Chapter 21

On Monday morning,I woke feeling more rested and better able to move than I had felt since my fall after relaxing and taking it easy for most of Sunday. I was sipping the Elixir of Life from my mug while doing some gentle stretches and watching the cats play in a sunbeam, when Rita Farnsworth called. "You still want to check into those truancy reports?"

"Yes, please."

"Are you still off from work today or do we need to schedule this for after the post office closes?" The woman was all business.

"I've got a couple more days off before I can get cleared to return."

"Good. What do you say to me picking you up in an hour and we'll head down to the district office in Wailuku and see if we can shake some trees?"

"Sounds perfect. Thanks."

I dressed in my usual black jeans and polo shirt and then thought better of it. We were going to the offices of the educational command center on Maui. I probably should wear something that was a bit more friendly and casual.

I kept the jeans but traded the polo for a pale-yellow button-down shirt. I even folded up a yellow bandana and tied it around my ponytail for a tidy but summery look.

Rita showed up wearing Birkenstocks and a homespun tunic with what Aunt Fae would call "palazzo pants." With her beige hair, light tan face, taupe-colored clothing, and mud brown sandals, she'd be invisible in a sandstorm.

"There you go," she said as she insisted on helping me into the passenger seat of her little electric car. Getting in took some maneuvering to accommodate my six-foot something frame, with or without a battered torso.

We chatted for most of the ride into town. I inquired about her stray cat sanctuary. She assured me she'd left the kitties in good hands for the day. "I'm up to nearly two dozen felines in the cat house now. It was wrong of Chad to use the postal truck to help me get the sanctuary going, but he's such a dear. He comes over now and then and helps me with cleanup and nail trimming, and he's my sitter on weekends. It's so lovely to have a young person around."

We discussed the weather, the upcoming wedding, the price of bread and coffee in rural Hawaii, and about a half-dozen other things that kept us safely away from addressing the distressing case of the missing girl.

About the time we turned onto High Street in Wailuku, where the school district office was located, Rita turned to me and said, "I need you to let me handle this. I'm going to be calling in a few favors, and maybe even doing a bit of fibbing. I hope you're okay with that."

I assured her I was on board.

Rita was greeted like that Greek guy in "The Odyssey" arriving home after years at sea as she swept into the Maui School District office. People left cubicles to come over and hug her as word spread that the much-loved former head of curriculum and instruction was "in the house."

Rita introduced me as the Ohia postmaster, as if somehow that gave me standing, and no one questioned her.

We went from office to office and cubicle to cubicle, greeting those who would've taken offense if she'd failed to seek them out. Then, we made our way over to the area that held what we'd come for—the school attendance department.

"Hi Sheila," Rita said upon entering the office. The plump, curly-haired clerk's name plaque was clearly visible on her desk, so I wasn't sure if Rita knew the woman or not, but Sheila lit up as if she'd spotted a long-lost relative that'd been given up for dead.

"Dr. Farnsworth! How wonderful to see you. May I offer you a chair? How about a cup of coffee or a bottle of water?"

Rita leaned over the desk and gave the woman a perfunctory hug. "It's lovely to be back. But we can only stay a few minutes. I'm hoping you can help me with a personal matter."

"Of course. Anything." Glancing at me, Sheila explained, "Dr. Farnsworth was such a help to me when I first got here. I consider her my mentor."

"Well, it was my pleasure, Sheila."

I had the feeling that if Rita Farnsworth had asked this woman for her left kidney, we'd be leaving for the hospital immediately.

Rita explained what we were searching for. We waited while Sheila pulled up a list of four names of elementary-age kids on the east side of the island who'd been "excessively truant," which meant for more than ten days, in the past month.

"I'll be writing up the February report this week," Sheila said.

Rita stared at the printout Sheila had given her. "Can I ask just one more small favor?"

Sheila's bright eyes resembled a trick dog waiting for its trainer to give the ‘go' sign. "Of course."

"It appears one of these children is a boy and the other three are girls."

"Yes, I'm pretty sure ‘Timo' is a boy's name. The other names are usually given to girls, but you can never be sure."

"Would you check that? While you're in their files, would you be so kind as to include their ages and addresses?"

"Sure. Give me a minute. Are you sure I can't get you a coffee or some water while you wait?"

"Mahalo, but no. We're in a bit of a hurry."

"Okay. I'll get right on it."

Rita kept peeking out into the hall as Sheila pecked and moused her way through the data screens on her computer. After only a couple of minutes Sheila triumphantly handed over a new printout.

"There you go. I hope that helps."

"Again, mahalo, Sheila. You're a dear."

Sheila flashed a smile. "It was nothing. My boss is out this week with the flu so I'm not that busy. But I do need to get going on that quarterly truancy report."

