High Tide in Hawaii (3 page)

“A
lei
to welcome you,” Boka said.

Kama then pulled off her lei and put it around Jack's neck.

“
Aloha,
Jack and Annie!” everyone said.

“Aloha,”
said Jack and Annie.

“Where did you come from?” a pretty woman asked.

“Frog—” Annie started.

But Jack broke in. “From over the mountains,” he said quickly. He pointed at the mountains looming in the distance.

“We are glad you have come to visit us,” the woman said.

Everyone smiled and nodded.

They're all amazingly nice,
Jack thought.

The music started again. As people began to dance, Kama took Annie's hand.

“Sit and talk with us,” she said.

She and Boka led Jack and Annie to the edge of the clearing. They sat cross-legged in the grass. Kama picked up a wooden bowl. She held it out.

“Please eat,” she said.

“What is it?” asked Annie.

“It is
poi,
” said Kama. She scooped some poi out of the bowl and licked it off of her fingers.

“You eat it with your hands? Cool,” said Annie. She stuck her fingers in the bowl and licked off the poi. “Mmm … good.”

Jack stuck his finger in the bowl, too. The gooey mixture felt like peanut butter. But when he licked it off his finger, it had a weird taste—both bitter and sweet.

“Hmm,” he said, but he made a face.

“He doesn't like it,” Kama said to Boka.

“No, no,” said Jack. “It's … ” He tried to think of something polite.…  “It's very interesting.”

Kama and Boka giggled. Then they stuck their fingers in the bowl and ate some poi.

“Interesting!” they exclaimed. They cracked up laughing. Jack and Annie laughed with them.

“Now tell us about your home over the mountains,” said Kama, “this place you call ‘Frog.' ”

Kama's friendly smile made Jack want to tell her the truth.

“It's actually called Frog Creek,” he said. “It's very far away—much farther than just over the mountains. We traveled here in a magic tree house.”

Kama's and Boka's eyes got huge. They smiled even bigger smiles than before.

“That sounds fun!” said Kama.

“You are so lucky!” said Boka.

Jack and Annie laughed.

“Yeah, we are,” said Jack. He felt great telling their new friends about the tree house. He and Annie had never talked about it with their friends back home.

“Can you stay here tonight?” asked Kama.

Jack shrugged. “Sure, we can stay at least one night,” he said.

Kama hurried over to the pretty woman. They spoke together for a moment. Then Kama returned to Jack and Annie.

“Our mother invites you to sleep at our house,” she said.

“Great,” said Annie. “Thanks.”

Jack and Annie stood up. In the gray twilight, they followed Kama and Boka through the village. They wove between small huts with steep roofs until Kama stopped in front of one.

“This is our house,” she said.

The hut had no door—just a wide entrance that opened into one large room.

Kama and Boka led Jack and Annie inside. In the dim light, Jack could barely see the dried-grass walls and the woven-grass mats on the dirt floor.

“Where do we sleep?” he asked.

“Here!” said Boka.

He and Kama lay down on the mats. Annie pulled off her lei and shoes. Then she lay down, too.

“Oh,” said Jack. “Okay.”

He took off his shoes and wreath of flowers. He used his backpack as a pillow when he lay down. The warm wind rustled the palm leaves outside. Music drifted in from the party.

“The ocean is calling,” said Kama.

Jack could barely hear the waves in the distance.

“Tomorrow we will take you wave riding,” said Boka.

“You mean
surfing
?” said Annie.

“Yes,” said Kama.

“Cool,” said Jack. But he wasn't sure he meant it. Surfing actually seemed pretty scary.

Kama seemed to hear his thoughts. “Don't worry,” she said. “We'll have fun.”

“No kidding,” said Annie.

Soon Jack heard steady breathing. The other kids had fallen asleep.

Oh darn, we forgot to ask them about building a ship,
he thought.
I guess we'll have to do that tomorrow.… 

Jack closed his eyes and yawned. Soon he, too, was fast asleep.

