“Well, I have never met a woman more regal than you, Mrs. Manoa,” Rachel said as she took the older woman’s hand. “It is not difficult at all to see that you are the great-great-great-granddaughter of a queen. And Leilani is truly a Hawaiian princess! We are very honored to have met both of you.”
“Thank you, Rachel. That is very kind of you to say. But you know, I would much rather simply be a child of God than a queen or a princess. In Hawaii we say Aloha Akua! That means ‘God’s love’, and God’s love is what I have seen in you all from the moment we met. And we have another saying, as well: Aloha mai no, aloha aku. ‘When love is given, love should be returned.’ As you have shared your love with us, and the love of God, please know that here in Hawaii you will always have someone who loves you and is praying for you.”
Leilani stood and walked behind her grandmother’s chair. She placed her arms around her grandmother’s neck and bent down to kiss her cheek. “Yes, Grandmother,” she said. “And there is yet another motto in Hawaiian—in fact it was the motto of Queen Lili`uokalani herself. It is `Onipa`a, which means ‘Stand Firm’—and that is what I plan to do from now on. I will never stray from the Lord again. I will stand firm for Him and trust in Him always. Thank you for showing me the truth of how He loves me—all of you.”
She walked to Kristi and said softly, “Thank you for not giving up on me, Kristi, and for praying for me. You did not know me and yet you, especially, kept trying to help me. I’ll never forget that.”
Leilani and her grandmother left shortly afterwards to return to Mrs. Manoa’s home. The cleaning crew would still be there but Mrs. Manoa felt she should be there to direct them as to where things went in the house. Leilani was anxious to go back to the old room she had had as a little girl when she and her mother had lived with her grandmother.
“Well, kids, are you ready to go home tomorrow?” Mr. Cameron asked a little while later up in their suite.
“No!” they all responded in unison.
“This has been an awesome vacation!” Robyn said. “What more could we ask for—surfing with cute instructors, playing with dolphins and their cute trainers, horseback riding with cute trail guides…”
“Robyn!” Kristi and Anna shouted, throwing the sofa pillows at her.
“Just kidding!” she said with a grin.
“And don’t forget dancing the hula!” Skeeter chimed in, “with cute little old me!” This time they all threw the pillows at him.
“Well, we had all the adventure and mystery we could have wanted, too!” Kristi said. “Not to mention volcanoes and earthquakes!”
“And I found the Lord, too,” Anna said shyly. “It is the best thing that has ever happened in my life! But I must admit, I am ready to see my mamí and papí and all my little brothers and sisters. Oh!” She clapped her hands over her mouth, her eyes opened wide. “I forgot! I told them I would bring something back for them and I haven’t bought anything yet!”
“Yippee!” Kristi shouted, tossing a pillow in the air. “Mom, we have to go shopping!”
“Yippee!” her mother cheered, tossing another pillow at Kristi. “Let’s go!”
In the end, Steve Cameron decided to stay in the suite and take a nap since he hadn’t had much sleep the night before. The boys all wanted to go back to the beach, so Rachel and the girls were on their own. “Just as well,” Kristi said as they left the hotel. “We can cover a lot more ground shopping without Daddy and the boys!” They bought Hawaiian shorts outfits, hula dolls, puka shells and macadamia nuts. Anna picked out stuffed toys for the little ones back home—a dolphin, a shark, a sea turtle and an octopus because they reminded her of their day at Sea Life Park, she said.
The guys were anxious for dinner by the time they got back. “No Tiki Hut tonight, guys!” Rachel said. “We’re all going to a fancy restaurant to celebrate our last night in Hawaii. It won’t be a romantic dinner-for-two, I’m afraid, but I won’t mind a candlelight dinner-for-eight with all of you!”
It was at the restaurant that night that Kristi said, “You know, Mom and Dad, we never have had a time since Fire Island where we all thanked the Lord together for keeping us safe during the earthquake and being trapped in the cave. Those were kind of scary times, but you know what, I never was really scared. I just knew He was taking care of us. Could we all just stop now and thank Him as one big family for what He has done for us, and for Leilani and her grandmother, too?”
The candlelight dinner-for-eight stopped for a few minutes as one big family bowed their heads in the middle of that fancy restaurant and praised and thanked the Lord for Aloha Akua—God’s love.
Steve Cameron was in his captain’s uniform the next morning at the airport. The family was gathered around checking their baggage when Leilani and her grandmother hurried up to them.
“Leilani!” the girls cried as they hugged her. Rachel hugged Mrs. Manoa, also, if not as noisily.
“We were afraid we would miss you,” Leilani said. “We wanted to say aloha just one more time before you go back to the mainland.” She was carrying an armful of flower leis and she lovingly placed one around each of their necks, kissing each of them on the cheeks as she did so. Dan and Pete looked a little embarrassed—but pleased—and Skeeter’s freck-led face turned all red. As soon as Leilani turned her back, he scrubbed at his cheek with a look that said, “Eww!”
“I have something for each of you as well,” Mrs. Manoa said. “The treasure that was in the cave will go mostly into museums or will be turned over to the state of Hawaii. Eventually I will get a reward, I am sure, for finding the treasure—enough to keep Leilani and myself comfortably for the rest of our lives. But I want to give you each a little share of the treasure also.” She held up a small wooden box. “I have had this for many, many years. It was passed down from my grandmother, who received it from her grandmother. When I saw the treasure in the cave, I knew that this must have been a part of that treasure a hundred years ago.”
Mrs. Manoa opened the wooden box and they gasped when they saw pieces of gold and jewels similar to the ones they had seen in the broken crate in the cave. “Please, I want you each to choose something of the queen’s treasure. You deserve it—you had as much a part in rescuing the treasure as I did. And I want you to have it as a remembrance of Hawaii—and of Leilani and me.” She insisted they each choose the thing that pleased them most—jewels for the girls and interesting old gold coins for the guys. She kissed them each then, as well, and this time Skeeter didn’t rub the kiss away.
“Aloha kaua!” Leilani and her grandmother called a few minutes later, waving as the Cameron family and Pete, Robyn and Anna boarded the plane. “Aloha to you and me! May there be love and friendship between us!”
“Aloha Akua!—God’s love!” they called back to their dear Hawaiian friends as they stepped through the gate.
“Aloha, Hawaii,” Kristi whispered a little while later as the plane taxied down the runway. “Goodbye.”
The End
The Secret of Fire Island (Kristi Cameron Book 1) Page 13