Page 80 of Big Island Neighbors
Waipi?o Beach was huge, so much bigger than it looked from above. The black sand stretched from one end of the valley to the other, wide and vast.
The waves were huge that day too, monsters roaring and crashing along the shore. Instinctively, Emma took Kai’s hand - but he had no intention of getting any closer to the water than he was already.
When he spoke, she had to bend closer to hear him over the wind and waves.
“I thought you said there was horses!” he repeated.
“There are,” she said into his ear. “They come down to the beach sometimes… but not today. Let’s go see if we can find them.”
They walked away from the beach, up through the trees, and wandered for a while. She took Kai through the horses’ usual haunts, the sheltered grazing areas near the beach, but had no luck there either.
It had been so long since she had come here with Adam… were there even wild horses in Waipi?o Valley anymore? Theyhad seemed such a fundamental part of the landscape that it hadn’t occurred to her to ask anyone if the wild herds she had seen still lived there.
Kai didn’t seem to mind.
“Mama, look at this! Look at me!”
He was four feet up in a tree, grinning a proud gap-toothed smile. She felt a momentary stabbing pain, longing to share this moment with Adam. But she smiled with genuine joy as she turned her full attention to Kai.
“Look at you, climbing trees!”
“Come and climb with me,” he pleaded.
“Okay.” She set down her backpack and climbed up into the tree with him.
After she helped him down, they climbed another tree. And then another. When Kai finally tired of that, they found a sunny spot by the river and sat down to eat their lunch.
“Did Daddy love it here?” Kai asked as they ate. He watched a family of four splash through the sparkling water to the opposite bank.
“Yeah.” She set her sandwich down and put a hand on Kai’s back. “We hiked down here almost every time we came to the island. He loved to hike back to the waterfall. And we would always refill our water bottles at the spring on the way.”
“Can we do all that?”
“Sure can.”
“Good.” He stuffed the last of his peanut butter sandwich into his mouth and stood. “Let’s go.”
She packed their food away, and they picked their way across the river. Then they walked along the beach all the way to the opposite side of the valley. It took her a while, but she found the old path that led back to the waterfall.
There were houses up here, built on the hillside to keep away from the occasional flood. A woman waved cheerfully as they passed, and they waved back.
The whole valley was green and full of life, but the plants along the path were something special. Residents and visitors had planted every sort of ornamental, and the whole stretch was a riot of color. Orange flowers the size of her face bloomed everywhere, and they even spotted a few bunches of neon-pink bananas.
When Emma caught sight of the road in, she stopped Kai and pointed through a break in the greenery. On the opposite side of the valley, they could see the steep road that they had walked down.
“Look. That’s where we walked in.”
“We did that?” Kai asked.
Emma smiled at him. “We did that.”
A movement caught her eye, and she turned.
Through the trees in a tiny clearing, three horses grazed. She grabbed Kai’s shoulder, pointed, and whispered, “Look there.”
A bay stallion lifted his head, looked at them, and then continued grazing. He had a short black mane and a white star on his forehead. To his right stood a pinto mare and her tiny foal. The baby horse was almost completely white, with brown patches on his face and neck.
“He’s so cute,” Kai whispered.
