Walls

Kaukahi had her sketch pad out and drew almost every plant they passed. Long, scrawny stalks; tubular white or purple flowers; slender leaves that sprouted from the top like Einstein’s hair. Lei pushed on ahead, eager to find some sign of a (hopefully) dormant volcano. She lost sight of Ilikea overhead as they entered a thick forest of trees with massive fanlike palms, but the trail was easy enough to follow. As were the disturbing footprints from the beach, which Lei noticed covered the path. Who lived here and where were they now? Lei’s eyes darted from side to tree-covered side, looking for sets of eyes peering back at her.

“Psst, Lei!” Ili hissed from behind one of the trees, startling Lei from her thoughts.

She was back in girl form and motioned furiously for Lei to join her. Kaukahi was absorbed in sketching a pale blossom that a bird with a hooked beak and yellow head was hopping around.

Lei ducked after Ili. “What’s up?”

Leaving Kaipo in this strange place had her armpits sweating more than usual. The trail they’d walked up had twisted so she no longer had a clear view back to the beach. Was he still waiting at the cliff?

“So, clearly you’re not next in line for a motivational speaker of the year award anytime soon,” Ilikea said.

“Huh?”

Ilikea threw her arms up in exasperation. “You’re supposed to be helping with Kaukahi, remember? The whole reason I brought her here?”

Lei looked up the trail. The girl in question had her pencil resting against her lower lip as she continued to watch the bird. This far away from her eye rolls and sharp tongue, Lei could almost imagine talking to her without fearing a rebuttal or rebuke.

“I know…”

When she didn’t elaborate, Ilikea tapped her lips like something had just dawned on her. “Don’t tell me you need even more help people-izing than I do.”

That hit a little too close to home. Had Kaipo ever mentioned her struggles with Ridley and Hennley to Ili? Did Ili want the emotionally warm and fuzzy “let’s share” tell-all that Lei had seen other giggling girl groups have? Would she ditch Lei, too, once Kaukahi came around, the way Ridley left for Hennley? Avoiding the hum of truth to Ilikea’s statement, Lei stuck to facts.

“No, I just have to get to the volcano. Once we figure that piece out, it’ll be sunshine and happiness.”

She also decided not to mention that Kaukahi was the worst and that Lei was pretty sure Ili should go search for some other distant relative to ʻaumakua for. Ilikea would probably just twist it into “Maybe it’s a you thing, not a her thing” or something.

It didn’t matter that she held back, though—Ili had had enough.

“First it was ‘just have to get up the tree,’ then it was ‘just have to get to the island,’ now it’s ‘just have to get to the volcano,’ ” Ilikea protested. “Your ‘just have tos’ are just gonna push me over the edge!”

“It’s a good thing you’ll fly instead of fall,” Lei cracked.

“Not funny!” The girl’s chest heaved and her eyes glistened with unshed tears.

“Sorry! Sorry.”

Whoa, this was escalating way too fast. Lei’s brain was a jumble of sound, like when she had one earbud in listening to music at the same time her mom wanted to vent about her day. Kaipo’s necklace was the song she wanted to give her full attention to, but now that she’d been called out, she could hear Ilikea’s needs, too. There had to be a way to align them both. She placed a hand on Ilikea’s shoulder.

“I hear you. I really do. I’ll look for more openings to say something, be more present. Hopefully I’ll be able to handle the verbal warfare that your descendant seems oh so fond of.”

Ilikea sniffled as a soft smile stretched her cheeks. “She does have a rapier wit, doesn’t she? I like to think she gets it from me.”

Lei smiled back and dropped her hand. “There isn’t a doubt in my mind.”

---

They came to a clear creek that divided the trees, babbling peacefully on its way to the ocean. Lei remembered the stream at the foot of a waterfall she came to last week and was careful not to slip on the slimy stones. Kaukahi paused for a minute to sketch the way the water rippled over the rocks. Ilikea elbowed Lei in the ribs as they waited, definitely harder than necessary.

“So.” Lei rubbed the sore spot as Ili gave her bug eyes. “Do you think you’ll include rocks in your design?” She was grasping at conversational straws.

Kaukahi frowned and smudged a part of her drawing with her thumb before using the pencil tip again. “I mean, it has potential. But I’m sure creators say that about everything, even…” She looked up and gave Lei a quick once-over. “…things that haven’t reached their peak yet.” She turned back to her page.

