[Lady Justice 03] - Lady Justice Gets Lei'd

by Robert Thornhill

  There was, of course, no electricity or sanitary facilities. There was a spigot, but the sign above it read, “Water is not potable.”

  Swell!

  “It certainly isn’t the Motel Six,” I said.

  “Walt, you take me to the nicest places for our honeymoon.”

  At least she hadn’t lost her sense of humor.

  I looked around outside and saw a stack of firewood and kindling.

  “Okay, Boy Scout,” Maggie said, “let’s see you rub two sticks together and get this thing going.”

  “I don’t know about sticks, but I can think of something I’d like to rub together to get some heat going.”

  “In your dreams, Buster.”

  You can’t blame a guy for trying.

  We found two matches in the wooden cabinet. I gathered dry leaves and tiny twigs and built a little tee-pee. We held our breath as I struck the first match and held it to the tinder.

  The tinder smoked, and with a few well-placed breaths, a tiny flame ignited. The twigs caught, and soon we were sitting beside a roaring fire.

  It’s absolutely amazing that when all the trappings of modern society are stripped away and you are left with just the basic elements needed to sustain life, if you are with the one you love, it is enough.

  We sat in the light of the campfire, and I pulled the roll of Lifesavers from my pocket. “Mango or coconut?” I asked. “Oh, wait. I’ll take the first one. It’s covered with pocket lint.”

  We sucked on our supper wishing we had something tall and cold to drink, and soon, it was as if some genie had granted our wish.

  The lightning flashed, thunder rolled, and rain fell in torrents.

  We made a dash for the cabin, and I placed an old tin cup on the step to catch the precious liquid.

  I would have guessed that the bare springs of the old bed would be unbearably uncomfortable, but we were so exhausted and spent that we were out like a light the minute we lay down together.

  When we awoke, the sun was pouring in the window of the cabin. I tried to move, but my old body said, “No!” I felt like I had been run over by a semi, but at least we were alive.

  We pried our aching bodies off the cot, ate our last two Lifesavers, and drank deeply of the precious rainwater. We started down the trail that would eventually take us to the coastal highway.

  As the trail descended, the vegetation became more lush, and soon we were surrounded by a forest not unlike the one from which we had been taken.

  To Maggie’s delight, we found another stalk of ripe bananas and wolfed down two each.

  We had just rounded a bend in the trail when we came face to face with a huge hound. He seemed to be as surprised as we were, and we just stood there looking at each other.

  He bared his teeth and started advancing toward us with a low growl.

  “Don’t move a muscle,” I whispered.

  The dog would advance a few steps and stop and then advance a few more steps. He was about fifteen feet from us when two Hawaiian men bearing rifles came into view. The first one gave a command in Hawaiian, and the big dog sat back on his haunches.

  I remembered what Liho had said, so I thought I would give it a try.

  “You guys hunting pigs?”

  He thought for a minute. “Ugh, yes, pigs.”

  He looked first at me and then even longer at Maggie, and then he turned to his companion. They spoke to each other in Hawaiian.

  He turned back to me and said, “The Old One said you would be coming. You will come with us.”

  “Oh no, not again,” I thought.

  When we didn’t move, he spoke again, “You are Hualani, and we must take you to the Old One. You will be safe.”

  I looked at Maggie. “We’ve come this far. Let’s see how it plays out.”

  We followed the men down the trail to an old jeep.

  He motioned for us to get in the back, and the old dog jumped in after us. He stuck his snout in my crotch, sniffed, and, seemingly satisfied, laid his head in my lap.

  I wasn’t about to argue.

  We drove down the mountain to the coastal highway, turned left, and drove through the little village of Hana.

  After about an hour, we turned off the main highway onto a side road. The sign said, “Nahiku,” and the road seemed to descend slowly to the rocky coast below.

  We pulled off the paved road and followed a gravel road several hundred yards back through the jungle. We came to a small house in a clearing. The jeep came to a halt, and we were directed toward the cottage.

  The door swung open, and to my surprise, out stepped—Nathan!

  CHAPTER 19

  Welcome, friends,” he said. “I thought we would be seeing each other again. Come in. You must be starving and dry as a bone. Here, sit. I’ll get you something to eat and drink.”

  I stared in amazement. In my wildest dreams I would never have guessed that I would ever see again the old man whose bicycle I had stolen.

  In a few moments, he returned with pulled pork, fruit, and tall glasses of ice water. We ravenously attacked the meal provided by our host. Nothing so simple had ever tasted so good.

  After the food had taken the edge off of our hunger,

  I turned to Nathan. “The men who brought us here said you knew we would be coming. How?”

  “It’s very simple, Walter. Raymond and Ronald Kalakoa were good friends of mine. He called me after your visit to the art gallery. I will miss them very much.”

  “Then I guess you know that they were killed by Buddy and Daniel Kalakoa.”

  “Such a tragedy. The ideologies that divide my people, that divide families, are not unlike your Civil War.”

  “This is all about sovereignty, isn’t it? The restoration of the old Hawaiian kingdom?”

  “Yes, that and more. There are those who believe that the lands taken from our people should be returned as well.”

