Free Water Lily by Terri Farley Page A

it.
    â€œThat’s for wearing, not eating,” she told the goat, but Francie had already reached the same conclusion.
    Kimo’s dad had given Francie to Jonah as a joke. She was a fainting goat, a breed rumored to have been created by shepherds to pass out under stress. That way, if a wolf or coyote was on the prowl, the valuable sheep would flee, leaving the unconscious goat for the predators.
    Darby hated that idea. Still, she teased Francie. “Maybe you’ve got the right idea. If I’d fainted at the mention of herding with helicopters, I wouldn’t have been able to run my mouth and make people think I was a child .”
    Naaa, Francie bleated, but Darby didn’t try to interpret the comment. She just kissed the goat’s silky head before getting a better grip on the box, then jogged off to show Hoku her present.
    Two months ago, she probably would have just whipped the blanket out of its box to display it for Hoku. Now she knew the action might scare the filly, so she knelt outside the corral, opened the box so that the blanket showed, and scooted the box under the bottom fence rail.
    If Hoku wanted to investigate it, she could.
    In the meantime, Darby took down the halter and tangerine-striped rope from where she’d slung them over the top fence rail. Hoku knew them and associated them with good things—like going somewhere with Darby—so Darby went into the corral and haltered her horse.
    â€œYep, that’s for you,” Darby said when Hoku rolledher eyes toward the box.
    Darby walked over and lifted out the blanket.
    No spatter of gravel or explosion of dust came from her horse’s hooves. She didn’t shy or show the whites of her eyes in fear, so Darby approached the filly with the blanket draped over her arms. She stopped a few feet away, not forcing her filly to examine the blanket, just offering the new object for inspection.
    â€œHoku, it’s for you,” she said.
    The filly sniffed the blanket. She tasted it. She listened as Darby flapped it.
    â€œYou’re such a big girl,” she said, and then she made a quick kissing sound.
    Hoku shook her head, spilling her golden mane to one side of her neck, then the other. After that, the filly looked into Darby’s eyes with pure acceptance.
    â€œWhat did I do to earn that?” Darby whispered to her horse, but she knew the answer. She was kind. She cared. She paid attention.
    Right now, for instance, Hoku’s ears stood straight up. About the size of Darby’s hand, with all four fingers and her thumb aligned, the sorrel’s ears were alert. Hoku gave back the attention Darby lavished on her.
    â€œYou’re not afraid of this silly blanket, are you?”
    Hoku’s ears changed. They cupped to catch each word. The filly stood so still, Darby saw past the fine golden fringe edging each ear to the dark pink skin and the filigree of veins leading to Hoku’s heart.
    Darby didn’t know how long they’d stood togetherbefore she realized she was humming to her horse. It took a few seconds more for the lyrics to emerge.
    â€œWhen you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are.” Darby didn’t know all of the words, but it didn’t matter.
    Darby sighed with pleasure, then she began gliding the blanket over Hoku’s back, neck, and face. The filly nipped and sniffed and nuzzled.
    â€œSo much for horse charming,” Darby told the filly. “You’re the magic maker.”
    Or maybe they’d hypnotized each other, and that was why Darby decided to ride Hoku—not Navigator—on her first trip to Patrick Zink’s house when Jonah came by to tell her Patrick had called earlier, begging for company.

Chapter Eight
    T he Zink family owned the acreage that adjoined ‘Iolani Ranch to the south. It had once been an old sugar plantation that stretched from the grasslands into the rain forest.
    The sugar mill had long ago fallen into