Even without pineapples, Pineapple Place was busy. There were nuts to gather, papayas to pick, and chores to do all around the plantation.
Over the next couple of days, Cousin Mary couldn’t get the Aldens to relax. “I have wonderful workers to take care of the jobs around here,” she told the children as they helped clean up after another delicious dinner one night. “I won’t let you lift another finger without doing some of the things you came to Hawaii to do, starting with snorkeling. That’s your job for tomorrow morning.”
Snorkeling isn’t a job,” Benny said. “It’s just fun. We learned how in Florida.”
Cousin Mary was pleased to hear this. “Good. Then I know you’ll have a good time snorkeling in Hawaii. We have underwater lava formations and caves not far from here. Cousin James said you brought your own equipment. My husband drew some maps of his favorite snorkeling places. They’re in my office on my desk, so just —”
A crash of silverware on the tile floor interrupted Cousin Mary.
Emma Pierce stood in the doorway, with a knife, fork, and spoon at her feet. “Sorry,” she said, bending over to pick up the dropped silverware. She quickly put her silverware on the counter, then left the kitchen as quietly as she had entered.
The Pierces are a funny pair,” Mary Cook told the Aldens. “They seem never to be around, then they suddenly appear when I don’t expect them. Now I want you children to disappear for a walk on the beach. The moon is totally full tonight. You won’t even need a flashlight. You’ll see lots of little sand crabs and sea creatures on the beach. Go have a good time.”
As always, the Aldens did as they were told. The children climbed down the wooden steps that led from the plantation to Pineapple Bay. Cousin Mary was right. In the moonlight, the children could see sand crabs darting in and out of the gentle waves.
Know what?” Benny said. “Those two people always seem to be around, just like Cousin Mary said.”
I know what you mean,” Jessie joined in. “This morning after we ate breakfast with Cousin Mary on the porch, I ran back to get my hat. Emma Pierce was standing off to the side of the porch. She walked away fast when she saw me. I had a feeling she’d been listening in.”
For people who said they wanted to go look at other farms,” Henry said, “they seem to hang around Pineapple Place a lot.”
The children soon forgot about the Pierces. There was a completely full moon shining over the bay. Everything was silvery in the moonlight.
I wish I could paint a picture of this,” Violet whispered.
The children were quiet, enjoying the sound of gentle waves lapping on the beach.
Soo Lee, holding Violet’s hand, stopped. “I hear music. And a person’s voice.”
The children listened.
I hear a ukulele,” Jessie said. “Somebody’s saying something, too. Maybe some of the workers came down to the beach.”
The children followed the sound of the voice and the ukulele. Soon they came to a steep, rocky point that separated Pineapple Bay from Reef Bay.
Can we climb up?” Benny asked.
Cousin Mary said people do it all the time,” Henry said. “Here, I’ll go up first and give you a hand if you need help.”
The children scrambled over the rocks until they came to the bluff overlooking Reef Bay. In the distance, a campfire flickered on the beach. There seemed to be a man and several children sitting by the fire.
Jessie put her finger to her lips. “Shhh. I think it’s Joseph and his grandchildren. Let’s listen.”
Grandfather, tell us the black pearl story again,” the Aldens heard a child say when they got closer. “We like that best of all.”
In the firelight, the Aldens saw Joseph pick up his ukulele. He strummed a few notes, then began to tell a story.
Over five hundred moons ago, on a faraway island in Hawaii, there lived a poor young diver. He had the same name as you children have now — Kahuna — which means “one who knows secrets.” Young Kahuna knew all the secrets of the sea: where the best fishing could be found, where the dangerous tides would be, where the finest oysters lived at the bottom of the ocean.
Young Kahuna dived for pearls nearly every day of his life. No one could dive deeper or stay underwater as long. He discovered more pearls than any diver had ever found.
The Kahuna family was soon able to buy land. There they grew the juiciest pineapples and fruits on the island. Nearby they built a large, sun-washed house, close to the ocean that had been so good to them. For their son, they built a fine sturdy boat to sail across the sea.
