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| author | luxagraf <sng@luxagraf> | 2021-03-01 22:28:30 -0500 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | luxagraf <sng@luxagraf> | 2021-03-01 22:28:30 -0500 |
| commit | 49236a2616918d0b3ab4f6e17a16cc5aa8230bbe (patch) | |
| tree | 8de0a02326d04234d7b1a8b4768460d47c79ec28 /lbh.txt | |
| parent | 359eb8ee0a9ae500b0d4236f8bcf6f9ff91027c8 (diff) | |
added scene getting Tamba upriver
Diffstat (limited to 'lbh.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | lbh.txt | 300 |
1 files changed, 151 insertions, 149 deletions
@@ -2,6 +2,48 @@ "The months and days are travelers of eternity. Just like the years that come and go. For those who live their lives on boats, or lead horses towards old age, their lives are travel, their journeys are home." -- Matsuo Basho, Oku no Hosomichi (1689) +# cuts that need to be put back in somewhere + +Tamba was about her fathers age Birdie guessed, perhaps a few years older + +, the hair at his temples was whiter than her father's anyway. Tamba had no beard so it was hard to say what color it might have been, though Birdie figured it would be black like her father's. + +This English was stiff around the edges, acquired from many sources, including her father, who had acquired his from many different people. Birdie liked hearing Tamba tell stories though because his voice and the way he pronounced word made English sound more beautiful, more thoughtful, more important than when other people talked. + +Her father nodded when she told him this once. "Tamba is like us. He is the Alban of his place. Highlanders always speak less. We put more thought into what we are going to say." + +Birdie wasn't so sure any of them would qualify as highlanders, living as they did, so low, near to the sea. + +Tamba's skin was near black. Light seemed to disappear when it landed on him. She noticed that he used this to his advantage, sometimes to disappear into shadow, sometimes by wearing a white shirt that provided such a contrast he was impossible not to see, a shadow fleshed out into the light. She noticed too that he used clothes in a way that most people did not, they were not simply things that hung over his frame to keep the sun off, they were tools that helped him navigate the world. + +And Birdie knew that it was harder for Tamba to navigate the world than it was for her. Many Africans were slaves, and those like Tamba who were not, who had arrived here free men aboard ships they helped to sail, were always in danger of becoming slaves. "Englishmen are devils, the worst kind of devils, the dumbest devils, so dumb they don't even know they are devils. Dumbest lot of humans I ever had the misfortune to be among," her father had said once in her hearing. Tamba had nodded with a sad smile Birdie still remembered. It was a smile of defeat, a smile one had when everything else has already been tried and still one was defeated, a smile that protects against a hurt too large to look at otherwise. + +"We should burn that lot of them." She'd burst out with it so fast she startled even herself. + +Her father and Tamba had turned to look at her and her face grew red under their gaze, but then Tamba had grunted and glanced at her father. "That's one we haven't tried." + +Her father smiled at her. "A wonderful idea my darling freewoman, but... but, we've other business here this go round. Besides," his eyes twinkled impishly, "they'll get theirs. Satisfying as it would be for us to be the ones to hand it to them." He glanced at Tamba and said more softly, "and gods it *would* be satisfying, but that is not our path on this turn." + + +# Notes +''' +Storm + - try to stop the cousins from going + - burying their stores, sailing the boat up the river, past Kadis + - storm hits, under the boat, darkness and terror + - alligator scene + - storm aftermath. ship not heard from, waiting for their cousins + - birdie won't eat + - staring out at sea. hating the sea. cursing the sea + another visit from the sea + - Henri crying for owen. We need to add more about them together + - Kadi's grandmother dies. +Sails + - Ratham arrives, break the spell of sadness + - no word of the ship though + - hunting and careening, winter solstice bonfire with the pirates +''' + ''' # Prologue @@ -22,7 +64,7 @@ When he returned the winds blew favorably again and they left, hugging the coast By the time they arrived all the twins had left was a memory of trees. The deep darkness of the forest floor where they would lie as babies, staring up at the trees, the branches reaching like thick fingers to scratch at the light of the sky above. -# Autumn +# Main ## Chapter 1: On The Sea @@ -352,7 +394,7 @@ Birdie watched her walk away until she disappeared into the darkness. "Papa. Wha "Birdie? You're awake?" Her father came over and sat down beside her. He bent down and kissed her forehead, his beard tickled her cheek. "Nothing sweet girl, get some sleep." Birdie let herself slip back into the sheets and quilts on the soft sand. She let her eyes fall closed and when she opened them again the sun was nearly up. -## Chapter 4: Among the Stumps +## Chapter 4: Among the Stumps Lulu hopped from stump to stump. Crouching down, her knees bent like coiled springs and then sprong, she exploded toward the next stump, landed, teetered, stopped there. There were plenty of stumps. The whole forest was gone. @@ -468,7 +510,7 @@ Lulu ducked under the crumbing beam that had once supported the deck, following It was dark by the time they walked back to camp. The air had turned cold as the sun set. Not cold, but cool enough that Lulu got her blanket out of the hut. They only ever slept indoors in the worst of weather. Lulu brought out her blanket and lay down in the sand, pulling it over her. She lay for along time whispering with Birdie about plans for the next day, watching the thin sliver of moon drag its light across the shifting ripple of the sea. -## Chapter 5: Fishing the Bank +## Chapter 5: Fishing the Bank Birdie woke early, before first light. She sat up on the dune where she had slept and looked off toward the sea. She saw the silhouette of her father down by the shore, his back to her. His hand went up and pulled down to his head with