The Hawaiian Quilt (11 page)

“I need to stop thinking like this,” he mumbled, guiding his horse, Dash, into the yard.

Soon after he stepped down from the buggy, he was greeted by his friend, Paul Miller. “Where’s your Sunday hut?”

“My hat’s right here.” Gideon pointed to it.

Smirking, Paul reached up and snatched Gideon’s hat off his head. “This isn’t a Sunday hat. Looks more like something you’d wear to clean the barn.”

Gideon jerked his head back and let out a yelp. “Ach! I was wearing my straw hat this morning while getting my horse. Guess I forgot it was on my head when I left home to come here.” His cheeks felt like they were on fire. “This old hat will stay in my buggy, ‘cause I don’t want anyone else knowing I forgot to wear my black Sunday hat.”

Just then, Mandy’s dad, Isaac, stopped by. “Have you heard about Mandy?” he asked Gideon.

Quickly tossing his hat into the buggy, Gideon shook his head. “Heard what? Is she okay?” Fear rose in his chest.

“She’s fine, physically.” Deep lines formed at the corners of Isaac’s brown eyes when he frowned. “She and Ellen are stranded on the island of Kauai.”

Gideon opened his mouth. “How can they be stranded? I thought the cruise ship she and her friends were on was taking them from island to island.”

“It has been, but they missed the boat when it was leaving Kauai to go to the Big Island.”

“What about Sadie and Barbara?” Paul questioned. “Didn’t they go on the trip to Hawaii, too?”

“Jah.” Isaac rubbed his forehead. “Unfortunately, my daughter and Ellen went off by themselves when the ship docked that morning. If they’d been with the tour group, they wouldn’t have been left behind.”

In an effort to calm himself, Gideon drew a deep breath. “How’s Mandy going to get home?”

“They’re working on it. I’m guessing they’ll try to book passage on the next cruise ship coming to Kauai. Of course, it could be expensive.”

“If she needs money for her ticket, I’d be willing to chip in.”

Isaac gave Gideon’s shoulder a squeeze. “We’ll let you know.”

“I tried calling her yesterday but only got her voice mail.” Gideon groaned.

“Mandy had more troubles. She lost her cell phone on a sightseeing excursion. When they found a place to stay, she called us. Said she and Ellen are staying at a bed-and-breakfast run by some nice Christian folks.”

Gideon felt a little better hearing Mandy had a place to stay. “Could I have the number there so I can give her a call?”

“Sorry, but I don’t have it with me right now. If you drop by our place sometime tomorrow, I’ll see you get it.” Isaac pointed to the large shop, where the service would be held. “Right now, though, we’d better be going inside.”

As Gideon turned his horse over to Barbara Hilty’s brother Crist, he made a decision. As soon as he got the number of the place where Mandy and Ellen were staying, he’d call and let her know he’d be willing to pay part, or even all, of her fare.

Kapaa

A few minutes before 9:00 a.m., Mandy and Ellen entered a church building with Luana and Makaio. The Andersons were on their way home, having checked out after an early breakfast.

It was nice of the Palus to invite us to join them for church today
, Mandy thought as they signed the guest book. Since she and Ellen had washed their Amish dresses the day before, they were able to wear them to services. Mandy was glad, because she would have felt funny wearing a muumuu to church, even though many other worshipers were dressed in Hawaiian-style clothing.

But if we had worn muumuus, we’d look less conspicuous
, Mandy thought, observing the sanctuary as she followed Makaio and Luana to a seat. Several people had already greeted them, and one lady gave Mandy and Ellen each a shell lei, which looked a bit strange over their dresses; especially since the Amish didn’t wear jewelry. A few others glanced their way with strange expressions.
Amish people have probably never visited this church before
.

It wasn’t all that common for the Amish to visit Hawaii. The village of Pinecraft in Sarasota, Florida, was more of a possibility, since they could travel there by bus or train. Mandy knew a few people from her community who had gone there for vacation during the winter months, but the only person she knew personally who’d visited any of the Hawaiian Islands was her cousin Ruth.

Her muscles relaxed a bit as she took in a few easy breaths.
Well, it’s a new experience for us as well, because this is my first time in an English church
.

Mandy was about to sit down when she spotted a tall young man with thick, shoulder-length blond hair on the platform, holding a ukulele. Several other people also sat on the platform with musical instruments. This seemed strange to her, since no instruments were ever played during an Amish church service. Sometimes at home or for family gatherings, Mandy’s dad would play his guitar, which added to the pleasure of singing songs for fun or private worship.

Returning her focus to the young man with the ukulele, she thought she’d seen him before—not from back home, but someone she’d met on their trip. As the music and singing started, it all came back to her. He was the same man she’d talked to when she and Ellen visited Spouting Horn on Friday.
What a coincidence. I wonder if I’ll get the chance to speak to him after church. If so, will he remember me?

Later in the afternoon as Mandy and Ellen sat in the Palus’ living room, chatting, she thought about the young man again and wished she’d had the opportunity to at least say hello. But he’d been busy talking to several others after church, and she didn’t want to interrupt.

