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Ko'olau's Secret

By Sharon K. Connell

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Chapter One

Houston, Texas

Kyleigh Flanagan slammed the envelope and document onto the coffee table. “Why, Dad?” She stormed into the kitchen and poured herself a fresh cup of black decaf from the pot she’d brewed before she opened the letter from her father.

She took a sip, lifted the single sheet of paper, and stared at it. “This is not like you at all. You never go off-grid.” Something isn’t right.

The cup and saucer made a distinct clunk when she placed them on the table. Her chair screeched as she pulled it out and then plopped into it. Her fingers flattened out the brief typed note on the table. She read it again.

Honey, I don’t want you to worry, but you won’t hear from me for a little while. There’s something I’ve got to do, and I won’t be able to contact you until I’m finished. But I’ll contact you again as soon as I can. Dad

Kyleigh sipped her coffee. No way would her father just disappear without telling her where he went or what he was doing. She rose, drained her cup, and set it in the sink. He knew how she worried. Why would he do this? What had he gotten into?

After running water over the dishes, she grabbed her purse and dashed out the front door of her second-floor apartment. She rushed down the stairs, through the entrance, across the landscaped walkway, and into the parking lot.

Aunt Maye might know what was going on. Dad told her more details on several occasions. He must have called her. Maybe some military thing he wasn’t allowed to talk about. But then he wouldn’t tell Aunt Maye either.

Kyleigh jumped into her light blue Mazda and sped out of the parking lot, en route to her aunt’s house in Jersey Village.

The last time Dad had been deployed, he was gone for a year, but he’d told them when he left and why. Besides, that was years ago. He planned to retire in a few months.

***

Half an hour later, Kyleigh pulled her car into Aunt Maye’s driveway. Oh, Auntie must have bought herself a new Honda for her birthday. Auntie always did love green. “Not my favorite hue for a vehicle. But, it’s not my car, either.” Dad had said green was a racing color. She frowned. Could he have entered a dirt bike race? But he’d tell her that. Hope Auntie knows what he’s up to.

As she turned off the ignition, Kyleigh tightened her forehead and brows. Great! A full-blown headache, just what she needed. She rubbed her head and neck, then exited her Mazda. Nice way to end the school year. At least it hadn’t started while her kindergartners were having so much fun at the year-end party.

Kyleigh gazed at the two-story home. She half expected to see her aunt tending her flower boxes along the railings of the long front porch. Aunt Maye said she found it relaxing to water and weed, and the children she sat for during the day would have gone home by now. She wouldn’t have gone out. Not on a Monday evening.

Kyleigh climbed the steps, crossed the porch, and pressed the doorbell. The six notes from “America the Beautiful” had barely finished when the door swung open. Her aunt appeared with a wide smile, her thick, dark auburn hair, the same color as Kyleigh’s, piled high atop her head in a loose bun.

“Hi, sweetie. I was thinking about you. Come on in.” Aunt Maye led the way through the forest green living room filled with well-worn antiques. “I can’t imagine how you handle twenty or more kids all day. It’s all I can do to keep up with the six I sit for, and two of them can’t walk yet.” She chuckled.

“I guess I don’t think about it. We have a lot of fun in class, and the day flies by. Perhaps because I’m half kid myself.” She tittered. “That’s what you and Dad always say, anyway. Rough day today?”

“Sort of. One boy was disagreeable, and one girl, very bossy. Not a good combination.”

Kyleigh couldn’t hold back her questions anymore. “Auntie, do you know what’s up with Dad?”

“What do you mean?” Her aunt stopped midway through the dining room, turned toward her, and brushed several strands of Kyleigh’s long, wavy hair away from her niece’s face. “Hmm. Has he been bossing his grown daughter around again?”

“It’s nothing like that.” Kyleigh held out the letter she’d pulled from the mailbox when she got home. “Read this.” Her eyes filled with tears.

Her aunt’s brows rumpled. She took the paper from Kyleigh’s hand and lowered herself to one of the maroon tapestry-covered dining room chairs at the table. Kyleigh sat next to her on another. Aunt Maye read the short note.

