Water Lily (10 page)

When a full minute passed without the sound of a crash, Darby peeled her fingers away from her eyelids. Dust rolled up from the flatbed's back tires, and it was
going too fast, but Dee had missed the new pasture fence.

“Did we just receive stolen goods?” Megan asked.

Darby stood staring after the truck. It made a left on the highway and drove out of sight. “I'm not quite sure what happened.”

T
hat evening after the dinner dishes had been cleared, everyone assembled on the Sun House lanai to discuss driving the horses up to the mountains the next day. While Kit, Aunty Cathy, Kimo, Megan, and Cade sat talking, Darby kept silent.

She'd phoned Patrick just before dinner, and they'd conspired to have Patrick's mother drive them to the school tomorrow at dawn. Together, they'd get to the top of the bleachers with binoculars, and at least that way they could see the wild horses leave, even if they couldn't go along.

Darby sighed, then caught Jonah's wink. He motioned for her to follow him inside the house.

“You know why you're not riding along, Darby Leilani, yeah?”

“I'm too inexperienced. I get that, but right after the tsunami I helped drive the wild horses from the
kipuka
to the high school,” she reminded him.

“You did good that day,” he said, “but this will be a tougher drive.”

“I know,” she said, and though it took some effort to keep the whine out of her tone, Darby knew in her heart that he was right.

The riders would have their hands full. They'd have to be alert for drop-offs, holes rooted by feral pigs, and the sudden appearance of anything that could spook the horses. If she got into a situation she couldn't handle, she'd ruin everything.

But logic didn't make Darby feel any better. She felt let down and a little embarrassed to be singled out as the only one on the ranch who wasn't up to the challenge.

Her feelings must have shown on her face. “Hey, there will be other things like this for you to go on, yeah?” Jonah said in a voice that was—for him—unusually gentle. “It's just that you haven't been riding long enough. That's all.”

“I understand,” Darby said.

Jonah put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed lightly. “We'll need you and Kimo here to look after the ranch.”

She knew he was giving her his vote of confidence, telling her she had to stay behind, so that she couldn't even go stand in the bleachers with Patrick and—

“Me and
Kimo
?” Darby asked.

Jonah nodded and Darby winced. If she felt put
down and abandoned, Kimo must feel a hundred times worse.

“Your tutu's overdoing it.” Jonah looked angry instead of worried. “I want someone here who can drive her to—” He made a vague gesture. “She's a madwoman, but if she suddenly comes into some good sense and gives that poor old paint horse a rest, Kimo can drive her on her rounds.”

 

Darby stepped out the front door of Sun House and inhaled the warm, moist air.

Longing wrapped around her and she suddenly missed her mother, even though it hadn't been very long since Ellen was at the ranch.

Since Ellen was across the ocean in Tahiti, Darby walked toward Hoku's corral. She and the wild filly had a heart-to-heart communication that was as good, or better, than speech.

When the filly saw Darby, she came to her right away, shaking her head and snorting in greeting. Even in the dusky glow of the day's last light Hoku's sleek skin gave off copper glints.

Sliding the bolt on Hoku's gate, Darby stepped inside. “Hey, pretty girl. Are you okay?”

“Blue Moon just has colic,” she reassured her horse, but Darby was thinking that in epidemics the young and old went first. She thought of Judge and Prettypaint and tried to shake the image from her head.

Selfishly, she was glad Cade hadn't agreed to
bring Honi up to ‘Iolani Ranch. She ran her hand along Hoku's side and took in the mustang's smooth warmth.

“I couldn't stand it if anything happened to you,” she said softly.

Hoku stared at her.

“Aren't we communicating tonight?” she asked her horse.

Hoku pawed at the ground, then nudged Darby nearly off her feet.

Too much drama,
the filly seemed to say, and then she swished her tail and walked to the other side of the corral.

Laughing, Darby started walking back up to Sun House. Hoku always knew what she needed, and this time it had been a signal to get a grip. Her life was practically perfect, and she and Hoku would have plenty of rides together.

Darby's steps slowed as she realized that in all the excitement about driving the horses to Sky Mountain, she and Megan hadn't found time to tell anyone about the extra bales of hay Dee had left behind as
gifts
.

She wondered if she should say anything. It was stealing and Cricket should know about it. But she was nervous about being the one to tell.

