Rain Forest Rose (12 page)

“What do you want me to do?” Cade asked sternly.

“If you can see to make a shot, take it,” Kit said.

“Darby?” Cade snapped.

“Take it,” Kit repeated, “before he gets among the horses.”

Darby's mind cast around for a different solution.

If Hoku was in the line of fire, Cade wouldn't shoot, would he? Unless the pig was about to slip under as it had before and attack Navigator, or Joker, or—

“Okay,” Darby said.

“Megan.” Cade said her name in a steely tone.

If anything went wrong, he wanted her on his side this time, Darby thought.

“Okay. Of course. Do it,” Megan said.

Kit's faith in Cade's skill was so great, he was already reaching for the lantern when Cade put the pig out of its misery with a single shot.

The horses stood silent. The only sound was Kit, pumping up the lantern and lighting it.

“Stay here,” Kit said, standing up. “You too,” he told Cade. “I'm pretty sure he's done for, but I'd feel better if you covered me from here.”

Cade nodded, and Kit walked toward the pig.

D
arby didn't watch while Kit made sure the sick boar was dead, but she listened.

For a few minutes, there was no other sound except for Kit's boots, but then the quiet was split by Hoku's longing neigh.

“Kit!”

“Yeah?”

“Can I go to Hoku?” Darby shouted to him.

“Sure. She's fine, though. The boar didn't get in.”

Then, as Darby started toward Hoku, Kit corrected himself. “You know, could you wait just a second while Cade helps me with this?”

“This” would be the boar's body, Darby thought, so she stayed where she was.

Cade stood, but Megan was so fast getting to her feet and grabbing his sleeve, she stopped him from going.

“I apologize for being such a jerk,” Megan said.

“It's okay,” Cade told her.

“It's not okay,” Megan insisted. “That day, you would have shot that boar, and my dad would still be alive—”

“I could have missed. And even shot, he still could've charged Tango and the same thing woulda happened.”

“No. I came out of the forest after you and Dad did, and when I saw you with your gun raised, but I didn't see the boar…”

“And you screamed for me to stop. But how could you think something like that about me? That I'd do something like that?”

“I don't know. I've always been weird about little animals…”

“Little animals.” Cade repeated the words as if he'd never heard them before.

“Well, it—I know. I know, looking back it's stupid, but I didn't see the boar and I thought you were going to shoot that baby pig Tango was shying away from.” Megan gave a heartsick sigh, then spoke through gritted teeth. “I don't know why.”

Darby tried to picture what Cade and Megan had described.

Megan had come into the clearing after the
others. She'd seen Cade—a guy she was afraid of because her mother had told her he'd had violence pounded into him—raise his rifle against a baby pig. But she hadn't seen the boar charging Tango. She hadn't guessed her father was in danger. Still, her scream had stopped Cade from shooting.

Cade's shaky voice broke the silence. “You didn't think I was going to shoot your dad?”

“No! Oh my gosh, Cade, no! I'd never think something like that!”

Then Darby walked away. She headed for her horse, though her head was spinning.

All this time, Megan had blamed herself for shouting, for worrying about a piglet instead of her father.

All this time, Cade had thought Megan, for at least a moment, believed he was aiming at Ben Kato.

Darby circled to the far side of the corral. All of the horses crowded toward her as if she, the hay-bringer, could do something about the chaos that had invaded their world.

“It's okay, you guys,” she said quietly. “Everything's going to be just fine.”

 

At first light, Cade and Megan rode out, ponying Tango behind them.

Kit was still worried. He lagged behind, arguing with Darby.

“That pig got rabies from somewhere,” he pointed
out, but Darby could tell she was wearing him down. “Still, I know what Jonah would say. He'd tell you there's no reason you can't spend the last couple days out here with your horse, now that the boar's been taken care of. So have a good time,” he said, and loped Conch after the others.

When the rain forest fell quiet again, Darby joined Hoku in the corral.

