Fireskirts Subpage 2

CHAPTER 5

Assigned To Guard The Queen

In the early morning, Roosevelt got up quickly. The first thing he did was get his rifle, which happened to be an elephant gun. Faster than a running elephant, he pointed it into the air and pulled the trigger.

It was so loud and obnoxious that everyone awoke with a loud bang scattering for lineup, although none of them were sure where the lineup was. A bit confused, they ran around like a bunch of wussies.

Teddy Roosevelt wanted to laugh, but he couldn't because he was trying to be serious so he could speak to them. After a deep breath, Roosevelt said, "Now that you pussy-whacks are wide awake, bright and early. Some of you are getting assigned to guard the Queen Liliuokalani at her home in Washington Terrace. It is for this reason that Queen Liliuokalani has been visiting San Francisco, Boston, and New York, as well Washington, DC for a year. She failed

to get the Annexation of Hawaii to work with President Cleveland, although, of course, she succeeded with President McKinley. She then returned home early, and at this time only the natives know she was home, because of fear that the Portuguese being next door would discover her whereabouts and inform Spain.

"On August 1st, we will secretly sneak the queen through Honolulu Harbor, out far to sea, to board the ship The Gaelic at about one-thirty a.m. for a two o'clock in

the morning arrival before everyone in Honolulu flocks the piers. The Hawaiian government feels they need a few sharp-shooters to make them feel safe, so I'm sending Shooter, Wood, Martin, and Beretta and shit-shooter John over out there to stay permanently over there in her guest rooms, so you few are lucky. You don't have to camp like the rest of us dirty riders. You get it clean and easy for the rest of your stay here, and only two of you at a time can leave the premises. I want at the very least three of you guarding her at all times, other wise the Hawaiian government will think we're slackers. Also, they might think that we are messing around. And no funny stuff, having sex or hitting on the hot little Hawaiian women in their gorgeous grass skirts. The Hawaiian government will be watching you very closely. And if I catch anyone hitting on the queen's heiress, I will personally shoot your ass with my elephant or 'Hell If It Ain't Funny' gun, and it won't be funny. The queen's home is at Washington Palace, that building we passed up out there with the beautiful garden and the flagpole with the Hawaiian flag on it. That flag will only be up until the high noon

on August Twelfth which is a Friday. That is the official Annexation Day which will be celebrated with at least thousands, with President Dole and Captain Berger's Anthem Hawaii Ponoii before we take their independence. The rest of us are splitting up for beach patrol. Fallout."

Roosevelt stopped walking back and forth as the men headed back to their tents in their pajamas.

Beretta, John and Shooter walked to their tents in

order get ready to go to the queen's palace.

Beretta was tripping out on how cool it was. He said, "I can handle that, hanging out with the queen, with the rest of the trip until the Hawaiian Celebration Day."

Suddenly, Wood ran up to them.

John said to Shooter, "So I guess I get to sit back

and look at your hairy legs all week long." John glanced down at her legs and her pajamas, then said to her, "Are they hairy?"

Shooter then looked at him with a seemingly funny look on her face. "No."

Wood added to the conversation, because he felt that he was a funny Rough Rider as well, "It's either that or you can look at my horse's ass all day long."

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Martin dashed up to their tent still dressed in his pajamas. He said to the Rough Riders, "This is cool. We get to hang out at the queen's house the rest of the mission."

Beretta tried to picture what the queen looked like. He imagined a doll or something more marvelous, so he was able to dream of her, especially after they chose to stay in her

guest rooms.

Martin went on to say, "Yeah, I just hope she's hot."

Shooter looked at Beretta and immediately broke out with a massive laugh as he pictured in his mind an older grandmother. Next, he pictured her in a grass skirt dancing with a massive Fire Stick. At the same time, he pictured her getting him very hot and bothered. With even more laughter, he pictured the queen in the next room rubbing herself and her hands all over her body, of course, while thinking of him.

Still laughing slightly, Beretta said, "Yeah, right. Come on, hurry up."

They all dressed and then got in line for breakfast. After eating quickly, but not killing themselves, they headed to the corrals to saddle their horses.

They then immediately rode toward the queen's palace in Washington Terrace. They eventually made it to Beretenia Street where the queen's palace was located.

Martin rode shotgun in front. He asked as he noticed the palace, "Is that the palace?"

Shooter was looking at the beautiful garden near the

front and continued to ride in that direction. She said to the Rough Riders, "Yeah, it's beautiful."

Beretta saw Shooter looking at the garden and he was amazed at the celosia and plumeria flowers on one side.

Without hesitation, Beretta commented, "Check out the garden."

Without batting an eye, John saw something beside the palace's flagpole, which was by the lovely garden. He noticed four Tahitian Tane Hawaiians dancing the Rough Rider Hula Tribute around the flagpole with Queen Liliuokalani standing there admiring the raising of the Hawaiian flag.

With a grand freak, John said to his fellow riders, "Screw that! Check out those people dancing by the flagpole. Let's ride up there where that woman is standing."

The Rough Riders all looked at the flagpole with a sense of freedom in the cool air as they rode in that direction. The Hawaiians were dancing in their yellow grass skirts. Although in a hurry, the Rough Riders stopped and watched the Hawaiians dance and listened to their singing.

"Huli, huli eha, huli huli koni, koni i ka pulu wai." (Aches, aches in pain, aches throbbing in the heart.)

The dancers continued to go around the flagpole doing right and left Huli after Huli and singing, "Hu'i eha, hu'i eha, hu'i koni koni i ka pu'u wai." (Aches, aches in pain, aches throbbing in the heart.)

They continued dancing to a medium-sized dancing

hula as they sang, "Akahi ho'i au a ike maku na Rough Riders...helu ekahi." (Never have I seen such champion

Rough Riders.)

Finally, they sang their last verse, "Ina ana i ka wai ani ani emau i ka pu'u ke moni." (Drinking sparkling waters to wet the throat when swallowed.)

The Hula came to an end as Queen Liliuokalani took a breath and said, "Hu'i i mopa, lawa." (Turn and prepare to stop the dance.)

The Hawaiian dancers immediately stopped to Hu'i

their left foot in front of them. The dancers waited a second or two, then began to leave the flagpole area.

Queen Liliuokalani now alone with the Rough Riders.

Curiously, Leonardo Wood asked in a loud voice, "What dance were they doing around the flagpole in front of you while they were admiring the raising of the flag? What was

that?"

Queen Liliuokalani had decided to be nice to them and perform one of their Hawaiian Hula tributes after realizing they had most likely had never been privileged as such before. She wanted to be the first to give the Rough Riders a chance to witness a Dance Tribute in their country.

Queen Liliuokalani, with a very tough posture, began, "That was the Rough Rider Hula Tribute to all of you for coming and staying here. So what are your names?"

Martin took to the conversation quickly, like it was a honor to introduce the Rough Riders before anyone else did so. He boasted, "I'm Martin, this is Sharp, that's John, that's Beretta, and the woman is Shooter. And you are?"

With a very big smile, she turned toward her palace and answered, "I'm Queen Liliuokalani, and this is my palace. Now, I would like to show you all around later after you all, leave your horses around behind that fence over there. You can meet me inside with all of your things."

Immediately, they rode to the corral and tied up their horses. They walked to the palace where Queen Liliuokalani awaited them.

Queen Liliuokalani was in the living room -- what she called the guest room. The Rough Riders walked up and stood beside her. The room was very beautiful with arched ceilings and paintings of Hawaiian dancers. Above the fire mantel was a painting of her as Princess being connected notably to the image of lava, "Goddess of Fire."

Queen Liliuokalani said, "This is the guest room

and Koana comes up to meet them with her conversation.

Kaiulani giving her that the Fire of the Islands of being the hotter than them all, this is Koana.

"And down this hallway are your rooms. Each of you gets your own room. My maid Koana puts clean towels and cleaning bowls in the rooms once every morning before breakfast. Out back there is a pond that you bathe in if any of you feels the urge. The upstairs is off limits because that's where I and one heiress stays."

Through the beaded hallway, the heirloom to the Hawaiian throne of Queen Liliuokalani that was now perhaps a misfortune, stared down on the Rough Riders. They wore brown pants and bluish shirts that she found a complete crack up. They also had red ties around their necks. She looked down at their boots and shell straps with bullet casings for reloading.

John was the first to notice the grass skirt. He immediately asked the queen, "Who's that?"

Queen Liliuokalani just smiled and looked back at her. Through the beaded hallway, she answered, "That's my heiress, Princess Kaiulani."

Wood thought to himself, How big is this place and how there is it there are only two of them living here? Wood questioned the queen, "Is it just the two of you in this palace?"

Queen Liliuokalani thought about who was staying in the palace. She declared, "Us two, and my maid Koana, and my friend the Dowager Queen Kapiolani, and the other guests that decide or I invite to stay here. Meet the Rough Riders, Kaiulani."

