Castaway Colt (3 page)

“I just hope he's okay. He's such a baby,” she said.

“Babe Kealoha Borden is best known for the world-class Sugar Sands Cove Resort, which she opened with her internationally famous polo-player husband…”

So that was her great-aunt Babe, Darby thought.

The reporter's voice continued as photographs showed Babe in gauzy white, floating through the plush rooms and lavish gardens of her resort, which then dissolved into a shot of her as a flower-bedecked parade rider.

“…is also known for her love of horses. ‘My mare Flight foaled while she was on Maui for training,'” Babe said on-screen. “‘When Stormbird, her colt, was ready to travel, they started for home….'” Babe's voice trailed off and Darby heard the breaking of waves in the background. “‘Rough water came out of nowhere. My grandson brought the horses up on deck so that they'd be safer in case the storm turned worse.'”

The reporter's dramatic voice picked up the story, saying, “The storm did turn worse. The boat cap-sized. And though Flight was saved due to what Borden describes as Yawn's heroic actions—”

“Oh, gag me,” Megan muttered.

Darby caught just a glimpse of a Nordic-looking guy with blond hair, blue eyes, in openmouthed laughter as he hauled on ropes in what might be a sailboat race. He must be about college age, Darby thought, and he sure didn't look worthy of Megan's scorn. Or the name Yawn.

“—little Stormbird jumped into the rough seas between Maui and Moku Lio Hihiu, and is presumed lost.”

When the camera returned to Babe, she held up a photograph.

Darby's heart beat faster. She squinted, trying to see better, but the camera lens was dazzled by star flashes that came from Babe's diamond rings as she went on. “He didn't drown,” Babe insisted. She faced the camera with a determination that made Darby glance at Jonah. Chic clothes and elegant manners couldn't hide the family stubbornness. “He's come ashore somewhere, and I'm counting on your viewers' spirit of aloha to help find him.”

As the reporter came back on, he joked, “The aloha spirit is not all the Bordens are counting on. The family has offered a substantial reward for the safe return of little Stormbird.”

In khaki pants and Hawaiian shirt, the reporter stood next to a palm tree on Sugar Sands Cove's grounds.

He held up a poster of a check showing a figure with more zeroes than Darby could make sense of right away, but she heard the reporter ask, “Isn't that a lot to pay for such a young horse of unproven worth?”

“His worth is proven to me,” Babe said, crossing her arms.

“You can see more photographs of Sugar Sands Cove Resort and learn the details of this amazing offer on our website…”

Darby didn't hear another word, because the camera zoomed in on a color photograph of Flight and Stormbird.

Small and pale, the colt would have been hard to make out, standing next to his snow-white mother, except for one spot of color.

The colt looked out of the television with turquoise eyes.

“T
hat's him!” she gasped.

“Shh!” Megan, Aunty Cathy, and Jonah all said, still staring at the television, but Darby couldn't hold in her excitement any longer.

“No, you've got to listen. That colt I told you about—he's Stormbird. I found him!”

“Darby, honey, when exactly did you tell us about this colt?” Aunty Cathy asked.

“Now.” Darby took a deep breath. “Since I came in, I've been trying to!”

“Speak up, then,” Jonah said.

“We found him on Night Digger Point Beach, and then he followed us—”

“‘We'?” Megan asked.

“Me and Navigator. And Kimo's still out looking for him.”

“And he looked like that colt?” Megan gestured toward the television. She was as excited as Darby.

“He
is
that colt,” Darby insisted, but her words became giggles as Megan jumped to her feet, keeping her arms wrapped around her ribs as if she was trying to contain her delight.

Darby could see that if it was up to Megan, the two of them would be leaping onto horses and galloping toward Night Digger Point Beach right now.

But Jonah reined them both in. “Tell me why you're so sure it's not some other colt,” he asked.

“His eyes are blue,” Darby said, “and his coat is creamy white. Oh, and his nose is pink,” Darby added, recalling how the colt had looked up to study her.

“Cremellos have pink skin,” Cathy said, “not black, like white Andalusians and Arabs.”

“Too fancy for me,” Jonah scoffed, but Darby saw a slow smile lift one side of his black mustache. Then her grandfather laughed out loud. “Good. Sounds like we'll be keeping that money in the family.”

“And you say you know where he is?” Aunty Cathy sounded cautious.

“Why didn't you bring the colt in?” Jonah asked.

“I know where he
was
,” Darby explained.

“Tango will find him!” Megan interrupted.

That was a great idea, Darby thought. Megan's rose roan mare would have perfect instincts for the task. Tango had been a wild horse, then a captive one. She'd been trained, then freed by an accident, and now she was home again.

But Jonah hadn't gotten that far in the plan. “You say Kimo's out looking for him right now,” Jonah mused.

“I would have kept searching with him, but he told me Aunty Cathy wanted me to try on my gym clothes,” Darby said as Aunty Cathy walked, smiling, toward the kitchen.