Was that an insult? Everything that came out of her mouth kept Lei guessing.

“Hey, Ili,” Lei said, shaking it off and playing nice while looking through the trees for something volcano-y. “It sounds like Kaukahi is seeing potential in everything. Doesn’t that sound like something Kaipo used to say? Always find the good in everything? The potential for positive?”

“You know, you’re right, Lei. That really does sound like Kaipo. Wow, you definitely listened to your ʻaumakua and took his words to heart. I love that you’re quoting him even when he’s not around. What an awesome relationship you must have.”

Lei whirled to face Ilikea and dragged her flat hand across her throat in a slicing motion. Too much! Too obvious! Kaukahi would rip into them!

“Hey, let’s go see what’s up the trail!” Lei laughed nervously and jogged ahead, following the small footprints only to hit a dead end at a steep hill covered in vines. It extended as far as she could see to the left and right and was nearly vertical. “Wow, what a big hill. Have you ever seen a hill so big? It’s practically a cliff! Heh-heh, looks pretty sturdy.”

She patted it, a phony smile stretching her cheeks. Just act normal. As she leaned casually against the vine-covered hillside, a couple of rocks fell, scattering across the trail.

“Wait a minute.” Lei turned back to face the hill and parted the vines. It wasn’t solid! Lava rocks were piled up on top of one another, forming a stacked wall. She pulled a few more rocks down and made a hole. Cool air poured out, before pausing, then rushing back into the hole. After another beat, air released again, like the hole was breathing.

Unease crawled down Lei’s spine. “Ili, would you mind being the incredibly helpful friend that you are and flying up to take a look? I’ve got a feeling this might be the volcano.”

Ilikea began to soar, leaving Lei with Kaukahi.

With one eye on the bat’s flying form, Lei muttered, “Look, I get that you’re less than thrilled to be here with me, but for Ilikea’s sake, can you at least try not to suck?”

“I already told you, I don’t suck.”

“Potatoes,” Lei said, biting back a grin at the black-hole reference from earlier. The girl’s memory demanded a grudging respect.

Ili came back down, putting a pause on further conversation. “I have good news and…what is the word that teachers use now instead of bad news? Opportunities?”

“Give us the good news,” said Lei.

“Congratulations, you’ve found a volcano!”

“And the opportunity?” Kaukahi asked, very politely and without a hint of attitude. Lei half smiled in approval, and Kaukahi smirked. A brief moment of success.

“Well, there isn’t a trail visible up the hillside, and you’re lacking the proper appendages to make it up in any kind of reasonable time.” She gave her wings an extra flutter.

Lei sighed as the mountain breathed cool air on her neck. “Okay, if we can’t go up it, I guess the question is, what do we think? Could the pendant be inside?” She looked down at the footprints they’d trampled. Seems like someone else had visited this spot many times before, so it was a reasonable hypothesis. Was she seriously going to have to go into another cave?

Kaukahi fiddled with the thimble on her necklace, eyeing the wall of rock. “If the trail led us here, it’s as good a place to start as any.”

Having Lei’s own reasoning echoed back at her clinched it. She ran her hands along the stones, trying to find where the stacked wall ended and the solid cliff began.

Ilikea transformed back into a girl and took to Lei’s left, feeling the wall.

“I think I found the edge of the opening,” Kaukahi exclaimed from the right, her voice more excited than Lei’d ever heard it.

“Me too!” Ilikea said. “And, hoooeee, talk about a punch in the face—do you feel the mana? The pendant is in there or I’m a monk seal’s uncle.”

Lei couldn’t feel anything yet. “Follow those edges to the top if you can,” she said, her own fingers following the cracks upward until she was on her tiptoes.

“I can’t reach any higher,” said Kaukahi.

“Me neither,” said Ilikea, not nearly as excited this time.

Lei checked her watch. “It’s been about twenty minutes, should we head back and get on Kaipo to come here with us to clear this wall, or try clearing some of these rocks now?”

“Instead of going back and forth, let’s clear some of this now, then just go out to the beach to sleep tonight,” Kaukahi said, jumping to get another rock down.

Lei looked at Ilikea. “What do you think, Ili?” She made her eyes big and subtly cocked her head at Kaukahi.

Ilikea looked between them. She didn’t get it. Lei pointed at Kaukahi by rubbing her nose and finally it clicked.

