Water Lily (11 page)

“I
t's not a trap, baby.”

Darby had opened Hoku's gate from Lady Wong's saddle, and the sorrel filly wouldn't come near the opening in her fence. She trotted a graceful, floating circle around her corral, flashing her ears in all directions, but she'd smelled the new pony, and she was suspicious.

Freshly showered, Kimo flung open the cremellos' gate. Whooping and spinning his arm on high, as if he held a rope, he urged the high-spirited white horses out of the pasture they'd just learned to call home.

Taking her cue from Kimo, Darby rode close enough to grab the tangerine-and-white lead rope off Hoku's corral fence.

She spun it over her head, even though Hoku shied in fear and ducked.

“There they go!” Darby yelled.

Hoku bolted, but not for the gate.

The rope was too close to her escape route, so the filly sprinted, gathered herself for the very short lead up to the jump, and cleared her corral fence.

Please don't let her remember she just did that,
Darby begged silently.

Animals live in the moment, Jonah had told her once, so Darby decided to make sure Hoku wouldn't remember, by not giving her time to look back and think about it.

“Run, girl!” She rode Lady Wong as fast as she could after Hoku, and the filly broke into a gait faster than a gallop. She swept past the sixth cremello, then the fifth, and finally, belly almost touching the ground, she dashed through the center of the pale herd and left them and Kimo behind.

Hoku knew where she was headed, down to the pasture below, and she knew Darby was the one who'd forced her to go.

 

“I'm gonna rest up a little,” Kimo said.

They'd climbed back up the trail to Sun House carrying the saddles and bridles they'd stripped off their mounts, and Kimo's steps were weaving with weariness.

As he meandered toward the bunkhouse, Darby
hung up their gear and walked back to the round pen to watch Tutu and the pony.

“She's a little bit interested in her surroundings. That's good,” Tutu said.

Although Honi was still down, the pony was on her knees, not her back or side, and Tutu sat next to her. When Tutu gently rolled back Honi's eyelid, the pony didn't protest. Instead, she reached up her nose as if they were sharing a secret.

Darby smiled. Honi was living up to her name—Kiss—and she was kissing Tutu.

“Should you let her do that? Aren't you afraid you'll get sick?” Darby asked.

“I've already been exposed to everything this island can throw at me this week,” Tutu said. “If this helps her feel better, it's worth it. I want her up on all four hooves, but she won't open her eyes.” Tutu mused, “Perhaps she hasn't been able to sleep for some time, because of the pain. We'll let her have a nap and then try again.”

When her great-grandmother came out of the corral, they still watched Honi, and Darby told Tutu about the sick animals at the Animal Rescue Society barn and about Dee stealing the hay.

“And it wasn't like she was trying to get something for nothing,” Darby said slowly. “She wanted to show off for Cade and she was so disappointed he wasn't here. He never made it into the feed store to see her at the cash register, either, and she was kind of proud.”

Tutu shook her head sadly. “I've known Dee since she was a little girl. She always wanted to be somebody important. She had big dreams of being a nurse.” Tutu smiled. “But then she married and had Cade and she quit school. She began caring for a child when she was still a child herself. She stopped developing as a person. She's still like a sixteen-year-old inside or like one of those water lilies Honi is always munching.”

“What do you mean?” Darby asked.

“When tropical water lilies are planted too early they never grow as well as they should.”

Leaving Darby to mull that over, Tutu told Darby to stay with Honi while she went up to Sun House.

“I'm not sure what to watch for,” Darby said.

“Don't worry. She's got the medicine inside,” Tutu answered, “but we have to get her up and moving so it can travel through her gut and do some real good.

“I'll go up to the kitchen and make that poultice for Kimo. Try not to disturb her.” Tutu glanced up at the sun as if reading a clock. “Let's give her thirty minutes of uninterrupted rest. Then, when I get back, if I can't get her up, we'll bring the goat over and see if she can get Honi moving.”

 

Tutu had been gone for only a few minutes when Darby heard a car slow down, a door open and close, and then, as the car sped away, shoes cross the steel cattle guard set at the foot of the driveway.

