Kepala Kani Wahi

(Epilogue to Paniolo)

By Sylvia

"Hold on," Danny Williams said over the phone. "Calm down, Mrs. Owens. Do you have any idea where he could have gone?"

Danny listened for a few more moments. "Don't worry, Mrs. Owens. We'll find him," he said.

He put the phone down and walked over to Kono Kalakaua's desk. "What's up?" Kono asked.

"Bud Owens is missing," Danny said. "That was his mother. You remember them?"

"Oh, yeah," Kono said. "The grandson of that old paniolo. Big pilika."

Bud's grandfather had been Frank Kuakua, a cowboy who lived in Maui and had struggled not to give up his land. By accident, Kuakua had killed a representative of the developer trying to buy the land, and had tried to cover it up. A posse led by Danny and Kono's boss, Steve McGarrett, had gone after Kuakua. Steve had tried to get the man to surrender peacefully, but Kuakua had shot him in the arm and some of the posse members killed the old cowboy.

Young Bud had revered his grandfather and blamed his mother, a waitress at the Ilikai coffee shop, for not helping him. While Five-O was investigating the case, Dorothy Owens had lied to the detectives about having an alibi for her father's whereabouts. Then, she'd tried to help her father by tipping him off. But given the family's situation, Steve had recommended to Assistant District Attorney John Manicote that Dorothy be sentenced to community service.

Bud had still not forgiven her, though.

Danny and Kono went to talk to Steve about Bud.

"You take all the help you need and go find him, Danno," Steve said. The Five-O leader and his detectives had a soft spot for children.

"Do you have any idea where he might have gone?" Danny asked Dorothy Owens.

Dorothy thought a moment. "His favorite place was to be with his grandfather, in what my father called Kepala Kani Wahi - the safe place."

"At the ranch in Maui ?" Kono asked. Dorothy nodded.

"Maybe that's where he's headed," Danny said.

"But how?!" Dorothy wondered.

"Mrs. Owens, does Bud have any classmates with parents who might own a boat?" Danny asked.

Dorothy thought a moment. "I really don't know," she said.

Danny called Steve. "Chin and I can check with his teacher and the school principal," Steve said.

Fifteen minutes later, Steve called back.

"Danno, there's a man whose son is a classmate of Bud. The man has a charter fishing boat. His name is Jerry Puana," Steve said. "He's based at Rainbow Docks, near Waimea Bay ."

"Let's go," Danny told Kono and Dorothy.

They got to Rainbow Docks and found the harbormaster. Danny and Kono flashed their badges.

"What can I do for you?" the harbormaster asked.

"We're looking for a man named Jerry Puana," Kono said.

"Sure, I know Jerry," the harbormaster said. "Good business."

"Did he take a charter boat out today?" Danny asked.

The harbormaster got his clipboard. "Yeah, he did," he said, looking at the clipboard. "He's got two passengers with him. Went to Maui ."

"I don't suppose anyone knows whether they were young boys," Kono asked.

The harbormaster looked toward another boat, where someone was doing some work. "Hey, Hank!" he called. "You see Jerry Puana go out with passengers today?"

"Yeah, Bob," the other man called back. "Two kids."

"Thanks, Hank!" the harbormaster said.

"We'd better call the Coast Guard," Danny said.

The Coast Guard took Danny, Kono and Dorothy to the dock in Maui where Jerry Puana had gone. The harbormaster there said Puana and two boys had taken a cab. Kono called the cab company about that destination.

"I'm telling you, bruddah, I can't give out that information," someone from the cab company said.

"And I'm telling you, bruddah, we're Hawaii Five-O," Kono said. "If you don't give it, we're gonna go and get it. Now give."

"All right, all right," the cab company employee said. "They went to Kea Lika."

Kono mentioned the destination. "That was near my father's ranch," said Dorothy.

Maui Police Chief Ben Kubota sent one of his officers to take the three of them to the ranch. No sooner had they gotten out of the car than they spotted Jerry Puana and the two boys.

"Bud!" Dorothy called.

"No! No!" said Bud, seeing Dorothy and taking off at a run. Kono took off after him. Danny held back Dorothy.

"But Bud-" she said.

"Let Kono speak to him a moment, Mrs. Owens," Danny said gently.

They walked over to Jerry Puana and his son.

"What's the trouble?" Puana asked after Danny flashed his badge.

"Mrs. Owens was looking for her son," Danny said.

"Well, I thought Bud had permission to come with us," Puana said, turning to Dorothy. “Didn’t he?”

"He never told me about this," said Dorothy, shaking her head.

Jerry Puana looked down at his son. "Mark....." he began.

"Bud wanted to come here to the place where his grandfather lived," Mark Puana said. “I figured it wouldn’t hurt, Dad.”

"We'll talk about this when we get home," his father said.

"Yes, sir," the boy said, eyes downcast.

"I'm sorry," Jerry Puana told Danny.

"No harm done," Danny said. He smiled at Mark. "You're going to tell the truth from now on, aren't you, Mark?" he asked. Mark nodded.

"Good," Danny said.

Kono had finally caught up with Bud. They were now sitting under a tree.

"How come you ran away?" Kono asked.

Tears came from Bud's eyes. "I miss my grandfather," he said.

Kono nodded. "Yeah, I know," he said.

“Why’d they have to kill him?” Bud asked, still crying.

“Well, he did some bad things,” Kono said. “And he took a shot. My boss was wounded.”

“But my grandfather was a good man,” Bud sobbed.

“I’m sure he was, Bud, but you gotta obey the rules,” Kono said. “Sometimes, when people don’t obey the rules, they get into a lot of trouble, and it becomes too big to handle.”

As Bud cried, Kono patted his shoulder.

“You used to ride here with him a lot?” Kono asked Bud, who nodded.

Kono looked around and said, "You know, I had an uncle who was a paniolo."

"Really?" Bud asked.

"Yeah," Kono said. "When I'd come home from school sometimes, I'd go riding with him."

"Neat," Bud said. "Do you still go?"

"Well, my uncle died a few years ago, but one of his sons took over," Kono said. "I don't get to the Big Island as often as I'd like - I'm from there - but when I do, I sometimes go for a ride."

Kono thought a moment. Maybe there was a way to help the boy.

"You know, if your mama says yes, maybe you can come with me to the Big Island sometime and ride those horses," he said.

Bud's eyes grew wide. "Really?!" he asked.

"If your mama says yes," Kono reminded him.

Bud looked down. "I've been pretty mean to her," he said. "I should 'pologize."

Kono stood up. "Come on, Bud," he said. "Let's go to your mama."

They got up, and Bud ran to Dorothy, who hugged him.

"What happened?" Danny asked when Kono reached him.

Kono explained what he'd suggested to the boy. Danny grinned.

"What?" Kono asked.

"You," Danny said. "You're a softie."

"Look who's talking softie, Mr. Little League Coach," Kono responded.

Dorothy looked at the two cops and nodded after Bud told her of Kono's suggestion.

"Anyway, Kono, it's real good what you're doing for Bud," Danny said. "Real good. I think it'll help him."

Kono looked at the mother and son and silently agreed. Bud and Dorothy Owens had found Kepala Kani Wahi.

PAU