a movement so sharp and sudden she felt as if the starlight itself bent down to him. She watched at he turned to each direction, and then back to the center where he stood still, facing east. @@ -656,7 +698,7 @@ She felt as if she were floating in the water, but she was laying on solid sand. She stared out the flat horizon where the sky bled into the blue of the sea. Come back. But nothing happened. She got up, she pushed off and climbed in Maggie. She raised the sail and turned the boat toward the river. -## Chapter 6: Fire +## Chapter 6: Fire It was mid-afternoon by the time Papa rounded them up and set them about gathering grass and small sticks. He would light the kilns when the sun went down and he had a very precise mixture of grasses and wood of all sizes that was entirely in his head, but Lulu and Birdie and even Henri had long since learned which thing they needed more of just by glancing at the piles, which they kept separate. Grass, then oak, then walnut. Papa claimed that to get the most tar out of the roots, you needed the right temperature kiln and to get that you need the right combination of each wood, plus there was always some trickery with wind and venting. The secret was to get the wood hot, but control the flow of air so that it burned very slowly and under some pressure that caused it to give up the liquid sap that hid inside of it. This tar or pitch tricked out the base of the kiln into buckets which were then put in barrels and either used by ships that called on their camp, or sold to the shipyards in Charlestown. @@ -794,7 +836,7 @@ Lulu sat down next to her sister. Henri slumped down into the sand and busied hi This time, after they all fell silent, Henri looked up from a drawing he had made. "You can call back an arrow you know. You just have to tie a string around it before you shoot it." -## Chapter 7: Sarah +## Chapter 7: Sarah The kiln fires burned for nearly a full cycle of the moon. The children tended the fires, Tamba, Kobayashi, and Papa tended the tar. There was still time to play, time to fish, time to climb trees, wade through the marsh in search of bird eggs, and time to sit around the fire at night listening to stories. Birdie and Lulu fished the bank whenever they could. There was a barrel half full of dried fish carefully stowed in Delos' hold to trade when they went to Charlestown. @@ -950,7 +992,7 @@ She told him what she had thought. He smiled and rubbed her back. "Exactly," he The sat in silence for a while until Lulu and Henri climbed sleepily up the dune and laid down beside her. Her father tucked each of them into their quilts and kissed their cheeks before returning to fire. -## Chapter 8: Lulu and Sarah +## Chapter 8: Lulu and Sarah Lulu stood in the shade of the oaks, watching the thick hemp cords that held the Eliza May over on it's side. Her job was to inspect the ropes and the tree that held them, looking for any signs of weakness or fraying or rubbing. If any of these ropes slipped or broke loose it would put more strain on the remaining ropes and if they went, the ship would role back upright, crushing anyone who was working under it. It was pleasant work, watching things, though she couldn't help but feel tense and nervous since it was more than likely her father working under the boat. He always took the most dangerous jobs himself. If anything slipped she would scream and run which would be signal for anyone in the way of the rolling ship to run for their lives. Lulu was well known for her ability to out shriek anyone, which was why her father had given her the job. @@ -1080,7 +1122,7 @@ Lulu and Birdie's eye met for a flash, but neither of them said anything. Lulu considered this. It wasn't much of a secret. She'd figured out years ago that hardly anyone who passed through their camp used the name their parents had given them. What Sarah, or Ann, was really revealing was how little time she'd spent at sea, and for this Lulu was grateful. This information was far more valuable than a name, and Lulu loved her for it far more than she did for the trust she was showing in telling them her name. On impulse, before she could stop herself, she threw her arms around Ann's neck and hugged her. -## Chapter 9: Trading Upriver +## Chapter 9: Trading Upriver Two days later Birdie sat at the edge of the river, watching Eliza May thread her way through the shallows, out to sea. Her father was on board to help. Maggie was tied to a stern line so he could sail back once he'd guided them out of the river mouth and into the open ocean. Lulu could see her father, but she was watching Ann. Ann lying down on the bowsprite with a lead line in the water, taking soundings. All Birdie could see of her was her red hair near the tip in the bowsprite, but that was exactly how she wanted to remember her, clutching the bowsprite, leading the way out to sea. @@ -1152,8 +1194,6 @@ Birdie's eyes must of widened, because he laughed. "Do not be so surprised. Your Birdie felt her face flush. She really wished her father had never done that. But she smiled at the chief's joke and promised she would tell her father as much. -:TODO: seque? - Back on the river they sailed in silence. The wind rose and died with the turns of the river, but the current carried them enough that they did not have to paddle much. Birdie was lost in thought. Partly she was planning how to use her blue, but partly she was wondering what they would do with everyone leaving. Would they have to go to Charlestown to trade? Charlestown wasn't a good market for her dried fish. There were large fishing boats to supplied far more than she ever could. And she did not like it, it was full of loud shouting people who didn't seem to her to do anything but rush about and shout things. She much preferred drinking tea with the Waccamaw chief. She would miss the trips upriver. After that village there was nothing but scattered farms, or ont he other fork, toward Charlestown, huge plantations full of slaves working the fields. Tamba broke her train of thought with a simple question: "Do you feel that?" @@ -1170,31 +1210,15 @@ Lulu and Birdie looked at each other. Cooler air meant a relief from the heat of Tamba continued to stare off at the eastern horizon. "I do not know," he said