as the kids kicked it, its once-vibrant colors dulled and battered from hard play and exposure to the tropical sun. It kept tumbling out of reach because their laughter and undeveloped gross motor skills made them adorably clumsy.
A pang of longing gripped my chest. Not from wanting children. Definitely not. But because I craved the release of laughter and moments of carefree fun. It had been too long since I’d played.
I slipped my phone into a zippered pocket of my shorts, tucked my handbag under the seat, and faced my grandfather’s house. Time for me to put my ESP skills to work and find out what Kahuna Aukele had done with Millie and Harlan. Not that I expected to find much here, but I had to check.
Noon sun beat down on me as I trudged along the road beside my grandfather’s house. The usual island breeze had faded to nothing and a sleek layer of sweat coated my skin. I should have grabbed one of Annie’s floppy-brimmed hats and some sunscreen, but I’d been focused on escape from the Terrible Trio, not on protecting myself from the elements.
I avoided the front stoop, and looped around the side of Aukele’s house, where a massive wall of lush green plants stopped me cold. The mini jungle appeared to be about ten feet tall, so dense I couldn’t see through it, and it was covered with a plethora of colorful blooms. The heavy scent tasted deliciously sweet in my dry mouth. Why had I neglected to stop somewhere for a bottle of water? I swallowed, facing the task in front of me with equal parts determination and trepidation.
Closing my eyes, I let my mind drift beyond the obvious. Why would a talented Kahuna have an inaccessible back yard? Duh. To hide stuff, of course. Dropping more deeply into meditation, I spread my mental doors wide open and hoped for inspiration, answers or—in my best-case fantasy scenario—a yellow brick road.
No go. The size of the jungle wall should have been an effective deterrent to exploring, but something kept me from backing away. Maybe the answers were here, and not at my grandmother’s homestead.
I huffed out an annoyed sigh, reached for a cluster of purple flowers hanging from a huge bougainvillea, and stroked the velvet petals with my fingertips—careful to avoid the hidden thorns. When in doubt, always trust the ESP fingers.
Sure enough, I could get in, only the directions looked more like a tapestry of knotted threads than a highlighted path. It would be dumb to try and push through the heavy growth of plants blocking my way. I’d end up with enough scratches and gashes to rival an abstract artist’s worst day. There had to be an easy way past this barricade.
I wandered along the edge of the property, focusing on the ground as I hunted for something, anything, that looked out of place, until the top of my head bumped smack into a neighbor’s fence.
“Ouch.” It sounded like a curse, all wrong against the quiet of the late tropical morning. Heaving out another sigh, I tipped my head back and scanned the clouds. “A clue would be good here,” I mumbled to whatever gods and goddesses were in charge of impregnable foliage. My grandmother had done a much better job of leaving images around her homestead for easy ESP fingertip access. Grandfather had a lot to learn about subliminal image communication.
My pocket vibrated. “Thank you for the timely distraction that may well keep me from insanity,” I said, unzipping my pocket and palming my cell. Gray letters flashed at me from a talk bubble. Mitch. Not so much sanity-saving as insanity-inciting. But at least it provided a break from Aukele’s puzzling mini jungle.
Arrival tomorrow. You at Annie’s?
Would I still be at Annie’s, or did I want to move myself to a beachfront hotel on Waikiki? Tempting. But a move would probably backfire. One of the Terrible Trio would knock me out and insert a tracking device under my skin if I moved out of Annie’s house. Or worse, they’d take turns hanging out in my hotel
A pang of longing gripped my chest. Not from wanting children. Definitely not. But because I craved the release of laughter and moments of carefree fun. It had been too long since I’d played.
I slipped my phone into a zippered pocket of my shorts, tucked my handbag under the seat, and faced my grandfather’s house. Time for me to put my ESP skills to work and find out what Kahuna Aukele had done with Millie and Harlan. Not that I expected to find much here, but I had to check.
Noon sun beat down on me as I trudged along the road beside my grandfather’s house. The usual island breeze had faded to nothing and a sleek layer of sweat coated my skin. I should have grabbed one of Annie’s floppy-brimmed hats and some sunscreen, but I’d been focused on escape from the Terrible Trio, not on protecting myself from the elements.
I avoided the front stoop, and looped around the side of Aukele’s house, where a massive wall of lush green plants stopped me cold. The mini jungle appeared to be about ten feet tall, so dense I couldn’t see through it, and it was covered with a plethora of colorful blooms. The heavy scent tasted deliciously sweet in my dry mouth. Why had I neglected to stop somewhere for a bottle of water? I swallowed, facing the task in front of me with equal parts determination and trepidation.
Closing my eyes, I let my mind drift beyond the obvious. Why would a talented Kahuna have an inaccessible back yard? Duh. To hide stuff, of course. Dropping more deeply into meditation, I spread my mental doors wide open and hoped for inspiration, answers or—in my best-case fantasy scenario—a yellow brick road.
No go. The size of the jungle wall should have been an effective deterrent to exploring, but something kept me from backing away. Maybe the answers were here, and not at my grandmother’s homestead.
I huffed out an annoyed sigh, reached for a cluster of purple flowers hanging from a huge bougainvillea, and stroked the velvet petals with my fingertips—careful to avoid the hidden thorns. When in doubt, always trust the ESP fingers.
Sure enough, I could get in, only the directions looked more like a tapestry of knotted threads than a highlighted path. It would be dumb to try and push through the heavy growth of plants blocking my way. I’d end up with enough scratches and gashes to rival an abstract artist’s worst day. There had to be an easy way past this barricade.
I wandered along the edge of the property, focusing on the ground as I hunted for something, anything, that looked out of place, until the top of my head bumped smack into a neighbor’s fence.
“Ouch.” It sounded like a curse, all wrong against the quiet of the late tropical morning. Heaving out another sigh, I tipped my head back and scanned the clouds. “A clue would be good here,” I mumbled to whatever gods and goddesses were in charge of impregnable foliage. My grandmother had done a much better job of leaving images around her homestead for easy ESP fingertip access. Grandfather had a lot to learn about subliminal image communication.
My pocket vibrated. “Thank you for the timely distraction that may well keep me from insanity,” I said, unzipping my pocket and palming my cell. Gray letters flashed at me from a talk bubble. Mitch. Not so much sanity-saving as insanity-inciting. But at least it provided a break from Aukele’s puzzling mini jungle.
Arrival tomorrow. You at Annie’s?
Would I still be at Annie’s, or did I want to move myself to a beachfront hotel on Waikiki? Tempting. But a move would probably backfire. One of the Terrible Trio would knock me out and insert a tracking device under my skin if I moved out of Annie’s house. Or worse, they’d take turns hanging out in my hotel
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