“Follow the dolphin!” Jesse shouted over the noisy surf.
Nani had made the connection. Kaia could hardly believe it. Now if only the dolphin could find the little girl. The skipper revved up the engine, and the boat’s bow slammed against every wave. The repeated jarring would have knocked Kaia to the deck, but she held on to the railing and strained to see through the spray. As Nani swam toward the Na Pali mountain chain, Kaia looked ahead then turned to look behind her. She saw something bobbing in the water.
“Is that a kayak?” Kaia pointed toward the shore. The upended kayak dipped and rolled with the waves tumbling it toward shore.
“It is!” Jesse leaned into the wind, his gaze on the boat.
Faye started to sob. Kaia jumped to the railing and cupped her hands to her mouth. “Heidi!” she shouted. Please, Lord, let her be alive. Her eyes burned. She knew Jesse was just as aware as she was that the little girl was unlikely to survive for long in seas like these.
Nani paused then turned back. Kaia felt a stab of disappointment in the dolphin. She hadn’t been leading them to Heidi. The clicks and whistles hadn’t represented anything meaningful to her. So much for their breakthrough.
Kaia squinted in the sunshine and continued to scan the waves and shout Heidi’s name. Nani sped by the boat and veered toward shore. In that moment, Kaia spotted Heidi in the water. “There she is!” She shucked her jacket, kicked off her slippers, and dove overboard.
The swells hampered her vision, but she struck out with adrenaline-driven strength in the direction she’d seen Heidi. She glimpsed Jesse off to her right in the water as well. She rode a swell to the top and saw the little girl clinging to Nani’s dorsal fin. The dolphin was pulling Heidi toward the boat.
Kaia shouted and pointed. Jesse heard her and shook the water out of his eyes. He waved that he’d seen them too, and they turned around and swam to intercept Nani and Heidi. They reached the boat the same time as the dolphin with her precious cargo.
Heidi let go of Nani and grabbed for her uncle’s hand. Kaia came alongside and together they hoisted Heidi to the waiting men, who lifted her to safety. A wave grabbed Kaia and flung her away from the boat.
She went under, gulping water. An undertow caught her, and she instinctively fought it for a moment. Heidi needed her, and she wanted to get to the boat, but the current was too strong. She let herself go limp and went with the riptide until it released its grip. Her head broke the surface. The boat was even farther away. Then Nani came to her, and she grabbed for the dolphin. Nani towed her back to the boat.
Jesse was at the ladder, spitting water. “I thought you were a goner,” he sputtered.
Kaia grabbed the ladder and hauled herself up. Jesse followed, and they both collapsed onto the deck.
Kaia lay gasping then rolled to all fours and looked for the child. “How’s Heidi?” She felt strung as tightly as a ukulele until she saw the keiki. Heidi lay in Faye’s arms. They were both crying. Faye was smoothing the child’s wet hair out of her face.
Too tired to stand, Kaia collapsed back onto the deck. Jesse grabbed her arm and helped her to a seat then went to his niece. Heidi turned and buried her face against her uncle.
“I’m sorry,” she gulped. “Are you mad at me?”
He embraced her with one arm and held on to the rail with the other. Then he sat down and pulled her onto his lap. “You could have been killed, Heidi. You almost were.”
She burst into fresh sobs. “The waves were so big. I kept swallowing water. Every time I got to the top of a wave, it sucked me under again. I asked God to send Nani, and he did. I was drowning when she came. She saved me.”
“Don’t ever scare me like that again.” Jesse tucked her against his chest and propped his chin on her wet hair. “I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you.”
“What were you thinking to go off by yourself?” Kaia asked. “We’re lucky to have spotted you in the waves. Nani was just wandering aimlessly until I saw your kayak.”
“We couldn’t find the little boy, and I saw the kayak. I thought I could save him.”
“That’s a job for grownups,” Jesse said.
“The waves got really big, and I got scared. I yelled, but no one could hear me.” Heidi’s tears began to taper off.
“How long were you in the water?” A real understanding of the close call was beginning to set in, and Kaia’s limbs trembled.