She watched her filly eat the hay meant to distract Hoku from the departure of her temporary herd. She smiled as Hoku rolled in the dirt, then rubbed her coat on the grass, removing all of those troubling scents.

Finally, when Hoku was ready to play, Darby tightened her black ponytail.

Hoku came to her, holding her head up high so that Darby couldn't reach her halter, but when Darby didn't try, the mustang lowered her head over Darby's shoulder and bumped her chin against her shoulder blade in a horse hug.

“I've got something to read to you, girl,” Darby said. She wiggled her fingers into her jeans pocket to retrieve the postcard she'd found in the book Jonah had packed for her. It was from her mother.

“‘Don't stay in your room studying,' it says, and then, ‘Get out and have some fun!'”

Darby laughed, and she decided Hoku was amused, too, because she dusted her prickly whiskers across Darby's face.

“She has no idea,” Darby told Hoku. “And she wouldn't believe me if I told her!”

Hoku tilted her head to one side, trying to puzzle out Darby's words. When she couldn't, the filly shook all over.

A flurry of ivory mane covered Hoku's eyes before she gave Darby a sisterly nudge that knocked her off her feet. And then, head held high and bright tail streaming, the golden mustang ran circles around her human.

I
n case anybody reads this besides me, which it's too late to tell you not to do if you've gotten this far, I know this isn't a real dictionary. For one thing, it's not all correct, and for another, it's not alphabetized because I'm just adding things as I hear them. Besides, this dictionary is just to help me remember. Even though I'm pretty self-conscious about pronouncing Hawaiian words, it seems to me if I live here (and since I'm part Hawaiian), I should at least try to say things right.

‘aumakua
—OW MA KOO AH—these are family guardians from ancient times. I think ancestors are
supposed to come back and look out for their family members. Our ‘aumakua are owls and Megan's is a sea turtle.

chicken skin
—goose bumps

da kine
—DAH KYNE—“that sort of thing” or “stuff like that”

hanai
—HA NYE E—a foster or adopted child, like Cade is Jonah's, but I don't know if it's permanent

‘iolani
—EE OH LAWN EE—this is a hawk that brings messages from the gods, but Jonah has it painted on his trucks as an owl bursting through the clouds

hiapo
—HIGH AH PO—a firstborn child, like me, and it's apparently tradition for grandparents, if they feel like it, to just take hiapo to raise!

hoku
—HO COO—star

ali'i
—AH LEE EE—royalty, but it includes chiefs besides queens and kings and people like that

pupule
—POO POO LAY—crazy

paniolo
—PAW KNEE OH LOW—cowboy or cowgirl

lanai
—LAH NA E—this is like a balcony or veranda. Sun House's is more like a long balcony with a view of the pastures.

lei niho palaoa
—LAY NEEHO PAH LAHOAH—necklace made for old-time Hawaiian royalty from braids of their own hair. It's totally kapu—forbidden—for anyone else to wear it.

luna
—LOU NUH—a boss or top guy, like Jonah's stallion

pueo
—POO AY OH—an owl, our family guardian. The very coolest thing is that one lives in the tree next to Hoku's corral.

pau
—POW—finished, like Kimo is always asking, “You pau?” to see if I'm done working with Hoku or shoveling up after the horses

pali
—PAW LEE—cliffs

ohia
—OH HE UH—a tree like the one next to Hoku's corral

lei
—LAY E—necklace of flowers. I thought they were pronounced LAY, but Hawaiians add another sound. I also thought leis were sappy touristy things, but getting one is a real honor, from the right people.

luahala
—LOO AH HA LA—some kind of leaf in shades of brown, used to make paniolo hats like Cade's. I guess they're really expensive.

kapu
—KAH POO—forbidden, a taboo

tutu
—TOO TOO—great-grandmother

menehune
—MEN AY WHO NAY—little people

honu
—HO NEW—sea turtle

hewa-hewa
—HEE VAH HEE VAH—crazy

Ellen Kealoha Carter
—my mom, and since she's responsible for me being in Hawaii, I'm putting her first. Also I miss her. My mom is a beautiful and talented actress, but she hasn't had her big break yet. Her job in Tahiti might be it, which is sort of ironic because she's playing a Hawaiian for the first time and she swore she'd never return to Hawaii. And here I am. I get the feeling she had huge fights with her dad, Jonah, but she doesn't hate Hawaii.

