Kristi hugged both her “sisters.” Her green eyes shone with happiness. Then—“Oh!” she suddenly exclaimed. “I almost forgot! Guess what? I saw her again!”
“Who?” “Where?” “When?” they all spoke at once.
“The girl in the white sundress! Just as we finished praying for her, before Anna accepted the Lord, I opened my eyes and saw her over by the trees. She disappeared just as I looked up, but I think she was watching us! In all the excitement about Anna, I forgot to tell you!”
Her parents looked confused. “What are you talking about, Kristi? What girl? What’s going on? You’ve been speaking in riddles ever since we got off the plane, Kristi,” Rachel said. Kristi quickly filled them in about the mysterious girl and her sudden appearances—and disappearances.
Her father finally held his hands up. “Okay, okay! I don’t know what to think except that I do think we’ve had enough excitement for one day! It’s getting late—at least in our time zone back home—and that’s the time we’re all still operating on. We all need to get to bed if we want to enjoy the fun activities we have planned for tomorrow. You can discuss this mystery to your heart’s content in the morning, but for now—off to bed you go!”
He turned to Anna, “Praise the Lord, Anna! We are really happy for you and I know the angels are rejoicing in Heaven tonight.” He gave her a little hug and then shooed them all off to their rooms.
An hour later the suite was quiet as the Camerons and friends fell asleep one by one on their first evening in paradise. And the only One watching through the long night was their loving heavenly Father.
_________
CHAPTER SIX
_________
Aloha the Hula
The Hawaiian sun beat warmly through the balcony window and woke Kristi. Robyn and Anna were nowhere to be seen. Kristi jumped up, grabbed her robe and went out to the dining room. Everyone else was at the table already, finishing up a light breakfast of fresh pineapple, bananas, coffee, juice and muffins.
“It’s about time, Sleepyhead!” her mother called. “We saved you a couple muffins, but if you don’t hurry up I won’t be able to hold Dan and Pete back from them much longer!”
“Aloha! And keep your hands off my muffins!” Kristi said with a grin. “So what’s the plan for today?” she asked as she poured some juice into a glass and reached for the basket of muffins.
“Well, we thought for a start we would take a tour at the Polynesian Cultural Center this morning and learn a little bit more about Hawaii. Oh, don’t worry—it may be a little educational, but I guarantee it will be fun, as well! Then this afternoon we’ll go to the beach and you kids can take some surfing lessons, if you like,” Mr. Cameron said. The boys cheered loudly. “Then tonight we’ll go back to the Cultural Center where you all can take hula lessons…” This time the girls were cheering and the boys were protesting. “…And we’ll go to the big luau they have at the Center every night.” Cheers from the boys again. Food always produced cheers from them!
“We’ve got a lot to squeeze in today so we need to be out of here in 30 minutes—Kristi! Everyone else is dressed so you’d better hurry!” her mother warned.
“Hurry, Kristi, hurry! That’s the story of my life! Okay, I’ll be ready—I promise!” Kristi grabbed another muffin and her juice and headed off to her room to get ready for the day.
Exactly 30 minutes later they were headed for the Polynesian Cultural Center. The Cultural Center was made up of seven small villages that celebrated the lifestyles, traditions and hospitality of different Polynesian cultures. The Camerons, Robyn, Anna and Pete strolled through the villages watching native islanders carving tikis, rubbing sticks to create fire and climbing four-story trees in their bare feet. They marveled at the beautiful costumes and customs as islanders reenacted war dances and wedding ceremonies. They even enjoyed a leisurely canoe ride down the Center’s tropical river. It was a little after noon when they finally took a lunch break and sat in the shade of a group of palm trees on the lanai of the Center’s seafood restaurant.
“Are you ready to hit the beach yet, and experience some surfing?” Mr. Cameron asked as he ate his last bite of shrimp. “I’ve arranged for surfing lessons for any of you that are interested. We’ll come back here later this evening for the luau.”