finally. -:TODO: Move storm to here. - - The end of tar season, another big party. - the scene below. - Then the storm - ## Chapter 10: Campfire Talk -There was a day, just before the moon that would mark the equinox, when the heat broke. Everyone knew it would return again at least once more, but for a few short days, it was deliciously cool and the breeze came inland in the afternoons. The sago palm fronds clattered in the wind, a clicking ticking sound like the women's shoes on the plank sidewalks of Charlestown. - -the grownups sat around the fire talking and Birdie pretended to be asleep. The sand was cool on her the skin of her arm +The cool continued the next day. After dinner that night her father pulled out his fiddle and Tamba joined in with some driftwood rasps he'd been working on. The fiddle and percussion dueled and danced with each other in Birdie's head, first her father leading then Tamba stepping to the front, stomping with his foot to add bass to his scratch and clack percussion. - - -After dinner that night her father pulled out his fiddle and Tamba joined in with some driftwood rasps he'd been working on. The fiddle and percussion dueled and danced with each other in Birdie's head, first her father leading then Tamba stepping to the front, stomping with his foot to add bass to his scratch and clack percussion. - -Auntie Māra danced with Kadi, her braid twisting back and forth, her feet light on the sand. The music found a pattern and the dancers hooked arms like the instruments and began to turn each other. Her uncle attempted to join in, but neither of the women would make room for him and he sat down again to smoke. - -It wasn't until Henri came rushing in that the women broke apart their dance and both reached down to each take one of Henri's arms and they began to turn in the circle, Henri pushing them ever faster. Papa picked up on it, bringing his playing in line with the increasing speed of the dance until all of them were frantically spinning and finally spun apart, spilling into the sand. +Auntie Māra danced with Uncle Cole, her braid twisting back and forth, her feet light on the sand. The music found a pattern and the dancers hooked arms like the instruments and began to turn each other. Henri came rushing in and they broke apart their dance and both reached down to each take one of Henri's arms and they began to turn in the circle, Henri pushing them ever faster. Papa picked up on it, bringing his playing in line with the increasing speed of the dance until all of them were frantically spinning and finally spun apart, spilling into the sand. It was late by the time fire died down and Papa traded his fiddle for his pipe. Henri was curled up against Lulu, already asleep. Birdie lay on the other side of Lulu, closest to the fire. She liked feeling the cool sand against her arm, the heat the fire on her back. She closed her eyes and began to drift toward sleep. In the background her father and aunt and uncle and Tamba continued to talk in lower tones. Birdie slept for a minute but woke up at some point to hear her uncle still talking. -She drifted in and out of sleep still until she heard her uncle say with conviction in his voice, "I want to come with you this year when you leave." - -She woke up completely. She could almost picture the surprised on Papa's face. It probably matched her own she thought. +She drifted in and out of sleep still until she heard her uncle say with conviction in his voice, "I want to come with you this year when you leave." She woke up completely. She could almost picture the surprised on Papa's face. It probably matched her own she thought. "What about your wife and children?" @@ -1202,7 +1226,7 @@ She woke up completely. She could almost picture the surprised on Papa's face. I "I want to sail up to Charlestown, trade the furs I've been stockpiling and then use that money to get some supplies and take the boat north." -"That boat of yours won't make it. We'll have to tar her this summer, re-mast her if we can. +"That boat of yours won't make it. We'll have to tar her, re-mast her if we can. "She's my boat, I'll see to it." @@ -1216,7 +1240,7 @@ Her father still said nothing. Her father snorted. "You could learn something from your wife..." -She heard tk stand up. "Maybe you could learn something from me. Maybe you could make some plans with someone else for once instead of keeping all your secrets to yourself." +She heard Uncle Cole stand up. "Maybe you could learn something from me. Maybe you could make some plans with someone else for once instead of keeping all your secrets to yourself." "Secrets?" @@ -1224,19 +1248,19 @@ Birdie pretended to roll over in her sleep. Careful to neither open her eyes, no Their voices got lower, her uncle seemed to hiss like a snake. -"I know you don't want me to come north, I know you don't want me to be part of your summer camp because that's where you meet with all your sailing people." +"I know you don't want me to come north, I know you don't want me to be part of your summer camp because that's where you meet with all your pirate friends." Her father laughed now. "Is that what you think?" -"It's what I know." Your children talk to mine. +"It's what I know. Your children talk to mine." Her father said nothing. "You don't deny it?" -"No. I don't deny that there are people I know on the cape who sail. You have that much right." +"No. I don't deny that there are people I know on the cape who sail boat and don't always do what the king wants. You have that much right." -Birdie thought of her summer camp. It was much like their summer camp, though there were hardly any trees near the coast. No pines anyway. She spent her time fishing. Her father often worked on ships and did other jobs around town. She loved summer camp, but there was no one to play with and the idea that Francis and Owen might come to it nearly made her jump up and cry out, yes, yes please come. +Birdie thought of summer camp. It was much like their winter camp, though there were hardly any trees near the coast. No pines anyway. She spent her time fishing. Her father often worked on ships and did other jobs around town. She loved summer camp, but there was no one to play with and the idea that Francis