Chapter 15
Anything For Pua
I don’t quite remember exactly what year it was, but I do know it was a 4th of July weekend. The ranch was in full operation and Paniolo Pete and the Kahiona family were producing a mighty good crop of coffee. Pete decided everyone needed a break from our routine of picking coffee beans, working cattle, and doing daily chores around the Double ‘P’ Ranch. We all loaded up on the buckboard, tied on the horses, and headed for town.
The plan was to load ourselves and our mounts onto one of the inter-island barges and travel to Oahu to participate in the 4th of July rodeo in Waimanalo. All were included—the Kahiona’s, myself, the other ranch hands, and of course Paniolo Pete. We each brought our favorite horse.
Only one person stayed behind to watch the ranch. Remember Johnny? He was the second Texan who had stayed on at the Double ‘P’ after the horse beating incident. Well, by this time he was all sweet on one of the girls in town, and we learned later that the real reason he wanted to stay behind was that he planned to ask his girl to marry him. Pete had offered Johnny a fifty acre spread just north of the Double ‘P’ if he could ever find a woman who would have him. I’d say that was a pretty nice wedding gift. Johnny was hoping to make good on that offer before the holiday weekend was over. And as it turns out, he did marry her. Johnny and his family are now Pete’s neighbors.
OK, back to Pete’s horse Kokoro and the 4th of July rodeo. Pete and Kokoro entered most of the events and by the end of the day he had tallied up enough points to be considered the overall winner. That wasn’t anything new, of course. Pete usually won most of the events he entered. But as with most competitions, there’s often one sore loser. The sore loser that day happened to be a fancy-dressed cowboy who called himself Samuel Star. He thought himself to be the best bronc rider in the country. Now we know that Pete was never one to brag, and when Samuel Star started egging him on, Pete just ignored him and agreed with everything he said.
“Why, you’re probably right neighbor,” Pete told him. “I just had an easy horse. No doubt you’re as good as they say and I’m sure next time, you’ll beat me bad.”
Instead of leaving it at that, this Star fella continued to complain about the bad horse he’d drawn and he wanted a one on one match with Pete right then and there. Pete apologized in his quiet way and said that they were all headed to the other side of the island to visit Noelani Kahiona’s parents in Kahala.
“Darn it all boy, that visit can wait. Let’s you and I square off on two fresh broncs and we’ll see what you’ve really got.”
I reckon Pete still wouldn’t have ridden and would have just smiled in his good natured way and walked away if it hadn’t been for Pua, the Kahiona’s youngest daughter.
“Please Paniolo, I went get soda the last time you ride and I miss ‘em. Please, I like see you ride and show this big haole you more better than him,” she pleaded.
Well, Pete had always had a soft spot for Pua. He had always done pretty much anything she ever asked of him. This time was no exception, but Pete did make a mental note to have a talk with Pua later about the difference between a good competitor and a sore loser.
“OK, Pua, I’d be glad to ride for you. Would you like to pick the horse for this gentleman to ride since I’m sure he’s planning on picking mine.”
“More better we let this haole ride Kokoro. I go get saddle and ask him for be nice!”
“What’s this?” snarled Star. “You’re having me ride a cow pony? I thought we were going to compete!”
“I assure you sir, that so-called cow pony will give you a few good turns in the saddle.”
Of course, you can probably guess which horse Star picked out for Pete to ride. It was the same one that had thrown him earlier in the bronc riding event. They drew cards. Samuel Star won and chose to take the first ride. Word spread amongst the crowd about another event, and people began to gather to watch this grudge match between Pete and Star.
“We don’t need any judges either. We’ll just ride the horse until you’re thrown or it drops.”
It was evident he planned on working Kokoro for all he was worth. “Working” a horse during a bronc ride usually means spurring it or racking your spurs on the neck while you ride. Although it will excite the horse and give more action on the ride, it’s still rather cruel. There was no doubt that Samuel Star was planning on taking out his anger on that old war horse of Pete’s.
Kokoro was loaded into the chute. Star had his riding rig on him, and as he lowered himself onto the great beast, the bucking strap was cinched tight. As soon as the gate opened and horse and rider cleared the chute, old Kokoro let out that wild scream of his, reared up on his hind legs, and began leaping and bucking for all he was worth. I will say this for Samuel Star. He definitely was a bronc rider, at least for about five seconds. Kokoro dropped his head almost to the ground, gave a vicious kick with his back legs, and Star found himself without a horse. He sailed over the arena fence and into the stands. The crowd was in an uproar when the hotshot loud mouth landed in their midst, and many a beer and soda was spilled or poured on him. It was not a happy cowboy who untangled himself and walked out of the arena that day.
To make matters worse, the rodeo hands couldn’t even approach Kokoro to release the bucking strap. Every time one of them got near, that feisty horse would attack. Finally, it was Pua who called out to Kokoro and told him to behave. The horse put his head down and calmly walked over to the little girl. She uncinched the strap, took the reins, turned around to wave at the astounded crowd, and led Kokoro happily out of the arena gate. I happened to be standing near Keala at the time and I tell you, that big ol’ Hawaiian had tears in his eyes he was so proud of his little girl. I was a might choked up myself over the whole scene. Kind of puts a big lump in my throat even now when I think back on the story.
Paniolo Pete was up next, and his ride started out good. The horse had a buck-turn style, and Pete was just getting into the rhythm of the ride when his hand tie broke. No matter how good Paniolo Pete is, he’s not good enough to stay on a bucking horse with nothing to hang onto. He flew head over heels off that horse and landed none too softly on his back. He was still holding his tie strap and the first thing he saw when he cleared the dirt off his face was the rope had been cleanly cut most of the way through.
As he was picking himself up off the ground he briefly heard screaming and shouting from the crowd before he was slammed back into the dirt. Someone had cut his tie rope and had now released one of the bulls into the arena. These bulls only see men on the rare occasions when they’re brought off the slopes of the volcanos for rodeo bull riding events. The one facing Pete now was known as “Bad Black,” and in his twelve years of life he had never been ridden. More than one cowboy had given up his bull riding career after a bout with Bad Black.
The first pass of the bull busted Pete’s shoulder. Although he was back on his feet, Pete knew he was in trouble. A 2,000 lb. angry bull was snorting and pawing at the earth a short distance from Paniolo Pete when it decided to charge. The crowd was panicked, shouting for someone to help Paniolo Pete when suddenly, a bone-chilling scream shattered the air and over the top of the arena fence flew Kokoro. I reckon “flew” is not the right word, but it sure did look that way. That fence must have been a good six feet high, but the horse cleared it with ease.
Meanwhile, Keala and two of his sons had grabbed their horses and were frantically trying to mount up and rescue Pete, but they would have been too late to stop the bull from charging. Kokoro wasn’t. He never broke stride when he landed and rushed into that huge brahma bull broadside. The bull was caught off guard, side-stepped, and fell. Before Big Black could regain his footing, Kokoro reared up, let out his viscious war cry, and plunged both of his sharp hooves into the bull. The bull cried out in pain, and Kokoro screamed a victory cry. The crown was dumbfounded as the massive bull shuddered one last time and lay still.
Kokoro walked over to Paniolo Pete’s side, nuzzled his head unde
r Pete’s arm, and helped him walk out of the arena. A hush fell over the entire crowd. It had been a horrible scene to witness when Kokoro attacked the bull. That was one powerful and loyal horse. No bull was going to charge his master!