Darby tiptoed out of the high-fenced round pen
and closed the gate quietly behind her.

Why weren't the dogs barking? Maybe they'd gone into the bunkhouse with Kimo and they'd all settled down for an afternoon nap.

Dee was the one walking down the driveway and she started talking as soon as she saw Darby.

“Where's Cade?”

“He—” Darby exhaled loudly. Tutu knew best, and they'd tell Dee soon enough that her beloved pony was sick. “He's with Jonah, Kit, and everyone else, herding some horses up to Sky Mountain.”

Dee's eyebrows arched high for an instant. Then she stared into the topmost branches of the nearby candlenut tree.

“I guess you're wondering why I'm hitchhiking out to visit Cade instead of going to work today.” Dee got right to the point.

Darby wasn't wondering. Between them, Lisa Miller and Cricket had pretty much explained.

“Or maybe you already know,” Dee went on. “Were you the one who got me fired?”

“I thought about it,” Darby admitted, “but I didn't and now that I've talked to Tutu, I'm not sorry.”

“Tutu? At least somebody around here isn't passing judgment on me.”

“She remembers you from when you were a kid,” Darby told her.

Dee's face softened as she smiled. “She does? Well, then she knows the kind of person I am, no
matter what you might think.”

Darby didn't know what to say, but they'd gone too far down this conversational road to stop now.

“It's written all over your face,” Dee insisted. “I know you don't like me. You're a Kealoha. You all think you're better than everybody.”

“That's not true!” Darby blurted, still trying to keep her voice low.

Dee waved her off with a flick of her wrist. “Sure it's not. Go get Cade for me, would ya?”

“I told you, he's out on a horse drive.”

Dee scowled. “I thought you were making that up.”

Darby shook her head.

“I'll just have a cigarette and then I'll head on over to my place. I want to check on Honi.” She grinned a tight, joyless smile. “You wouldn't have an extra bale of hay for her, would you?”

She was going to have to say something soon, Darby thought. She found her shoulders shrugging almost as high as her earlobes as she tried to hide from the unpleasant announcement.

“You know we do,” Darby said. “But, I think Tutu would like to see you, so, why don't you come up to the house when you're, um, done.”

They both looked at the cigarette. “I am quitting these things,” Dee insisted. “Tell Tutu I'll be there in just a minute.”

Darby ran on ahead.

What are you afraid of?
Darby asked herself.
Hurting
her feelings like she's hurt Cade's a million times?

Darby toed off her boots and left them on the front porch.

She heard Tutu mixing things in the kitchen, but the first thing she said was, “Dee's here, is she?”

Darby nodded.

“And you haven't told her about Honi yet?”

Darby shook her head
no
.

“Since she'll be looking for another job, I've been thinking of getting her to help me on my rounds.”

“But what if she keeps stealing, Tutu?”

Her great-grandmother looked up with a dreamy smile and said, “Ah, but what if she
doesn't
?”

This family gave second chances, Darby reminded herself.

Since she'd been given lots of them herself, she guessed it was fair to offer a couple to Cade's mother.

“Hey, Tutu!”

Darby jumped as Dee sauntered into the kitchen.

“Your great-granddaughter says you remember me from when I was a kid. I'm flattered. I sure remember you.”

The warmth in Dee's voice startled Darby, and Tutu returned it.

“How are you, Dee?” Tutu asked.

Dee shook her flattened palm from side to side. “
Eh.
Not so great, to tell you the truth. I'm sure you've heard about Manny getting arrested. Having him gone is a blessing, but it's left me a little high and dry
cashwise, if you know what I mean.”

Darby was shocked at how honest Dee was being with Tutu and how quickly Tutu laid out her deal.

“So, I'd learn to be a nurse after all?” Dee asked.

Tutu nodded. “I'd do my best to teach you what I know,” she said humbly.

“I could do that,” Dee agreed, nodding. “I could really learn to be something worthwhile.” Dee laughed as if she'd made a totally ridiculous statement, then added, “Might as well, since I've got nothing better to do.”

