The following morning, as they drove toward Volcano House, the air was still clear and full of winter light and tiny white puffy clouds. No sign of Japanese invasion, but in just two days’ time, a string of ‘o¯helo berry bushes on the lava had turned red and purple, heavy with ripe berries.
Lana remembered how the old Hawaiian woman who lived on the lodge grounds used to tell her and Rose not to pluck the berries on the way to Kīlauea or rain and fog would engulf them. You can pick once you get to the crater, but you must offer the first to Pele. None of the kids had known her name; everyone just called her Auntie. One of her eyes was pale blue, which gave her a haunted look.
The first time Lana had seen her, she felt her skin itch. The woman had interrupted them as they played on the wall outside of Volcano House. Her words scratched at the back of Lana’s mind. “We finally meet,” she had said, even though there were no introductions made.
Once she had left, Rose whispered, “What if she’s Pele?”
Coco and Marie were piled in the truck beside her, with Sailor in the back, howling for no apparent reason each time they came across a patch of open sky.
“She misses home,” Coco informed them.
“We all do, and that is perfectly understandable. But is there anything she likes about it here?” Lana asked.
From the side, Coco’s little nose turned up slightly and a peppering of pale freckles dotted her cheeks. Lana could almost hear her unique little mind ticking. “She likes the warm fireplace and the pasture with wild horses. Sailor has always wished she was a horse, so now she can get to know a few and pretend.”
Lana laughed. “Maybe we can make her some saddlebags.”
“She would love that!”
Lana felt herself wanting to do anything to keep Coco happy and hear that sweet tone in her voice. Maybe joy was catching, and all it required was a well-meaning heart and plenty of friendship. Maybe it was something that couldn’t be stamped out, even in the worst of times.
“When we go out to pick berries or gather honey, she can help transport,” Lana said.
“We’re going to do that?” Coco said, looking up at her with wide eyes.
“We have to keep ourselves busy somehow, don’t we?”
Marie added, “What about helping out with the war? On the radio last night, I heard they need volunteers to knit sweaters and socks and scarves or make bandages or to help spot Japanese submarines or ships.”
“You ladies know how to knit?” Lana said.
Both girls shook their heads. “Our mama said all good German girls should know how to knit, but then she taught us how to bake instead,” Marie said.
“Hilo is too hot for knitting,” Coco said.
Boy, was that the truth. “Jack never taught me, either.”
“What about your mama—how come she didn’t teach you?” Marie asked.
“My mother died when I was born, so Jack was my mom and dad all wrapped into one.” No matter how many times Lana had spoken those words, her heart iced over.
Coco turned. “What happened?”
I happened.
“There were complications with my birth, and they couldn’t stop the bleeding. She died a few hours later.”
“You mean you never knew her at all, like you were motherless?” Coco asked.
“I lived inside of her for nine months. I did know her, and I can still hear her when I close my eyes. I remember that after I came out, the nurses put me on her chest. My ear was over her heart and she was humming ‘The Queen’s Prayer’ in the most beautiful voice you’ve ever heard. When I first learned the song in school and came home and told Jack it was the same song Mama was humming before she died, he went white as a ghost.”
“How is that possible?” Marie said.
“For a long time, my father tried to convince himself that I had overheard him talking about the morning she died, even though he never shared it with anyone. But I had one other piece of proof.”
By now, Coco was sitting facing Lana with her mouth agape. “What was it?”
“I knew her final words.”
These were not the kinds of things Lana normally shared with people, but the girls deserved to know. They had lost their own mother, after all, if only for the moment.
Coco could not contain her curiosity. “Can you tell us what she said?”
“She whispered to my father, ‘She is my ha,’” Lana told them.
“What is ha?” Marie asked.
“It’s Hawaiian for life or breath.” The rattle of the truck got louder as they all sat quiet for a bit, Lana thinking about how she had managed all those years. “I know it might feel different right now, but there really is no such thing as being motherless. Whether they’re gone from this world or still alive, with you or not with you, it doesn’t mean they stop being your mother. It’s not something that is reversible. They are always right here.” She placed her hand over her heart and patted it a few times. A few beats later, Coco did the same.
They pulled onto the main road. Heading south, Lana questioned her choice in bringing the girls and passing them off as her own, adopted or not. Hawaii was a small place, and although no one up here knew her business, word had a way of traveling from one town to the next faster than you could say Halema‘uma‘u. But if they were going to stay for any length of time, she couldn’t leave them locked away in the house all day.
“Say, can you still see the crack in the sky?” she asked Coco.
Over the tops of the trees, an expanse of blue filled the windshield. Coco looked from left to right. “Not right now. I think you see it when you look up accidentally.”
“What exactly does it look like?” Lana asked.