She looked up at Kyleigh. “I’ve no idea what this means, but I’m sure it’s nothing to cause tears or worry.”

“This isn’t like Dad, Auntie, and you know it.” A tear slipped over the edge of her bottom lid and landed on the table. She wiped it away with her hand and sniffed. “A headache started on the way over here, and this isn’t helping.” She rubbed her neck again.

“You always wind up with a headache when you’re stressed. Let me get you a glass of lemonade. Then I’ll rub your shoulders to loosen them up a little.” She hurried to the kitchen. “Did you try calling your dad?” she called to Kyleigh.

“Yes. The call went straight to voicemail. That’s not like him either.”

“Hmm…you have a point there.” Aunt Maye reentered the dining room with two ice-filled glasses of pale yellow liquid clutched in one hand. She placed a napkin from those she held in the other hand on the table in front of Kyleigh and lowered a glass onto it. “But it’s not evening there yet. He may be in a meeting. Houston is five hours ahead of Hawaiʻi.”

Kyleigh leaned forward and rested her forehead on the wooden table. Her aunt’s fingers began their magic, and Kyleigh’s muscles slowly relaxed. Auntie’s massage always was the best remedy for one of these headaches.

After she’d massaged her niece’s neck, Aunt Maye returned to her seat next to Kyleigh. “Charlie’s been pretty busy ever since they assigned him to the Oʻahu post. Plus, he’s taken up riding those wretched trails again on those racy-type things like a skinny motorcycle. Even bought a new one.” She narrowed her eyes at Kyleigh. “I assume he told you. What are they called?”

A glimmer of a smile spread on Kyleigh’s lips. “Dirt bikes, Auntie.”

“Dirt bikes? I thought those were the bicycles the kids rode.”

“They’re both called dirt bikes. Dad loves the sport. And so do I, when I can find time to engage in it. Oʻahu has terrific trails up the mountains. He gets a real challenge from the brush, vegetation, and roots sticking out of the ground. He likes to have fun in his downtime. Helps him relax.” Kyleigh frowned. “But why would he go off-grid like that? Most of his rides are for no more than a couple of hours. At most. Do you think the Army sent him on some secret assignment? But why? Why would they send Dad when there are so many younger guys?”

He had told her the mountains on the island held many secrets, according to the native Hawaiians. Secrets like burial caves of chiefs never located, ancient treasures stored in unfound caverns, reports by locals of hearing drums and seeing warriors and chiefs in ghostly processions marching from their burial grounds in the mountains to the sea. Kyleigh shuddered. But surely this note wouldn’t have anything to do with those. “It couldn’t have anything to do with the dirt bike, even if he was at a race. Why wouldn’t he tell us? What’s going on?”

Aunt Maye laid her hand on Kyleigh’s shoulder. “Calm down, dear. You’re talking a mile a minute.” Auntie reached into her purse on the table, pulled the cellphone out, punched in a number, and pressed the phone to her ear. A puzzled expression replaced the quick grin she’d given Kyleigh. “My call went to voicemail too. How odd. Let me see that note again.”

***

Dad must have a good reason not to let either his daughter or sister know where he’d gone. “I hope his commanding officer returns the call you made to him soon, Auntie.” She’d already left several messages on her dad’s voicemail. And his office hadn’t helped. None of his coworkers admitted knowledge of his whereabouts. They referred Auntie to the commanding officer. The post was a busy place, but this busy? Besides…her Dad was a major. How busy could he be at this point in his career?

Kyleigh’s aunt disconnected the call after leaving yet another message on the major’s cell. Aunt Maye rubbed her forehead. This situation had probably made Auntie a little headachy as well.

Kyleigh grimaced as she continued to set the table. “Thanks for asking me to stay for dinner. Hope I didn’t mess up the mashed potatoes too much. This isn’t my strong suit when it comes to cooking.”

