True to Me - Kay Bratt Page 0,39

magical childhood, full of dreams about night marchers on the beaches, mermaids in the river pools, and gods of the sea.”

She paused, her eyes closed as she remembered.

“Many people were thankful for the sudden riches our sugar brought. But some farmers competed with the sugar plantations. They grew taro. The big companies came in and started buying up land and securing water rights. Bitterness came to the island. Farmers who found themselves without the water or irrigation they needed began to earn their way as fishermen. Up in the mountains, there were sprawling cattle ranches. Some of them—those owned by families who haven’t sold out—are still there today and worked by the cowboys.”

“That was my dream when I was young,” Liam said.

Quinn could easily imagine him as a rough-and-tumble cowboy.

“By the time I became an adult—and that was a long time ago,” Auntie Wang said, “Maui began to lose its grip as the leader in the sugar industry. A new tariff was introduced, and the sugar prices were artificially elevated, causing many food producers and beverage makers to go out of the United States for their sugar. Some say the demise was because of all the fighting over water rights. Others claim the end came from the farmers’ refusal to learn new, modern techniques and by cutting corners. My own father admitted that even before he got it, his soil was on the way to ruination, with barely any nutrient base. He said all over the island, the plantation owners refused to fallow. They were greedy, trying to process as much sugar as fast as they could. They didn’t rotate crops, and all they wanted to do was burn, till, plant, then do it all over again, stripping the land of its true value.”

“The left hand wants to blame the right hand, but in the end, all the people suffer,” Liam said.

Auntie Wang nodded.

“Many lost their livelihoods, but soon the first businessman came to Maui and saw it through the eyes of a foreigner. He bought up some out-of-business plantations and developed our first high-class resort. Soon, other landowners were selling, all vying to become millionaires by way of the land they’d inherited.”

“So the Crowes were some that sold out?” Quinn asked.

“Not completely. The Crowes owned one of the biggest ranches on the island. Located on the road to Hana, their land sprawled across more than five thousand lush acres through valleys and pineapple fields, nestled at the base of unspoiled mountains. The land was theirs since the beginning and was sacred to the family. A big spender came through and made the family an offer on all of it.”

“And they sold it?” Quinn asked, feeling sad for a family she didn’t even know.

“It’s not that simple,” Auntie Wang said. “Not everyone was on board. Obviously, the elders were against it. They remained traditional, defining themselves by their relationships to each other, their ancestors, but especially their land.”

“I know this to be true,” Liam said.

“Yes, you do.” Auntie Wang exchanged a knowing look with him. “Anyway, the offer caused a huge rift. Fathers against sons, mothers against daughters, aunts and uncles waging protests. The elder Crowes wanted to keep the land and continue to farm what they could and keep cattle on the rest. But the younger generation, save for a few dedicated members, wanted the instant riches. The feud had the entire island in an uproar, spreading news of how insensitively the Crowes were treating one another—family turning against family—all over the love of money.”

The story was engrossing, and Quinn soon found herself hanging on every word.

“I heard some stories about this but didn’t know it was that bad,” Liam said.

“That bad and worse,” Auntie Wang said. “When some of the Crowes threatened to set everything on fire if they sold the land, the family finally hired an attorney from Oahu to mediate between them: Charles Rocha.”

“I recognize that name,” Liam said. “Don’t the Rochas own that bed-and-breakfast on the road to Hana? The one that’s still closed for business?”

“Yes, the Hana House. They bought it last year, among a few other businesses here on Maui that were floundering. But back then, they’d never been to Maui. That all changed when the Crowes asked Rocha to help them work through what was best for the family legacy,” Auntie Wang said.

“I can understand hiring someone,” Quinn said. “Sometimes it takes an outsider to mediate and bring everyone together.”

Auntie Wang nodded. “At first, the town settled down, thinking the Crowes were