“Gym clothes!” Megan shook her head in disbelief, and then she was on her feet, practically dancing as she slung an arm around Darby's shoulders.

“If Kimo doesn't find him, Darby—my old buddy, old pal—I'll help you. And we'll split the money!”

“Dinner's ready,” Aunty Cathy called.

“Mom!” Megan yelled at the wall between the living room and kitchen. “We've got to go find Stormbird!”

“Kimo will bring him, if he's out there,” Aunty Cathy shouted back.

Darby couldn't help looking at Jonah.

“I know it's him,” Darby persisted. “He's the right age and everything.”

“And how many white colts with blue eyes are out wandering around alone?” Megan asked Jonah, then wheeled on Darby. “He was by himself, right?”

“Yes,” Darby said. “And lonesome, too. He wanted to play with Navigator.”

Aunty Cathy returned. Carrying a platter loaded with food, she sidled in between the two girls and indicated that they should follow her to the table on the lanai.

“Pineapple chicken with sticky rice, stir-fried red and yellow peppers, broccoli, and—”

“Mom, we've got to go right now!”

“It's dinnertime.”

“So?” Megan's gestures were huge with frustration, and Darby could see Jonah's amusement. “I'll be able to buy you dinner every night for a month, two months—”

“Simmer down, Megan,” Aunty Cathy said. “It will be dark soon.”

Megan's eyes beseeched Darby to help, and Darby would have, except that Aunty Cathy caught Megan's silent plea for reinforcements. She pointed at Jonah and Darby, and snapped, “You two, sit down.”

Darby did as she was told. Jonah pretended to flinch, then settled at his place.

“You knew about this,” Aunty Cathy said to Jonah as he began to eat.

“About the colt and reward,” he admitted. “But I never guessed he was alive. Or nearby.”

Darby ate, but her right foot jiggled back and forth with barely controlled energy. She was glad no
one could see, because she couldn't seem to stop it.

“Babe
was
going to offer a week at the resort, instead of money,” Jonah told them. “But she's afraid…How did she put it? That ‘someone unsavory might win.'”

Aunty Cathy put down her fork and sat back in her chair. “You know what that means.”

Darby didn't think it was very hard to figure out. What if a kid like her found the colt? She'd never been to a luxury hotel and she wouldn't know how to act there. Besides, she'd rather have the money.

Taking Hoku back to the mainland—she winced at the thought—would be awfully expensive. And boarding her…

One thing at a time,
Darby told herself, and tried not to think about going back.

“What are you guys thinking about that you're not saying?” Megan asked, looking between Jonah and her mother.

“You're not going out after dark,” Aunty Cathy said, in a tone that put off any discussion.

Megan poked at a chunk of chicken and looked sideways at Darby. What should they do? Wait until tomorrow, after school?

There was too much to think about. Her classes, the “surprise” student Megan couldn't wait to introduce her to, remembering her locker combination, finding her way around the campus…

She really hoped Kimo found the colt tonight.

 

Only five minutes later, Kimo knocked on the door, opened it, and leaned his head inside.

“Couldn't find your little sea horse. Sorry,” he called in apology, and Darby's heart fell.

“Come in, Kimo. Eat something,” Cathy encouraged him.

The cowboy clomped in, but stopped at the edge of the lanai and shook his head. “Gotta have dinner with my dad. Not that it will be anything that looks as good as that.”

“You can take some with you,” Cathy persisted, but she stopped when the phone began ringing.

Jonah stood up, but he turned to Kimo. “No sign of it?”

“Plenty of signs,” Kimo said. “But no colt. I'm guessing it has a little hidey-hole somewhere, a little spit of land, yeah? The freshest tracks I saw led into the water.”

The phone was still ringing, and though Megan usually jumped up to answer it, this time she leaned forward with her elbows on the table, eager to hear everything Kimo said.

When Kimo paused, Megan slapped her palms on the table and said, “I'm going down to Night Digger Point Beach. Right now.”

“You're staying here to help Darby decide what to wear to school tomorrow,” her mother corrected her.

“No way!” Megan said, but when her sharp tone
made the others turn from the mother-daughter argument as if they were embarrassed, Megan apologized. “I'm sorry, Mom, but Darby can try on clothes after dark. Right now Stormbird is probably starving!”

“Is anyone going to answer that phone?” Jonah asked.

“He
was
nudging Navigator like he wanted to nurse,” Darby said, darting a quick glance at Aunty Cathy. “I guess that means he's hungry.”

See?
Megan's expression said, but she had the good judgment not to push her point.

“If Kimo couldn't find him, what makes you think you can?” Aunty Cathy asked.

“Aloha, folks,” Kimo said, edging back toward the front door. “Headin' for home now.”

As Jonah walked out with Kimo, Darby's stomach knotted with frustration. If she were having this argument with her own mother, she'd jump in and fight, but she didn't know Aunty Cathy quite that well yet.

Instead, she took a long drink of water and wondered why the caller was letting the phone ring for so long.

“I'll find the colt, because
I'm
taking a real horse charmer with me,” Megan answered her mother.

