reasons for lying had seemed so selfless and high-minded at the time. But deep down, had she cared more about protecting her brother’s secret than telling her best friend the truth? Perhaps she’d been afraid that Claude Ann would hate Lucien and hate her by association. And did she really and truly believe that Claude Ann would have fallen apart on the news that her boyfriend was gay? Today such an idea seemed melodramatic, an insult to Claude Ann’s intelligence and resilience. There must have been extenuating circumstances. Dinah just couldn’t remember them at the moment. Good grief, who knew what anyone had been thinking ten years ago? The Past was a galaxy far, far away and the things the natives thought and did there defied present-day comprehension.
She put out her cigarette. She should go out onto the lanai and soak up her thousand dollar view, but the blue sky clashed with her black mood. She flumped onto the bed, and opened the book of myths at random to a chapter titled The Uses of Mana.
The pre-Christianized Hawaiians, like most preliterate peoples, believed in the inherent spiritual power, mana, of all persons and all things. The royals were infused at birth with more mana than commoners, but everyone and everything emanated some degree of spiritual force, either for good or evil. Death did not dispel or diminish the power of mana. The bones of the dead, especially those of the kings, retained such a potent mana that they imparted an almost godlike power to whomever possessed them. Family members kept the bones of their dead and carved them into talismans, which could be used by their owners either to ward off harm from themselves or to inflict harm on someone else. Since the ancestor’s mana belonged to every member of the household, the power to hex belonged to everyone. Anyone could send pilikia, the Hawaiian word for trouble, to anyone else for any reason.
The telephone rang. Please God, no more pilikia. And don’t let the rock expert be an earlybird. “Hello.”
“It’s me. Come quick. It’s an emergency.”
“What kind of…?”
“My suite. Hurry.”
“Claudy…?”
The line went dead and Dinah leapt off the bed. Had something happened to Marywave? Had Eleanor Kalolo firebombed Xander’s office? She ran out the door and tore down the hall. Claude Ann’s suite was at the end of the hall, one floor down. She reached the elevators and jammed all of the down buttons. The doors didn’t open and she didn’t wait. She ran to the stairs and, in a blind rush, took them two at a time.
The door to Claude Ann’s suite stood ajar and she pushed inside, panting. “What?”
Claude halted in mid-stride and spun to face her. “I’ve been burgled.”
“Dear God! Not the Vera Wang.”
“My gun.”
Dinah stared at her, speechless.
“Somebody took Grandpa Hollis’ Beretta out of my train case.”
Dinah knew the weapon. She could recite the inscription on the barrel by heart. R Beretta Mo 1934 Brevet. Hollis Albright had confiscated it from an Italian officer during World War II. In his dotage, he showed off his prize to everyone who walked through his door and endlessly repeated the story of how he’d overpowered the Italian to take it.
“Why,” asked Dinah, “did you bring a gun with you to Hawaii?”
“I’m not used to gallivantin’ around the world by myself like you are, smartypants. I wanted some protection. With that Eleanor skulkin’ around, it made me feel safer.”
“You obviously thought you needed protection before you met Eleanor. Is it because you’re afraid of Hank?”
“The only thing I fear from Hank is a sermon.”
“Have you notified hotel management? They should call the police. Is the Beretta registered?”
“Georgia doesn’t require people to register their guns.”
“The feds do. And I’m guessing that anyone who brings a firearm into the State of Hawaii is required to register it pretty damn quick.”
“Then it’s not registered. Sheesh.
She put out her cigarette. She should go out onto the lanai and soak up her thousand dollar view, but the blue sky clashed with her black mood. She flumped onto the bed, and opened the book of myths at random to a chapter titled The Uses of Mana.
The pre-Christianized Hawaiians, like most preliterate peoples, believed in the inherent spiritual power, mana, of all persons and all things. The royals were infused at birth with more mana than commoners, but everyone and everything emanated some degree of spiritual force, either for good or evil. Death did not dispel or diminish the power of mana. The bones of the dead, especially those of the kings, retained such a potent mana that they imparted an almost godlike power to whomever possessed them. Family members kept the bones of their dead and carved them into talismans, which could be used by their owners either to ward off harm from themselves or to inflict harm on someone else. Since the ancestor’s mana belonged to every member of the household, the power to hex belonged to everyone. Anyone could send pilikia, the Hawaiian word for trouble, to anyone else for any reason.
The telephone rang. Please God, no more pilikia. And don’t let the rock expert be an earlybird. “Hello.”
“It’s me. Come quick. It’s an emergency.”
“What kind of…?”
“My suite. Hurry.”
“Claudy…?”
The line went dead and Dinah leapt off the bed. Had something happened to Marywave? Had Eleanor Kalolo firebombed Xander’s office? She ran out the door and tore down the hall. Claude Ann’s suite was at the end of the hall, one floor down. She reached the elevators and jammed all of the down buttons. The doors didn’t open and she didn’t wait. She ran to the stairs and, in a blind rush, took them two at a time.
The door to Claude Ann’s suite stood ajar and she pushed inside, panting. “What?”
Claude halted in mid-stride and spun to face her. “I’ve been burgled.”
“Dear God! Not the Vera Wang.”
“My gun.”
Dinah stared at her, speechless.
“Somebody took Grandpa Hollis’ Beretta out of my train case.”
Dinah knew the weapon. She could recite the inscription on the barrel by heart. R Beretta Mo 1934 Brevet. Hollis Albright had confiscated it from an Italian officer during World War II. In his dotage, he showed off his prize to everyone who walked through his door and endlessly repeated the story of how he’d overpowered the Italian to take it.
“Why,” asked Dinah, “did you bring a gun with you to Hawaii?”
“I’m not used to gallivantin’ around the world by myself like you are, smartypants. I wanted some protection. With that Eleanor skulkin’ around, it made me feel safer.”
“You obviously thought you needed protection before you met Eleanor. Is it because you’re afraid of Hank?”
“The only thing I fear from Hank is a sermon.”
“Have you notified hotel management? They should call the police. Is the Beretta registered?”
“Georgia doesn’t require people to register their guns.”
“The feds do. And I’m guessing that anyone who brings a firearm into the State of Hawaii is required to register it pretty damn quick.”
“Then it’s not registered. Sheesh.
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