Cade
—fifteen or so, he's Jonah's adopted son. Jonah's been teaching him all about being a paniolo. I thought he was Hawaiian, but when he took off his hat he had blond hair—in a braid! Like old-time
vaqueros—weird! He doesn't go to school, just takes his classes by correspondence through the mail. He wears this poncho that's almost black it's such a dark green, and he blends in with the forest. Kind of creepy the way he just appears out there. Not counting Kit, Cade might be the best rider on the ranch.

Hoku kicked him in the chest. I wish she hadn't. He told me that his stepfather beat him all the time.

Cathy Kato
—forty or so? She's the ranch manager and, really, the only one who seems to manage Jonah. She's Megan's mom and the widow of a paniolo, Ben. She has messy blond-brown hair to her chin, and she's a good cook, but she doesn't think so. It's like she's just pulling herself back together after Ben's death.

I get the feeling she used to do something with advertising or public relations on the mainland.

Jonah Kaniela Kealoha
—my grandfather could fill this whole notebook. Basically, though, he's harsh/nice, serious/funny, full of legends and stories about magic, but real down-to-earth. He's amazing with horses, which is why they call him the Horse Charmer. He's not that tall, maybe 5'8", with black hair that's getting gray, and one of his fingers is still kinked where it was broken by a teacher because he spoke Hawaiian in class! I don't like his “don't touch the horses unless they're working for you” theory, but it totally works. I need to figure out why.

Kimo
—he's so nice! I guess he's about twenty-five, Hawaiian, and he's just this sturdy, square, friendly guy. He drives in every morning from his house over by Crimson Vale, and even though he's late a lot, I've never seen anyone work so hard.

Kit Ely
—the ranch foreman, the boss, next to Jonah. He's Sam's friend Jake's brother and a real buckaroo. He's about 5'10" with black hair. He's half Shoshone, but he could be mistaken for Hawaiian, if he wasn't always promising to whip up a batch of Nevada chili and stuff like that. And he wears a totally un-Hawaiian leather string with brown-streaked turquoise stones around his neck. He got to be foreman through his rodeo friend Pani (Ben's buddy). Kit's left wrist got pulverized in a rodeo fall. He's still amazing with horses, though.

Megan Kato
—Cathy's fifteen-year-old daughter, a super athlete with long reddish-black hair. She's beautiful and popular and I doubt she'd be my friend if we just met at school. Maybe, though, because she's nice at heart. She half makes fun of Hawaiian legends, then turns around and acts really serious about them. Her Hawaiian name is Mekana.

The Zinks
—they live on the land next to Jonah. They have barbed-wire fences and their name doesn't sound Hawaiian, but that's all I know.

Tutu
—my great-grandmother. She lives out in the rain forest like a medicine woman or something, and she looks like my mom will when she's old. She has a pet owl.

ANIMALS
!

Hoku
—my wonderful sorrel filly! She's about two and a half years old, a full sister to the Phantom, and boy, does she show it! She's fierce (hates men) but smart, and a one-girl (ME!) horse for sure. She is definitely a herd-girl, and when it comes to choosing between me and other horses, it's a real toss-up. Not that I blame her. She's run free for a long time, and I don't want to take away what makes her special.

She loves hay, but she's really HEAD-SHY due to Shan Stonerow's early “training,” which, according to Sam, was beating her.

Hoku
means “star.” Her dam is Princess Kitty, but her sire is a mustang named Smoke and he's mustang all the way back to a “white renegade with murder in his eye” (Mrs. Allen).