“Wow, Dad,” Kristi said, “there’s so much to do here in Hawaii! We’ve been looking at some of the brochures we picked up and there are tours you can take by jeep or even helicopter, where you can see beautiful waterfalls and the rain forest, volcanoes and tropical birds and wildlife. There’s also—”
“There’s hiking and biking,” Skeeter interrupted, “and horseback riding, and—”
“Not to mention, sailing and jet skiing, kayaking and parasailing. You can take a ride on a submarine or a glass-bottom boat so you can see the fish and coral reefs,” Kristi continued still nibbling at her salad.
“And besides surfing, there’s scuba diving, snorkeling, swimming with dolphins, or even sharks and rays!” Dan added. “You can go whale watching, and deep-sea fishing, too—”
“And then of, course, there are beautiful romantic sunset cruises,” Rachel purred, taking her husband’s arm.
Steve Cameron burst out laughing. “Hold on, hold on, all of you!” he chuckled. “There’s no way we could possibly do all of that, especially since we’ll be leaving for Fire Island the day after tomorrow. But I promise—we’ll try to do as much as possible, and what we don’t get to do on this trip, we’ll catch the next time we come back to Hawaii. And actually, some of the things you want to see here, you’ll be able to see on Fire Island—the waterfalls and flora and fauna, for example.”
“What’s flora and fauna?” Skeeter whispered to his older brother.
“That means the plants and wildlife,” Dan replied. He tousled Skeeter’s red head. “See, little brother, even you can learn something on this trip!”
“Well, if we’re going to the beach this afternoon, we’d better get moving,” their mother said. The Camerons had rented a van for their days on the island and they all piled in and headed back to the hotel.
The surfing instructors, two Hawaiian college-aged guys, were waiting for them on the beautiful white sands of the beach when they got there. Mrs. Cameron stretched out on a lounge chair under a thatched umbrella with a tall cold tropical drink and a good book and waved her family off for an afternoon of fun in the sun. She looked beautiful with her island print swimsuit and sarong, straw sandals on her feet—and white suntan lotion on her nose.
Robyn took one look at the cute, young surfer boys waiting to give them their lessons and giggled. “Woo-hoo! Is this going to be fun or what?” she whispered to Kristi and Anna.
“Oh, Robyn you are just too much!” Kristi laughed. “I’m more concerned about sharks! All it took was watching a few minutes of that old movie Jaws one time and I’ve been afraid to go into the water ever since!”
“Ooh, don’t even remind me!” Anna said.
One of the surfing instructors heard them and replied, “Don’t worry, ladies. There hasn’t been a shark attack off this beach in over thirty years.”
“Hmm, sounds like they’re overdue for one then,” Dan snickered to Pete. “Just kidding!” he laughed at the girls’ concerned faces. “Come on! Hey, Dad—I’m going to show you how it’s done!”
“I don’t think so!” Steve replied with a laugh. “You didn’t know that I was a surfer dude myself when I was a teenager, did you? They called me the Big Kahuna!”
“Oh sure, Dad! Okay, let’s see who’ll be the first to ride the Big One all the way in!”
The rest of the afternoon was spent in the dazzling surf and sand. Mr. Cameron surprised them all with his skill on the surfboard once he got over his initial rustiness. It wasn’t long before he and the boys were competing against one another as they caught wave after wave into the beach. Even the girls caught on quickly, although it seemed that for some reason it took Robyn a little longer with thei
r instructors to get the hang of it. Rachel Cameron had forgotten about her book and watched them all from the beach, calling out encouragement to them and waving her arms wildly. They never spotted so much as a shark’s fin, much to the girls’ relief.
Finally Rachel called them in. “Hey, guys! Time to quit! We need to get cleaned up and changed. Don’t forget the luau tonight!”
“Food!” Skeeter yelled as he splashed his way through the surf. “I’m starved!”
The Ali’i Luau at the Polynesian Cultural Center was said to be the most authentic luau on Oahu. They were greeted with fresh flower leis as they arrived. A wonderful aroma filled the air as they attended the ceremonial lifting of the roasted pig from the steaming rocks of the underground oven called an imu. Besides the kalua pork, there was teriyaki chicken, lomi lomi salmon, poi, salads and fruit. Their mouths were watering before they even sat down to the generous feast.