and Owen might come to it nearly made her jump up and cry out, yes, yes please come. "I'm not even sure we're going this year." @@ -1266,7 +1290,7 @@ For once Birdie agreed with her Uncle. But the thought of the British coming mad Let the British come," She realized her uncle was drunk, slurring his words slightly. "Do you really thing they can control everything, be everywhere? Besides, they aren't going to bother with us, we're not big enough to interest them." -"They're not going to bother with us because they are not going to find us here. But do you really think they would ignore the people who make it possible for their worst enemies to continue to sail against them? Continue robbing their merchantmen? Stealing from the crown? Do you really thing the British crown is going to ignore that?" +"They're not going to bother with us because they are not going to find us here. But do you really think they would ignore the people who make it possible for their worst enemies to continue to sail against them? Continue robbing their merchantmen? Stealing from the crown? Do you really think the British crown is going to ignore that?" "You're a coward." @@ -1276,7 +1300,7 @@ Birdie could hear the fire over the silence. She watched her father contemplate Her father stood up and stretched causally. "And do not return to my fire for a while. I do not wish to see you. I will send one of the children for you when my anger has passed." -Her father walked off toward the ocean. Birdie saw him in the moon light take off his deerskin skirt and run into the waves. Her father often swam at night she new. It was something he had done since he was a small boy. It helps me sleep he had said to her once. The cold helps you sleep. +Her father walked off toward the ocean. Birdie saw him in the moon light take off his deerskin skirt and run into the waves. Her father often swam at night. It was something he had done since he was a small boy. It helps me sleep he had said to her once. The cold helps you sleep. Her uncle sat on the log. She could hear him muttering something to himself, but could not make out was it was. "Come on Māra, lets go." Her aunt raised an eyebrow at him, but got up and gathered her things. @@ -1284,26 +1308,7 @@ Birdie rolled over and stared up at the sky. The British. Coming to Charlestown. She watched shooting stars and started to count them, but her eyes kept sliding shut. When she opened them again the sun was just cresting the sea. -# Winter -''' -Storm - - try to stop the cousins from going - - burying their stores, sailing the boat up the river, past Kadis - - storm hits, under the boat, darkness and terror - - alligator scene - - storm aftermath. ship not heard from, waiting for their cousins - - birdie won't eat - - staring out at sea. hating the sea. cursing the sea - another visit from the sea - - Henri crying for owen. We need to add more about them together - - Kadi's grandmother dies. -Sails - - Ratham arrives, break the spell of sadness - - no word of the ship though - - hunting and careening, winter solstice bonfire with the pirates -''' - -## Chapter 1: Storm +## Chapter 11: Storm It was late in the afternoon when she felt it. Lulu sat straight up in the hull of the Arkhangelsk and hit her head on a cross spar. Ow, she exclaimed and quickly followed it with, Birdie, do you smell that? @@ -1331,7 +1336,7 @@ Papa stopped to sniff again when Lulu came around the corner at full speed and s He smiled at her and turned to Tamba. "See?" -Tamba grunted. "I see. I see you have raised them like you. Like wolves." He smiled and then it disappeared. "We need to stop Mr tk, he was taking Delos to Charlestown today. +Tamba grunted. "I see. I see you have raised them like you. Like wolves." He smiled and then it disappeared. "We need to stop Mr Cole, he was taking Maggie to Charlestown today. Her father glanced out at sea. "I'm sure he'll stay." @@ -1341,7 +1346,7 @@ Her father sighed. "Birdie, Lulu, run down to Aunt Māra's camp and make sure th Birdie glanced at Lulu and together they dashed out of camp. -"And hurry back, we'll be moving to the boat." Her father's voice trailed off as they left the dunes and ducked into the forest, following the well-worn footpath that led down the island to their cousin's camp. That was how Lulu though of it. Her father always called it Aunt Māra's camp. No one called it Uncle tk's camp, though really he was the one who lorded over it. To tell the truth, thought Lulu, I would have much rather been helping to secure our camp. She slowed a little as the oaks thickened and the ground became treacherously crowded with acorns that hurt even her calloused feet. +"And hurry back, we'll be moving to Delos." Her father's voice trailed off as they left the dunes and ducked into the forest, following the well-worn footpath that led down the island to their cousin's camp. That was how Lulu though of it. Her father always called it Aunt Māra's camp. No one called it Uncle Cole's camp, though really he was the one who lorded over it. To tell the truth, thought Lulu, I would have much rather been helping to secure our camp. She slowed a little as the oaks thickened and the ground became treacherously crowded with acorns that hurt even her calloused feet. "Come on Lu, hurry up," Birdie called. "I want to tell them so we can get back and help Papa pack everything up." @@ -1353,7 +1358,7 @@ Birdie glanced at Lulu and together they dashed out of camp. Birdie shrugged. "Maybe, but we still have to tell them, Papa told us to." -Fine." Lulu crossed her arms angrily. "Let's run then." And she took off down the trail, leaving Birdie behind. Aunt Māra's camp, or their cousins' camp, was in nearly the same spot on the north end of the island as Lulu and Birdie's camp was on the south end. Nestled in the first row the dunes, out of the wind, and right by the river, that, while too brackish to drink, was good for fishing, washing, and cleaning. Lulu was panting hard as she rounded the bend and she could hear Birdie's feet pounding the sandy trail just behind her in what had become more a race between sisters than any message carrying errand. They both burst into camp, nearly knocking over Aunt Māra and both doubled over sucking wind, unable to speak. It