Coco shrugged. “Hard to explain.”
Marie folded her arms and grunted. “That’s because there is no such thing as a crack in the sky, silly.”
“Let her finish. If she saw it, I believe her,” Lana said.
Marie mumbled something that Lana couldn’t hear.
“What was that?”
“Nothing.”
After that, Coco refused to speak until they pulled up to Volcano House. A thin trail of smoke rose from the chimney. Sailor jumped down as soon as they climbed out and ran a big figure eight in the parking area. There were several army vehicles in the lot, and Lana felt herself tense.
“Let’s go around,” she said, ushering them around the side of the building and down a rocky trail to the side that overlooked the massive crater.
As soon as Coco caught sight of Kīlauea, she started running to the overlook, ringlets bouncing like coiled springs. “Will we see an eruption?” she called back.
“She’s been quiet for a while, but you never know.”
“Why do you call it a she?” Marie asked.
“Everyone does. Probably because Kīlauea is the home of Madame Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire.”
“You don’t really believe in Pele, do you?”
This was something Lana had grappled with as a young girl. “I respect the ancient Hawaiian myths as stories to make sense of the world around them. As I see it, Pele represents Mother Nature herself. Volcanoes are awfully powerful. Remember what Mochi was saying last night?”
Marie looked skeptical. “About the spirit in places and things?”
“Exactly.”
“It seems to go against God.”
A pair of tiny ‘apapane swooped low, wings humming as they did a flyby. “God is nature, Marie. You can’t separate the two.”
Lana was no religious expert, but one thing she was sure of was that being in the salt water of the ocean or the warm green of the rain forest was as close to heaven as she’d ever felt.
When they caught up to Coco at the overlook, she asked, “Can we go down into the crater?”
“Not right now, but maybe one of these days.” They were all in their fine dresses, Lana in newly washed white, Coco in pink seersucker and Marie in a sea-blue number that matched her eyes.
The sound of a door closing behind them had all three swinging around. Uncle Theo walked down the steps. “Not just one beauty, but three today. Who do we have here?”
Lana introduced the girls. Marie greeted him with a smile, and Coco hardly noticed him; she was too busy trying to locate a route to the crater floor. “Does this trail lead to the bottom?” she asked, pointing to a narrow break in the uluhe fern.
“That’s for pigs and menehune,” Uncle Theo said. “The one we use is over there toward the steam vents, and it takes you on the World’s Weirdest Walk.”
Coco looked intrigued. “Why is it called that? And are there really menehune here?”
He winked at Lana. “You’ll have to see for yourself, my dear.”
Coco bounced up and down on her tippy toes, and Lana had the thought that she might tear off on her own and follow the switchback to the crater floor in search of miniature Hawaiian men and molten lava. “Let’s go inside, shall we?”
Sailor was allowed in, too, and promptly made herself comfortable in front of the fireplace. All stretched out, she was longer than the hearth itself. Given the chance, Uncle Theo would never stop talking, and he explained to the girls about the fire that had never gone out and which famous people had visited in recent years. Lana stared into the flames, happy that someone else was there to answer the endless questions.
“What about now that the war is here and we have blackout?” Marie asked.
“We can close off this great room.”
Coco piped in. “Like our house. We almost froze to death two nights ago. Especially—”
Lana swore the next word out of her mouth would be Mochi, and so she cut her off. “Poor Coco, her lips were blue in the morning. Even with Sailor for warmth. She hasn’t a lick of body fat to keep her warm.”
“We can help with that. Do you like macaroni and cheese?” Uncle Theo said, bushy mustache covering up a smile.
“Yes!”
“And pie?”
“Yes!” both girls said in unison.
Men’s voices drifted out of the dining area, and Lana caught herself listening for one in particular. Theo led them all in, and when they reached the entryway, Lana spotted a group of uniformed men circled around a table at the far end of the room. All conversation ceased when Lana and the girls walked in. Heat pricked the back of her neck, and she made a point not to look their way again.
At the nearest window table, Lana stopped. “Can we sit here?”
Every other table was empty.
“Make yourselves at home. I’ll let the kitchen know you’re here. Obviously we aren’t doing a regular menu, but I bribed a few ranger wives to come in and cook for us. And I might be able to sneak a scrap or two for the big fella,” said Uncle Theo.
“Sailor is a girl,” Coco said.
Theo smacked his forehead. “Ah, forgive me.”
The chairs were plush and the view magnificent, but the giant room felt oddly empty and quiet. She imagined it bustling with visitors from all corners of the earth. Coco sat quietly with her hands in her lap. Instead of looking out at the view, her eyes were on the door.
“Are you okay, sweetie?” Lana asked.
Coco appeared not to hear.