Darby hoped her great-grandmother knew what she was getting into.

Tutu let Dee's acrid laughter hang in the kitchen for a moment before she spoke.

“Actually, your first patient is waiting, and I'm sorry to say—”

“Not Cade!” Dee pushed up from her lazy position leaning against the kitchen counter.

“No.” Darby jumped in before Tutu could.

“Then—” Dee shook her head. Confused, she looked between Tutu and Darby. “Who?”

“It's Honi,” Tutu said gently. “I'm afraid she's rather sick.”

In minutes, Dee and Tutu were back in the round pen.

Dee dropped to her knees and stroked the pony's dusky mane.

“There's my baby,” she crooned tenderly. “I missed you so much. Does my girl have a tummyache?”

Dee reached into the back pocket of her jeans and dug out a smashed bag of peppermint horse treats. Darby guessed they were probably filched from the feed store as a parting
gift
from Dee to Honi, but now wasn't the time to say so.

Honi's eyes opened wide, taking in Dee first and then the peppermint.

Dee held out a treat to the pony. Honi craned her neck forward, twitching her lips for it. Dee kept speaking soothingly to the pony, backing away inches at a time, moving just far enough out of reach to tantalize Honi.

The pony stretched.

Without waiting, Tutu threw her slight frame against Honi's haunches. Darby was about to join her when Honi struggled to her feet.

Dee rewarded her with the treat and quickly took out another bribe.

When Honi sidestepped unsteadily, almost falling, Dee's face contorted with worry. Her arms flashed out as if she'd catch the pony, and they came together.

It was amazing, Darby thought, how they helped each other regain their balance.

 

A lot can change in twenty-four hours,
Darby thought. This time yesterday Honi could barely walk. Now, she trotted around her pen, insulted that she hadn't been included in the party that was in progress on the lanai above her.

Cricket had phoned with the news that the horses didn't have salmonella. Those at the Animal Rescue barn, and probably most of the humans and horses on the island, had been infected by waterborne bacteria that had given them what amounted to a two-day flu.

Even better, Cade and Dee were getting along and making plans, with Jonah's help. Tutu had allowed Kit to drive her back to her cottage on his way into town to see Medusa. And Cricket.

But Darby sat in the pastures below Sun House in the darkness and the rain, watching for her horse.

Before the sun had gone down, she'd tried calling Hoku to her by tightening her ponytail. It was their signal. Hoku had chosen it, and it had worked just two days ago.

Now Hoku chose to ignore it and Darby didn't blame her. Hoku couldn't understand that Darby had driven her out of her home for her own good.

Every muscle in Darby's body strained to keep her upright, though she could have lain down on the wet grass and slept.

Like shadowy ghost horses, the cremellos moved across the moonlit grass, but Hoku was nowhere in sight.

Don't be
pupule, Jonah had told her.
She'll come to you.

But the moon had traversed the black sky, trailing silver cloud skeins, and still Hoku didn't come to her.

And then she heard it.

The faint nicker that belonged only to Hoku made Darby stand.

It came again, and Darby began walking toward it. The sound of her boots swishing through the long grass covered other noises.

She stopped until the nicker came again, higher this time.

Darby held out her hands, hoping that even in the dark, her filly could see she carried no striking snake rope.

As the other horses parted for her, Darby walked through the broodmares and drowsy foals, threading her way between Cash and Judge, who'd discovered they had a lot in common as they grazed side by side.

And then, silvered by moonlight, Hoku stood alone before her. Waiting.

Darby didn't say a word. She listened to her filly's even breaths. Hoku wasn't a bit scared. She was teasing.

And even as Darby increased the tempo of her steps, bouncing on tiptoe toward her horse, then jogging, then running, Hoku waited.

Grab mane. Push off. Swing over.

The instant she was astride her wild sorrel filly, Hoku ducked her head, not to buck but to run under a low-hanging branch, carrying the human she trusted above all others into the night.