Skeeter took a big bite of the poi and almost choked. “Ewww,” he sputtered. “I always wondered what poi was and now I know—something I hope I never have to eat again! It tastes like paste!”
“Shh!” his mother warned. “If you don’t like it you don’t have to eat it, but please use your manners, young man! It’s made from taro root, Skeeter, and it is a very traditional dish to Hawaii. Now let’s be quiet and watch the show while we enjoy this feast!” Skeeter noticed that his mom hadn’t even tried the poi!
The show began with the arrival of the Royal Court of Ali’i. Hawaii had once been a monarchy with a long history of kings and queens. The costumes and pageantry of the Royal Court was impressive. The show continued with hula kahiko, or ancient dances, that told stories of old Hawaii, and music played on steel-stringed guitars, ukeleles and ancient drums. More than a hundred islanders performed the traditional Polynesian songs and dances.
It was during one of the hula numbers that three of the dancers came over to their table, much to their surprise. They took Kristi, Anna and Robyn each by the hand and led them to the stage. “No, no!” the girls tried to protest, but amid laughter and good-natured pushing and pulling, they were helped onto the platform.
“Ah-ha! I see we have three ‘volunteers’ to learn the beautiful Hawaiian hula dance!” the emcee said into the microphone. “And what lovely young ladies they are! Aloha! Would you tell us what your names are and where you’re from?” The girls shyly said their names and mentioned that they were from California. Two pretty hula dancers brought out more flower leis and pau hula, or the typical grass skirts, for Kristi and Anna, and a pau lai, or ti-leaf skirt, for Robyn. They put a flower behind their ears, as well. The music began again and a dozen or more hula dancers joined them on stage.
Kristi, Anna and Robyn looked on in confusion as the lovely Hawaiian girls began to dance. They hesitantly tried to follow the movements of their feet and hands. Just then an old Hawaiian lady walked out onto the stage and stopped the music. She smiled and shook her head, motioning to the teens. “`A`a i ka hula, waiho ka hilahila i ka hal,” she said in her native tongue. “When one wants to dance the hula, bashfulness should be left at home.” She indicated to them to do as she did. “Kuhi no ka lima, hele no ka maka,” she said, gracefully moving her hands and hips. “Where the hands move, there let the eyes follow.” She was old and heavy and no longer the pretty girl she must have once been, but her graceful movements made the dance beautiful nevertheless.
Kristi, Robyn and especially Anna took courage from the old lady and before you knew it, they were dancing the hula with the other dancers. As the music faded they thanked the dancers, and with relief, made their way down from the platform and back to their table. A hearty wave of applause followed them. Anna was blushing, but all three of them were beaming when they finally sat down.
“Hurray for our girls!” Rachel crowed, giving them a standing ovation. “You were wonderful! I took lots of pictures and Dad took video, too. We’ll make sure your parents get copies, too, Anna and Robyn.”
“Yeah, you guys were pretty awesome,” Skeeter said. “Whew, I’m just glad they didn’t make me go up there, too!” They all laughed and Dan and Pete started kidding Skeeter about how cute he would look in a hula skirt.
By the time the luau and show ended it was late. They all piled back into the van for the ride back to the hotel, but there wasn’t much talking going on. Robyn broke the silence once to murmur sleepily, “Did you know that aloha means hello, goodbye and also love? I learned that today. I aloha the hula!” The rest of them laughed softly.
Kristi leaned her head back against the seat. It had been a long day and filled with lots of fun, she thought, and no mysteries. She had scarcely given the elusive girl in the white sundress a thought all day, although they had remembered to pray for her again that morning. Kristi wondered where she was now and if she was okay. “Lord, I don’t know anything about that girl,” she silently prayed, “but would you please take care of her tonight?”
___________
CHAPTER SEVEN
___________
Creation Sings the Glory of God
Kristi was the first one awake the next morning. “Come on, all you Sleepyheads!” she called from the hallway outside the bedrooms. “Let’s go swim with the dolphins!”
