by Edie Claire
“I’m… um,” I stammered badly. “Zane’s surfing,” I finished, pointing.
“Cool!” he replied, looking out to see Zane paddling hard to reach the lineup. “Lacey’s out there, too. Do you believe it? She’s been trying to get me to take a turn, but it ain’t gonna happen.”
I drew air into my lungs in deep, long gulps, trying to get a grip. While we were still in the car driving over, Kylee had tried to call both Matt and Lacey from my phone in hopes of putting them on some kind of covert Makani-watch, but neither of them had answered. I always loved seeing Matt, and his help would be welcome, but what he didn’t know made this incredibly difficult. If only I could act like less of a babbling idiot now, perhaps I could think of a way to enlist him. Calm down, Kali!
Lucky for me, Matt wasn’t the most observant guy in the world.
“Hey, you’ll never guess who else is out there!” he went on excitedly.
I decided to let him tell me.
“Makani Marro!” he announced. “Lacey told me you guys were supposed to meet him yesterday. How’d that go?”
I couldn’t do this. I could not, on the fly and purely for Matt’s benefit, create some bizarro alternate version of yesterday. I simply didn’t have the brain tissue. “It was great,” I answered, trying my best to sound perky. “Where is he?”
“Out that way, moving to the right now,” Matt said, pointing. “In the middle of that big bunch of guys. His board’s white with blue and black on the tip. He’s right next to a guy on a red board, see?”
I nodded. My vision wasn’t quite good enough to pick out Makani’s face in the crowd at this distance, but I could see the front of his board. You could usually only see the boards when a surfer was leaning or paddling, because when they sat flat waiting for waves, the board was underwater and the surfer was only visible from the waist up. The very first time I’d seen surfers way out in the lineup at Sunset Beach, I’d mistaken them for pelicans.
I turned my clearly distressed face away from Matt and headed toward the ridge where the others were keeping watch. “How’s Lacey been doing?” I asked, trying hard to keep my voice steady.
“Aw, she’s awesome,” he said proudly. “I’ve never seen her surf before. She’s pretty good! I am so glad the pool pump broke down. And that I don’t have practice today.” He smiled and shook his head. “Great weather, fun little waves… serendipity, man!”
I faked a smile back and hurried on up to where Tara and Kylee stood trading off one of our two pairs of binoculars. They greeted Matt with acting jobs only marginally better than mine, but still, he seemed not to notice. He treated them like old friends and then, like the diplomat he was, he stepped over to say hello to my parents.
“The ghosts?” I whispered to Kylee.
She bit her lip and nodded. “They’re here. They’re all around him.”
I let out my breath with a whoosh. I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. “Are they doing anything… helpful?”
She frowned. “Not at the moment. They come and go. They hover. Our three regulars are here, and there are a few other fainter ones. Not like at the museum, but there’s clearly a… well, there’s an energy here, and I’m sure it’s because of the people. They love Makani. You can feel it. Can’t you?”
I knew what she meant. But all I could feel was an icy clench of terror as my eyes darted constantly between Zane and Makani. Zane was working hard to close the gap, but he was hardly the only surfer with a desire to be near the icon. Makani had drawn a crowd already. Not only in the water but all along the shore, clusters of people pointed excitedly in his direction, smiling, talking loudly, and taking pictures.
“Everyone knows he’s here,” Kylee confirmed. “Including the water patrol. We heard he got mobbed on the beach and had to stop to sign a bunch of autographs before he even got in the water. He doesn’t seem to mind, though. You can tell when you’re looking at him up close that he’s having a good time.”
“I don’t think he’s even out here to surf. Not really,” Tara said with the binoculars pressed to her own glasses. “I think he’s just goofing off at his home break with his friends from the neighborhood, you know? He’s not even looking at the waves… the whole time I’ve been watching he’s just been sitting out there bobbing around talking to the other guys and laughing.”