“Mausi?” Marie said.
Coco returned from wherever she’d gone off to in her mind. “I’m fine.”
Lana faced the window, but her left cheek buzzed and her neck felt a strong urge to turn toward the table with the men. Not looking was taking so much effort that she finally relented. When she glanced over, her eyes found Major Bailey straightaway. The thick brown hair with its slight wave, strong chin, big hands. Even the sight of his profile made her slightly light-headed. There were four other men at the table, all sitting behind a curtain of cigarette smoke. They still had food on their plates and they looked deep in conversation. Good. Maybe the meeting would drag on so Lana and the girls could slip out before the men were done.
Coco excused herself to use the restroom, and Lana explained to Marie about Mauna Loa, which was spectacularly clear from where they were sitting, and how it was a different volcano from Kīlauea. People claimed that Mauna Loa—Hawaiian for “long mountain”—was the largest volcano on earth. Sitting there, feeling very small in its shadow, one could see why.
“Both are active, but Kīlauea is a lot easier to get to. You’d have to hike up thirteen thousand feet where the air is thin and there’s nothing but jagged lava for miles.”
“You’ve been?”
“Nope. My father has, though. He said it was the longest night of his life. Numb from cold and sick from altitude, he had to nearly crawl back down in the morning.”
“It sounds horrendous. Why would anyone want to go up there?” Marie asked.
“Human nature, I suppose. Men love a challenge.”
Lana looked over at Major Bailey again. Now he turned in time to catch her watching him. He smiled and tipped his glass. Several hundred moths took flight in her chest. She smiled back, and before she knew it, her hand was up and waving like an eager schoolgirl.
Marie followed her gaze. “Who is that?”
“No one.”
“He doesn’t look like no one,” Marie said with her lips curled up.
“What do you mean?”
“Your face is bright red, for one. And the way he smiled at you? You must know him.”
Lana took several gulps of water, spilling some down the front of her dress. “Hardly. I met him the other day when I fell off the bike. He gave me a ride. Say, where’s Coco?”
“With her, there’s no telling.”
Lana stood. “I’m going to check.”
Just outside the door and to the left was a bamboo hostess stand. Lana passed by and then did a double take. There was Coco, standing behind the stand with a phone to her ear. Her back was to Lana.
“I just want to talk to my parents,” she was saying.
Lana ran over, grabbed the phone and slammed it down. “What are you doing?” she cried.
Coco turned beet red and fought back tears. “I was calling my mama and papa.”
“I told you we would call them after lunch. Together. Who was that?” Lana said.
“Mr. London.”
She should have seen this coming. “Did you tell him where we were?”
“He said he could take us to them.”
She knelt down and grabbed Coco by the shoulders, looking into her watery eyes. “What did you tell him, sweetie? I need to know.”
“Nothing. I just said I want to talk to them.”
Marie came running around the corner. “What is it?”
“She called home and was talking to Mr. London.”
Coco pleaded, wringing her little hands. “But he said he can take us to them. He knows important people.”
Mr. London was the kind of man who could seamlessly lie to a child. “You let me do the calling, and if I feel like he’s telling the truth, we will go right away to see your parents.”
“Why would he lie?”
So he can have two beautiful young girls under his thumb?
“Who knows, but he could get us all in trouble, and even worse, separated. I don’t trust him.”
Marie stood beside Lana with her arms folded. “Neither do I.”
Just then a figure in khakis walked out the door. Lana hardly noticed, until he spoke. “Do you ladies need some help here?”
Lana pulled Coco in to her side. “Oh, hello, Major. We were just borrowing the telephone, since we don’t have one at the house.”
“These your girls?”
“They are. We took them in when their parents died.” She squeezed Coco’s shoulder when she spoke the word died.
“Sorry to hear that, but I imagine they’re lucky to have you,” he said.
He stuck out his hand to Coco. She stared at it for a moment and then reached out and shook, her tiny hand pale against his olive skin. “A pleasure to meet you. I’m Major Bailey, but you can call me Grant.”
“Are you in the war?” she asked him.
“You could say that. I’m part of the United States Army, which makes me active duty,” he said.
“Do you know important things?”
Once again, Lana worried where this was headed and was about to interrupt, when Marie stepped in. “Hello, I’m Marie. My little sis here would ask you questions all day if she could. I’m sure you have more important business to attend to.”
Grant grinned. “Trust me, seeing the three of you gals is a burst of sunshine. And to answer your question, Coco, I do know a thing or two. What did you want to know?”
Lana held her breath. No matter how many times she had coached the girls about what to say and what not to say, she got the feeling that Coco would give voice to whatever came to her at the moment. But Coco was no longer looking at Grant’s face. Instead her eyes were focused on his smooth inner forearm, which Lana noticed for the first time was covered in a finely drawn tattoo.