Through the dim light Darby saw Jonah approaching.

Should she tell him what Dee had done? Jonah erased her impulse in a hurry.

“I'm done arguing. If Kimo shows up at the school tomorrow planning to drive horses, he's fired.”

 

The next morning, everyone was up before dawn for the horse drive. Yawning, Darby pulled herself out of bed, slipped on her robe, and came out of her room.

Megan was already standing in the hall dressed in chaps and a denim shirt. “I told Cade about Dee's job,” she reported to Darby.

“What did he say?”

“He said, ‘Good for her.' He seemed happy.”

“Did you say anything about the…hay?”

Megan shook her head. “Do you think I should?”

“Not yet. I'll figure something out today.”

“Okay. Have you seen my heavy riding gloves?” Megan asked. “The black ones?”

“I think you stuck them inside your boots at the door the last time you rode Tango. Remember?” Darby recalled.

“That's right. Thanks,” Megan said and was off to get them.

Darby heard a brief clatter of dishes from the kitchen and the sound of animated voices. The door opened and closed a few times, and then there was quiet.

Outside, every truck left towing a horse trailer. Every truck except Kimo's, Darby corrected herself.

The night before, Jonah had bullied Kimo into staying in the bunkhouse overnight, so he could help out Darby during the day.

As she walked around the empty house, she decided he wasn't up yet.

After a brief volley of barking, the dogs were quiet and the ranch yard seemed just as deserted as the house.

Darby dressed, ate a quick bowl of cereal, and went outside to free the five big dogs from their kennel and feed the animals.

Twice, she thought she heard the phone ringing, and the third time she sprinted back to the kitchen to double-check.

She wasn't hearing things. Darby rushed to pull off her boots and answer it. She had time, because whoever was calling had decided to let it ring until she finally answered.

“Hello?” Darby gasped.

“Darby Leilani!” Tutu shouted.

“Are you all right?” Darby asked. Thank goodness Jonah had insisted Kimo stay behind.

“Can you hear me?” Tutu's voice was so loud, it was as if she didn't trust the phone lines to do the job of carrying her voice. That made sense, Darby figured, since Tutu didn't even have a phone.

“Darby!”

“Yes, I can hear you.” Darby held the receiver away from her ear a little.

“Get someone with a horse trailer. Have them meet me at Dee's pond.”

Oh, no. Jonah had said Tutu was searching for a
sick horse. It had to be Honi.

“Dee's pond! Did you hear?”

“I heard,” Darby said. “Dee's pond, with a horse trailer. But Tutu—”

Her great-grandmother hung up before Darby could tell her that every horse trailer on the ranch was gone.

Darby ran toward the bunkhouse. Kimo met her halfway.

“Aloha,” he greeted her. “When I took Blue Moon and Blue Ginger back to their pasture, I brought up Baxter for me and Lady Wong for you.”

It took Darby a few seconds to realize Navigator, Kona, Biscuit, and many of the other horses were gone. But it didn't really matter, since the next thing she'd be riding, if she was lucky, would be a truck.

Darby gave Kimo a quick once-over. His color was normal and his eyes were no longer dull.

“You look better,” Darby said, but she was thinking,
Healthy enough to drive, at least.
“And it's a good thing. Tutu just called and said to meet her at Dee's pond with a horse trailer. She has a really sick horse that she wants to bring here—”

“All trailers're gone?” Kimo asked, scanning the ranch yard.

“Yes, but…” Darby paused as her brain spun. Then she stared at Kimo's battered burgundy Ram Charger. Wishing she was better at math so she could estimate the square footage of its cargo space, she went on hesitantly, “I'm almost positive it's Honi, Dee's
pony. I think she might fit in the back of your truck.”

“Mo' bettah we try than give up,” Kimo said. Then, without explaining what he was doing, he ran back into the bunkhouse and reemerged with an armload of black plastic garbage bags and pointed to the back of his truck.

They didn't exactly organize all the CDs, newspapers, and food wrappers that they found in the back of Kimo's truck. Instead, they just shoved everything into the bags and then Darby jumped up into the back with a broom while Kimo ran to get some tattered blankets from the bunkhouse.

“That'll have to do 'er,” he said, and then they piled into the truck.

It had been twenty minutes since Tutu had called.