was Birdie who first looked up and realized to her horror that no one else was around. She put out her arm and caught her Aunt's dress. "Māra, where is everyone?" +Fine." Lulu crossed her arms angrily. "Let's run then." And she took off down the trail, leaving Birdie behind. Their cousins' camp, was in nearly the same spot on the north end of the island as Lulu and Birdie's camp was on the south end. Nestled in the first row the dunes, out of the wind, and right by the river, that, while too brackish to drink, was good for fishing, washing, and cleaning. Lulu was panting hard as she rounded the bend and she could hear Birdie's feet pounding the sandy trail just behind her in what had become more a race between sisters than any message carrying errand. They both burst into camp, nearly knocking over Aunt Māra. Both doubled over sucking wind, unable to speak. It was Birdie who first looked up and realized to her horror that no one else was around. She put out her arm and caught her Aunt's dress. "Māra, where is everyone?" "They've gone in the boat to Charlestown child, what is it?" @@ -1361,19 +1366,17 @@ Birdie felt her heart sink. "How long ago?" Māra glanced at the sky. "Left after lunch." -Lulu and Birdie shared a look. On a good day, with a favorable wind, a good boat could make Charlestown in four hours. Delos was a good boat, and the approaching storm would make the wind favorable. Until it made it more than favorable. Still, Lulu had a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. A helpless feeling, like the world was careening against her will, she was being pulled by lines should feel all around her, but could not make out which way they were pulling her. She watched Birdie start to cry. She could think of nothing to say. "Bee," she said finally, "Let's run up to the point and see if we can see the sail. Then we'll get back to help Papa." +Lulu and Birdie shared a look. On a good day, with a favorable wind and tide coming in, a good boat could make Charlestown in eight hours. Maggie was a good boat, and the approaching storm would make the wind favorable, until it made it more than favorable. Still, Lulu had a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. A helpless feeling, like the world was careening against her will, she was being pulled by lines she could feel all around her, but she could not make out which way they were pulling her. She watched Birdie start to cry. She could think of nothing to say. "Bee," she said finally, "Let's run up to the point and see if we can see the sail. Then we'll get back to help Papa." -Birdie nodded and they left their Aunt to grab her things and head for their camp where they promised to meet her later. The trail from camp to the beach was hard going at this end of the island, loose sand you could not run in, sharp shells and sticker plants everywhere. It took them longer than either had planned to get out to outlet of the river where the sand bar at low tide was high enough that they could wade across the very and out on the point. A short swim beyond them offshore lay the bank. If they had time that would have been the ideal place to go to look for the sail, but there was no time. Already the wind had begun to pick up. Lulu could feel the pressure dropping. Her ears popped. This was going to be big one. +Birdie nodded and they left their Aunt to grab her things and head for their camp where they promised to meet her later. The trail from camp to the marsh was hard going at this end of the island, loose sand you could not run in, sharp shells and sticker plants everywhere. It took them longer than either had planned to get up the river where the sand bar at low tide was high enough that they could wade across to the next island and out on the point. Already the wind had begun to pick up. Lulu could feel the pressure dropping. Her ears popped. This was going to be big one.Birdie was crying again. "Come on," said Lulu. "We have to get back." -And then they saw it, a tiny white triangle against a blue sea and blue sky that would soon be black. It was too far to hail, too close to make Charlestown by nightfall. Lulu prayed silently, *Please go to shore, please go to shore, please go to shore.* Birdie was crying again. "Come on," said Lulu. "We have to get back." +By the time they got back Papa and Henri were on their second sled drag from camp to the boat. Papa pulled, Henri ran behind grabbing anything that fell off. Lulu dashed into the hut and grabbed her bag, which held her notebook, quills, and ink, the only things in the world she cared about. She slung her bag over her shoulder as she waited for Birdie to grab her paints and things. They set off after her father and Henri, who were already well down the trail. At the boat Tamba was already raising the sails while Aunt Māra hurried up and down out of the hold, hauling dried fish and water in small barrels. -By the time they got back Papa and Henri were on their second sled drag from camp to the boat. Papa pulled, Henri ran behind grabbing anything that fell off. Lulu dashed into the hut and grabbed her bag, which held tk and tk, the only things in the world she cared about. She slung her bag over her shoulder as she waited for Birdie to grab her things. They set off after her father and Henri, who were already well down the trail. At the boat Tamba was already raising the sails while Aunt Māra hurried up and down out of the hold, hauling dried fish and water in small barrels. +They would sail Delos up river, threading the marshes as quickly as they could, to the mouth of the river, there, on the far side of the first island, which divided the channel, they could careen her against a grove of swamp cypress. They would lash her to the trees as best they could and ride it out there. It was not a new plan. They had gone so far as to careen her once two years ago, but the storm had never materialized. Wherever it went, it had spared Edisto. Lulu could feel in her bones that this storm was not going away. It was coming here. Now. Tonight. -They would sail the tk up river, threading the marshes as quickly as they could, to tk Landing, where they could careen her against a grove of swamp cypress. They would lash her to the trees as best they could and ride