One day young Kahuna dived deeper than he had ever dived before. At the bottom of the sea, he touched the largest oyster he had ever felt. He dropped the heavy oyster into his diving net. With his lungs nearly bursting, he swam to the surface and gasped for air. He could hardly wait to open his treasure.
With his sharp diving knife, he finally opened his oyster. There, resting inside, was the largest pearl he had ever seen — a rare black pearl! In his excitement, he stepped on a poisonous fish sleeping on the sandy bottom of the bay. His foot felt as if it were on fire. Still, he could only think of his pearl and the new riches it would bring to his family.
When he reached his family’s house, he could barely walk from the pain in his foot. Yet, he held on to his pearl. He showed it to his mother and father. “We are rich!” they cried, proud of their son.
But woe, young Kahuna fainted from the pain in his foot. For many days, then many months, the poison infected his whole body. He could no longer dive, no longer fish, no longer swim like a dolphin in the sea.
Then more terrible things happened. His father’s boat crashed upon the rocks, and his father was never seen again. Thieves broke into the house looking for the famous black pearl. One such thief knocked over a lantern and set the beautiful beach house ablaze. Insects arrived in a cloud one morning and ate all the pineapple blossoms on the bushes. There were no pineapples that year.
Young Kahuna, still sick from his infected foot, began to fear for his mother and for his own life. The black pearl was cursed. This he knew. So he visited an old Hawaiian fisherman who knew about such things. The man told young Kahuna that his bad luck would not turn to good luck again for five hundred moons. To avoid more bad luck, the pearl must be given away or returned to the sea.
Young Kahuna offered the pearl to a mainlander who had come to Hawaii to seek his fortune. But alas, the black pearl brought the new owner bad luck as well. So the man hid the black pearl in an underwater cave where it would curse him no more. In five hundred moons, when the bad luck turned to good, the man planned to dig up the pearl again.
Here, Joseph Kahuna stopped talking and simply played his ukulele. But his grandchildren asked for more.
Where is the black pearl now, Grandfather?” the Aldens heard a little boy ask.
It is said that the pearl remains hidden in an underwater cave. All these many moons, no one has searched for the pearl for fear of its dangerous powers.” Then Joseph began to sing a Hawaiian song that the Aldens did not understand.
What a story!” Jessie whispered before she and the other children turned away.
They walked along the ridge until they reached the rocky point again. As the children climbed up, they heard rocks tumbling down the other side.
What’s that?” Benny asked. “Is somebody else out here, too?”
Slow down,” Jessie reminded everyone. “These rocks are tricky, especially at night.”
The five Aldens climbed carefully to the top of the point. They stared down at the Pineapple Bay beach ahead of them.
Is that a person running over there?” Benny said, pointing ahead.
Yes,” said Jessie. “But it’s too dark to tell who it is.”
At that moment, a large cloud passed over the moon. By the time the moon was clear again, the beach looked empty in the moonlight.
The sky grew cloudy. The children felt tired. Jessie and Henry held out their hands to help the younger children climb down the rocks. By the time they reached the Pineapple Bay beach, only the sand crabs were out and about.
Cousin Mary was sitting on the porch, listening to the radio when the Aldens came in.
Benny and Soo Lee ran over to her rocking chair.
It was so pretty outside,” Soo Lee said.
There were lots of sand crabs,” Benny told Cousin Mary. “And shiny jellyfish, too. But we didn’t step on any.”
Even in the dim light, the children noticed how worried Cousin Mary looked.
We just came to say good night. Thank you for telling us to take a walk. It was a beautiful night out,” Violet said.
Cousin Mary didn’t seem to hear Violet at first. Finally she looked up at the children. “Did you . . . did you happen to see Norma Kane at all when you were out? She came by looking for Joseph, of all people. I told her to check the old beach shack where he sometimes spends his nights off. I’m terribly worried Norma is trying to hire him away from Pineapple Place.”
The Aldens looked at one another. They didn’t know quite what to say.
No, we didn’t see Mrs. Kane,” Jessie said honestly. “We hardly saw anyone out tonight.”
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