Fire Maiden (12 page)

Mr. Potter looked puzzled as he walked back toward the truck. The woman's laughter floated after him.

“Everything okay?” Mrs. Potter asked as her husband rummaged around on the truck's floor.

“Why she'd laugh about gettin' her fingerprints burnt off, I don't know,” Mr. Potter grumbled.

“Is she a tourist?” Mrs. Potter asked.

“I guess.” Mr. Potter picked up a piece of cloth and folded it as he said, “She wants to see ‘the top blow off a mountain,' is what she said. When I mentioned for her to be careful, since they spew out millions of pounds of lava a minute, she laughed at that, too. Woman must have the brains of a grasshopper.”

“Don't say that!” Darby blurted.

The entire family stared at her. Toby's thumb fell out of his mouth.

Darby couldn't explain that Pele would send them up in flames for their lack of respect, so she just stared at the window, feeling awful.

“Sorry, Darby, you're right,” Mr. Potter said. “Probably just standing in the heat like this has got her head a bit addled.”

“She—” Darby pointed and gasped. The metal lid
of something under the car's hood, maybe the radiator, dropped from the woman's hand, struck the pavement, and rolled on its edge until Mr. Potter ran around the front of the red car and blocked it with his boot.

Mrs. Potter jumped out to give first aid, and Ann said, “She did it. But she couldn't have. She's not screaming.”

As the Potters fussed around the woman, Megan elbowed Ann and asked, “You know who she looks like?”

“Who?”

“Check her out,” Megan insisted. “You've been on a field trip to the museum, right?”

“Yeah, but I don't know…” Ann concentrated. “Not a queen.”

“Pele!” Megan whispered, underlining Darby's fear.

“Megan, come on,” Ann said in a long-suffering tone.

“I'm just sayin', we all saw her take that hot thing out from under the hood—”

The woman in red looked calmly toward the truck.

“Is she looking at us, Annie?” Toby asked.

At the little boy's fearful tone, Darby sat up straighter and Megan cleared her throat.

“Uh-huh,” Ann said, and then, casting around for an excuse to satisfy her little brother, she said, “She
probably doesn't think we all look related.”

“That's for sure,” Darby blurted.

Megan twisted in her seat, ending up nearly nose to nose with Darby.

“We could be sisters. We have the same eyebrows and eyes, practically the same mouth, and my hair's just got more red in it than yours,” Megan said as if she'd given it some thought. Then she turned to point at Ann. “Not quite as much red as yours.”

While Ann and Megan laughed, Darby enjoyed a surge of delight. She'd been about to dispute Megan's compliment—and whether Megan knew it or not, that's what it was—by saying Megan looked like a fashion model and she looked like a soft, pale grub.

But something kept Darby from saying it. Probably, she thought, she just wanted Megan's opinion to be true.

“What?” Megan said, as if she felt Darby's eyes on her.

“You'd be a great big sister,” Darby admitted.

For a second, Megan looked touched, but then she flounced back in her seat, crossed her arms, and said, “I know it.”

Toby was naming Megan's hair color, then Darby's and Ann's, when Darby's gaze turned to the woman at the roadside. Darby agreed with Toby. There was something calculating in the woman's expression, as if she were memorizing them.

Just remember we stopped to help you,
Darby sent her
thoughts toward the woman, even though she couldn't possibly be the ancient fire goddess.

After a few more endless minutes, the woman got into her car and started the engine. She signed okay to the Potters and Mr. Potter slammed her sports car's hood. The lady in red waved as she roared away from them.

With their heads close together, Ann's parents were definitely talking about the strange woman, but once they were back in the car, Mrs. Potter just smiled and said, “She used the hem of that lovely silk dress to protect her hand while she unscrewed the radiator cap.”

“Oh,” Ann, Darby, and Megan said together, and when Toby and Buck echoed them, everyone laughed.

T
he Potters had driven away from the drop-off point, with its water spigot, bulletin board, and sign-in sheet, about an hour before.

Darby rode Navigator and led Hoku up the Two Sisters slope at a slow and steady pace. Both horses were interested in the steep terrain and unfamiliar place, but they moved with a calm cooperation Darby could barely believe.

“They're doing great,” Megan said, and soon she'd lost her frown and fallen into the role of tour guide for the two mainland girls.

Rocking with Biscuit's smooth gait, Megan pointed out ohia trees with bright red blooms. When she called them Pele's trees, she sounded
matter-of-fact, not superstitious.

“What's that bird?” Darby asked.

The girls drew rein and listened.

“The one that sounds like you're changing stations on an old dial radio? That one?” Ann asked as the bird called again.

“Yeah,” Darby said.

“I'm not sure,” Megan said, still listening.