it out there. It was not a new plan. They had gone so far as careen her once two years ago, but storm had never materialized. Wherever it went, it had spared this one. Lulu could feel in her bones that this storm was not going away. It was coming here. Now. Tonight. +The tide was raising Delos, her father and Tamba used lines and a bent pine on the hammock next to it to winch it into deeper water. It took the better part of an hour, but she was soon floating. They used the Pirogue to load the last couple barrels of tar, which Kobayashi and her father were still manuevering into the hold as Tamba raised the sail to get a enough speed to fight the river current. -The tide was raising tk, her father and Tamba used lines and a bent pine on the hammock next to it to winch it into deeper water. It took the better part of an hour, but she was soon floating. They used the Pirogue to load the last couple barrels of tar, which Kobayashi and her father were still manuevering into the hold as Tamba raised the sail to get a enough speed to fight the river current. - -High clouds had been blowing in all afternoon, but it wasn't until the afternoon sun sank below them and headed for sunset that they could see the line of the storm. It was so dark it looked like night blowing across the sea. Her father climbed the mizzen mast with his spyglass and studied the horizon. When he came down Lulu noticed something she had never seen in his eyes before, fear. It chilled her. She shivered and put her arms around him. He knelt down beside her and wrapped his arms around her. "It's going to be okay Lu. I promise." +High clouds had been blowing in all afternoon, but wasn't until the sun began to set that they could see the line of the storm off in the east. It was so dark it looked like night blowing across the sea. Her father climbed the mizzen mast with his spyglass and studied the horizon. When he came down Lulu noticed something she had never seen in his eyes before, fear. It chilled her. She shivered and put her arms around him. He knelt down beside her and wrapped his arms around her. "It's going to be okay Lu. I promise." She nodded, but said nothing. @@ -1393,13 +1396,13 @@ He blinked at her as if this were the silliest question he had ever heard. "Beca --- -The darkness of the storm blotted out the sunset. Lulu was wishing she could be wherever the sun was setting. Some place happy and bright. She heard Tamba yell from the bow and both she and Birdie rushed up to see what was the matter. +The darkness of the storm blotted out the remainder of the day. Lulu was wishing she could be wherever the sun was setting. Some place happy and bright. She heard Tamba yell from the bow and both she and Birdie rushed up to see what was the matter. -Threading it's way out of cluster of cypress trees was a small dugout with six people in it. At the stern was man, probably about her father's age Lulu guessed. In the bow was a woman, perhaps about the same age, his wife she assumed. Between them, in the line were two girls and a young boy about Henri's age. The older of the two girls held a baby in her arms. The man was calling out to Tamba in a language Lulu did not know well, but recognized as tk. She had seen her father trade with the enough tk that Lulu and Birdie had learned to recognie words that seemed like they meant please and thank you and hello. Lulu heard the man say the word she thought meant thank you. Tamba spoke fluent tk and spoke for some moments as the dugout moved alongside the tk. +Threading it's way out of cluster of cypress trees was a small dugout with six people in it. At the stern was man, probably about her father's age Lulu guessed. In the bow was a woman, perhaps about the same age, his wife she assumed. Between them, in the line were two girls and a young boy about Henri's age. The older of the two girls held a baby in her arms. The man was calling out to Tamba in a language Lulu did not know well, but recognized as Waccamaw. She had traded enough with the Waccamaw that Lulu had learned to recognize words that seemed like they meant please and thank you and hello. Lulu heard the man say the word she thought meant thank you. Tamba spoke fluent Waccamaw and spoke for some moments as the dugout moved alongside Delos. -He turned to Birdie. "Go tell your father that we're going to give this family a ride and they're going to show us an island, we can careen on the leeward side." +He turned to Birdie. "Go tell your father that we're going to give this family a ride and they're going to show us another, better island. We can careen on the leeward side." -"We're not going to tk Landing?" +"What about the river mouth?" "They say the water is already rising there." @@ -1407,17 +1410,17 @@ Lulu said nothing, she watched as the man rought the canoe alongside. "How come every one asks Birdie to do things and not me? -What are talking about? +"What are talking about?" -You immediately turned to Cirdie, you didn't even think of turning to me. +"You immediately turned to Birdie, you didn't even think of turning to me." He studied her for a moment. "Lulu, go get a line and some rigging out of the hold that we can use to get this family on board." She snapped to attention and smiled. "Yes sir!' -She took off for the hold. It was dark below, even the faint light of the evening was no help down here. She worked by feel to get several lines, but she could not find the rigging Tamba wanted. She ran back with the lines so the tk could at least tow the canoe along without the poor man having to paddle to keep up. Then she ran back into the hold and felt around where the rigging ought to have been but could not find it. She was about to give up and grab a couple of lines to just tie a ladder when she tripped and fell and landed on the unmistakably painful lumps of tightly knotted hemp lines. The rigging. She dashed back up and with Tamba's help, secured the rigging to the gunwale and lowered the ladder-like rope over the side so the family could climb aboard. +She took off for the hold. It was dark below, even the faint light of the evening was no help down here. She worked by feel to get several lines, but she could not find the rigging Tamba wanted. She ran back with the lines so Delos