The sun that shone down on my dark hair was hot. Every image that met my eye — including the current shadows — was happy and bright and positive. There was joy and warmth and a sense of community pride all around me. Nothing that was obvious to the senses held even the slightest hint of sadness, or danger, or fear. The surf conditions today were pure beginner-level. Neither the waves nor the current could be considered perilous, and Makani was a world-renowned surfing expert. There was absolutely, positively not one logical, non-mystical reason why any of us should have any reason to suspect that he — or anyone else here today — was in any sort of danger.
But there was danger. Grave danger. And I knew it.
And that was all that mattered.
“You look, Kali,” Tara suggested, handing me the binoculars. “Zane is to the left of Makani’s group, now. And way over to the right, there, you can see Lacey. She’s kind of gotten pushed out of it, I think.”
I looked. The lineup was a total zoo. If Makani himself wanted a wave the others would no doubt melt away to make room for him, but for everyone else, it would be a paddle battle royal. Makani didn’t appear to notice Zane, who seemed content to hang out nearby along with a flotilla of other fans. Stand-up paddleboarders were right in the mix with the regular surfers and even a few kayaks crisscrossed the shallow waters closer to shore.
“You watch,” I said shortly, handing the binoculars back to Tara. I was so antsy I felt like running somewhere. If I could surf I would have paddled out right next to Zane. Come to think of it, if I’d had a board, I would have paddled out whether I could surf or not.
“Oh,” Tara said suddenly, grimly.
“What?” Kylee and I asked together.
“I think they’re trying to get Makani to take a wave,” she answered in a whisper. “No, I’m sure they are. Listen.”
We looked out. A nice set of smallish waves was rolling in on the horizon, and we could hear the chant carried to us over the water as voices were added and the chorus grew. “Makani, Makani, Makani!”
Tara drew in a shuddering breath, grabbed for Kylee’s hand, and clutched it. “He’s going to do it. He’s going to take one of these next waves. Oh, my God.”
“Mom! Dad!” I called around to the far side of the lifeguard tower. “It looks like Makani’s going for it!” A fairly normal thing to say, I told myself. Never mind the tone of horror in my voice.
We all moved down the beach a little toward the base of the rock jetty that extended out into the bay and separated the boat harbor from the edge of the surfing beach. My dad took his binoculars and began walking out onto the jetty. My mom started walking with him, but stopped at the rocks, pulled out her cell phone, and checked to make sure she could get a signal. Tara, Kylee, and I stayed at the highest point with the best view that was also close to the lifeguard tower. My eyes continued to dart from Zane to Makani and back again and my heart could not beat any faster.
The waves rolled into the lineup. The others surfers parted like a curtain, leaving Makani all to himself. They continued to chant as the first wave rumbled by, but Makani wasn’t interested. Too flat, too thick, too crumbly… who knew? Whatever the fault, it didn’t pass inspection for the pro. But plenty of less picky surfers to either side of him were only too happy to take his leavings.
“Lacey’s going!” Kylee cried, pointing to a spot far to the right of Makani’s group, where Lacey was just managing to stand up on a mushy mess that barely moved her fifteen feet before flattening out to nothing and leaving her teetering precariously on her bright white, egg-shaped board.
“Woohoo! Way to go, Lace!” Matt screamed at
the top of his lungs, deafening us all. I couldn’t see her face well, but I’m pretty sure she flashed him a brilliant smile before slipping on her board like it was a banana peel and walking off it backwards, butt-first into the ocean. She popped back up immediately though, still smiling, and threw Matt a hearty wave. “Awesome job!” he praised, moving away from us toward the water’s edge.
“Makani’s going now!” Tara shouted.
My eyes flew back to Hawaii’s favorite son. We all watched helplessly, breath held, as he paddled into the pert little wave and stood up with ease. It was a short left, but he made the most of it, doing a couple nice trick turns and jumping off his board at the finish with a showy flip. My lungs had no oxygen remaining as I waited, every muscle in my body tensed, for his mop of dark hair to resurface by his board. When his head did pop up, just as expected, to a rousing chorus of cheers from his fans, I bit my lip so hard that it bled.