“I have no idea.” Ann sounded a little stiff to Darby.

In fact, she'd sounded that way ever since they'd unloaded the horses, and Darby had a pretty good idea why.

“I didn't mean to snap at your dad,” Darby said.

“Then why did you?” The corners of Ann's lips turned down as if she was hurt, but not angry.

“You'll think I'm dumb. Dumber than a grasshopper,” Darby joked “But I'll tell you, because I don't want to wreck our—”

“Just tell me!”

Darby took a deep breath, then said, “It was—what Megan said.”

“Pele?” Ann and Megan said together.

“Look, I'm just learning about these legends—”

“Stories,” Megan substituted.

“Stories,” Darby repeated, “and it was on my mind because of our project. I was thinking that since we're in her territory and she demands respect and the way that woman was looking at us kind of got me…what?”

“Nothing,” Ann said.

“You gave me a weird smile,” Darby said. She glanced at Megan, who looked more rigid in the saddle than usual.

“Oh, it's nothing. I would have told you before if I thought you were worrying, “Ann teased.

Darby reined Navigator closer, so they were stirrup to stirrup. Finally, Ann admitted, “When you were unloading Hoku, my mom told me that the woman told her she'd been looking at me because she loved my hair.”

“That's okay, then,” Darby said, feeling better for a few seconds.

“Because red is her favorite color…,” Megan said in a spooky voice.

“That's right, harass the new girl,” Darby said, controlling the urge to stick out her tongue at her friends, “but gods and goddesses are famous for changing into things, right? And Tutu says that Pele can change into the Fire Maiden—”

“Who?” Ann asked.

“An amazing golden horse.”

“I've never heard that,” Ann said.

“I have,” Megan admitted. “The wild horses up here are supposed to be sacred to Pele, but I've never seen one.”

As they rode, Darby retold Tutu's tale of the white stallion who was really Pele's brother, the god of steam, and the black stallion who was another
brother, the god of thunderclouds.

“I knew about the battle between Pele and the sea goddess. Fire and water constantly fighting each other,” Ann mused. “I always sort of thought the Two Sisters were named for them.”

“They are,” Megan said.

Darby stared at the cones on the horizon. She couldn't believe she hadn't thought of that when Tutu had been telling her story, but of course that made sense.

The girls had admired each other's horses while unloading them, but they didn't get a real chance to study them until they stopped in the shade to eat their sandwiches.

Sugarfoot was a caramel-and-cream-colored pinto. As he grazed on the plants sprouting from the volcanic dirt, his two-toned mane touched the ground.

“He looks so sweet,” Darby said.

“Why can't you use him as a therapy horse?” Megan asked.

“Sugarfoot's a chaser,” Ann confessed.

“A chaser?” Darby asked, and she noticed Megan stopped chewing her sandwich and raised her eyebrows as if she wasn't sure what Ann meant, either.

“It's a vice you don't hear about a lot, because people are ashamed to admit they're afraid of their own horses. That's my theory, anyway.”

“What does he chase?” Darby asked.

“Anything that runs from him. People, dogs, cars. It's more common in stallions, but he came so close to hurting one of our adult clients, it was scary. The guy was out in our pasture in his wheelchair, and Shug came galloping at him. He's a Morab—half Morgan and half Arabian—but when he charges, you can imagine some sheikh with a spear riding him into battle.” Ann pretended to shiver. “He looks fierce. So our client took off, and Shug chased him and knocked him over. The metal wheelchair kind of protected him. If he hadn't been in it, he would have been hurt for sure. My dad wanted to get rid of Sugarfoot on the spot—”

“You can bet Jonah would have,” Megan said.

“—but it's a colt thing, and he's outgrowing it. Plus, my mom and I have worked with him a lot.”

“Wow,” Darby said, looking at the horse differently now. “Why does he do it?”

“He's playing,” Ann said. Then, in the tone of a parent admitting a child's flaw, she added, “And he hasn't tried it for three months, but if he ever did, with either of you—”

“Don't back down?” Megan guessed.

“Right,” Ann said. “Stand your ground, and when he gets close, like a few car lengths away, start jumping up and down and waving your arms like crazy.”

“Does that work?” Darby asked.

“No, but it's fun to watch,” Megan put in.

“Yes, it works. He comes to a screeching halt,
shoots you a dirty look, and starts poking around for something to eat,” Ann told them.

Darby felt relieved by Ann's description of the young gelding's disappointment when people wouldn't play his game, but she wondered what would happen if they came upon any wild horses.

“Let's go, so we'll have time to explore the lava tube before dark,” Megan said, crumpling up her lunch sack.

Ann shoved things back in her pack, too.

“You've got flashlights, don't you?” Megan asked.

“Sure,” Ann said.

