embrace. “I–I hardly even knew him.” His eyes darted toward Josh, and he was instantly sorry for how the words must have sounded. “I mean—” He floundered for a moment, then: “Oh, Jeez, I don’t know what I mean!” Turning away, he stumbled up the trail toward the deep cleft in the face of the ravine that was the ancient fumarole. A moment later, almost hidden by the dense foliage that surrounded him, he dropped onto a fallen tree.
Shit!
What the hell was wrong with him? Why had he said that?
Suddenly, he saw a movement a few yards down the trail. Great! Now his mother was coming after him, like he was still ten years old.
Or still had asthma!
But a second later it was Josh Malani who appeared, and once more Michael felt himself flush with embarrassment. “Look, I didn’t mean that about Kioki. I mean—”
“It’s okay,” Josh told him, dropping down onto the log next to him. “I say things I don’t mean all the time.”
Michael felt the heat in his face dissipate a little. “Still friends?”
Josh grinned. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily.” The two boys sat quietly for a minute, listening to the singing of the birds and the splashing of the waterfall. Then Josh spoke again. “How come you didn’t want your mom to hug you?”
Michael’s brow furrowed. “I’m not a little kid anymore,” he groaned. “I mean, Jeez, Josh! Do you like it when your mom hugs you in front of your friends?”
Josh turned to look straight at Michael. “I wouldn’t know,” he said. “My mom never hugs me.” He stood up. “Maybe we better go back down there, huh?”
Michael and Josh were just starting down the trail when Rob Silver appeared from around the bend. “Hey, what are you two up to?”
“Nothing,” Michael said. “Just talking.”
“Up here?” Rob asked, wrinkling his nose against the sulfurous fumes that filled the air. “How can you stand the stink?”
Michael and Josh looked at each other. “What stink?” Michael asked.
“That fumarole,” Rob replied. “Can’t you smell the sulfur? Your mom and I have been practically choking on it all afternoon.”
Michael was about to say something, but once again Josh spoke before he had a chance.
“It’s not so bad. I’ve smelled a lot worse.”
Rob Silver rolled his eyes. “Not unless you live in a landfill. Come on, let’s get out of here.”
They walked back down to the clearing where the skeleton was, and Michael, unable to stop himself, gazed at the skull once again, the odd feeling washing over him stronger than ever, as if commanding him to stoop down once more, to take a closer look. Then, as he forced himself to back away, he realized that the strange feeling in his chest — the feeling that he was about to lose his breath — was gone.
Five minutes later, as they were getting back into Josh’s truck, Katharine called out to them. “You guys want steaks for dinner?”
Michael glanced at Josh, who nodded. “Sure.”
“Will you stop in Makawao and pick some up on the way home?”
“No problem!” Josh called. Gunning the engine, he popped the clutch and shot out of the clearing.
Katharine watched the truck disappear, shaking her head. “Do you suppose he always drives that way, or was he just showing off?”
Rob slung his arm around Katharine’s shoulders. “Will you stop worrying? Believe me, Josh knows exactly how to drive that truck. I only had to pull him back on the road once on the way out here.”
Katharine couldn’t tell from Rob’s tone whether he was kidding or not.
Michael hung onto the dashboard as the pickup bounced along the ruts, wishing it at least had seat belts. “Will you slow down?” he complained. “What if we break an axle?”
A peal of laughter rolled from Josh. “We won’t! But even if we do, so what? From here, we could hike to your house!”
“Are you nuts?” Michael shot back. “We’re miles away.”
Josh shook his head. “We just circled around. If you went the other way when you left the clearing, you’d come to a path. All you have to do is climb over a couple of fences, and you come out about half a mile up from where you live. I’ve been out here lots of times. Sure never knew there was somebody buried up there, though.”
Dusk was falling as Josh finally pulled out of the eucalyptus grove and parked the truck in front of the Sundquists’ house. But instead of getting out of the cab, Michael sat thoughtfully gazing out at the fading panorama of the valley far below. “Hey, Josh?” he asked.
Something in his voice made the other boy pause. “Yeah?”
“Up there at that sulfur vent,” Michael went on, his eyes finally shifting to look at his friend, “did you really smell anything?”
Josh hesitated, then shook his head. “I didn’t smell a thing.”
“So why did you lie?”
Josh shrugged. “Didn’t feel like arguing. I just figured it was better to agree with him.”
“You think Rob really smelled it?”
Josh frowned. “Sure. Why would he lie?”
Michael felt a shiver of apprehension. “Then why didn’t we smell it?” he asked. “How come we didn’t smell anything at all?”
A quizzical expression spread across Josh Malani’s face. “What’s going on with you? You sound like you’re scared or something.”
Michael shook his head. “I’m not scared, exactly. But I just keep thinking about Kioki, and—”
Josh jerked on the door handle and swung out of the cab. “Will you quit worrying all the time? I’m telling you, whatever happened to Kioki doesn’t have anything to do with us. Everything’s fine!”
But as Michael got out of the truck, he still kept wondering:
If everything was so fine, how come Kioki was dead?
CHAPTER 14
Smoke and steam were billowing up from a great tear in the surface of the mountainside, and a curtain of fire hung against the black night sky. It was as if the entire mountain were ready to explode. Katharine shuddered as she stared at the image on the screen.
Rob Silver, sitting next to her on the sofa, picked up on her fears instantly. “Take it easy,” he said. “It looks a lot worse than it is.”
For half an hour they’d been watching the live coverage of the new eruption on the Big Island, and although it was the third time Rob had reassured her, Katharine still sat staring, nearly frozen in horror, at the hellish images being broadcast from the next island — an island that suddenly seemed much closer than it had only an hour earlier.
“I know that’s what you keep telling me,” she replied. “And I understand that these aren’t the kind of volcanoes that explode. But you have to admit, it’s very, very scary-looking.”
Josh Malani, sprawled out on the floor next to Michael, gazed at the fiery scene as if mesmerized. “Wouldn’t it be neat to be there? You can go right out onto the lava flows and look down into the crevices where it’s still red hot.”
“Maybe we can fly over there,” Michael suggested. “Maybe—”
“Maybe Josh can go home, and you can go to bed,” Katharine interrupted, shutting off the television with the remote. “You both have school tomorrow, remember?”
“Come on, Mom, turn it back on,” Michael pleaded. “It’s only a little after ten, and—”
