High Tide in Hawaii - Mary Pope Osborne [3]
Jack peeked out from behind the tree. Annie was doing the hula with the dancers! But no one seemed surprised. Everyone just smiled at her as they kept dancing.
A girl caught sight of Jack. She looked about Annie’s age. She had long, shiny black hair and a big, friendly smile.
“Come do the hula!” she called to him.
“No way,” Jack breathed.
He slipped behind the tree again. But the girl danced over to him and took his hand.
“Join us!” she said.
“No thanks,” said Jack.
The girl didn’t let go. She pulled Jack into the open. The music got louder. The dancers and musicians nodded and smiled at Jack.
Jack stood still. He didn’t know how to do any kind of dance, let alone the hula! He stared at the ground, clutching his backpack and notebook until the music and dancing ended.
The Hawaiians gathered around Jack and Annie. They all had friendly, open faces.
“Who are you?” the young girl asked.
“I’m Annie,” said Annie. “This is my brother, Jack.”
“I’m Kama,” the girl said. “This is my brother, Boka.” She pointed to a boy in the crowd who looked about Jack’s age.
The boy stepped forward. He grinned a big grin just like his sister’s. He pulled off his wreath of red fluffy flowers. He put it around Annie’s neck.
“A lei to welcome you,” Boka said.
Kama then pulled off her lei and put it around Jack’s neck.
“Aloha, Jack and Annie!” everyone said.
“Aloha,” said Jack and Annie.
“Where did you come from?” a pretty woman asked.
“Frog—” Annie started.
But Jack broke in. “From over the mountains,” he said quickly. He pointed at the mountains looming in the distance.
“We are glad you have come to visit us,” the woman said.
Everyone smiled and nodded.
They’re all amazingly nice, Jack thought.
The music started again. As people began to dance, Kama took Annie’s hand.
“Sit and talk with us,” she said.
She and Boka led Jack and Annie to the edge of the clearing. They sat cross-legged in the grass. Kama picked up a wooden bowl. She held it out.
“Please eat,” she said.
“What is it?” asked Annie.
“It is poi,” said Kama. She scooped some poi out of the bowl and licked it off of her fingers.
“You eat it with your hands? Cool,” said Annie. She stuck her fingers in the bowl and licked off the poi. “Mmm … good.”
Jack stuck his finger in the bowl, too. The gooey mixture felt like peanut butter. But when he licked it off his finger, it had a weird taste—both bitter and sweet.
“Hmm,” he said, but he made a face.
“He doesn’t like it,” Kama said to Boka.
“No, no,” said Jack. “It’s … ” He tried to think of something polite.… “It’s very interesting.”
Kama and Boka giggled. Then they stuck their fingers in the bowl and ate some poi.
“Interesting!” they exclaimed. They cracked up laughing. Jack and Annie laughed with them.
“Now tell us about your home over the mountains,” said Kama, “this place you call ‘Frog.’ ”
Kama’s friendly smile made Jack want to tell her the truth.
“It’s actually called Frog Creek,” he said. “It’s very far away—much farther than just over the mountains. We traveled here in a magic tree house.”
Kama’s and Boka’s eyes got huge. They smiled even bigger smiles than before.
“That sounds fun!” said Kama.
“You are so lucky!” said Boka.
Jack and Annie laughed.
“Yeah, we are,” said Jack. He felt great telling their new friends about the tree house. He and Annie had never talked about it with their friends back home.
“Can you stay here tonight?” asked Kama.
Jack shrugged. “Sure, we can stay at least one night,” he said.
Kama hurried over to the pretty woman. They spoke together for a moment. Then Kama returned to Jack and Annie.
“Our mother invites you to sleep at our house,” she said.
“Great,” said Annie. “Thanks.”
Jack and Annie stood up. In the gray twilight, they followed Kama and Boka through the village. They wove between small huts with steep roofs until Kama stopped in front of one.
“This is our house,” she said.
The hut had no door—just a wide entrance that opened into one large room.
Kama and Boka led Jack and Annie inside.