No matter how they built and changed, razed and developed, nothing could spoil the Waikiki sunset. Catherine walked past the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and debated about having a drink on the terrace when a woman she didn't recognise approached her shyly and held up a copy of
The Waterman
and asked her to sign it.

‘My name is Margaret. You don't know me, but I remember you,' she said. ‘And I read about you and the book in the paper.'

‘Oh, I'm sorry, where do we know each other from?' asked Catherine.

‘I've worked at the Outrigger Canoe Club as a receptionist for years. I remember Lester well. It would be nice if some of his photos were hung in the club.'

‘Yes, it would. I'll suggest that,' said Catherine and she signed the flyleaf.

‘I remember you being around the club with PJ,' the woman added. ‘When Lester was getting on in years.'

‘Ah,' said Catherine. ‘PJ. I wonder what happened to him?'

‘Oh, he's good. He's still around. Y'know, I often think PJ became Lester. They're two of a kind, aren't they?'

‘I wouldn't know. I lost touch with him years ago. Since I left the Islands,' said Catherine.

‘He still surfs outside the club some mornings. He's amazingly fit.' She grinned. ‘Still attracts the girls. Well, congrats again on the book. It's terrific. Thanks for signing it.'

‘Mahalo, you're welcome,' said Catherine as the woman disappeared into the hotel.

Catherine walked along the beach towards Diamond Head, blotting out the cheek-by-jowl resort palaces and hotels that inched along the golden strip of Waikiki. She kept her eyes on the water, the waves and the changing end-of-day colours she remembered so well. There were a few surfers at Queens break, some dotted in clusters, waiting and watching, perhaps chatting. The swimmers had left the water. People were preparing for their evening activities.