Without waiting for an invitation from a bunch of Rough Riders, Princess Kaiulani came from the beaded hallway. She was young, beautiful, vibrant, and wore a yellow grass skirt. She had finished with her daily routine of her Hula Olapa and, of course, her Hula Awana, a cowboy or western type of Hawaiian dancing. She had been practicing her Hawaiian Hula Awana in preparation for the arrival of the infamous Rough Riders.

Ready to introduce herself to them, Princess Kaiulani scrambled up and said, "Pehea'oe." (How are you?)

Martin immediately queried the queen, "What's that mean?"

Queen Liliuokalani thought for a moment and said, "How are you? Kaiulani doesn't speak much English as of yet."

Jealous like, Princess Kaiulani looked Shooter up and down really hard like with a confused expression on her face. She knew she was an elder assigned to protect them

at their great palace when she wanted to remain the only bad-ass female around the island.

She acted as though she had never seen a blonde cowgirl before. She always thought all the Rough Riders were men. She never thought she would have competition from a blonde nurse under the command of Lieutenant Leonardo Wood.

Going into further detail, Shooter asked the queen, "Does she always wear a grass skirt?"

Queen Liliuokalani smiled for a moment and then looked

at Princess Kaiulani. She then informed them again, "Most of the younger women do. She practices all of her hulas in the morning with the Vahine Tahitian Oris."

John had a look in his eyes like a person who was from outer space and she was an alien. John questioned her, "What's an 'ori'?"

Kaiulani went outside to the garden to pick some fruit and vegetables.

The queen said to the Rough Riders, "It's what we call female Tahitian dancers."

Wood seemed confused about the Hawaiian concept of a big dance vocabulary. He inquired of the queen, "What's Tahitian dancing?"

The queen went outside and sat on the patio about the same time some of the Hawaiian Grass Skirts came down the street. They were walking with Captain Berger's Marching Band. The band was the Royal Hawaiian band that occasionally marched down Beretenia Street serenading the queen and her lovely palace.

Queen Liliuokalani answered Wood's question, "Tahitian dancing is a form of Hawaiian dancing that sometimes involves Tane and Ori or men and women in some sexual form of dance using Ipu drums which then are slapped in a beat which to swing their Fire Sticks at their Ori partners."

Everyone stopped and thought about what she said for a couple of seconds. Shooter remembered the Fire Sticks and swords of fire being thrown at the Spanish and at the same time she remembered the fire arrows that were thrown at them.

Shooter asked the queen, "Did you say Fire Sticks being used in a sexual form of dance?"

Queen Liliuokalani thought, How unknowledgable they are in Hawaiian! They are going to get a crash course staying on the Island. Queen Liliuokalani responded, "Yes, it's an ancient way to use Fire Sticks in some sexual form of dance to bring the Tane and the Ori closer to one another."

Wood remembered when they rode with Roosevelt and saw an American ship gun down a Spanish ship a couple of miles away. Wood informed the queen, "Well, when we went on our first ride yesterday, all of us saw one of our ships gun down a Spanish ship a couple of miles from here. The people aboard jumped over and swam to shore, and were sworded,

speared, and arrowed down by what."

As quick as a flash, Martin interrupted the conversation, "What we call 'a raging fireball'."

John added what he thought to the conversation. Going further into detail about the subject, John said to the queen, "What I call some hot mothers."

Of course, Beretta wanted to laugh so hard in front of everyone, especially, after thinking how those people were dressed when they laid their eyes on them for the first time.

Beretta implored, "And they weren't dressed in yellow grass skirts either...I mean they looked scary, weird, very different."

Shooter wanted to learn what the queen knew about them. She had the feeling she was trying to hide something. She asked Queen Liliuokalani, "We would like to know who they are?"

Without blinking an eye, Queen Liliuokalani thought of a way to get out of telling them where and what they really were. The queen told them, "I'll tell you who they are, but I won't tell you where or what they are."

John was now anxious to discover everything he could about these fiery people. He had built a strong obsession to learn everything about them. With perseverance, he asked the queen, "What are they?"

Queen Liliuokalani thought, I wonder exactly what their reaction will be after I tell them who they really are.

Queen Liliuokalani said with lit up eyes, "Those are the Blackskirts. They are lava. You don't want to mess with them. They will kill you, even with your guns."

Martin stood against the patio railing as if he wasn't listening to anything the queen said. Queen Liliuokalani said this after they had all witnessed a great massacre against their enemy with all of the Pacific Ocean power. And all that power still belonged to the forces of the country of Spain. Spain was in control of 7,000 islands within the Pacific Ocean, some belonging to the Filipino Islands.

The purpose of the Rough Riders being in Honolulu was that Colonel Leonardo Wood believed the Philippine people would rebel.

With this in mind, Martin asked the queen, "Where can we find them?"

Queen Liliuokalani knew that she wasn't going to give them the Blackskirts' location. She felt the information was detrimental in persuading them not to cause a confrontation.

To avoid such a confrontation meant boiling something in hell's kitchen within grounds of the Blackskirt camp. She said, "I'm not going to tell you where to find them. They will see you before you are even a quarter of a mile away from their camp."

Shooter wondered, Why she is trying so hard to beat around the bush as to their whereabouts they live? Like she doesn't want us to know anything about the Blackskirts in any way at all. It isn't like we are going to arrest them or anything.

To understand why she wouldn't even allow them to talk to them, Shooter asked, "Why are you protecting them?"

Queen Liliuokalani thought for a moment and then decided to tell them about the spiritual side of things on the island. She explained, "There is a spiritual power on this island and it is called Mana 'Uhane, which is related to spiritual things, called Ko Ka 'Uhane. And they are masters of both."

Colonel Wood got the idea that the queen was trying to scare them or get them to back out of questioning her about them. "Are we supposed to be scared or something?"

Martin and John started to laugh at the whole thing. Then Martin asked the queen, "Should we hide?"

Queen Liliuokalani knew it was her one chance to convince them look for them some time in the future, not now. She said with a smile, "No, but you will stay away from them."

John wanted to change the subject. He was tired of her beating around the bush about the Blackskirts. "Look, that's enough. Let's just stick to our mission and the spirit around here."

Beretta said, "Yeah, maybe we could take Tahitian Tane Hula lessons, and swing Fire Sticks at night."

Martin pictured himself swinging Fire Sticks and, of course, the Rough Riders wearing grass skirts dancing with him. "Why not, if all we are going to do is sit around and not fight. I'm used to shooting and riding and holding up people."

John pictured Teddy Roosevelt on the battlefield

commanding soldiers and giving people who pissed him off first watch to get even with them. Talking to the group, John said, "I'm used to stealing shit, not having a maid bring my ass fruit in the wee hours of the morning every day."

Shooter thought about the same way, the spirit of Hawaii had grabbed her by the gut. It should be obvious to the other Rough Riders. Shooter said to them, "It's kind of nice here. Stop complaining. At least the five of us will be sleeping on beds."

Beretta yawned and everyone laughed because usually they were all wide-awake all day long.

"I'm tired. You mind if I take a nap for a little while?" Beretta asked as he yawned once again.

Queen Liliuokalani gave him permission. "No, go right ahead."

John thought that he desperately needed something to do for a little while, especially if all they were going to do was talk. He looked out at the garden over where Kaiulani was picking fruits and vegetables. "I need something to do."

Queen Liliuokalani noticed him glaring towards the

garden where Kaiulani was.

The queen told John with another her kick-ass

smiles, "You can pick fruit or help Kaiulani in the

garden."

John realized that Kaiulani didn't speak English

and wondered, What will I say to her and will she will

even understand me? He asked the queen, "What do I

say?"

Queen Liliuokalani knew that he was fond of her and

the sooner she got him over there, she would be able to start a psychological bond between the Hawaiians and the Rough Riders. The queen gibbered, "Don't say anything, just pick."

John walked away from the patio towards the garden. Princess Kaiulani was picking tomatoes as John came towards her.

He said to her, "I kind of confused and don't know what to say, also I know you don't understand me?"

Kaiulani smiled like she had John in her clutches, and he would never escape from the island of O'ahu. With this aspect in mind, she told John, "I speak English, I just

don't want everyone bothering me."

John started to pick the tomatoes with her and put them

in her handbasket. He wondered why the queen lied about her not speaking English. Shrugging, John questioned Kaiulani, "So why don't you want everyone bothering you?"

Kaiulani tried to think of a reason for her to deny

the truth of her speaking fluent English. She had actually spent most of her winters studying English in the British Isles.

The Wales pupil named Kaiulani Cleghorn driveled cooly, "I just want to stay away."

John tried to understand why she had to stay away from everyone, particularly when only a few years earlier only ethnics were on the island. On the other hand, John had no idea she was an English student in the British Isles. John questioned her, "So why do you want to stay away from everyone?"