"Oh, and about that," Rita said. "Please don't mention I asked you for this? It's not a big deal, but I wouldn't want to get you in any trouble. You're doing a favor for someone who doesn"t even work here anymore."

Sheila did a little "cross my heart" gesture and they hugged again. We didn't speak until we got to the car.

"I wanted to move on this fast because I heard Sheila's boss was out. The administrator who runs that department suffers from excessive bureaucratic zeal, so I was counting on him being gone."

We read over the list of three girls' names and ages. One was only five years old, too young to match Doug's description of the girl he saw in the window. The others were aged ten and twelve. Either of those could be the missing girl.

"Thanks again for getting me these names," I said. "I want to visit the addresses and see what I can find out about them, but I don't want to waste any more of your time."

"My dear Kat," she said. "Finding one of Maui's children is anything but a waste of my time. Let's see if either of these kids might be who you're searching for."

We drove out to a remote area north of Wailuku in a back-of-beyond area that rivaled Ohia for being "off-the-grid." As we made our way to the tiny settlement, I had a flashback to driving down the rutted road to the hermit's place. Every few hundred feet was a sign warning that this was "private property" and "no trespassing."

The road narrowed, and we came to a metal barrier which required Rita to stomp on the brake. On either side of the barrier were eight-foot flagpoles bearing flags I'd never seen before. The left-hand pole held a light blue flag with a red and gold emblem in the center. I couldn't make out the emblem in its entirety, but I could see on one side it was a Hawaiian warrior holding a tall stanchion. The other flagpole bore a red, green, and gold striped flag with a center section of green and gold. Again, the center was partially hidden in the folds, but it seemed to be a simple icon depicting a paddle and maybe a shield or feather.

"What do those flags mean?" I said.

Rita bit her lip. "This is a Hawaiian Sovereignty outpost. The people who live out here are advocating for the return of the Kingdom of Hawaii."

"How is that possible?"

"You know the history, right?" Rita said. "The sugar barons and missionary families plotted to overthrow the legitimate Kingdom of Hawaii. They pulled off a coup and got the islands annexed to the United States. These people want to reverse that and reinstate the kingdom. They're very passionate about it."

"Seems if we want to go any further down this road, we're going to have to walk."

Rita clenched her hands on the steering wheel but said nothing.

I went on. "Could our girl have been snatched from here and they didn't report it? Maybe these folks wouldn't want to deal with the local police."

"I agree. I'm afraid if we—" Rita was interrupted by a loud knock on her driver's side window. We were both startled. I hadn't seen anyone coming, and apparently neither had Rita.

The large, dark-skinned guy standing at the window wore a swath of red and yellow cloth tied around his waist to make a long skirt. That was it. Nothing covering his chest. I couldn't see from where I was sitting, but I bet he was barefoot, as well.

"This is sovereign land," he said, after Rita rolled down her window. Geometric facial tattoos covered his face, making him appear menacing—though his eyes seemed sad rather than threatening. "You don't belong here. You gotta leave."

"I apologize for the intrusion," Rita said. "We're here to make sure one of your keiki is safe. I'm from the school district and we haven't seen . . ." She checked the printout and continued . . . "Eliana Ka'aohoe in school for the past few weeks."

"She's safer here than she'd ever be in your occupier school."

"Again, we're sorry to intrude, but do you know the girl I'm speaking of?"

"Yeah, she's ‘ohana. My brother's granddaughter."

"And do you know why she's not been in school?"

"She's being educated here, in our ways. She's not happy at that school of yours."

"You know you can file a form for her to be homeschooled? Then, you wouldn't have people like me bothering you."

He narrowed his eyes and leaned his arms on the roof of the car. "I don't need to apply for nuthin'. This is our home, our land. You have no right to tell us what we can and can't do."

"May I make one final request and then I'll leave?" The man was silent. He straightened up and folded his arms over his chest, inclining his head. "If you tell me that you know that Eliana is safe and being educated at home, I'll do the paperwork. I'll come back for a signature later. We're only out here to make sure she's safe and being educated."

His eyes flashed in anger and he roared, "You took everything from us, and now you dare to accuse us of harming our own keiki! Go back and tell the people you work for that the night marchers are coming. And when they do, this land will be returned to the righteous kanaka it belongs to."

Once again, Rita apologized for the intrusion and thanked him for his time. She buzzed her window up and put her car into Reverse. She twisted in the seat, navigating the little yellow vehicle to a wide spot so she could turn around.

After we'd gotten back to the main road, I said, "I'd love to hear more about the Sovereignty Movement. And what does it have to do with the ghost story Night Marchers?"

"A story for another day," she said. "Let's put the next address into the GPS."

I was impressed with how cool she was through the entire encounter, and now we were on our way to the next one.