As they drove, the radio blared, and they heard a news story about pockets of salmonella being found all over the island among animals and humans. Darby was pretty sure the reporter said that the condition could be contagious between humans and animals, but it was hard to tell because every time Kimo hit a bump, his radio lost the signal for a few seconds.

Kimo was about to turn toward Crimson Vale, and Darby was remembering the sickening drive that he'd taken her on on the day of her arrival, when a Jeep that looked like it had barely survived a garage fire barreled halfway through the intersection and stopped right in front of them.

With luck, Kimo wouldn't hit it broadside.

T
here were just the two vehicles—Kimo's and the Jeep—so when the Jeep began honking and flashing its lights, Kimo and Darby looked at each other.

Kimo raised his hand to give the crazy driver a cautious shaka just as Darby recognized Cricket. But what was Cricket doing here? Why wasn't she helping to drive Black Lava's herd to Sky Mountain?

Cricket drove toward them and pulled up next to the driver's-side window.

“We have to quarantine them in a separate corral. They're really afraid it'll spread like wildfire across the island.” She broke off, seeing their confusion. “You
are
coming to volunteer, yeah?” she asked hopefully, but she didn't give Darby a chance to answer. “Ann's
already there and we could really use your help. The Department of Ag is sending us more sick animals than we can handle. It's insane here. That's why I stayed behind.”

Darby's mother might not want her among the sick horses. Neither would Jonah. And Hoku—

“Go,” Kimo urged Darby. “I'll pick you up once I have Tutu and the pony.”

“Okay,” Darby said.

She opened the door and jumped out of the truck. For a minute she thought she might have to chase after Cricket, but she hopped into the ugly Jeep just in time.

Once inside, Darby tightened her seat belt a little snugger than usual. This morning Cricket's messy bun was stabbed into place by a red lacquered chopstick, and she was talking to herself as she drove.

They almost passed the Animal Rescue barn, and Cricket cranked the steering wheel so hard to the right, the Jeep tilted up on two wheels.

“I don't usually drive like this,” Cricket apologized, and then, while Darby was catching her breath, Cricket said, “We're here.”

The place was a madhouse.

Behind the barn there was a field where most of the horses were kept.

All around, volunteers and vets worked in teams to tend to the sick horses.

“Darby!” Ann's curly red hair was like a beacon
amid all the people who'd gathered to help. She bolted out of the crowd and hugged Darby. “I'm going crazy from boredom and I've missed your face!” She pressed her cheek to Darby's.

Then they both looked for Cricket. They spotted her watching a woman who was mopping down a feverish mare. A few yards away, five young men threw their weight into the side of a bay gelding, trying to keep him from lying down.

“What should we do?” Ann asked, but at the same time several other people saw Cricket, recognized her as the boss of the frantic situation, and began shouting questions at her.

A gray-haired man extended a bucket handle toward Darby.

“Could you fill this with water?” he asked.

“No, she can't!” Cricket said, blocking Darby's reach. “I want you two to stay in the office answering phones. There are maps taped to the desks. Give volunteers who call directions on how to get here. And if they just want to drop off money, take it. Hey, Lisa! Lisa Miller!”

Cricket waved to get a woman's attention. The name was familiar, but Darby didn't recognize her.

“You've got a litter of pups at home, don't you, Lisa? That's what I thought. Get away from that colt. You don't want to make your own babies sick.”

“But we know what we're doing with horses,” Ann protested when Cricket finally looked back at the girls.

“That's just the point,” Cricket insisted. “I don't want anyone who's going to have contact with horses in the next forty-eight hours going into that barn. Be right back.”

Cricket took the bucket herself and dashed toward a silver tanker at the far end of the field. She stood in a line of volunteers, all waiting for water.

Beyond Cricket, Darby saw a pewter-gray horse flecked with black. It looked like Medusa, the wild mustang Kit had adopted. As Darby tried to get a better look at the horse, a man shouting into a cell phone about medicinal suppositories jostled her, and she lost sight of the horse.

“Let's go inside,” Darby said, grabbing Ann's arm. “It's making me crazy that I can't help.”

For the next hour, she, Ann, and the thirtyish woman named Lisa managed the phones as Cricket had asked them to do.

Cricket stuck her head in once to say that they were supposed to discourage people from bringing more animals to the center.