Almost immediately, Kaiulani thought of a few reasons to tell him considering how nosy he was now that they were actually together. Princess Kaiulani lipped, "Because

I'm different than the others. I only have a few friend

dancers."

John still wondered why she had the queen lie for her when it was really no big deal. The complete deal was the Hawaiian Island Annexation and the fact that Princess Kaiulani was her losing a crown to a land of Polynesia. Another truth was that the Hawaiian people would lose their way of life to the United States. Integrally unaware, he questioned her by scrambling out, "Your mother lies for you, so you can stay alone?"

Kaiulani wanted to change the subject. She realized that she knew where it would lead. She believed she should be the one who was always in control, because they were

all outsiders and on her territory. Bearing this in mind, Kaiulani simply queried, "Of course, you drink?"

John wasn't sure what to say to Kaiulani. Deciding to get to know Princess Kaiulani better, he changed his mind emphatically, "Yes, I drink."

With a stroke of her hand, Princess Kaiulani picked up her basket of fruits and vegetables. She quickly got up and looked towards the palace patio where Queen Liliuokalani and the Rough Riders sat. "Let's go in and have a drink, it's noon now."

Princess Kaiulani was good at telling the time by the position of the sun. Quickly, they headed over to the palace.

CHAPTER 6

Obsessed With The Blackskirts

By this time, Teddy Roosevelt had split the Rough Riders up. He assigned some of them to protect the Honolulu area beaches around the Naval base.

Roosevelt had four Rough Riders with him -- Mike, Rick and Bill, and his war correspondent, Richard Harding Davis. Richard Harding Davis was Teddy Roosevelt's literature man who would serve Colonel Leonardo Wood on later missions. He took photographs and wrote about everything that happened to them. Most of the stuff he wrote was sent to the President of the United States, William McKinley. Some of the things, however, were not, hiding the truths of war.

The five of them were looking for the Blackskirts tribe and had followed their tracks to the cave's entrance. Roosevelt kept one of the guys who he had allowed to search for them the day before, so it would be easier to find them.

Bill told Roosevelt, "Sir, this is the last place we tracked them yesterday."

Roosevelt looked at the cave with its entrance covered with plumeria and maunaloa flower vines. He decided to enter the cave and take a look inside to find out what was going on.

Teddy Roosevelt commanded them, "Well, let's go in."

Bill hadn't forgotten the day before when Wood and John came out sweating real hard and had drenched themselves to cool off. The cave was volcanic in nature with steam boiling up from lower caverns. Bill told Roosevelt, "I wouldn't go in there if I was you."

Roosevelt, being the role model and feeling like he had a point to prove in front of everyone, said, "Do you think I'm chicken to go in a cave?"

Bill knew exactly how it was when it came to arguing about such things. He uttered, "That cave is volcanic

according to Sharp and John."

Roosevelt was still doubtful of that fact because it sounded a little too farfetched, especially coming from two Rough Riders. Testily, Roosevelt asked them, "What made them think that?"

Bill thought to himself, How the hell can I convince Roosevelt from going in that volcanic cave? He instructed Roosevelt, "Well, they said so. Also they came out sweating really hard."

Richard Harding Davis was on his horse and thought, Maybe they saw a bat or something else probably scared the crap out of them. He came up with one of his wisecracks,

"Probably saw a bat. You know those Red Vampire bats will scare the shit out of you."

Roosevelt got off of his horse, and then signaled to Rick to dismount. He grabbed a kerosene lantern and lit it. Rick stood by his horse knowing that Roosevelt was going to ask him to go in the cave with him.

Roosevelt walked towards the cave while thinking, I'll ask Rick because he won't tell anyone what he sees in there. Roosevelt said to Rick, "Rick, just stay behind me. I'll

save you if there is anything nocturnal in there."

They slowly entered the cave. Twenty to thirty feet later they noticed that it was beginning to get very hot.

Roosevelt said to Rick, "It is a little warm in here."

Rick said, "Sure is."

They went around another bend of the cavern to see even more steam and a slight glow from a lower cavern shining on the walls. Roosevelt wanted to abort his plan and escape the heat. Feeling no need to go any further, he said, "Damn, they weren't lying, but there is another entrance."

A slight amount of sunlight was coming in from the top of the volcano which made it a little easier to see. With the illumination, Rick could barely make out the other passage through the steam. Commenting to Roosevelt, he blurted, "Yeah, I see it."

At that moment, a couple of Red Vampire bats swarmed just above them. Rick freaked out as one of the bats began chewing on his ear. He tried to shake it off, but was unable to. He struggled for a moment, then slipped over the ledge's lip and fell into the depths below. He fell over a hundred feet before burning up completely.

Roosevelt watched as Rick's body disappeared beyond the steam into the underworld far below. He had a Red Vampire bat on him as well. He blocked it with one hand and with the other hand, he grabbed a knife to stab at it.

After getting in a couple of good stabs, the bat fell off. Roosevelt began to run to escape. Soon he was outside the cave.

Richard Harding noticed that Rick was missing. Being the curious man of literature, he jaspered, "What happened?"

Roosevelt tried to catch his breath for a moment or two before speaking. Finally, he said, "A bunch of bats stormed us. And Rick fell in there...into the lava. Somehow I knew he would never make it."

Bill kind of tripped out that Rick had died in

such a manner. He thought Rick would die in battle on a battlefield. Changing the subject, Bill asked Roosevelt,

"So what do we do now?"

Mike didn't want anyone to go back inside considering the cave was volcanic in nature. He told them, "Well, let's not go back in there."

Roosevelt got back on his horse and pulled away. The

rest of the Rough Riders headed out right behind him. Roosevelt thought about trying again later with someone

a little more asper.

Roosevelt said as they rode away, "There is another entrance on the other side of the lava pool. I saw some tracks but they could be Sharp and John's, so let's go back to camp. If we come back we'll have more men, just in case I'm right. Let's go."

Richard Harding pondered to himself, This is all so very stupid and now we are going about things the wrong way on the island. To him everything was so unbecoming. It didn't seem like anywhere else in the world they had been to on political missions -- missions that President Cleveland and McKinley had assigned them. Believing he should say something, Harding explained, "Maybe it's nature's way of saying we should stop the violence and sit down at the beach with some of those pina coladas and then at night take some of those Hula lessons and then hook up with women in them grass skirts."

Bill figured he would want to pussy out again, like he had on San Juan Hill. Bringing it to his attention, Bill declared to Richard Harding, "It figures you want to pussy out now days."

Mike could barely believe what he had heard from someone who was always giving Teddy Roosevelt advice to find ways to clean up the world. Once it was completed by setting Colonel Leonardo Wood up in Honolulu with the Rough Riders, he would run for the office of Governor of New York.

Mike said to Harding with kind of a slight laugh, "I can't believe you would pussy out after what happened at San Juan Hill, all that we went through together."

Richard Harding wasn't even slightly amazed with how they always said such things. Acting like a soldier instead of a war correspondent for Teddy Roosevelt, Harding said, "I'm not pussying out. It just seems that the fleet of Commodore Dewey has things under control, and the only thing to fight or look for we can't find because they dress up like bushes. Maybe we should dress up the same way."

Bill jumped on him about the incident on San Juan Hill, to give him a hard time and to feel make him insecure about himself. Bill blurted, "After that guy jumped you in San Juan and you stabbed him with your pencil, I figured you

would tend to at least have more guts!"

For the first time, Harding snagged a gun from someone. He felt it was the appropriate time to make a demonstration. He badly wanted to show off, especially considering everyone else thought they were so big with theirs.

Pulling his pistol out into the open, he shot off a few words, "That's why I brought my own gun with me this time."

He then flashed it around as though it was a great deal to all of them. He hoped to agitate them with it.

Quicker than a glimpse through a peepsight, Mike looked at the man's wimpy .38 special and then broke out laughing. Everyone else started laughing at him too, even Teddy Roosevelt.

Mike said to Harding with a slight little laugh, "I bet you are too chicken to shoot it."

Richard Harding really wanted scare the shit out of the asswipes. He wanted to get even for all the trouble they had caused him in Cuba. Believing he had the upper hand, Richard Harding said to them, "Do you want to see?"

Without a doubt, Mike felt the guy was a wimp who was too chicken to take a shot. Putting Richard Harding on the

spot again, Mike lip-synced, "Yeah, right."

Richard Harding pointed his pistol up in the air, right above Mike's head, and pulled the trigger. Fast as the sound from a strummed ukulele, the blast echoed through the trees and canyon walls. Everyone and their horses stopped and quivered for a moment.

Immediately, Mike became pissed because the gun had been pointed directly over his head. Angrily, Mike spoke quickly, "You stupid old man! You need to be more careful with that thing."