By the time the family and friends had gathered at the table she had already ordered breakfast from room service and was putting glasses and the milk and juice from the small fridge in the kitchenette on the table.
“I can’t believe you were the first one up today, Kristi,” Dan said, trying to stifle a yawn. “What’s up?”
“Nothing really,” she replied. “I just thought we ought to take advantage of our last day on Oahu and get an early start. I’m voting for swimming with the dolphins! Anybody else have any other ideas?”
Skeeter wanted to go horseback riding and the older boys voted for snorkeling. Robyn and Anna suggested another day on the beach. In the end, they compromised. They decided to go horseback riding in the morning and then to Sea Life Park in the afternoon where they could enjoy all the underwater sea life they would see if they went snorkeling and still swim with the dolphins.
The girls all dressed in jeans and brightly colored T-shirts for their horseback riding adventure. They were going to the Kualoa Ranch. The brochures promised breathtaking views of lush green mountains, valleys and sweeping ranch land, as well as panoramic views of Kaneohe Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The cattle ranch itself was 150 years old and had been the background for several big movies such as Jurassic Park, Pearl Harbor and Mighty Joe Young.
They arrived at the ranch early and were the first group to go out on the trail ride. They were given a few instructions about horseback riding safety, and as they waited to mount Robyn remarked, “I never realized Hawaii had cattle ranches.” She eyed her horse warily. Surprisingly enough, although Robyn was somewhat of a tomboy, and the most adventurous of the girls, she was a little nervous about climbing atop that huge creature with its tossing head and whisking tail. She tentatively stuck her hand out towards the horse’s nose. He nuzzled at her palm, looking for a treat, and she giggled. “Hey, that tickles,” she said, “and it’s kind of slobbery!” She rubbed and patted the horse’s nose and said, “Aww, you’re just an old softy, aren’t you feller?” Before she knew it, one of the ranch hands had helped her into the saddle and she was feeling relaxed. “What’s his name?” she asked the cowboy who had helped her.
“Big Conch,” he replied, “You know—like a conch shell.” Kristi and Anna discovered that their horses were named Jasmine and Lua Pele—Volcano in English.
“There are coffee and pineapple plantations on the islands, too,” Pete informed Robyn. “Tourism is Hawaii’s biggest industry, but Hawaii is an agricultural state, as well.”
“Umm—I wouldn’t mind visiting a pineapple plantation,” Mrs. Cameron said. “Or even a coffee plantation, for that matter. I wonder if they have roadside farm stands here.”
A few minutes later they were all mounted and ready to begin
their trail ride. There was no one else with them other than their guide, since the eight of them were a large enough group by themselves. The trail led them through the Kaaawa Valley and to the top of the Koolau Mountain Range. The sun filtered through cool patches of forest as they neared an ancient Hawaiian fishpond. Here and there was evidence of the islanders who had first inhabited the area, including an old Hawaiian village. They stopped at an overlook to enjoy the spectacular view of the tranquil turquoise waters of the bay below them, and further out, the vast Pacific Ocean.
“It truly is breathtaking,” Rachel Cameron said in awe. “Isn’t God’s creation just so—so—majestic!” There was a moment of silence as each one praised God in his or her heart for His awesome creation.
The silence was broken when Skeeter yelped, “Yikes!” and fell off his horse! “Oops!” he said with a red face from where he was sprawled flat on his back on the ground.
Steve jumped off his own horse and ran to Skeeter’s side. “Are you okay, son?” he asked. “What happened?”
“Oh, I was just trying to reach a wildflower to pick for Mom, and I guess my arms weren’t long enough,” he said as he scrambled to his feet, brushing off his backside. “Either that, or my horse’s legs are too long.”
“Yeah, well, if you’re done horsing around—no pun intended—it’s time we head back to the corral, I think,” his dad said with a twinkle in his eye. “We have a date with some dolphins, I believe.” They headed back towards the corrals, enjoying every moment left to them on the ride back.
“Well, kids, what did you think of our trail ride on an authentic Hawaiian ranch?” Rachel asked as the van pulled back out onto the highway.
The Secret of Fire Island (Kristi Cameron Book 1) Page 4