Blooming in the Wild Page 0,94

with Daniel. “We must summon the old ones and raise Pele herself if we need to.”

“And fast,” David added. “The winds are getting worse.” The helicopter bucked sideways again, and he held on to the controls, bringing the craft around in a sliding circle above the boat, while the storm raged on shore, trees beginning to slide down the mountain.

Homu held up his hands, and then in a strong voice, he called out in Hawaiian. His wife, his sons and his brother joined in, and together, Pele’s guardians began to chant.

Over the throb of the helicopter rotors, over the roar of Daniel’s boat, over the pound of the surf, and the crashing of trees and lash of vines below, their voices rang out, strong and true, in the ancient rhythms they had learned from their ancestors.

Homu felt rather than heard the voices of the old ones joining them, echoing in a low murmur that was the heartbeat of Pele’s island. Together, his ohana circled the erratic pulse of power flaring from Na’alele and soothed it, surrounding it with steady reassurance.

And slowly, slowly the storm that one small woman had raised began to subside. Trees slid back to the earth, groaning as they fell on the lava rent by their roots being ripped away. Vines draped, foliage and plants settled, leaves fell and blossoms drifted slowly down, scattered like a benediction on the bodies of those who had fallen at Na’alele.

“Here comes the Coast Guard,” Daro said, his voice shaking. “And a police chopper.” He turned to Tina, who sat on the shore side of the cabin. “My Nani — can you see her?”

“I see her,” Tina said. “She is there—in the clearing.”

“Is that Frank she’s holding?” David asked.

Homu shook his head. “Don’t think so.” Rage and sorrow gripped him. His old friend was down there somewhere and might be dead, another victim of the Helmans. And the red staining Bella’s slight body and that of the man she held could only be one thing—blood.

David held the chopper steady. They all gazed down at the little bay and the devastation there. He waved at the pilot of the police chopper, who nodded back and then gestured.

“He’s ordering us to back off,” David said, already turning away from the island.

“We can’t leave,” Daro groaned.

“We’re not,” David said. “We’re headed down—right there.”

Homu stared at the huge, empty barge that was nosing westward around the curve of the island, pushed by a tugboat, smokestacks steaming. “Is that one of Billy Eyke’s barges?”

“’Ae,” David returned laconically, but as Homu turned to stare at him, his son allowed himself a small smile.

Homu patted David on the arm. “Not even gonna ask.”

“Oh, my,” Tina said faintly. “We’re going to land on that?”

“Okay, Mama?” David asked.

“’Ae,” his mother answered stoutly. “We must get down there to Daro’s daughter. Just tell me when we’ve landed, because I’m going to shut my eyes now.”

Daniel Ho’omalu nosed his long boat carefully into the small bay, grimacing as the side scraped on the reef. “Gonna play hell getting out of here,” he muttered to his uncle Hilo, who stood beside him, scanning the beach with narrowed eyes.

“’Ae. Look at Frank’s boat. Something wrong with her.”

Daniel looked at the catamaran bumping listlessly against the shore. “She’s swamped. See Frank anywhere?”

“No. Don’t see any sign of life. ” Hilo levered himself over the side of the boat and waded in the hip-deep water to the narrow prow, grabbing the ring and pulling the boat up alongside the catamaran as Daniel pushed the control to raise the prop safely away from the bottom.

He glowered at the rubberized dinghy pulled up on the shore. He knew it all too well. It was from the Helman yacht, and Daniel had seen it in Kailua Harbor only last month.

As his boat bumped onto the sand, he quickly turned off the ignition and then reached into the side compartment, taking out a snub-nose Ruger, which he held in his hand as he levered himself over the side of the boat. Even from down here, he could see bodies—lots of them.

The throb of a new chopper grew louder, and he looked back to see a police helicopter coming low and fast from the west. A Coast Guard cutter appeared at the same moment, already slowing outside the reef.

Daniel waved at them—everyone knew his boat on this side of the island. Then he turned and waded out onto the beach, scanning with a warrior’s eye for movement from any of the