Bill began acting stupid and called them all a bunch of pussies. Bill said to them, "You both sound like Roosevelt feels like today with these bad-ass Hawaiian Spirit has gotten to so sick of them all arguing and time, that he calls all of them, accomplishes this by quoting to pussies."

He'd had enough of everything the clowns did. Only because the Hawaiians all liked the strangest far away moon phase in the sky. Feeling as though it was something related to a vaster reality, he told the Rough Riders, "You're all giving me a headache. Why don't you all chill out?"

Bill wondered if they were ever going to go to see if

there was another secret passageway in the cave leading to, perchance, the side of where the Blackskirts lived.

They all felt the fiery people were excluding themselves from everyone, only to keep their differences

and beliefs hidden from the other worlds.

After rummaging all of this through his mind with a moment of a glimpse, Bill asked Roosevelt, "When are we going to comeback to that cave?"

Roosevelt, of course, was still very curious about the matter. It seemed that finding the Blackskirts was becoming an obsession that he couldn't seem to get off of his mind. It was almost as though something was pulling him towards them and he had no way to resist. He didn't seem to recognize even a single reason why either. Roosevelt answered, "After I figure out what to do."

They set out to ride back to camp and call it a full day of riding. All they had done though was search for leads to finding the fiery people called Blackskirts.

They spent part of the day searching the palm trees before they got to the cave for weapons, clothes, broken tree branches, and, of course, any tracks. Bill tried to inform them that without success. Roosevelt's obsession to search for them was more powerful than listening to Bill.

Back at the Queen's palace, it was nightfall and all

of the Rough Riders sat on the porch listening to some Hawaiians play the ukulele. There were also a few Hawaiians dancing by the queen's lovely garden.

John was completely enjoying the sight as the queen's maid Koana came out on the porch dressed in black garments. Usually, she never left the place unless she accompanied the queen on a trip or to attend dance luaus. Immediately she walked up to John, and said to him with a real soft voice that immediately captured his attention, "John, the queen would like to see you for a moment."

John wondered what it could be about as Koana turned and headed back towards the guest room. As quickly as he could, John followed her. The queen sat in a chair fanning herself with a hand fan, looking right at them with curiosity.

Wondering what she possibly wanted him for, John asked, "You wanted to see me?"

The queen stared John down. She wondered if she should ask him to do the favor or forget it. She wasn't truly sure if John was ready for tribal initiation yet. Although, she went about it as they had originally planned.

Getting to the point of the matter, Queen Liliuokalani answered John, "Yes, I wanted to see you. I was wondering if you'd do me a favor?"

John was unsure of what the favor could be and he was afraid of finding out, especially considering she was a liar regardless of how honestly she acted. Rough Rider John wanted to let her know exactly what he thought too. Allowing the queen to understand what he thought, he then asked the queen, "Sure, what is it?"

Queen Liliuokalani was unsure about how to bring it up to him, but she was pretty sure he would be interested if it involved Princess Kaiulani, surely after he and Princess Kaiulani had talked to each other in the garden.

Catching John's interest completely, Queen Liliuokalani said to him, with wide-open eyes of enchantment, "It's Kaiulani. She's been going somewhere at night, and I'm very worried and curious where she is going. And I would like

you to follow her for me and see where, she is going at night."

John thought to himself, I'm so sure. She is an heir

to your throne, and you don't know where she is off to at night? I guess I'll see what she thinks, considering that this island is so big.

He realized as well that her comrades must be from around there and it wasn't like she was leaving the island completely. John asked the queen, "Where do you think she is going at night?"

Queen Liliuokalani realized that John was very bright and that she had think up something in order for him to follow her. Sticking with her idea for the Hawaiian celebration plan, the queen explained in further detail, "I'm not sure, but I don't think any of them are dancers. She could be in with a bad crowd. And would like you to find out, wouldn't you?"

John really didn't know what to say to her, being a queen of the Hawaiian Islands and all of that good stuff

to go along with it. He sensed something wasn't right about the situation at hand. He sort of felt he would be better

blowing it off in case it was some kind of trap, particularly since he no longer trusted her because she

had lied to him and the other Rough Riders about Kaiulani speaking English. He had gone to see her in the garden believing she probably wouldn't understand him, but he discovered she in fact spoke English.

He finally answered the queen, "Well, I guess so."

Queen Liliuokalani had seen the two speaking in the garden earlier in the day. She really hoped everything worked out if he ended up following her.

Anxious for him to discover their secret on the island of O'ahu, which was still very similar to the other islands, the queen said, "I can tell you like her by the way you two talked to each other in the garden earlier today. So could you do this for me and I'll owe you one."

John was still pretty sure something was wrong after she mentioned they had communicated earlier. He stagnantly thought, It's one of her traps.

He wasn't sure though. All he really knew was she had lied to him. Considering everything, John made up his mind and decided to follow her as long as he was in control of

the situation.

Even though he wanted to help her out, he something didn't seem right to him. The problem was he had slowly become infatuated with her. Finally deciding to follow Princess Kaiulani, John told Queen Liliuokalani, "Okay, fine. But if she catches me, I will tell her the truth in English."

Queen Liliuokalani was delighted to know Kaiulani had told him the truth, meaning she was a fond of him. Now she was glad that she had asked John to follow her to discover where she went at night. His infatuation would bring him into her spiritual realm. The spirits had told Princess Kaiulani that he could develop the spiritualism of their beliefs after discovering the powers of Mana 'Uhane. And,

in return, John would be made a Man of Lei.

The queen said to John, "See, I knew you two were talking in English. She must like you."

John only wanted to pull it off so Princess Kaiulani didn't catch his ass and make a fool out of him. He realized it was their homeland and he felt weird following someone when he wasn't familiar with the territory, a land she had been particularly intimate with for so many years, along with her own people of her refinement and delicacy.

Going further, John asked her, "So what now?"

Queen Liliuokalani was relieved it was okay with John and not too much to ask, especially considering they had just met earlier in the day. Integrally, with the feeling

of comfort from his disinvolvement with the Rough Riders,

it was because John was a newcomer to their troop.

Now, Queen Liliuokalani described to John all of the things she did when she left each night. Nevertheless, she omitted the truth about it being a spiritual maneuver to see if the Hawaiian spirits were telling the truth to Princess Kaiulani.

Bringing it to John's attention, the queen blurted, "She leaves every night at the same time around eight o'clock. She gets on her horse so fast that I can't even follow her."

John was intrigued by the thought of following her now. I wonder if she can out maneuver a horse like mine with her horse. Surely, I'll be lost if she happens to somehow out ride me.

John queried, "What time is it now?"

Queen Liliuokalani couldn't even believe he didn't own a watch, being a Rough Rider and all. She questioned John emphatically, "Don't you have a stopwatch?"

John wondered to himself why would he even desire a stopwatch when he and Princess Kaiulani in the day time could easily use a sun dial. Reading the time with a sun dial at night never worked, but he figured that was okay.

He said to the queen, "No."

Queen Liliuokalani said to John, "It's now five minutes to eight. She'll be leaving any minute."

He looked towards the place the queen was looking at. He stared as if a grandfather clock stood against it. John realized she could sense exactly what time of day it was like many people on the island could during the day.

John asked her, "Your horse is the black stallion?" He realized the only horse out there was most likely hers.

At the same time, the queen was contemplating about how smart he was to notice a black stallion alone in the corral. Agreeing, the queen said, "Yes."

John decided to wait outside by the princess' horse

before she took off without him in a couple of minutes. He felt there was a chance she might try and sneak to the corral without him noticing, especially considering she

did so every night according to the queen.

Although he had no idea where she was going at night

so fast, John quickly replied, "I'll go right now and wait by her horse before she leaves."

Queen Liliuokalani shrugged him off as fast as she could without warning him of what might happen.

As her personality changed to the forces of nature before his surprised eyes, the queen said to John with a smirk and serious look on her face, "Go, now."

John left the room and walked out back to the porch where the Rough Riders were still watching the Hawaiian musicians play the Ukulele.

John declared, "I'll see you all later. The queen wants me to go on an errand somewhere for her."

Shooter was bored from having anywhere to ride, so she asked John, "Where?"

John knew to keep his mouth about where he was going. If he said anything he could blow the whole thing. He just

shrugged and said to Shooter, "I can't say."

Wood could really care less about where she was sending him, but he didn't want him out all night. He felt John better return early so he wasn't out all night. Colonel Wood said to John, "Better not take too long, or we will come looking to find you."

John really wanted to shrug it off as well just so he could be on his merry way. John told Wood theoretically so they didn't come looking for him, knowing they would be going to bed shortly after he left to follow Princess Kaiulani, "I won't."

John walked over to the corral and hid behind some hay. Princess Kaiulani walked into the corral where her horse was already saddled like she came earlier and prepared him. She got on her horse and then looked around a little before taking off away from the palace. Believing the coast was clear, she sidekicked her horse. Trying to be quiet she rode away as fast as she could.