“So how did you two young women like our service today?” Makaio’s question drove Mandy’s thoughts aside.

“It was certainly different.” She reached for the glass of guava juice Luana had brought out earlier. “Nothing like our church services at home.”

“What are they like?” Luana questioned.

Mandy glanced at Ellen, who sat quietly beside her on the sofa. When her friend remained quiet, Mandy answered. “Our services are held bi-weekly in the home, barn, or shop of church members who take turns hosting the service. We sit on backless, wooden benches for three hours, and there are no musical instruments.”

“That’s interesting.” Luana tapped her lips with a finger. “Think I’d have a hard time sitting that long on any bench or chair.”

“Another thing different from your church is the women and girls sit on one side of the building during our services, while the men and boys sit on the other,” Ellen spoke up.

“And also,” Mandy interjected, “our sermons are preached in German, not English.”

Makaio’s thick brows furrowed. “I wouldn’t be able to understand the message, since I’ve never learned the German language. I can speak our native Hawaiian language fluently, though.”

“Would you teach us a few words?” Mandy asked. She was interested in learning new things. And since the Hawaiian word book Ellen had bought was in her suitcase on the ship, they had no guide to teach them any of the words they may want to know.

He nodded. “You may already know the word
Aloha
. It’s a familiar Hawaiian greeting and farewell.”

Mandy and Ellen bobbed their heads.

“Our alphabet consists of only twelve letters,” Luana explained. “There are five vowels—
a, e, i, o, u
, and seven consonants—h, k, l, m, n, p, and w.”

“Here are a few common words,” Makaio said: “
Hana
, which means work;
nani
, meaning beautiful;
kāne
, man;
wahini
, woman; and
keiki
, child.”

“I’m a wahini.” Mandy pointed to herself and chuckled. “When we get home I can’t wait to tell my dad he’s a kāne.”

“If you’re interested, I’ll teach you some more Hawaiian words while you’re here.” Makaio picked up his ukulele. “Right now, why don’t we sing a few songs? Afterward, maybe we can talk my dear wahini into serving some snacks.”

“You won’t have to talk me into it.” Luana patted her husband’s knee. “I’d planned all along to bring out some special treats.”

As Makaio began to play the ukulele, Mandy became almost mesmerized. “I have a battery-operated keyboard at home, and my dad plays the guitar, but playing the ukulele would be even more fun.” She clapped after he finished the first song.

“If you stay here long enough, I’d be happy to teach you.” Makaio’s grin stretched ear to ear.

On the Cruise Ship

“I should call Mandy,” Barbara announced as she sat with Sadie in their cabin that evening. “Since I have the number of the place they are staying, I want to find out how she and Ellen are doing.”

Sadie set her book aside and leaned forward. “Good idea. Let them know we’ve been praying for them, too.”

Barbara grabbed her purse and took out her cell phone, as well as the slip of paper with the number for the B&B. A few seconds later, a pleasant-sounding woman answered. “Aloha. This is the Palms Bed-and-Breakfast.”

“Is Mandy Frey there? This is Barbara Hilty. I was one of her traveling companions on the cruise ship.”

“Yes, she and Ellen are both here. I’ll put Mandy on.”

After a minute, an excited voice came on. “Barbara, is it really you?”

“Jah, and it’s sure good to hear your voice. I got this number from my mamm, who got it from your mamm. How are you and Ellen doing?”

“Were both fine. Did your mother explain how we missed the boat and ended up staying here?”

“She sure did. I bet you were frightened when you realized you’d missed the ship.”

“We were.”

“Tell them we were frightened, too,” Sadie whispered.

Barbara repeated what her friend had said.

“Did you realize what had happened?” Mandy asked.

“Not at first, but as the evening progressed, it didn’t take long for us to figure out you’d been left behind. Up until then, we thought you might be somewhere on the ship. It seemed strange you didn’t show up at dinner, but we figured you may have had a late lunch and weren’t hungry. So many thoughts ran through our heads it was hard not to
druwwle
.”

“Sorry for causing you to worry. Ellen and I have no luggage, of course.”

“It’s here in the room. Sadie and I will make sure both your suitcases go with us on the train when we reach Los Angeles.”

“Danki, we appreciate it.”

“How are you managing with only one dress?” Barbara questioned.

“Luana, the lady who runs the B&B with her husband, bought us each a muumuu.”

Barbara pursed her lips. “A what?”

“A muumuu. It’s a Hawaiian dress. Mine is purple with pretty flowers on it.”

Barbara pressed her palm against her mouth to keep from gasping. She couldn’t imagine how her two friends would look wearing Hawaiian dresses.

“Remember when we talked about how we wished we could spend more time on each of the Hawaiian Islands?”

“Jah.”

“Well, now Ellen and I are able to do it.”

Barbara grimaced. Being stranded on an island was not what she would have wanted for herself or her friends. “Have you talked to Gideon yet? I’m sure he’d like to know what happened.”

“No, and I forgot to ask Mom to tell him. I’ll say something the next time I call home.”