“Oh…oh…I think Kaukahi makes an excellent point. We don’t want to waste a bunch of energy going back and forth more than we need to. Let’s just stay here a bit longer, then head to the beach for the night.”

Lei smiled. “Okay, you two. I can see you have similar thoughts.” She looked around them. “Here, use this big stone to stand and see if you can feel to the top of the opening.” Lei rolled the massive boulder closer to the wall.

A cracking sound in the trees had them whirl around.

“Who’s there?” Lei called, heart in her throat.

Silence greeted her. Huge silence. Even the birds and the wind were quiet. She swallowed.

“Aloha, ʻo Lei koʻu inoa,” she whispered. “I just want to help my ʻaumakua and then I’ll be out of here.”

After what felt like forever, the birds started up again and Lei let out a breath. Her legs were a bit unsteady as she pushed the boulder against the wall. “Okay, I guess we’ll just work as fast as we can then.”

Ilikea hopped up as Lei held the boulder still. She leaned heavily on the lava wall, tracing the edge with her fingers till it started sloping overhead, then finally back down again toward Kaukahi.

“Got it.”

“Great! See if you can pull out any stones from the top.”

Ilikea picked at the stone, causing dirt and dust to drift down into Lei’s eyes. She sputtered and closed them tightly.

“Kaukahi, you able to help her out?” Lei asked blindly.

“Yup, I’m meeting up with her on this side. Ooh, that was a big one. Nice, Ili.”

Lei stayed silent, letting them work together. After some time, Lei tapped on Ilikea’s foot and she hopped off the stone. The three of them stepped back to examine their handiwork. An opening about two feet tall and four feet wide was visible at the top of the piled rocks. It was low enough that Lei could just barely reach it without standing on her tiptoes. Ilikea wouldn’t have to balance on the boulder when they came back tomorrow to work some more.

“Right. Let’s go find boss and get some food. I’m starving.” Her muscles clenched at the thought of going back through the trees, not knowing who or what was watching them.

She marched quickly to the beach, trying to escape the sensation of hidden eyes creeping and crawling over her skin. The island wasn’t thrilled she was here. She could feel it gnawing at her naʻau, building up to something. But what was it?

Voicing her concerns would give fangs to the phantom sensation, so she stayed silent in the shade as Kaukahi and Ili fell in a tight line behind her, practically stepping on her heels in their own unspoken haste to get back into the open. Without breaking her stride, Kaukahi snapped pictures on a phone that she’d pulled from one of her plethora of pockets. At last, the trail breeched the line of trees back onto the white, sandy beach, warm in the glare of the late afternoon sun. The ocean was calm in the bay, a sparkling invitation of coolness after the hungry humidity of the jungle. Only thing missing from this picture was Kaipo.

Did the stick-snapping owners of the sandy footprints snatch him?

“It probably just got too hot and he needed to go find shade,” Ilikea suggested. Her reasoning made sense, but Lei was still twitchy.

“Or he got sick of the coddling and took off,” Kaukahi said.

Lei kept her face neutral, not wanting to give Kaukahi the satisfaction of knowing how much her words hurt.

“Ouch, want some cookies to go with that punch, Lei?” Ili’s mouth was pulled in a too-tight smile, her eyes darting between the girls.

“I’m good. Maybe Kaukahi’s right, he just needed space for a little bit.”

“Ooh, maybe Kaipo went up the cliff face he was by earlier,” Ilikea offered, her face clearing as she pointed toward the black stone. Lei could make out a bunch of sandcastles at the base of the rock where he and Makani had been playing. “We could go over there and see if we find him.”

“Helpful, as usual.” Lei gave a grateful smile, glad to have direction.

Kaukahi soundly ignored them. Ili’s face fell and Lei felt her pain. To have your own emotions so tied to someone else’s mood sucked. Following them around, hoping they’d pay attention, dreaming of the day they’d like you back and include you. Kaipo always paid attention to her when he had his pendant, but her friends from Colorado, like Ridley, had grown fickler.

Memories of the last few weeks of school filtered in. Following Ridley and Hennley around in a last-ditch effort to bridge the gap before summer started, asking if they’d watched the latest streaming show, seeing if they wanted to go to the amusement park the day after the last day of school like she and Ridley had always done, only to learn Ridley and Hennley had gone the previous weekend. It had crushed her. You couldn’t always control who you liked, and you couldn’t control other people liking you.

Lei blinked away the past and clapped a hand on Ili’s shoulder. “I’ll see if I can find him.”