John decided to wait a second or two unwavering if it was a great thing the queen had put him up to -- engaging in tracking Princess Kaiulani.

John then determined to get on his horse as quickly as possibly before launching after Princess Kaiulani into a horse chase of who's riding the horse and, of course, who's riding the mule. John padded Lightning on the neck and head and they dashed like a bolt of lightning away from the corral. As soon as he initiated the chase, he realized how far in the distance she was already. He didn't want to be seen by her though, so he kept her there in his eye. John believed he would be able to keep his distance in order to be able to turn around or give up, if it looked like he risked getting caught by her, or if she turned around and saw him riding behind her.

Kaiulani rode on the outside of the Rough Rider camp. Most of the soldiers were already asleep for the night for an early rise the next day. She rode within the trees where she could barely be seen by anyone in the camp.

Princess Kaiulani was riding pretty fast as she approached an underpath of some trees and then came to a hill for which she slowed down a little. She then turned around to see if anyone was behind her. She saw nothing except the trees she had just passed, but at the same time she felt someone might be riding behind in the distance to hide from her.

As she turned around to the front of her horse, she rode over the hill and came up to a gulley. As quickly as she could, she went through it, slowing at the beginning

and speeding up before she entered the other end. She then approached the sea shore and rode along the sand just beyond the rolling waves that splashed from Shells' hoofs.

John approached the gulley and rode along the shore line. He looked ahead and saw her riding along the shore. The sound of the ocean flowed towards the sandy beach.

Very tired, John tried to catch his breath for a second. "Damn, she rides fast as hell!"

Then Kaiulani rode away from the shore line through the palm trees and towards the cave.

John started to ride along the shore line as fast as he could while yelling, "Yah, yah, yah."

Princess Kaiulani came to the cave, dismounted, and walked with her horse because in certain parts of the cave were stalagmites and stalactites.

About this time, John approached the palm trees along

the shore line and began to ride through them, along with the wind blowing the palm tree leaves around towards, the top of his head. The wind blowing through to the trees has a magnificent island sound that permeated the air in the night sky.

Princess Kaiulani approached the outskirts of the cave. She passed a hot fiery cross with some Hawaiian writings on it. To the eye, the words could not be made out, though. She continued to ride quickly towards the huts of their camp.

John entered the cave. The steam was way heavier

than the fog. He noticed how it had swelled down slightly than earlier in the day. After riding a ways further, he approached the stalagmites and stalactites. He ducked his head all of the way down to dodge them. Continuing on, he quickly went to the other end of the cave and the volcano.

Once he was at the exit, he got back on Lightning and rode like he was in a hurry.

As quick as a flaming whip, Princess Kaiulani approached the stage of fire. The Tahitian Tane fire throwers were fire sword swinging with each other on the Fire Stage. Their swords blazing hot with smoke carbons

soaring off of them into the air past their faces.

They were red hot from being inside their flaming torches, which were located at the four ends on the Fire Stage. They always held them up there for a few minutes until they were glowing. Sometimes they'd wrap a complete round of cloth soaked with kerosene fluid. Last but not least, they lit them all and chased each other as the wrapping burned red hot.

The Kukui nut torched at the four ends of their Fire Stage represented the four corners of the earth.

Princess Kaiulani went to one of the huts after she dismounted and tied her horse up as quick as she possibly could. She was in a hurry to performance, though, she kind of felt she was off to win a fetish Fire Stage standoff.

After John came out of the cave, he passed the splintered red hot flaming Fire Cross in the trees, as he rode along the path. On the outskirts he continued down the rocky trail ten feet to the side. The Fire Cross was lit up as were all the Kukui nut torches on the four corners of the Fire Stage.

Nevertheless, he failed to pay much attention because

he was looking ahead on the trail that led into the dark trees. Continuing forward, he wondered where Princess Kaiulani went to. Moving on as quickly as he could he came out from under the trees hoping for a miraculous discovery.

Just then Princess Kaiulani burst out from her grass-covered hut headed toward the fiery Fire Stage. Like a warrior princess, Princess Kaiulani was attired in a black skirt, with the dirtiest of looks from something exceedingly oily in substance, with a charcoaled burnt light absorbing dullness.

She also wore skirted rib garments made from the hard bones of havelina ribs. She wore them for protection on the Fire Stage when practicing her sword fighting with the other Tahitian Tane swordsmen. Around her neck were bones from havelina tusks, which had the same purpose for sword fighting. They protected her from the blows to the neck when practicing. At the front of her neck at the top of her bottom jaw, the tusks curve up out from a spot just below her mouth. This kept a protective aura around her soul when she was practicing her sword techniques, with the Shinto-Muso Swording warriors, who shared the platform with her. With everything in her dreary attire in contrast, she was now the Shear Winded, "Goddess of Fire."

Finally, out from the distance beyond the low depths of the Hawaiian foliage of evergreen palm trees, and out from the foliage of shrubs of green bushes sheering with the wind, John approached far closer than anyone would ever want to be.

For the first time in his life, he had the strange chance to lay his eyes upon the fiery all-so-hot Fire Stage. Kukui nut torches from every corner lit the stage illuminating the lives of fire dancing spirits.

With a clever poise for catastrophe, he pulled all of the way back on his bridle bringing him and Lightning to a sudden and most frantic stop. With his gloomy and surprised eyes, John elusively declared, with a polar statement of his first impression, "They look like devils."

Far, but still yet too close, for a staring gleam in the reaches of the red hot fiery stage, he could only stay on his horse with a look with fire glowing into the pupils of his virgin eyes.

Continuing to stare at them, along with his freaked

horse Lightning, the Medicine Woman entered the Fire Stage from the rear. She had an immense garlic Lei around her neck along with an identical bone garment around her rib cage, protecting her from blows to so-called vital organs near

the stomach during sword practice and Hawaiian Fire Stick dancing.

In her hands, the Medicine Woman carried some plumeria in a bowl made from a gourd called an ipu. Within her concoction, were some chopped up bits of the lucky leafed Hawaiian maunaloa flower to guard her from the negative vibrations at hand -– those within all of them and the emotional days of the islands annexation.

The times, which were presently very sacred, for reasons of wanting to remember the birth of their nation. A time of which would to all of them, perhaps, be forgotten, once a treaty with the United States took away their sacred home land of spirit and soil.

Blessing the most sacred land of her heritage, the Medicine Woman threw and sprinkled the plumeria and maunaloa flower leaves all over her grounded feet for the reason that Princess Kaiulani was losing most of her crowned authority over the Hawaiian Islands. An intense feeling of loss came over her, which had dawned on her at the long-ago age of fifteen.

Meanwhile, the Medicine Woman continued to sprinkle her flowers around the Goddess of Fire's feet. Then the Witchy Woman approached the Fire Stage from the rear carrying a bowl of liquid. Immediately, she began sprinkling on the Goddess of Fire all over, as if trying to bless her with protections from a spell from her wildest formula.

The Witchy Woman then grabbed some yellow grass that was tied to the side of her black skirt, black from the fire carbons smoked on it from Fire Sticking at the different Hawaiian Hula performances.

First she took the yellow grass from the right side of her black skirt and then lit the grass from one of the Kukui nut torch. Once it was flaming intensely, red hot, she blew it out and then waited for all of the red hot embers to hit the Fire Stage, just missing her skin. After a white smoke poured up into the air towards the night sky, the Witchy Woman saged the Goddess of Fire.

This was another one of her blessings she perfectly

performed by waving the lit smoking grass, all of the way around her legs. As the Witchy Woman continued on saging the Goddess of Fire, all of the white smoke poured up towards her hips and her face, while her eyes rolled completely all of the way back.

The smoke continued to linger from head to toe around the goddess, flying up to the trees. The smoke streamed its way up into the wind and a wavering flow covered her entire body transforming her aura into a steaming attitude.

At the same time across the short distance that separated them, John remained seated on Lightning between some palm trees. Maintaining one's freaked state, John continued to trip out on what they were doing during the sacred ritual.

He thought it was a religious ceremony for Princess Kaiulani as the heiress to a Hawaiian throne of Queen Liliuokalani. Although, he had seen her dressed in such

a way the other day when one of Commodore Dewey's fleet gunned down a Spanish ship off the coast.

Perched on his horse in a type of fire flaming

trance, John spoke to Lightning, "Lightning, they are as

illuminating as the damn moon." He and Lightning gazed at Princess Kaiulani through the white smoke.

Keenly watching the spectacle of a fire phenomenon, John noticed the Blackskirt drummers get up and then take a few steps back towards the edge of the hot Fire Stage. Right away, they sat down and started a different beat on their ipus.