Darby tried to swallow her water, but she ended up choking. Not that anyone noticed.

Aunty Cathy crossed her arms, looking as stubborn as Megan did hopeful.

“I'll get the phone,” Darby said when she could draw a breath, but just then Jonah strode back indoors and beat her to it.

Aunty Cathy and Megan settled into a cranky silence. Though Darby felt uneasy, she didn't go hide in her room, because it felt like there might still be a chance to go after Stormbird.

“If he thinks that gives him a passport to cross my borders and come onto my land…” Jonah's voice boomed from the kitchen.

Then he snorted.

“Sure. Sure he does,” Jonah said. He was quiet for a full minute before he said, “Yeah, okay. Aloha.”

They heard him moving around in the kitchen, slamming a pan in the sink, running water, and muttering in Hawaiian.

Darby heard only one word she understood:
pupule
, which she was pretty sure meant “crazy.”

No one moved until Jonah came back out on the lanai.

“It's sad to say when you haven't even met her yet,” Jonah told Darby, “but your aunty Babe is deranged.”

“She is?” Darby asked.

“Not really,” Cathy said. “Babe is my friend as well as Jonah's sister, and though they're as different as siblings can be, she is not deranged.”

“I wouldn't be too sure,” Jonah said, and Darby would have laughed, but there was no humor in her
grandfather's voice as he added, “She talked to Manny. He's promised to locate the colt.”

Aunty Cathy drew in a loud breath, then said, “Maternal instinct.” She shook her finger at the girls and said, “I knew there was a reason you weren't going out tonight.”

Megan looked down and so did Darby. Manny was Cade's stepfather. A cruel man who trafficked in stolen Hawaiian treasures, he had no qualms about breaking the law.

No matter how determined they were to find Stormbird, neither Megan nor Darby was eager to stumble upon Manny in the dark.

“You know what she said, your friend Babe?” Jonah asked Cathy. “She told me the colt's story, and how the reward meant free publicity for the resort, even though money could bring out the worst in people. Then she said, about Manny, ‘He is violent; I don't like that about him, but he'll get the job done.'”

Maybe it was just the cold way Jonah delivered the words, but Babe didn't sound very nice, Darby thought.

Darby's worries were underlined by Jonah's silence as he stared off the lanai and into the dusk falling over ‘Iolani Ranch.

 

Talking about clothes didn't hold either girl's attention even though they'd gone to Darby's bedroom so
that she could model her next day's wardrobe. Neither of them could help talking about Stormbird instead.

“If Aunt Babe likes Stormbird enough to offer a huge reward for him, why isn't she out looking for him herself?” Darby asked.

“She can't leave the resort, I guess,” Megan told her.

“If she's rich, it seems like she'd have a manager or something to run things,” Darby said. “Or her husband. She's married, right?”

“Yeah.” Megan drew the word out as if she wasn't quite convinced it was true.

“So?”

“I'm not sure how much I should fill you in on your Hawaiian family,” Megan said.

Darby waited patiently. Turning away from Megan so the older girl wouldn't feel like she was being cross-examined, Darby picked a brown leaf off her lucky bamboo plant.

“See, Babe's husband Phillipe is a polo player, and he keeps most of his horses on Oahu and, uh, someplace in Argentina, I think, because those are the places where he plays polo….”

Wow, who married a polo player? Darby wondered. It sounded so glamorous.

“Babe used to go with him, sometimes,” Megan said, “but not anymore, since your cousins came to live with her.”

Darby pivoted away from the lucky bamboo to face Megan.

“I have a cousin?”

“Two,” Megan said, holding up two fingers.

“Why didn't anyone ever tell me this?”

“I just did.”

“I know, but…” Darby paused, waiting for her mind to stop spinning. “This is so weird. I lived in Pacific Pinnacles, in Los Angeles County, where there are thousands, maybe millions of people I could be related to; I mean, the odds are better—but it was just my mom, my dad, and…” Darby shook her head. “Then I come to this dinky little island—which I love,” she rushed to assure Megan, “and I'm related to everyone.”

“Not me,” Megan chirped.

“No, but just about. I call your mom aunty.”

Megan laughed until Darby stopped her with another question. “So why do my cousins live with Babe? Does their whole family?”

“Just them, right now,” Megan said. “It's just, Babe's daughter did the same thing she did—”

“Their mom. My other aunt. Or second cousin, or whatever,” Darby said, changing back into jeans and a T-shirt.

“She married a guy known as White Water Willie, a kayaker who started surfing, and he competes all over the world. But the kids needed a home base, a place to go to school, so Babe took them in.
Although one's away at college on the mainland.”

“Amazing. And the other one is one of my surprises for tomorrow?” Darby guessed.

“Yep,” Megan said.

“That will be really fun,” Darby said.

Megan shifted uncomfortably on the edge of Darby's bed as if she was about to say something else, but then the phone rang again. And this time, Megan made a dash for it.

 

The call was for Darby.