  “Since we’re sitting here enjoying your hospitality, would it be safe to assume that your sympathies lie with Uncle Ray?”

  “I am sympathetic to both sides, but I am also a pragmatist. I totally understand the loss felt by those seeking sovereignty, but I also know the chances that our land will be returned are about as great as the island of Manhattan being returned to the Indians.

  “Do I wish that things could have been different? Absolutely! But as the old saying goes, ‘You can’t un-ring a bell.’

  “The majority of the kanaka believe as Uncle Ray, his brother, and I believe. It is what it is, and we can’t change it. So we must make the best of what we have.

  We must educate our children and pass on the history of our culture. Artifacts of our ancestors should be proudly displayed to tell our story to the world, not hidden to wither away into dust.”

  “And what of the return to the ‘old ways’? Maggie and I were to be sacrificed to appease the goddess Pele, who was angered by the removal of the artifacts.”

  “Gods do not get angry. Men get angry, and they justify their acts of aggression by creating gods and bestowing them with human emotions.”

  “I can see how that might apply to the gods of the early Polynesians, but I noticed when you were preaching on Front Street that you were quoting the Bible. Isn’t the God depicted there angry and vengeful?”

  “Indeed he is, and it’s really no different. You see, there’s an order to things in nature. Some years there is drought; some years there are floods; some years insects overrun crops, and so it goes. Why do these things happen? Even today with all our knowledge, we cannot predict or alter that which nature brings.

  “Imagine the early Polynesians or the early Hebrews. For lack of understanding or a better explanation, a crop failure must be the work of a powerful supreme being who is angered.”

  “So are you saying that you don’t believe in a higher power?”

  “Not at all. Just look around you, from the tiniest creature to the vastness of the universe above. It is amazing to me that there are those who believe t
hat all we see came to be by accident alone. But again, because of our lack of understanding, we have limited our vision of creation to that which we know.

  “I do not believe that the demi-god Maui pulled the Hawaiian Islands from the ocean floor, nor do I believe that all that is in the heaven and earth was created in seven days.”

  “And what about the return to the old kapu social order?”

  “Every society has rules that must be followed if it is to survive. When my ancestors settled these islands, they soon discovered that there were certain things that should be done and certain things that must not be done, and the survival of the entire population depended on everyone following the rules. Their very existence was so precarious that violators were put to death.

  “Is that so different from the Ten Commandments that Moses brought to his people? The difference being that the punishment for breaking those rules was a spiritual death.

  “But all that was for a different day and time. Today, we also have commandments that must be adhered to if we are to live together peacefully. There are laws to be followed and punishment for those who break them.”

  “Okay, one last question. How does this fit into the scheme of things?” I pulled the little obsidian lizard out of my pocket.

  “Ah, mo’o’ala, your aumakua. Has he been helpful to you?”

  “Well, yeah. Actually he … I guess the first time … then later … and when we were in the cave … ”

  “Hard to explain, isn’t it? Walter, I am just an old man, and I don’t have all the answers. All I know is that there are forces in nature beyond our understanding, and wise is the man that quietly listens to the promptings of that which is more powerful than himself.”

  Maggie had been sitting quietly listening to Nathan and me trying to solve the mysteries of the universe. Tiring of our musings, she brought our immediate situation into focus.

  “Okay, guys, that’s all well and good, but we were just kidnapped by political zealots, drugged, and left to die in a cave inside a volcano. Where do we go from here?”

  “Ah, my dear. I am just an old windbag. Such matters are better left to the experts.”

  Just then there was a knock at the door, and Detective Harry Chinn entered the room.

  “Well, well, Walt and Maggie. I understand that you two have had quite an adventure.”

  “Harry, how did you know—”

  “My wife is Nathan’s niece. He keeps me in the loop. Why don’t you start from the beginning at the gallery in Kansas City and tell me everything that’s happened up till now.”

  Maggie and I shared all that we knew about the artifacts, the murders, and our abduction and escape.

  When we had finished, our story sounded unbelievable even to us.

  “We figured from the beginning that all of this was the work of the sovereignty group,” Harry said, “but we just didn’t have any hard evidence to link them to any specific act, until now. They assumed that their admission to you would be safe. After all, you’d soon be dead.”

  “So what now?” I asked.

  “I know you want to get back to the hotel and your friends and continue your honeymoon, but we need to stop at the station in Kahului to take your statement. As soon as that is on paper, we’ll have enough to arrest the Kalakoas. If they go back to the cave and find you missing, they just might bolt.”

  “Our friends!” I shouted. “What happened to Willie and Mary after our abduction? I was so wrapped up in our mess that I completely forgot about them. They must be going crazy.”

  “When you didn’t return from your little hike, Liho called and reported you missing. We immediately sent out a search party, but, of course, you had been taken from the area. Liho drove your friends back to the hotel. They were understandably upset. I had to threaten to lock up your friend Mary. She was insisting that they be allowed to join the search party. That’s all we needed was two more tourists roaming around in the rainforest. She finally gave in.

  “We’ve had Liho keeping an eye on them. When Nathan notified us of your arrival, we let them know you are safe.”

