Page 36 of Big Island Horizons
Just a few years ago, the goat shed and the rabbit shelter were a safe distance from the albizia trees. But now, in this wind… she wasn’t certain.
Even with a flashlight, she couldn’t tell from a distance where the branch (or tree) had fallen. It was raining too hard, sheets of water in front of her face obscuring her vision. She moved slowly, scanning back and forth with her light in search of damage. The goat shed looked fine, and the rabbits were still safe and snug.
Then she heard the parrots scream.
It was barely audible over the sound of the storm, but she could hear sounds of distress from her birds. They had probably been frightened by the crashing branches. She made her way across the yard, wondering if they would be willing to sit on her shoulders and ride through the rain into the house, where they could shelter overnight. She still had their old perch in the garage somewhere…
Then she saw the damage. She nearly tripped over the outermost branched in the darkness.
A massive branch had crashed down from the outermost reaches of one of the giant trees. The central branch itself was as wide as a tree trunk, and it had taken out a section of her fenceline. She followed the crisscrossing mess of broken branches with her light and gasped.
It had also hit the aviary. The wall nearest her was crumpled into a mess beneath the branches. Instinctively she moved towards it, but there was too much wreckage to climb over without hurting herself.
Lucy’s cries of distress grew louder as Tara circled around to the aviary door.
“Mama!” she called. It was a habit she’d picked up when Cody was small.
“I’m here,” Tara crooned. “I’m here. Let’s get you inside.”
Lucy screeched so loud that Tara winced.
“I know. I know, that was so scary. Come here. Step up.” She tried to coax Lucy onto her arm, but the bird put one foot onto the slick surface of the rain jacket and then pulled it back to the branch, pulling her body into an agitated crouch.
Finally, when Tara shed the raincoat and put out her arm with just the soaking wet long sleeve cotton shirt, Lucy climbed on and consented to transfer over to her shoulder.
“Where’s Ricky?” Tara could hardly hear herself over the wind and the rain.
Lucy shrieking right next to her ear, on the other hand, just about busted her eardrum. Tara decided to take her inside first and then go back out to find Ricky. She hurried inside, scanning with her flashlight as she went for more dropped limbs.
In the house, she went straight to the bathroom. The dogs and parrots had never been confined to a room together, and that wasn’t an experiment that Tara was willing to conduct without her direct supervision.
Lucy flew up to perch on the shower rod, and Tara slipped back out the door.
Already soaked to the skin, she didn’t bother with her raincoat. She went straight back out to the aviary in search of Ricky.
It frightened her that she didn’t hear him.
She looked everywhere. Every perch in the aviary, every wall and corner. She even looked under the wreckage, fearing the worst, but there was no sign of him. She scanned the surrounding trees with her flashlight, searching desperately for a glimpse of emerald feathers amongst all the green. He wouldn’t be easy to spot, but surely she would hear him?
“Ricky?” she called, walking all around the yard.
Confused and frightened, the cows started to bawl.
“Ricky?” she called again and again, working her way back towards the house.
It was no use.
He was gone.
13
Lani
It was a slow day at Haumona Shave Ice. While two big pots of simple syrup (lime and ginger) simmered on the stove, Lani sat and sketched some possibilities for the mural that Kekoa had asked her to paint on the side of the building.
She had a few different ideas that she was working to flesh out so that her cousin could choose the one that he liked best.
One was a simple geometric concept, a sunrise over the water. The sun was striped orange and yellow like a scoop of shave ice, and the reflection of the rising sun made a cup below it. More stripes radiated through the sea and sky. She would be able to paint that in a day with just a few different paint colors, so it was the most economical option.