“Right now, I'm praying that the plane that's supposed to pick up all the non-equines is really going to land at Hapuna Airport and take these poor critters to the Humane Society on Oahu. They have much better facilities—” Cricket was gone before she finished the sentence.

Between phone calls, Darby, Ann, and Lisa had choppy conversations.

“It's so good to see somebody besides Toby and Buck,” Ann said, referring to her younger brothers.

“Kimo and Tutu are picking up the pony and as soon as he shows up, I've got to go with them—”

“—house guest
and
a litter of pit bull pups, but she'll be gone when I get home because—”

“—have no idea what it's like playing dress-up and magic show instead of—”

“And I want to be generous, but I'm afraid for Hoku—”

“—lowlife
snitch
ratted her out for making a first-day mistake and she lost the only decent job she's ever had!”

Darby's stomach dropped sickeningly. Now she knew why Lisa Miller's name sounded familiar. Dee had said she was staying in town with her girlfriend Lisa Miller and leaving Honi to fend for herself.

But Darby hadn't told anyone about the stolen hay. What had Dee done to get fired?

“Aren't you just amazed at the number of people who are calling to help?” Ann asked.

“All the phones have stopped ringing, but not my ears,” Lisa Miller said.

Darby glanced at the clock. Kimo and Tutu would have to be back soon, wouldn't they? It was lunchtime. She'd been here for two hours.

“How's everything going in here?” Cricket came in and surveyed the office.

“Fine, but Cricket”—Darby stood, keeping her
back to Lisa Miller as she lowered her voice—“I have to tell you, four extra bales of hay were accidentally delivered to the ranch.”

Cricket rolled her eyes. “We had lots of those
accidents
yesterday, and the ‘help wanted' sign is back in the window.”

Darby didn't have any idea how much a bale of hay was worth, but she reached in her pocket.

“I have some money,” she said.

“Don't touch me!” Cricket yelped. “I shouldn't even be around you guys. Darby, you could infect Hoku.”

With her head, she motioned for Darby to step outside the office.

“I know Jonah's good for a few dollars' worth of hay,” she said. “Keep your money in your pocket. But thanks for being honest.”

Just then Kimo's Ram Charger pulled up to the curb.

Tutu's white hair shone from the passenger's seat. She was half turned around, looking back at Honi.

“Is that a horse in the back of Kimo's truck?” Cricket asked. “Oh, no you don't.” She ran around to the driver's window. “You can't leave her here, Kimo. No! I'm sorry, but there's no room for her. I just can't!”

For the first time during this crazy day, it sounded to Darby as if Cricket was losing her grip on her emotions.

Tutu's melodious voice soothed over all the other sounds, and though Darby couldn't tell what her great-
grandmother said, Cricket's shoulders sagged in relief.

Tutu opened her door and beckoned for Darby to climb in, but she held a finger against her lips.

Every time she saw Tutu, it was like seeing a glimpse of her future, Darby thought. In her pink shawl and loose-fitting purple dress, Tutu had the strong posture of a young woman, but white hair fell in wisps from the scarf tied around her oval face.

Heavy dark brows topped piercing eyes. And if they'd been blue like Darby's, instead of brown, Tutu could have been Darby in about seventy more years.

Darby crept into the truck as quietly as she could, but the front seat was open to the truck bed and she still wakened the pony.

Honi lay on her side in the back of the truck. As they drove away from the Animal Rescue barn, she began rolling.

“Tutu,” Darby said, “Honi's really sick, isn't she?”

“As soon as we can get her on her feet and walking, we'll see.”

Tutu opened her medicine bag and took out a twist of waxed paper.

“I need to put this into the corner of her mouth,” she told Darby.

“What is it?”

Tutu poured something that looked like pizza seasoning onto her palm. “A mix of herbs to keep her calm until we can get her out of here,” Tutu said, and then, with surprising flexibility for a woman her age, she
hung over the seat. Kimo drove smoothly as she petted the pony's coarse mane and talked to her in Hawaiian.

Darby didn't offer to help. It didn't seem right to make Tutu do this alone, but she had Hoku and the other ‘Iolani horses to consider.

For a single instant, the pony's eyelids snapped open and the whites were all Darby could see of her eyes. Honi moved her lips in rubbery attempts to escape Tutu's index finger as she slipped the herbs into the corner of her mouth. And then the pony sighed, as if she was too weary to fight the indignity.