  We thanked Nathan for his hospitality and headed to Kahului to give our statements. That being done, Detective Chinn assigned an officer to drive us back across the island to our hotel. His final words as we drove away were, “Thanks to you both. By the time you are back to your hotel, the Kalakoas will be under arrest.”

  Weary and worn, we headed to our room, but we stopped on the way to see Willie and Mary. We knocked, but there was no answer.

  “Must be on the beach,” I muttered. We walked across the path and looked in both directions, but no

  Willie and Mary.

  “Let’s try by the pool,” Maggie suggested.

  We trudged back to the pool and then looked around the tiki bar, but our friends were nowhere to be seen. Deciding they must have gone to Lahaina to shop, we returned to our room for a hot shower and a well-deserved rest.

  Just as we opened the door, the phone rang.

  “Walt, this is Harry. They have Willie and Mary.”

  CHAPTER 20

  “What are you talking about?” I asked. “Who has them?”

  The Kalakoas. Somehow they learned of your escape and probably figured that with your testimony the jig was up. It would only be a matter of time until the cops came calling. But the puzzler is why did they snatch your friends instead of making a run for it?”

  “So what about Willie and Mary? Did they tell you where they’re holding them?”

  “Nope. They won’t tell us a thing right now. But here’s the weird part: they say they’ll cop to everything but they have to talk to Hualani first. They’re insisting that they must talk to Maggie.”

  “Not a chance! I don’t want Maggie anywhere close to those crazy bastards.”

  “Well, it’s your call, but it may be the only way we can locate your friends.”

  “Let me talk to Maggie, and I’ll call you back.”

  Maggie sat and listened dumbfounded. “I just don’t get this whole ‘Hualani’ thing. It nearly got us killed, and now our friends are in danger. We can’t just go to bed and do nothing. I don’t want to see those guys any more than you do, but we’ve got to put an end to this. Let’s shower and clean up and get it over with.”

  I called Detective Chinn and told him to send a car for us. As my grandmother used to say, “There’s no rest for the weary.”

  Harry met us at the station and led us to an interview room where the Kalakoas were being held under guard. We all found seats around the table, and Harry turned to the Kalakoas. “Okay, you got what you wanted. Now spill it.”

  Daniel just sat quietly, looking at both of us, then finally spoke. “We underestimated you, Hualani, and your Kamamalu. We should have known that one that carries the blood of an alii would be a worthy adversary.”

  “Cut the crap, Daniel,” Maggie retorted. “I’m really tired of all this ‘Hualani’ business. I’m not a princess or royalty. I’m just an ordinary woman who’s sick of your bullshit! Now where are our friends?”

  Daniel just smiled condescendingly. “You are who you are, and nothing can change that. You have a destiny to fulfill, and you will do so with our help.”

  “It doesn’t look like you’re in any position to make demands,” Harry interjected.

  “Ah, but you’re forgetting about their friends. If they want to see them again, you will all cooperate. We too have a destiny to fulfill. When we learned of your escape, we knew that their safe return would ensure your full cooperation.”

  I turned to Buddy. “How can you do this? After all we’ve been through. And to murder your grandfather and uncle—what could be so important to warrant all of this?”

  “I would not expect you to understand,” he replied.

  “My people have had everything taken from them— their land, their form of government, their religion, and their self-respect. We do what we do to honor our ancestors and to restore the Hawaiian kingdom to its former gre
atness. Our cause is greater than family or friends, and no one must stand in our way.

  “You have never lived where your homeland has been taken over by strangers from across the sea that impose their laws and ways on your people. Until you have lived it, you will never understand it.”

  “So the ends justify the means, no matter what the cost?”

  “In revolution, there is sacrifice. There is a price to pay for the greater good.”

  “You asked for our cooperation for the safe return of our friends. What is it you want?”

  “My father and his brother foolishly removed the bones of our alii from their resting place and angered the gods,” Daniel said. “They paid with their lives, but Pele will only be appeased with the blood of royalty. Hualani must offer a blood sacrifice to save her friends.”

  This was just too much, and I reached across the table and grabbed Daniel by the throat. Harry was on me in a flash and pulled me back into my chair.

  A startled but smiling Daniel rubbed his neck. “So my American friend has passion too. Such a rash act.

  Did the end justify the means?”

  I had played right into his hands.

  “You reacted too soon, my friend,” Daniel continued. “You did not let me explain. We are not asking for Hualani to give her life, just some blood and a lock of her hair. We will take these to the cave and offer a sacrifice to Pele. Then we will release your friends.”

  Harry jumped to his feet. “If you think we’re going to let you go, you’re out of your mind.”

  “Of course not. You will take us there in your custody, we will offer our sacrifice, and our work will be done. There are others to carry on our cause.”

  “So if Maggie is willing to part with some blood and a lock of hair and Harry is willing to take you to the cave, you will make your offering, remain in custody, and tell us where you’re holding Willie and Mary? Is that the deal?”

  “That is the deal.”

  “And if we refuse?”

  “Your friends mean nothing to us. There are places in the rainforest that no man has ever seen.”