The Medicine Woman and the Witchy Woman left in a quick flash of spark on the Fire Stage. Quickly leaving the Fire Stage, the Goddess of Fire stood alone as she pulled out a sword with a single large gold cup around its handle. She stuck the cold sword into a Kukui nut torch located on the front right side of the Fire Stage. She held it there for a minute until it was red hot.

While the Goddess of Fire maintained a steady hold on to the Kukui nut torch, John noticed the other Tahitians heading towards the red hot flaming staffs. In a rapid stroke, the Tahitian Tane Blackskirts placed them in the hot nut torches at each end of the stage so they were red hot. Soon all of the swords were pouring forth hot fiery white carbons into the winds of the Hawaiian air around the Goddess of Fire. They took their red hot Fire Swords from the Kukui nut torches and began swinging them all over.

In a sort of flaming dancing trance, they moved towards each other and began to spar with their hot knives. They mildly dodged each others' Fire knives and danced around each other while jumping up and down as if it were a type of sword ritual. A ritual, where one almost gets burned by an ancient fire sword, called the "Pahi-Waka-Waka."

John sat on his horse and thought, Are these people crazy or something? Perhaps I'm better off not messing around with them and turn around and go back to the palace and return to the queen.

John was so amazed by the performance that he remained on his horse ready to take off in a frenzy.

The Goddess of Fire stood at the rear of the Fire Stage swinging her Fire Stick called the "Fire Knife." Immediately, she stopped and then stuck it into the red hot flaming Kukui nut torch again until it was smoking with carbons.

With no forewarning, the Goddess of the Fire World turned her eyes across the great distance that separated the two of them. With the red bloodshot eyes of fire and flame, the Goddess of Fire looked at John through the trees that were blowing in the wind. She turned towards the other Tahitian swordsmen and the Goddess of the Underworld called "Fire," and signaled out to them about John.

Signaling to the swordsmen, the Goddess of Fire jousted a lip stroke, "Hopua mai i ka ilio." (Catch the dog.)

Four Tahitian Tane Blackskirts placed all of their Pahi-Waka-Wakas back into the Kukui nut torches in order to burn them once again red hot with a very fiery state of nature.

With the speed of a glimmer, John realized he probably better should get out of there. He noticed how she looked at him while as she stroked away a sentence with her flowery lips. He could not catch the words of the Hawaiian tongue, so he had no idea if she was really paying any attention to him.

Finally, the Tahitian Tane Blackskirts finished heating their swords in the Kukui nut torches. They pulled their Fire Swords out, left the Fire Stage, and quickly headed towards John.

In a state of slight euphoria, John noticed the swordsmen coming towards him through the trees. He watched as the swords flew from one side of their body to the other side. To him it seemed as though they were flowing in an eastern motion through the brush and trees that fenced them away from each other.

He gaped as they moved towards him and his horse. John totally freaked out and said to Lightning, "Great, now I'm dead." Clinging onto the feeling of his sharp spurred boot, John kicked Lightning's side and yelled, "Yah!"

He pulled on the reigns of his jolting horse. Quickly, the two of them spur into one great leap. They rode about twenty to thirty feet before he glared back through the palm trees.

At first he didn't see anything, then he focused on the red hot Fire Knives and the red glowing eyes of the Hawaiian swordsmen. They were redder than the hot burning eyes of the sun and pierced the inner depths of the trees. The best that he could while Lightning trampled over bushes and stones, was say, "Man, she is a trip."

In a hurry, flowing faster than the red lava of the

underworld, he rode towards the cave. He stayed on Lightning as he went through the cave's entrance. As turbulent winds blew, John rode past stalagmites and stalactites ducking his head as far down as he possibly could. He did so with the expectancy of staying on Lightning and continued to ride as quickly as he possibly could to make a quick get away.

Then he rode past some steam coming from the lower cavern of the fiery cave. At a fast gallop, he made his way towards the cave's exit.

Once he and Lightning pushed their way to the outer area, John rode through the palm trees to the hill that led to the ocean shore. Both of them were completely maddened by the experience as they moved hurriedly to the shore below.

John blurted to Lightning as he listened to the soft winds of the Pacific, "She sucks! I've never seen anything like that in my life. A woman sword fighter sending guys with red hot swords after me, and I'm ordered to stay at her palace."

Wind-aided, he rode down into the gulley, through the gulley, and up another hill. He then headed on to the outskirts of the Rough Rider camp.

After a while, he made his way to the grounds of the Grand Palace. As he approached the palace grounds, he pulled up at the quiet corral. He dismounted and tied Lightning up next to a pile of hay. He then walked to the palace and over to the porch.

It was around eleven o'clock at night. The other Rough Riders were sound asleep in their rooms. John made his way sat on a chair that faced the front yard. With veritably tired eyes, he fell asleep and forgot the strange struggles of one very eerie Hawaiian night.

CHAPTER 7

Luring John

Later the next morning, Princess Kaiulani came to the corral on her ocean-imaging horse Shells. She tied up her horse and then walked up to stone path to the patio. At the top of the steps, she stopped as she eyed a sword-hatted John.

She stood over him, staring him up and down while he slept snoring on the chair. Tired from her wild night of nearly initiating him, Princess Kaiulani went to the patio door and made her way into the palace.

Once out of sight, John awoke with a burst as though

he had been waiting for her early morning return. He headed

to the corral to take Lightning on another trip to the

Blackskirt camp. He wanted to see what the heck was going

on over there.

He was curious to see why the strange people danced around the Fire Stage with Fire knives and Fire Sticks and why they had fire staffs located at each end, stuck through tight rounded holes that allowed them to pierce the stage, using them to heat swords with a fiery smoke. And also,

he watched Princess Kaiulani stand in thick white smoke immersed with the spellbound saging created by the hands

of Witchy Woman.

Another woman dressed exactly the same threw and sprinkled flowers upon the back and front of her so-called bare feet. He watched her swing a Fire Stick all over the stage after heating it in the Kukui nut torches. She then swung the sword around sides of her hips while continuing to belly dance. She did so easily with precision as though she was dodging a pineapple on one side and a coconut that hung from the other hip. Even with precision, her black skirt still caught a few embers that nearly inflamed the grass strands.

John rationalized everything in his head as he made

his way to the corral. After a short walk, John strutted toward Lightning. While he gave a slight inspection to his galloping buddy's hoofs, John uttered, "Well, Lightning, it's time to go over there when she isn't there and see what the hell is going on. But this time I have my shotgun and my knives with me."

Lightning waited patiently for him to climb aboard. Lightning quickly galloped out of the corral towards the Rough Rider camp. At slower trot, John pulled out a mango and began to eat it.

Later, he approached the camp, while he eating a banana. He rode a ways from where the tents were set up.

He rode over a hill again before going down into the gulley. Passing through the gulley, John hit Lightning twice on the back sides just beneath his mane with his bridle. Whipping him back and forth, Lightning galloped at a faster speed and covered a lot more ground. With more perseverance Lightning sped over the crest of the hill and then down hill a ways away from the shoreline. The moon waxed a bright full white color. He gazed at the bright moon as the waves made an pleasing sound as he rode toward a long stretch of trees ahead.

Finally, he made his way into the foliage of brush and palm trees that covered a bright red and orange sun just over head. He listened to the sounds from his horse's gallop and the strong rolling winds. He persisted his tough-riding way to the cave's flowery entrance. He then descended into the entrance. John decided to stay on his horse all the way through the cave.

He made his towards the pulsating heart of the cave's middle. With the speed of a gun loader, he pulled his shotgun out and began load it as he passed under the stalagmites and stalactites. He easily dodged the few which hung low. Finished reloading the shotgun, he placed it back in its holster which hung behind Lightning's head and was fastened to the saddle.

Once on the other side of the cave and on the Blackskirt side, John spoke to his horse, "This time they better not screw with my ass or someone is going to get shot."

After riding for another minute, John saw the Fire

Cross. He stopped before it as smoke poured from the top of the so-called Kukui nut torch. Continuing to stare at the smoking fire symbol, John tried extremely hard to read the words which were written on its four sides. On the bottom of the Fire Cross he read the words, "Ao Honua." He then looked at the top and read, "Ahi." John looked at the right arm and read, "Makani." Lastly, over on the left side of the Fire Cross, John read the word, "Ua."

John tried to understand the language. He believed

they were occultists or spellmakers, though he lacked understanding of the words scratched upon the Fire Cross.

While looking at it, John talked to Lightning, "I wonder what that means. Probably something about Jesus, or maybe we don't like white honkys that stay at our palace on this side of the cave."

He gave Lightning a hard sidekick to make him move forward through the tall trees. He rode for about ten to twenty feet and then pulled on Lightning's bridle. Lightning slowed slightly then came to a complete stop. John began to look towards the brush that lay between the palm trees. He continued glancing around in search of any signs. All he can saw were the trees and brush whose blew around him. A few leafs were spreading a wide array as they wilted just above the ground.