Navigator
—my riding horse is a big, heavy Quarter Horse that reminds me of a knight's charger. He has Three Bars breeding (that's a big deal), but when he picked me, Jonah let him keep me! He's black with rusty rings around his eyes and a rusty muzzle. (Even
though he looks black, the proper description is brown, they tell me.) He can find his way home from any place on the island. He's sweet, but no pushover. Just when I think he's sort of a safety net for my beginning riding skills, he tests me.

Joker
—Cade's Appaloosa gelding is gray splattered with black spots and has a black mane and tail. He climbs like a mountain goat and always looks like he's having a good time. I think he and Cade have a history, maybe Jonah took them in together?

Biscuit
—buckskin gelding, one of Ben's horses, a dependable cowpony. Kit rides him a lot.

Hula Girl
—chestnut cutter

Blue Ginger
—blue roan mare with tan foal

Honolulu Lulu
—bay mare

Tail Afire (Koko)
—fudge brown mare with silver mane and tail

Blue Moon
—Blue Ginger's baby

Moonfire
—Tail Afire's baby

Black Cat
—Lady Wong's black foal

Luna Dancer
—Hula Girl's bay baby

Honolulu Half Moon

Conch
—grulla cowpony, gelding, needs work. Megan rides him sometimes.

Kona
—big gray, Jonah's cow horse

Luna
—beautiful, full-maned bay stallion is king of ‘Iolani Ranch. He and Jonah seem to have a bond.

Lady Wong
—dappled gray mare and Kona's dam. Her current foal is Black Cat.

Australian shepherds
—pack of five and I have to learn their names!

Pipsqueak/Pip
—little, shaggy, white dog that runs with the big dogs, belongs to Megan and Cathy.

Tango
—Megan's, once-wild rose roan mare. I think she and Hoku are going to be pals.

PLACES

Lehua High School
—the school Megan goes to and I will, too. School colors are red and gold.

Crimson Vale
—it's an amazing and magical place, and once I learn my way around, I bet I'll love it. It's like a maze, though. Here's what I know: from town you can go through the valley or take the ridge road—valley has lily pads, waterfalls, wild horses, and rainbows. The ridge route (Pali?) has sweeping turns that almost made me sick. There are black rock teeter-totter-looking things that are really ancient altars and a SUDDEN drop-off down to a white sand beach. Hawaiian royalty are supposedly buried in the cliffs.

Moku Lio Hihiu
—Wild Horse Island, of course!

Mountain to the Sky
—sometimes just called Sky Mountain. Goes up to 5,000 feet, sometimes gets snow, and Megan said there used to be wild horses there.

The Two Sisters
—cone-shaped “mountains.” A borderline between them divides Jonah's land from his sister's—my aunt, but I haven't met her. One of them is an active volcano. Kind of scary.

Sun House
—our family place. They call it plantation style, but it's like sugar plantation, not Southern mansion. It has an incredible lanai that overlooks pastures all the way to Mountain to the Sky and Two Sisters. Upstairs is this little apartment Jonah built for my mom, but she's never lived in it.

Hapuna
—biggest town on island, has airport, flagpole, public and private schools, etc., palm trees, and coconut trees

‘Iolani Ranch
—our home ranch. 2,000 acres, the most beautiful place in the world.

ON THE RANCH
,
THERE ARE PASTURES WITH NAMES LIKE
:

Sugar Mill
and
Upper Sugar Mill
—for cattle

Two Sisters
—for young horses, one- and two-year-olds they pretty much leave alone

Flatland
—mares and foals

Pearl Pasture
—borders the rain forest, mostly two-and three-year-olds in training

Borderlands
—saddle herd and Luna's compound

I guess I should also add me…

Darby Leilani Kealoha Carter—I love horses more than anything, but books come in second. I'm thirteen, and one-quarter Hawaiian, with blue eyes and black hair down to about the middle of my back. On a good day, my hair is my best feature. I'm still kind of skinny, but I don't look as sickly as I did before I moved here. I think Hawaii's curing my asthma. Fingers crossed.

I have no idea what I did to land on Wild Horse Island, but I want to stay here forever.