Free Maui Madness (Zoe Donovan Mysteries Book 7) by Kathi Daley Page B

that was shaped roughly like a cross but was covered in barnacles that Pono assured us could be soaked off. Malie found a number of items, including a gold locket that at one time might have held a valued photo, several pieces of silverware with initials on the handles, and a ceramic pitcher. Pono found a heavy chain that at one time must have held something down or possibly supported an anchor, and a cannonball with an emblem stamped onto one side.
    “Did you see those sharks circling overhead when we were down by the reef?” Malie asked.
    “I did. They were so beautiful.” I smiled.
    “You saw sharks?” Ellie screeched.
    “Just a couple of reef sharks,” I said.
    “In the water with you?”
    Pono laughed. “Don’t worry; this particular breed hardly ever eats humans. They’re nocturnal feeders that were probably just chillin’.”
    “ Hardly ever eats humans?” Ellie gasped. I thought she was going to pass out.
    “You do realize that we ’re in the ocean, right?” I reminded her. “Sharks live in the ocean, and you’ll occasionally run into one, if you’re lucky.”
    “ Lucky ?”
    “We weren’t in any danger,” Levi assured her. “Sharks respond to sound vibrations. You’re probably more likely to get bit flapping around on the surface while you snorkel than we were while diving.”
    I kicked Levi. Hard.
    “Ouch. Why’d you do that?”
    I nodded toward Ellie , who was completely pale.
    “Oh,” Levi said as he rubbed his shin.
    “What is that island in the distance?” Zak asked.
    I was grateful for the change in subject.
    “Kaho‘olawe,” Pono told him.
    “Is it inhabited?” I asked.
    “Not currently, although it has been in the past. During World War II, Kaho‘olawe was used as a training ground and bombing range by the armed forces. After decades of protests, live-fire training exercises were terminated, and the Kaho‘olawe Island Reserve was established. Today, the island can be used only for native Hawaiian cultural, spiritual, and subsistence purposes,” Malie explained.
    “And before the armed forces took over?”
    “There is a long history of small settlements on the island,” Malie said. “Sometime around the year 1000, Kaho‘olawe was settled by native Hawaiians, and small, temporary fishing communities were established along the coast. War among competing chiefs caused a decrease in population. During the War of Kamokuhi, the ruler of the Big Island raided Kaho‘olawe in an unsuccessful attempt to take Maui from the King of Maui, which devastated the local population even further. I’m not sure of all the details surrounding the island population, but I do know that the island was mostly deserted during the 1700s. After the arrival of missionaries in the 1800s, the Kingdom of Hawaii replaced the death penalty with exile, and Kaho‘olawe became a men’s penal colony sometime around 1830.”
    “Wow , that’s really interesting.”
    “You should talk to my Uncle Rory,” Malie suggested. “He knows a lot more about local history than I do.”
    “Speaking of Rory , maybe he can help us identify some of this stuff,” Pono said. “If we can identify the marking on the cannonball, maybe we can trace it back to a specific ship.”
    “So do we take tomorrow off and go to my uncle ’s in the hope that we can find these marks in one of his books, or do we come out again and keep looking?” Malie asked.
    Pono sat quietly as he considered her question. I honestly didn’t care about the answer —either activity seemed interesting to me—so I closed my eyes and let the motion of the boat lull me toward the most relaxed state I’d been in for quite some time. Charlie was asleep under the lounge chair I was lying on. I wasn’t sure how he’d do with the day-long trip, but he seemed to enjoy being with everyone, and I knew he’d hate being left at the house alone. We’d anchored around midday and used the lifeboat to make the short trip onto a nearby island, where