Welcome back, goddess

The captain of the Tuber Border Patrol and two of his officers watched from the entrance to The Tube as the goddess Tokelani lingered -- having heard them call her name -- but then turn and follow the two Topsiders.

"Time to go Topside, boys," the captain said.

Donning very large, very dark wrap-around sunglasses and kapa loincloths, they followed Tokelani -- the goddess who returned every 100 years and turned everyone into whoopee fiends for a weekend -- and soon found her and the others at the top of the kipuka. The one called Pua Makua, Ph.D., was poking around in a thicket of brush and grass.

"Hmm, nothing here that would seem of significance to Pele," Pua said. She was searching for a reason the volcano goddess had saved these four acres or so, the only island of life in a vast sea of lava, created when the molten rock flowed around it. "Or perhaps she created a buffer for her sacred interest."

She had no way of knowing that Pele was protecting an entrance to The Tube that connected with the Royal Rotunda of King Kavawai, where rested the bones of Kamehameha the Great. While the captain gave her credit for respecting and understanding Hawaiian gods, she was still a Topsider, so knowledge of The Tube and the people who inhabited it, keeping the old Hawaiian ways alive, must always elude her.

The Border Patrolmen watched from tall grass as Pua led the others down the slope toward the guava grove, followed by the one called Randy Makapu'u, who'd made a reference to his owning this land. That was a concern. Tokelani brought up the rear. And what a rear it was.

The goddess was tall, thin, but full of perfect curves, with long, black hair piled up on top of her head with a small stick. Unlike the Tubers, who pretty much ran around naked, she wore black hiking shorts and a white, lacy blouse, and moved gracefully in running shoes.

"What a beauty," the captain whispered, beginning to breathe heavily.

"Just as the legend described her," the first officer said, his voice husky with testosterone and adrenaline. "Except for the clothes."

"Her power is real," said the second, wiping sweat from his brow.

"It shows," said the captain. "Down, boy."

They followed as Tokelani and the others reached the guava grove once owned by Kamehameha, lingering at the edge of the tall grass. As Pua said a prayer, asking permission of the resident gods to taste the fruit of the garden, the captain said in a loud whisper "Psst, Tokelani! Over here!"

She looked around, saw a hand beckoning from the grass. Assuming it was the chopper pilot who'd flown them up here -- who else would know her name? -- when the prayer ended she walked toward the voice. "Welcome back, Tokelani," the voice said. "Thank you for coming."