Kylee, Tara, and I all breathed out in unison. “He… he’s okay,” Tara stammered. “He’s smiling.” Makani slid back onto his board and turned its nose back toward the lineup. The third wave in the set was coming through now, and tons of surfers had jumped on it. Makani was alert to them and stayed out of their paths. But he did not have eyes in the back of his head. And it was from directly behind him that the missile came. Somewhere out of the chaos of the passing wave a heavy paddleboard, evidently unleashed, shot out from beneath the feet of its unskilled rider and sailed directly into the back of Makani’s skull.
The force of the blow knocked him off his board and he slipped into the ocean like a stone.
Kylee screamed. Tara made a moaning sound. I could make no sound at all. We were not the only people who had witnessed what had happened, and Kylee was not the only one screaming. Out of the corner of my eye I could see my mom dialing 911, as was the plan, but there was no need for anyone to alert the lifeguards. They were watching it happen with us.
Both Makani’s surfboard and the paddleboard now floated along together without him. But of the mop of shiny black hair, there was no sign.
Every surfer in the area headed full speed for the riderless board. Within a matter of seconds, people started diving.
“He’ll be all right,” Tara told herself. “They’ll pull him up. All they have to do is follow the leash. And the lifeguards are already on it… Right?”
I realized I didn’t know where Zane was. I practically hyperventilated as I scanned the surface of the ocean for his blond curls. Where was he? Yes! I spotted him and relaxed a bit, but then just as quickly stressed out again. He was nowhere near Makani’s empty board. He had been trying to stay as close to the surfer as he could, but the ride had dumped Makani a long way from his starting point, and the board was drifting even further away in the current. But strangely, Zane did not even appear to be moving in that direction. He was fighting the crowd that was moving toward Makani, paddling almost at an angle to them. He seemed confused, possibly disoriented, and he kept lifting his head to look above the surface of the water.
An icy fear crept up my veins. What was wrong with him?
The amateur divers popped back up, one after another. None of them had Makani. They shouted to each other. They went back down again. The lifeguards were in the water now and swimming hard with their rescue gear.
“Something’s wrong,” Tara whimpered as she continued to look through the binoculars. “They’re not finding him!”
“No,” Kylee murmured to herself. Then she shouted out loud. “He can’t see you! Let me see you!”
Both Tara and I turned to stare at her. Her face was red with fright and anger and her lower lip trembled. “Go higher!” she screamed into the air, not caring who overheard her.
I looked out toward Zane again and saw him surge forward, pumping his arms hard, paddling with everything he was worth.
Footsteps thundered on the sand. My dad was suddenly beside us. “Makani’s got no leash,” he said breathlessly. “Damn log probably snapped it clean off.” He handed my mother the binoculars and took off his shirt.
“Mitch—” my mother began.
“They don’t know where he is, Diane!” my dad shot back. “If he’s unconscious and drifting down there deep… The way these currents move… Like a damn needle in a haystack! There isn’t time.” He shucked off his sandals.
“The ghosts know where he is,” Kylee declared, staring out over the ocean. “They’re leading Zane to him right now. But…”
“But what?” Tara cried frantically, kicking off her own sandals.
“Don’t even think about it, unless you’ve got lifeguard training yourself!” my dad barked. “Ocean diving isn’t child’s play. The lifeguards don’t need extra people to rescue!”
Tara froze.
“It’s just… oh, my God, Zane’s too far away!” Kylee wailed. “Makani keeps drifting farther and—”
“Show me where he is!” my dad ordered.
Kylee moved to where she could point directly for my dad’s line of sight. “You see how that column of water there is moving that way? She says he’s down under the tip of my finger now, and moving that way, towards holy crap!”
Kylee started running. She ran down to the base of the rock jetty. Then she started scrambling out onto it. The rest of us followed. I heard a splash as my dad peeled off and waded into the water. Kylee cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted as loud as she could over the din of voices already surrounding us.