could at least tow the canoe along without the poor man having to paddle to keep up. Then she ran back into the hold and felt around where the rigging ought to have been but could not find it. She was about to give up and grab a couple of lines to tie a ladder when she tripped and fell and landed on the unmistakably painful lumps of tightly knotted hemp lines. The rigging. She dashed back up and with Tamba's help, secured the rigging to the gunwale and lowered the ladder-like rope over the side so the family could climb aboard. -It took several tries, but they eventually managed to get everyone on board. Tamba took the man to the cockpit to tell her father the directions. Kobayashi came forward with a lantern they hung of the bowsprit to provide some modicum of light as the sun ceased to be of any help. +It took several tries, but they eventually managed to get everyone on board. Tamba took the man to the cockpit to pilot the ship. Kobayashi came forward with a lantern they hung off the bowsprit to provide some modicum of light as the sun ceased to be of any help. "Where were you when I was below?" @@ -1427,15 +1430,15 @@ Kobayashi smiled at her, "I was lighting the lattern over by the stove, waiting He shrugged. "You never looked." -A flash lit up the sky and the first rumble of thunder drifted toward them. Tamba came running foward and he and Kobayashi dropped sounding lines and yelled out depths. The number came ever smaller, then sudden bigger as they entered the main channel of the river. Lulu helped her sister reef the sail and together with the current this slowed them considerably and they swung alongside a low flat island. Tamba jumped for shore and pulled them in and around the back. In the fading light Lulu could see it was only maybe ten feet above the river at it's tallest. A thick stand of oaks and pines stood in the middle of the island. It was there that she and her Aunt took two tarps and plently of line to try to construct a shelter of some kind. Kobayashi and her father dragged the lifeboat off the tk, flipped it over, and propped it between two trees. Lulu and Aunt Māra drapped a tarp over the upturned hull and began tying the tarp down to the base of the trees around them. +A flash lit up the sky and the first rumble of thunder drifted toward them. Tamba came running foward and he and Kobayashi dropped sounding lines and yelled out depths. The number came ever smaller, then sudden bigger as they entered the main channel of the river. Lulu helped her sister reef the sail and together with the current this slowed them considerably and they swung alongside a low flat island. Tamba jumped for shore and pulled them in and around the back. In the fading light Lulu could see it was only maybe ten feet above the river at it's tallest. A thick stand of oaks and pines stood in the middle of the island. It was there that she and her Aunt took two tarps and plently of line to try to construct a shelter of some kind. Kobayashi and her father dragged the lifeboat off Delos, flipped it over, and propped it between two trees. Lulu and Aunt Māra drapped a tarp over the upturned hull and began tying the tarp down to the base of the trees around them. Her father shone the lattern on their work. "That should hold for a while anyway." -The tk man split a piece of young sapling wood from along the river and began to carve notches in it. He came over and fit the notches into the line and began to twist it, drawing the line tighter. +The Waccamaw man split a piece of young sapling wood from along the river and began to carve notches in it. He came over and fit the notches into the line and began to twist it, drawing the line tighter. -"Clever." Her father nodded at him excitedly. +"Clever." Lulu said. Her father nodded as well, smiling at the man who smiled back. Lulu offered the children some strips of dried fish she'd retrieved from Delos. They took them shyly, nodding their thanks but returning to sit with their mother. -The storm came slow, it seems to pace back and forth somewhere just offshore. Lulu wondered what was happening at their camp. It seemed not so much angry, as... Lulu wasn't sure. She and Birdie were talking about it when Kobayashi interrupted them. "The sea is never angry. What we see as anger is just the sea god reshaping the shore. It takes tremendous force to reshape the coastline. Think what effort it would take to move this island ten feet to the left. Storms are the only tool the sea has to move entire islands. It reshapes things with wind. It blows hard because it has much work to do and wants to do it in little time. There are two faces to the world, one is so slow and patient it's tough to see it work, you see? +The storm came slow, it seems to pace back and forth somewhere just offshore. Lulu wondered what was happening at their camp. It seemed not so much angry, as... Lulu wasn't sure. She and Birdie were talking about it when Kobayashi interrupted them. "The sea is never angry. What we see as anger is just the sea god reshaping the shore. It takes tremendous force to reshape the shore. Think what effort it would take to move this island ten feet to the left yeah? Storms are the only tool the sea has to move entire islands. It reshapes things with wind. It blows hard because it has much work to do and wants to do it in little time. There are two faces to the world, one is so slow and patient, it's tough to see it work, you see? Lulu considered this, but before she could answer he went on. @@ -1445,37 +1448,37 @@ Her father and brother joined them. Tamba and Aunt Māra were building a small f "We see the medium processes," continued Kobayashi. "The ones that move at our speed. We see the tides change every day, we see the moon wax and wane. We see the season turn. We see the winds change. We see only what moves at our speed. If we want to see the other things we have slow ourselves down. Or speed ourselves up. Or sometimes, like now, we just hang on and try to survive the ride." -The watched as the last of the light faded. The Indian family joined them there on the island. Everyone shared a meal of dried fish and watched the lightning begin to light up the sky. The line of rain was visible in the flashes, inching toward them, relentless, slow, and