“The potatoes will be fine. With your worry about your dad, I wouldn’t have you spend the evening alone in your apartment. I’m sure when his commanding officer returns my call, he’ll have an explanation for Charlie’s note. In the meantime, let’s try to be patient and enjoy the leftover pot roast from Sunday.”

After they’d eaten and cleared the table, Kyleigh rinsed a plate and handed it to Aunt Maye to load in the dishwasher. “That roast was as delicious tonight as it was on Sunday, Auntie. I hope I can learn to cook as well as you do…someday.”

“You’re already a fine cook, dear. We’ll just have to work on those potatoes…a little.” She giggled.

“What? You didn’t like my potato soup?” Kyleigh joined her laughter.

Aunt Maye closed the dishwasher and led the way to the living room. “Let’s watch a movie.” She rummaged through the DVD storage cabinet, chose a plastic case, and held it out toward Kyleigh. “This one okay with you?”

Kyleigh nodded as she eased into the corner of the dark brown leather couch and dropped her father’s short letter onto the coffee table. She snatched a beige afghan from behind her and flipped it over her shoulders. Auntie sure kept the house on the cold side.

Aunt Maye started the movie and joined Kyleigh on the couch. “It’s been a long time since we watched a film together. This story about the heroics of William Wallace should take our minds off…keep us busy.”

Not likely. Kyleigh bit her lower lip. Not until they’d heard some news about Dad. Why didn’t he answer his phone? And the CO still hadn’t returned the call. Her neck tensed.

While the opening credits rolled, Aunt Maye lifted the note from the coffee table. Her forehead furrowed as she read it a third time. “I hate to say this. And I don’t want to add more worry, but I have to be honest.”

“What, Auntie?”

“This doesn’t sound like your father.”

Kyleigh held out her hands, palms up. “That’s what I said. He doesn’t do things like this, go off and not let either of us know where or what he’s doing.”

“But that’s not what I mean. I agree it’s not like him to do that. But something else is wrong. The more I read this message, the less it sounds like my brother’s voice. Listen.”

Aunt Maye read the note aloud. “‘Honey, I don’t want you to worry, but you won’t hear from me for a little while. There’s something I’ve got to do, and I won’t be able to contact you until I’m finished. I’ll contact you again as soon as I can. Dad’”

A straight line formed as she pinched her lips together. “Not the wording he’d have used. Your Dad doesn’t use that many contractions when he writes. I’ve always teased him about being so formal. ‘I don’t,’ instead of I do not. ‘I’ve got to’ isn’t how he talks. There aren’t any words of affection to you, except maybe for ‘honey.’ But he’s always called you sugar. And why does he say ‘contact’ instead of he’ll call you when he can? It doesn’t sound like your dad’s writing.”

Kyleigh’s mouth fell open. “You’re right. I was so upset that he’d taken off and not told me what was going on, I didn’t think about the writing.” She wrinkled her brows together and clamped her front teeth onto her lower lip again.

The movie started, but Aunt Maye shut off the player and TV. “I occasionally get a typed letter from him, but do you?”

“From time to time. Most are usually hand-written on his personal letterhead. But sometimes I get one he’s printed off the computer. Never this brief, though.”

Aunt Maye pressed her mouth shut. “It seems strange for him to have typed such a quick note and not to just text or call to let you know.” She sat on the couch and checked her cell on the end table. “Sure wish Charlie’s commanding officer would call back. But then, he might not have received my message yet. It’s only been an hour.” She sighed and glanced at Kyleigh. “I’m sure we’ll hear something soon.” Her cell rang, and Aunt Maye lunged for it. “Hello?” Her aunt pressed the loudspeaker button.

The man’s deep, commanding voice came through her aunt’s cell. “Hello. Colonel Stevens here. I’m returning a phone call from Maye Lockhart regarding one of my officers.”

“Thank you for calling back, Colonel. I’m Maye Lockhart.”

Kyleigh threw the afghan off her, jumped from the couch, and joined her aunt in pacing the living room.

“Charlie...I mean, Major Flanagan is my brother. His daughter Kyleigh and I’ve been trying to reach him after she received a strange message, and—”

“You received a message?”

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