“Jonah made me bring one,” Darby said.

“Cool. We'll make camp when we get to the stone trees, put up our stakeout line, and go ahead on foot.”

“Okay,” Darby agreed, but she couldn't help thinking that the thing had been formed by lava. That meant it was a known path for the flow of molten rock on its way downhill.

She'd hate for Ann and Megan to think she was a coward, but it was probably best to confess her worries now.

“Brock, brock,”
she said.

Both her friends laughed out loud and Hoku snorted with pricked ears.

“Was that a chicken sound?” Ann asked.

“I'm not real excited about going into the lava tube,” Darby admitted.

“It's not creepy and tight around you, like a cave,”
Megan said. “Our lava tube has a twelve-foot ceiling and it's almost that wide. You can ride a horse in there.”

“Shoot, you could probably ride an elephant in there,” Ann joked.

“A small elephant,” Megan corrected.

Swallowing hard, Darby looked up at the cone-shaped peak. Being in confined spaces didn't scare her, but curtains of flame and rivers of molten rock did.

“The ohia trees,” Ann said, pointing as they rode on. “It looks like they get scarcer closer to the top of the volcanoes. Is that because of the heat?”

Darby noticed the trees had fewer red blooms nearer the top, too, and they looked more fragile than the ones around them here.

“Yeah,” Megan said.

“The thing that's weird to me,” Ann went on, “is that the tree and its flower have different names. I mean, that's like a rosebush having tulips blooming on it, isn't it?”

It crossed Darby's mind that Ann might be trying to distract her from her fear, and she smiled.

“It's because of that story,” Megan said. “Pele fell in love with a youth named Ohia…”

Youth, Darby thought, and her smile grew wider. Megan's voice shifted into that of a storyteller, and Darby wondered if she'd heard this tale from her father.

“Ohia was already betrothed—engaged,” Megan said to them, “and even though he knew it was dangerous, he refused Pele's love.

“You know Pele has a hot temper, so she turned him into a tree, but not just any tree. It was one she could always keep around her, one that could close its pores when the sulphur gas came from the volcano, and even if it does die from the heat or lava, it's the first tree to grow back after an eruption.”

“So, she kept him with her, whether he wanted to be or not,” Ann said.

“Yeah, but after Pele did Ohia's makeover,” Megan said, “his girlfriend Lehua came around looking for him. Pele told her the truth, and Lehua's heart was broken. She couldn't stop crying. So Pele took pity on her and turned her into a flower—which had to be red, of course, since that's Pele's favorite color—and Pele placed her on the Ohia tree. So they would be together forever.”

“That was kind of nice of her,” Darby said.

Megan paused in her story as a hot wind blasted down the slope they were ascending.

Darby saw Biscuit and Sugarfoot close their eyes against the dust and felt Navigator's walk turn more cautious. She looked back over her shoulder to see Hoku lift her head and flare her nostrils. Maybe there was a new smell on the wind.

“Pele also discourages you from picking lehua blooms to make a lei or anything,” Megan explained.
“You can do it, but you'll start a rainstorm. Lehua still cries when she's taken from Ohia.”

“We're definitely putting that in our report,” Ann said. “Especially that part about the pores and the sulphur. Science and story coming together. That is too cool.”

As they rode under a tree so heavily laden with lehua flowers that they brushed the girls' hair, Ann looked at Darby with an impish grin and reached her hand up.

“Shall we see if we can really start a rainstorm?”

“No.” Darby tried to keep the uneasiness out of her voice.

“I didn't know you were so superstitious,” Ann said, but she lowered her arm without disturbing the flowers.

“It's not superstition,” Megan corrected. “It's respect for our heritage.”

“I didn't mean…” Ann blushed and looked down at her saddle horn.

“Crusher,” Megan's voice was affectionate as she used Ann's soccer nickname, “I know you didn't mean to—but that's one of those—wait.” Megan held her hand out in a halt sign and for a full minute, she looked thoughtful. “You know how Ty got up in your face about Pele?”

Darby and Ann nodded together.

“He overreacts, but I think he's just trying to sort out what he believes about ancient customs and stuff
like that.” Megan shrugged. “I've already figured out what I think. I'm just respectful. That's all.”

“Okay, Meggie,” Ann said. “I'm taking you for my role model, even if I'm not Hawaiian.”

“Me too,” Darby said, “even if I'm only—”

“Knock it off, you guys,” Megan said, rolling her eyes at their admiration. “Keep your horses on the path. We're almost to the place where we'll, uh, set up camp.”

When Megan's voice faltered, Darby straightened in the saddle and looked ahead.

She saw the strange stone trees, and on the ground below them, a scarlet scattering of lehua blossoms from a pair of ohia trees.