“I think you got them all into her mouth,” Darby said.

Tutu settled back into her seat and pulled her pink shawl closer around her shoulders. She looked like she could use a nap, Darby thought, but her great-grandmother was wide-awake and thinking.

“Where should we put her when we get back to the ranch?” Tutu asked Kimo.

“Hmph?” Kimo jerked as if the question had startled him.

Or maybe Tutu had wakened him. Since he was the one driving, that was a scary thought.

“Round pen,” he recommended, and Darby nodded.

That was the best suggestion, but what if Honi's illness was contagious? Could it become airborne and infect the other horses?

Thank goodness Blue Moon had recovered from
his colic and Kimo had moved him this morning. The broodmares, foals, and yearlings in the lower pasture would be safe, but what about Hoku and the cremellos?

She hoped Jonah, Kit, or Aunty Cathy would be home when they got there. But she knew it was unlikely. They'd planned to be gone until sundown.

Darby's heart beat like a metronome. It was up to her. She was in charge of the horses while Jonah was away. She had to keep them safe.

Seven horses. Hoku and the cremellos depended on her.

Wait, she had to add two more, because Kimo had left Buckin' Baxter and Lady Wong tied by their neck ropes, waiting patiently for them to return.

Nine horses. Could she risk leaving them close to the infected pony? Could she refuse to turn Hoku loose because she was afraid she'd run wild in the pastures below Sun House?

How could she know her choices were the right ones?

“Tutu, how did you know the water was contaminated?” Darby felt guilty for not noticing anything except the dead mongoose—and taking so long to worry about that!

“It wasn't difficult for a practiced eye,” Tutu said. “There was wilting plant life, very few insects, and the water lilies were completely gone.”

“Oh, it wasn't like that when Cade and I were up there.”

Darby shuddered. The pond had been nearly cov
ered in the flowers. Tutu described how she'd dropped to her knees beside the pond and used a stick to probe it. All the water lilies had died and turned into mushy brown sludge on the pond bottom.

“And then I heard thrashing in the bushes and found this poor little one,” Tutu said. “I recognized her and went to Dee's house. Even though no one was home, I used that phone. And then you came to our rescue.”

“What about Prettypaint?” Darby asked.

“I left her there. She deserves a rest.”

“So do you,” Darby said. She tried not to notice the ashy circles under Tutu's eyes as she kissed her great-grandmother's cheek.

“I'll sleep when I am old,” Tutu joked. “Right now I have work to do. Once we've got Honi moving, I'll go up to Sun House and make a poultice of chamomile, lavender, and tea tree oil for his head.”

“Whose head?” Kimo asked.

“Yours, stubborn boy,” Tutu snapped. “It will stop the throbbing and lower your fever. And please don't tell me you're just fine.”

“I
am
fine,” Kimo insisted as he turned down the dirt road to ‘Iolani Ranch. “For a sick guy who lifted a horse.”

The dogs ran out barking to greet them, and Kimo drove as close to the round pen as he could get before he asked, “And now I suppose you want me to do it again?”

“If you please,” Tutu said graciously, and Kimo groaned.

 

By the time Kimo braked to a stop, Darby had made up her mind, and Honi was no longer thrashing.

Darby didn't know if that was a good thing or not. She didn't touch Honi, but she bent close to the pony's pink nostrils to check her respiration. Honi was breathing faster than Hoku did, but maybe that was because she was a smaller animal.

“Kimo,” Darby said as they stood at the back of his truck. “Are you up to a horse drive of our own?”

“Depends,” he said.

Darby didn't let his fatigue stop her from laying out her idea. There was too much at stake to be soft-hearted.

“Once we get Honi inside the round pen, I want to take Hoku and the cremellos down to the lower pastures. We'll ride Baxter and Lady Wong down and leave them, too—”

“He must shower and change clothes first,” Tutu instructed. “In case the pony's contagious.”

Darby nodded and went on. “—and walk back. That way, Honi will sort of be in quarantine.” She looked at him with pleading eyes, but she wasn't begging for approval like a little kid. “Okay? Are there any holes in that plan?”

“Probably,” Kimo said. “But it's the best plan we've got, so let's saddle up,
keiki
.”