Jack heard pounding noises. He imagined Boka and Kama were building a ship.

He opened his eyes. Only he and Annie were still in the hut. A piece of cloth covered the doorway. Jack sat up and shook Annie.

“Wake up!” he said.

She opened her eyes.

“I think they're building a ship outside,” said Jack. “Come on, let's go.”

Annie jumped up.

“Don't forget your lei,” she said.

They put on their flower wreaths. Jack lifted the cloth over the doorway, and they stepped out into the warm sunlight.

Boka, Kama, and their parents smiled at Jack and Annie. They were all working. But no one was building a ship.

Boka was pounding a wide strip of bark with a wooden club. Kama was using a stone to pound something that looked like a fat sweet potato. Their parents were weaving grass mats.

“What are you making?” Jack asked.

“I'm making
tapa,
” said Boka. “First I beat the bark of the mulberry tree into thin sheets. Then my father pastes the sheets together to make cloth for us.”

“This is the root of a
taro
plant,” said Kama. She pointed at the squashed white vegetable. “When you add fruit to it, you get poi.”

“Great,” said Jack. “By the way, do you ever build ships?”

“Ships?” asked Boka. “What for?”

Jack shrugged. “To sail away?” he said.

“Why would we do that?” asked Kama.

“Good question,” said Jack, smiling.

“Can I help?” Annie asked Kama.

“Sure,” said Kama. While she showed Annie how to pound the taro root, Jack slipped back into the hut. He pulled out his notebook and quickly added to his Hawaii list:

Jack heard Kama ask her parents if they could play now.

“We've finished our chores,” said Kama. “May we take Jack and Annie to the ocean?”

“For wave riding,” said Boka.

Jack held his breath. He half hoped their parents would say no.

“Yes, go have a good time with your friends,” said their father.

“Come on, Jack!” Annie called.

Jack put his notebook away. He pulled on his pack and joined the others outside.

“We'll be back in a little while,” said Kama.

“Don't forget to eat breakfast!” said her mother.

“We won't,” said Kama.

Where will we get breakfast?
wondered Jack.

He and Annie followed Kama and Boka. They passed villagers hard at work. Some carried firewood or water. Others were cutting grass or stripping bark from trees. Everyone smiled and waved.

“Hungry?” Kama asked Jack and Annie.

“Sure,” they said.

Kama and Boka went into the grove of palms near the huts. They climbed up two slanting tree trunks, using their hands and feet to push themselves up. At the top, they shook the palm leaves.

“Watch out!” Kama shouted.

Jack and Annie jumped back as big, round coconuts fell to the ground.

Kama and Boka slid down the trees. They each picked up a coconut. Then they found rocks and began to whack the hard shells. They whacked and whacked until their coconuts cracked into halves.

Kama shared hers with Annie. Boka shared his with Jack.

Jack drank the fresh, sweet milk inside the coconut. “Mmm!” he said.

“Interesting?” asked Boka.

“No.
Mmm
means
good!
” said Jack.

Everyone laughed.

Then Kama picked bananas off a banana tree and gave them to Jack and Annie. Jack peeled his and took a bite. It was the best banana he'd ever eaten.

When breakfast was over, they all headed into the flowery meadow. The sky was the bluest blue Jack had ever seen. The grass was the greenest green. The flowers and birds sparkled like jewels.

Hawaii is like a garden paradise,
Jack thought.

He wanted to look up Hawaiian birds and flowers in the research book. As the others kept walking, he stopped and pulled out the book.

“Jack! Come look!” Annie shouted. She was standing at the edge of a cliff with Boka and Kama.

Jack put away the book and hurried to join the others. He looked down at a beach fifty feet below.

There were no people. Only seashells and seaweed lay on the glistening white sand. Big, foamy waves crashed against the shore.

“Wow!” said Annie.

Uh-oh,
thought Jack.

Boka looked at Jack and grinned.

“Ready?” he asked.

“I'm ready!” said Annie. “Where do we get our surfboards?”