“I want to know about the horses on your arm,” Coco said.
He held his arm out. Lana was not a fan of tattoos, but the sketch of three horses galloping in a line was more like artwork on skin. So simple, and yet the horses seemed to be moving across his arm. Coco reached out and touched the first horse.
“In my other life, I was a cowboy in Wyoming. Horses were my thing, so when I joined the army, I had these beauties inked onto my arm,” he said, sounding like a proud father.
Coco took her hand away, and without thinking, Lana touched the first horse and traced her fingers across the others. Grant shivered. Lana yanked her hand away in embarrassment. “I’m sorry. It’s just so beautiful,” she said.
Grant held her gaze for a second too long. “Sorry for what?”
She looked away and didn’t answer, heart galloping wildly.
Coco seemed wound up, too, speaking so fast her words overlapped. “I found a horse yesterday down by our house, actually a few horses, but one that I really like. Her name is ‘Ohelo and she told me she wants to be friends.”
He chuckled. “I’ll bet she does. Horses make great friends. And you know what?” he said.
“What?”
“Once you earn their trust, they never forget you.”
“Like people,” Coco said.
“Tell me, what does this ‘Ohelo look like?”
Coco pointed. “Just like that last horse on your arm. She’s small and black and delicate, with an extra-long tail. And she has a sore knee.”
Grant scratched his chin. “I think I know that horse. We were calling her Minnie, on account of her being so small. Spooks easily and afraid of people. How do you know her knee hurts?”
“I just do.”
“Fair enough. Did she let you get near her?”
“Kind of.”
“Then you must be pretty special.”
Coco shrugged. Lana was about to usher the girls away when Coco said, “Can you come teach us how to be cowboys?”
Marie shot Lana a worried look. Explaining why they had a Japanese man and his son living with them would be tricky, at best.
“Major Bailey is busy bolstering up our defenses in case of an invasion, so let’s let him do his job. Now is not the time to play cowboy,” Lana said.
Grant said, “Actually, I would love to.”
“I appreciate your kindness, sir, but we have other things to focus on.”
“Like what?” Coco whined.
Just this morning her mind had been stuffed full of worries, like how to keep Mochi alive and how to reach the Wagners and how soon another attack might come. But standing here now, she couldn’t come up with one darned thing to say.
Thankfully the two younger soldiers walked out of the dining hall and stopped for introductions. They had freshly clipped hair, pressed uniforms and a bit of swagger in their steps. Maybe Grant would drop the cowboy idea and leave with them. Both guys were tripping over each other to shake hands with Marie, who was probably the only blonde this side of Hilo. After a few minutes of chitchat, the soldiers moved on.
Grant stayed put. “What you said earlier, about me being busy, that’s true. But when I start something, I like to see it through. Truth be told, we could actually use the horses for patrol along the pali. I could get them rounded up and check on ‘Ohelo if she’ll let me. The last stretch of fencing needs to be put up, too.”
Coco jumped up and down. “I could be your helper.”
“No,” Lana said, more forcefully than she meant to.
Grant persisted. “I swear I won’t get in your way at all.”
“Major—”
He held up his hand. “Look, I know you don’t want to impose on me, but think of it as helping in the war effort and doing me a favor, honest to goodness.” He put his hand on his chest. “I miss the ranch something fierce. This way I can sneak away and get my cowboy fix. Not to mention making a pretty little girl’s day.”
Coco beamed up at him. How could Lana say no to that? There were no rules that said she had to invite Major Bailey into the house, were there? Maybe Mochi could stay indoors and they could concoct a story about Benji, say he lived nearby and was helping out. It was foolish and she knew she ought to put her foot down and keep him at a safe distance. But.
“I can see you’re used to getting your way,” she said, feeling more than a little flustered.
“No comment,” he said with a wink.
“Can you come tomorrow?” Coco asked.
“Not tomorrow, but Saturday. Will that work?”
This was a losing proposition. “Fine. We’ll see you at 9:00 a.m. sharp,” Lana said.
That gave her two days to figure out how to steel herself against his charms. Surely he had someone waiting at home. Though he wore no ring. Not that she meant to be nosy, but it would have been impossible not to notice, especially when their hands had been mashed together. Truth be told, he had been entering her thoughts more than she liked.
“Saturday it is,” he said with a huge grin.
Lunch went on without a hitch. Coco stuffed herself nearly sick with baked macaroni and cheese, Sailor was escorted outside to gnaw on a cow knuckle bone, and Uncle Theo came back to sit with them for the remainder of the meal. When it was time for goodbyes, he whispered in Lana’s ear, “Major Bailey is good stock. Your father admired him.”