“LACEY!”
I looked up to see Lacey, whom we had all forgotten, bobbing on her board watching the commotion from a distance. Although it seemed like an eternity since her inglorious ride, scarcely a minute had passed. She had probably just started to paddle in when it happened. She heard Kylee’s scream and looked over.
“Makani!” Kylee shouted, pointed forcefully downward. “He’s floating right underneath you! Dive down deep now! Do it NOW!”
Lacey stared back at Kylee, then down into the water, and then back at Kylee again, for all of about three seconds. There’s no telling what she was thinking, but it must have occurred to her to wonder how Kylee could possibly know such a thing, when the ocean water was so dense and frothy that Lacey herself could barely see down six feet.
But God love her, Lacey didn’t ask. What she did was reach down, unstrap her board from her ankle, and dive.
No argument. No clarification required. The girl just freakin’ dived.
When her small pink feet disappeared under the water, I couldn’t seem to breathe myself. I checked on Zane again and could see him still paddling over. He was heading right towards Lacey, as he had been all along, and he seemed to be in fine form. But he had a long way to go, and he was fighting not only the ocean currents but the hoard of good Samaritans who continued streaming into the water toward the place where Makani went under. My dad was also swimming hard now, heading for where Lacey had just gone down. But he had a ways to go, too.
How long had Makani been under?
Blood in the water. Sinking down…
I was beginning to feel light-headed. I remembered to breathe.
The seconds ticked by.
How long had Lacey been under?
“She’s back!” Tara cried.
The four of us — Kylee, Tara, my mom, and me, all clutched each other’s hands as Lacey’s small blond head popped up out of the water. But her head was all by itself. She treaded water for only a moment, during which she took several deep breaths. Then her head disappeared under the surface.
“She’s found him,” Kylee said confidently. “I know she has. I’m just not sure she can get him up.”
“But at least everyone else will believe us now!” Tara cried. She took a step forward, cupped her hands around her own mouth, and shouted to whomever would listen. “Here! Makani is over here!”
But no one did listen. There was too much chaos, and none of it was focused where we were. My mom and I joined in the shouting and pointing,
and some people glanced our way, but when they saw nothing floating in the water where we were pointing, they simply dismissed us.
Lacey! Where are you?
Zane and my dad were getting closer. They were working with all their might.
Had we asked her to do the impossible?
Ocean diving isn’t child’s play.
“Oh my God, why won’t anybody believe us!” Tara wailed.
“She’s… in the right place,” Kylee whispered softly. “The ghosts are… wait… oh, wait…”
A splash and a gasp.
“Lacey!” we all cried out as the bedraggled little head surfaced, not fully even, but just enough to draw a breath. It went under again, for a long moment, but then popped back up, with another head beside it.
“Makani!” my mom yelled, in the loudest voice I could ever remember hearing her use. “He’s here! He’s here! She’s found him!”
This time when people looked over, they saw something. And this time the word began to spread. My dad was a few strokes away now. Zane was closing in.
Lacey struggled to keep Makani’s head out of the water. Her board had drifted away, she had nothing to cling to, and she was out of breath. Several times, while holding Makani up, her nose and mouth sank beneath the surface.
“She’s in trouble!” I cried.
“Take him, Mitch!” my mom shouted. In the next instant, my dad was there. He lifted Makani’s dead weight from Lacey’s arms and secured his limp form in a rescue hold. Lacey treaded water for a moment, gasping for air and coughing.
Then her whole head slipped under the water.
Chapter 23
“Zane!”
I didn’t need to yell. He was already there. In one motion Zane rolled off his surfboard, gave it a push toward my dad, and dove towards Lacey. In a flash, her head and shoulders were back above the surface, supported by his strong, tanned arm.
“Oh, wow,” Kylee breathed, beside me.
Lacey sputtered and coughed some more, but once she had Zane’s board to cling to, she appeared to be all right.