Then suddenly the trees and shrubs began to screech.

In a quick burst, he lunged his horse's bridle in the direction of the sound. He sat patiently on Lightning and stared intently at the vegetation around him looking for anything that might be hiding there. He figured he would at least hear movement or see a signal flash before his eyes.

Still wondering what was causing the abrupt noises, Lightning began one of his horse stares. The wind blew over his mane. Together, they glared at the trees and brush looking for signs from anything that might be waiting to give them a surprise attack.

Then, for the first time up close, John and Lightning stared at a dirty Blackskirt in her redder than lava eye. A female Blackskirt intently stared right back. She remained in a slight staring trance as she maintained her return glance. She stood there drooling slightly all over herself. She looked at them with her big, old, ugly teeth. With large fangs, the black-skirted Ori began to growl towards John and

Lightning.

Expecting a slight jump from her, John pulled back on Lightning's bridle. Lightning jump back away from her.

After scooting a few feet away from her, John said aloud, "What the hell?"

John pulled back on the bridle again, flinging him a couple of yards further back. At the same time he kept his eyes toward her to make sure she didn't sneak up on them. As he pulled back on Lightning's bridle, all he could was try and stabilize him with a firm grip. John held on to the bridle as steadily as he possibly could without allowing any slippage.

Immediately, the little Tahitian Tane Blackskirt Ori Girl pulled the fake vampire teeth out of her mouth with

her right hand. Holding them there and staring at John's gleaming face, she cried aloud scream which kind of embarrassed the hell out of them. Until then, he had thought she was a vampire with real fangs protruding her bottom lip.

Still embarrassed and upset, John decided to with her. First, he began to catch his breath with deep breaths. After several seconds, John began to rummage through his head what the possibilities at hand. Finally an idea came to his scheming little mind. John said, "Oh, you think this is funny?"

He felt pretty good putting her on the spot. He pulled his handgun with his right hand. He then released the .45 shells into the palm of his left hand. John held them for about a second, then placed the revolver back into its firm leather holster. John then grabbed the shells with his right hand. Without procrastination, John aimed his right hand up over his head.

He lashed one of the shells through the air directly towards her belly. As the shell flew in the Hawaiian wind, John thought of the similarity between the Ori Blackskirt and the crows in the corn fields of California. In his mind he was only able to compare the dark tail feathers of the crow to the dark dirty black skirt of the Hawaiian Fire Dancers. He continued to watch as the .45 shell went into

the cavity near her belly on her left side.

Suddenly, the black-skirted Ori began a quick belly dance from side to side. With sure precision, she dodged the shell. In a fast twirling motion, the shell went into the

brush behind the dirty skirt.

Noticing he had missed, John rummaged around his mind the things the queen had said about the Blackskirts. They were her people and they were not to be messed with in any way, shape, or form. He was also surprised she was able to avoid the shell so easily. She just did a quick Hawaiian hula dance and dodged the flying shell.

Changing gears, John decided to throw another bullet shell at the dirty-skirted Hawaiian. As he put another shell in his right hand, he whipped a few words at the Blackskirt, "Pretty good, little Ori girl. Damn...you're just like those crows in California! Hey, dodge this."

He took another try with the .45 held in his right hand. He put his hand over his head and in a quick motion, he threw the shell towards the dirty-skirted Hawaiian girl's hip. The bullet hurled through the air toward her hip. Once again she caught the flying bullet and then she quickly repeated her little belly dance. She shifted her belly with such speed that the fast-flying shell of shining brass lunged it's way passed her thin belly. Finally, it spun into the brush behind her.

Nevertheless, John thought about how her eyes were similar to the crows in the California corn fields and the way her sight remained on the flying shell with ease. Still in a state of confusion, he commented, "You think it's so funny."

She looked at John with a smile like he had no idea what she was really made of. With a lash of her hand, she stuck the fake vampire teeth back into her mouth and immediately started to laugh like it was funny watching his expressions when she had the fake teeth in. She then raised her hands as though she wanted another chance to play with him. She started to walk slowly away with long steps and faded into the brush.

John maintained his frantic stare at the trees behind her. He looked at her surprised face and laughing eyes. John loosened his grip on Lightning's bridle. They sprang forward a few feet and continued to go forward as she kept walking backwards. She looked back to avoid hitting that might be behind her lurking below her feet. Seeing the coast was clear, she took another couple of steps and then she looked at John. Realizing he wasn't closing in, she put her hands

over her head again and imitated a vampire.

Once again, she laughed at him with her hands in the air. She tried to lure them into the trees. John followed her as closely as he could without getting too close to her. She continued to walk turning every few seconds to make sure the coast remained clear. She looked at John who appeared ready to speak as he sat patiently on his horse.

She placed her hands into the air again and John blurted out, "She thinks this is way fun, like a game."

John came to complete stop but remained in the saddle. At the same time, she stopped quietly. John remained motionless as he wondered why she had stopped. He stared

at her eyes and face.

Without warning, the trees suddenly came alive. All

of the shrubs and bushes began to move towards him. As it closed it on him, John noticed faces peering through the advance. He was completely covered and outnumbered by Tahitian Tane Blackskirts. They wore camouflage of just about anything John could think of.

He glimpsed quickly around and saw he had been out maneuvered. They came toward him with their bamboo blow darts. John looked to his left, but before he could glance to his other side, he felt about thirty blow darts stabbing all over his face and legs. Some of the sleeping blow darts hit Lightning. John tried his best to fight it off as he maintained a grip on the reins and remain on his horse.

More blow darts hit his arms. Almost immediately, he became dizzy from the slight doses of sleeping powder. At first, he rolled around at the top of Lightning trying to hold on. Moments later his neck began to roll around on top of his aching shoulders. Finally, he let go of the reins.

As he fell off of his horse, his foot caught in the left stirrup. He hung onto the saddle with his back to the ground and yelled, "Son-of-a-bitch!"

Lightning freaked out as the Hawaiians yelled aloud to each other, "Pana, ki, pana pua," (Shoot more darts at the horse.)

Lightning glanced at the Tahitian Tanes. With the turn of his mane and flick of his eye, he saw one lurking behind them. The native was about to shoot another dart into his legs. Lightning turned to that side and gave him one hell of a whack in the ribcage. The native hit a palm tree directly behind him very hard. The Hawaiian native slithered down the trunk towards its base. He lay in a motionless state almost paralyzed by the ordeal.

Lightning pulled forward and drug John along as his boots remained fastened to the saddle's stirrups. Lightning spurred out in a forward motion once again as the effects of the poisonous sleeping darts began to effect his brain.

A moment later the Tahitian Tane Hawaiians ran up to the front of him and took aim at his chest. With excessive energy, they yelled, "Pani, ki, pana pua." (Shoot aim full of more darts.)

After putting a few more darts in their long and straight bamboo staffs, Lightning leapt over another native Blackskirt. He slightly pushed John's body to one side out of the way and then suddenly he came down and landed right on the Blackskirt Tane. Right away the Hawaiians tried to pull the horse's body off while they tied John to a pole.

A few moments later, the Hawaiian natives had removed Lightning from one of their own. They completely tied John's hands to a pole, which looked like a shiskabob, and began to carry him away.

They had tied him up the way they would tied a Hawaiian pigs to roast over a fire. Both feet were stuck all the way at the bottom, while the hands were at the top of the pole.

John and Lightning were quiet. The natives left Lightning lying there because he was too large to carry away. Later, John was hung from some trees as they removed their wounded.

CHAPTER 8

Looking For John

About this time, the Rough Riders were all awake at

the palace and wondering where John was. They realized they hadn't seen John since the queen asked him to run an errand the night before. No one had followed John to the Blackskirt camp. The truth of the matter was John had refused to inform them where he was going.

The first part of the afternoon they remained in

their guest room talking about John's whereabouts. They

sat outside the front of the palace and continued to talk about where John might be.

Nurse Shooter started the conversation, "Well, where

could he be?"

Wood sat as quietly as he could with a smirk expression. Quickly, Wood answered, "I don't know."

Everyone was thinking about the way they always seemed to react when someone was missing. It was a bit different this time, however, as they were on the island of O'ahu north of Honolulu.

Martin thought about how the situation was a little

out of the ordinary. Nevertheless, he figured they should

at least ask the queen where she had sent John the night before. With the curiosities still growing in his mind, Martin instructed the Rough Riders, "Let's just ask the queen. She was the one who sent him on an errand last night."

The bad-ass rider, Beretta figured John most likely met one of the skirts. Getting scooty on the couch, Beretta added, "Maybe he found some skirt to take him home last night." He leaned back further on the couch.

At that moment, like she heard something from outside, Shooter jumped up from the couch and started towards the far patio door. She said to the others, "I don't know. I don't

know him that well."

She looked out the window. She noticed Richard Harding and Teddy Roosevelt heading up the palace walkway.

She forewarned everyone, "Well, forget about asking the queen now. Here comes Roosevelt."

In a frenzy Martin got off the couch and tried to

think of an excuse to tell Roosevelt. After scrambling an answer within his scheming thought processes, he shouted

a preoccupied set of words, "Oh, shit!"

Beretta scrambled for at least a minute until

everyone was somewhat situated within the tall arched

guest room. Martin's first reactions was to sit down again on the couch.

He told everyone, "Make up something."

Martin had trouble coming up with an excuse for Roosevelt and Harding when they questioned John's whereabouts.

Then Leonardo Wood blurted out, as they heard footsteps coming up the patio steps, "Say he's asleep, he's sick from the altitude or something."

Roosevelt and Harding were a couple of yards from the

stairs. When the entered, they nearly hit some of them with the patio door.

Immediately, Roosevelt queried them, "So, how is the queen treating you?"

Roosevelt asked them because they were just standing there waiting for him to come through the door with Richard Harding.

Lieutenant Wood wanted to ask the first question, especially since he was the chief officer when Teddy Roosevelt wasn't around. To start things off right, he acted as though nothing was wrong. Wood answered Roosevelt's question, "Pretty good."

Martin then took a breath while he tried to think up

an explanation to why everyone stood crouched by the door. Finally he thought something.

Martin informed Roosevelt, "It's easy. Sitting around is all she wants us to do right now."

To Harding it sounded as if they might have tied her up or something. He was curious about how they were treating the queen to make sure everything was going as planned. Roosevelt and Leonardo Wood wanted to be there for the treaty for the Hawaiian Island annexation and celebration. Most of the rough Riders had gone home after Cuba to return to their families.

When Roosevelt gave them their present assignment of watching the queen, it was to keep them from taking on the initiative of looking for the Blackskirts. Considering it was a growing obsession for them, Richard Harding inquired, "How are we treating the queen?"

Shooter realized she was the one to answer his question before anyone else tried to. Of course, she wanted to throw them off immediately before they queried about John's whereabouts. With a that idea in mind, she said, "Pretty excellent, nothing going on here."

Leonardo Wood also tried to cover for John by keeping the subject on sitting around and kicking back.

Theodore Roosevelt didn't buy it though as he looked around the room to make sure everyone was there. After a head count, he noticed at least one of man was missing. He pondered for a moment as he inventoried their faces with his eyes. He then tried to think of who was missing. He looked around the room once again, glaring out into the far distance. Finally, he got the impression of who the missing Rough Rider was.

Roosevelt asked them, "Where's John Porter?"

Beretta knew exactly what to tell them. She simply tried blowing everything over as to John's whereabouts. So Beretta made up something to get them to forget about John for the day. "He ate something in the queen's garden they said not to in Hawaiian, but it was too late. It made him

so sick, then he threw up all over the place...He's still asleep."

Beretta hoped it would take Roosevelt's attention away from John and put it on the Blackskirts. It wasn't only Roosevelt's obsession, as it was becoming Richard Harding's as well.

It showed when he asked, "Where's the queen?"

Lieutenant Wood had the question totally in control. He figured Harding wanted to ask her where John was. Wood said, "She's out back, taking a bath in the pond." Wood hoped the answer would throw him off.

Harding took a breath before he told Teddy, "Ted, we need to ask her about those people."

Shooter stared at everyone as Leonardo Wood tried to say something to the two of them. Wood wondered why they even wanted to search for the spiritual Blackskirts, especially after the queen told them about the fire-swinging and sword-throwing natives.

He told Ted and Harding before anyone else entered the conversation, "We already asked her. She said, 'They are not

to be messed with.'"

Beretta wanted to ask about how dangerous the queen said they were.

Martin remembered what she said about the Blackskirts. They were masters of the spiritual realms of Ko Ka 'Uhane. Bringing the element into the conversation, Martin said, "She said we will see them on Annexation Day."

Roosevelt gave up asking where or who they were, especially regarding getting another chance to look for the fiery people called "The Blackskirts."

Teddy Roosevelt said, "Well, if she is not going to tell us, but I'm still going to look."

They thought they would change the topic without mentioning them to Teddy Roosevelt or Richard Harding. Particularly, after considering they got the hint that he was had some type of obsession with their discovery.

Shooter spoke her mind on the subject and wanted to ask Roosevelt why all of them were changing persona. "What's your obsession with them people?"

Roosevelt felt he was now he in a very tight place, so he gave them the most honest answer he could.

Richard Harding then said the Rough Riders, "They murdered Spanish people."

Of course, Wood wanted to brush them off badly it wasn't even funny, so he brought their attention to Rick. Another truth was the fact Rick murdered one of their men just as well and when he remembered he used it as an excuse for Roosevelt.

Leonardo Wood declared to him, "So did Rick."

Harding realized none of the Rough Riders knew Rick was dead. He brooded for a moment before uttering, "Rick, he's dead."

He knew they would be upset, but it was the only way to regain control of the situation. He wanted to keep the upper hand. It was already too late to admit they went back to the

volcano and Rick was accidentally killed.

Shooter asked first, "How did it happen?"

Roosevelt almost told them the truth, especially about looking inside the cave for the Blackskirts. Roosevelt then said to get it over with, "He fell in the lava in the cave."

He was kind of embarrassed about Rick being so foolishly killed.

Beretta then decided to convince him to listen to the music around the island. Within was the truth of how it really helped the soul and change the mood of one's self. Beretta proclaimed to Roosevelt and Richard Harding said, "Give up on them. Listen to the music around here. The ukulele, it really sounds beautiful."

Harding thought they were all skitzed out about its meaning, the whole thing -- the death of Rick, the Islands' music with the drums and the ukulele. Also, staying with the queen and Princess Kaiulani. Harding had his chance to pull their welcome mat by exuding the words, "Let's get out of here!"

Leonardo Wood kind of expected them to try to understay their welcome. The two left with Harding led the way toward the walkway. The Rough Riders watched them from the window as they both climbed onto their horses and rode out of sight.

Leonardo Wood waited until both were out of sight before he expressed, "Man, we carried that off good."

Shooter carried on as well about how they had pulled the shake off Teddy Roosevelt and Richard Harding. Shooter shot the line at them, "Man, we lied about everything."

Martin went back to the frame of mind before Teddy Roosevelt and Harding showed up -- a basic procedure for Teddy Roosevelt to systematically check on things, even when assigned to something somewhere else.

With the need to speak about John, Martin said, "We need to ask the queen where John is."

Shooter remembered. "The queen left a note saying she was with the Dowager Queen Kapiolani."

Beretta felt they shouldn't give up. Princess Kaiulani didn't return to England to study until the end of summer. Regardless, she stayed the summer with Queen Liliuokalani and some time at her Waikiki home with her father. Beretta told the Rough Riders, "Let's ask Kaiulani."

Leonardo Wood remembered the queen had said Kaiulani was Hawaiian, but didn't speak English on their arrival when they saw her for the first time in the hallway. Lieutenant Wood said, "She doesn't even speak English."

Shooter's woman's intuition told her something other than a hard-ass soldier's intuition, which was strictly right to the point. She said to the Rough Riders, "You know, when he left, he left behind her. I bet he followed her."

Beretta thought about it for a second or two, then he remembered when they left and at around the same time.

Beretta added to the conversation, "You're right."

Right away, Martin wanted to follow her when she just happened to leave for the evening. Although, at the exact same time, he was paranoid of Roosevelt might show up and find them there when they were supposed to be at the palace watching the queen and Princess Kaiulani.

Martin didn't realize that was precisely what John was doing at that moment. He followed her, not only for the Queen of the Islands, but for the simple reason he wanted to. It was the reason John got his first sight of their Fire Dancing. John was merely doing his job guarding Princess Kaiulani, although she was more diverse than he first thought.

To get them all into the idea of following Princess Kaiulani again, Martin gibbered, "Two or three of us have to stay here. So when she's leaving, at least two of us better follow her."

Shooter craved the opportunity to get even with Princess Kaiulani for staring her down when they first met. She made it a personal thing between them. Not admitting

she wanted revenge, Shooter jested, "I will. It's a woman's thing." Then she looked around at everyone to see whether any of them were against her.

Leonardo Wood sighed with a bit of relief after she offered to follow her alone. He said to Shooter very gratified, "Fine, just be very careful."

Shooter didn't ask for anything out of the ordinary about why she wanted to go alone. He might change his mind about letting her go alone. On the other hand, Shooter recalled wanting everyone there to continue guarding the queen, as well the princess. For that reason she decided

to follow her to see where she was going at night.

To convince the Rough Riders she would be careful, Shooter replied, "Oh, I will, I'll have my shotgun with me."

She had a solemn look on her face as she turned towards the window and looked yonder. She imaged following the princess

and, at the same time, wondering where John was.