mighty. +They watched as the last of the light faded. Everyone shared a meal of dried fish and rice and watched as the lightning begin to flash across the sky. The line of rain was visible in the flashes, inching toward them, relentless, slow, and mighty. -The storm came on so strong it seemed to suck everything toward it. The wind blew out to sea for a while, then sudden it switched and began to come back, like the storm had inhaled what the land had to offer and was now ready to speak it's own story into being. It spoke in rhythm and rhyme. Wind that once whistled in the long leaf pines and clattered through palm leaves now shrieked and growled, rising like music Lulu had heard once coming from a big house in London town. It rasped over the reeds with a blast that knocked them flat, pinning them down to a single note that was washed over and drown out by the oncoming waves. As it grew stronger it beat waves across the marsh and up the river in front of them, ripples and surges of water. Then came the rain. At first a pelting, like drums rolling through the night. Everyone retreated then to the shelter of the pines, under the boats and tarp. +The storm came on so strong it seemed to suck everything toward it. The wind blew out to sea for a while, then sudden it switched and began to come back, like the storm had inhaled what the land had to offer and was now ready to speak its own story into being. It spoke in rhythm and rhyme. Wind that once whistled in the long leaf pines and clattered through palm leaves now shrieked and growled, rising like music Lulu had heard once coming from a big house in London town. It rasped over the reeds with a blast that knocked them flat, pinning them down to a single note that was washed over and drown out by the oncoming waves. As it grew stronger it beat waves across the marsh and up the river in front of them, ripples and surges of water. Then came the rain. At first a pelting, like drums rolling through the night. Everyone retreated then to the shelter of the pines, under the boat and tarps. -And then it opened up like something terrible that Lulu had never dreamed was possible. She had never known that such forces existed in the world. Everything seems to screech and wail as the storm tore at the land, working hard to rearrange, reshape, renew. Lulu, Birdie and Henri huddled with the others under the shelter of the boat, but it rocked and began to move too. Her father ducked outside and added more lines. The tk man, who had been carving more of his tightening sticks went with him and together they shored up the shelter as best they could. +And then it opened up like something terrible that Lulu had never dreamed was possible. She had never known that such forces existed in the world. Everything seems to screech and wail as the storm tore at the land, working hard to rearrange, reshape, renew. Lulu, Birdie and Henri huddled with the others under the shelter of the boat, but it rocked and began to move too. Her father ducked outside and added more lines. The Waccamaw man, who had been carving more of his tightening sticks, went with him and together they tightened and shored up the shelter as best they could. -"That's the last time we walk out there without a line." said her father when he ducked back under the shelter. He started readying a line should he have to go out again. The flashes of lightning came so fast and frequent that it felt like the sky was just light, with flashes of darkness. She saw Henri sitting in Birdie's lap, both of them huddled next to Aunt Māra. Tamba and Kobayashi were playing some sort of game with sticks the Lulu did not understand, gathering them up, throwing them and then starting at the resulting scatter of sticks and nodding and grunting thoughtfully before gathering them all up again and starting over. It seemed very boring to Lulu and a strange thing to do in the middle of a storm. +"That's the last time we walk out there without a line." said her father when he ducked back under the shelter. He started readying a line should he have to go out again. The flashes of lightning came so fast and frequent that it felt like the sky was just light, with flashes of darkness. She saw Henri sitting in Birdie's lap, both of them huddled next to Aunt Māra. Tamba and Kobayashi were playing some sort of game with sticks that Lulu could not follow. They gathering them up, threw them, and then stared at the resulting scatter of sticks and nodded and grunted thoughtfully before gathering them all up again and starting over. It seemed aver strange thing to do in the middle of a storm. Lulu knew if she went outside the wind would blow her away. She knew it would actually move her across the ground with more power and she had to resist it. It would shape her, it would put her wherever it wanted, she knew it and yet a part of her still longed to duck out under the canvas and feel it, feel her own helplessness in the face of the storm, measure herself against this great rearranging force, to feel as physically insignificant as she sometimes felt in her head. It was so big thing. She was so small a thing in the face of it. But she was sure she could outwit it somehow, could dodge it, could survive it using only what she had about her. It was a feeling at once of power and fear mingled together. -Then suddenly, when it seemed it could get no worse, it stopped. And eerie quiet calm descended upon them. The wind dropped to nothing more than a windy day at the beach. Her father, Tamba, and Kobayashi were out in an instant, the tk man said something to his family and went out with them. They secured the lines on the tarp, the lines on the boat. They moved branches and debris that was washing ashore of the little island. Anything that the second round might be able to hurl at them, they moved and cleared as best they could. +Then suddenly, when it seemed it could get no worse, it stopped. And eerie quiet calm descended upon them. The wind dropped to nothing more than a windy day at the beach. Her father, Tamba, and Kobayashi were out in an instant, the Waccamaw man said something to his family and went out with them. They secured the lines on the tarp, the lines on the boat. They moved branches and debris that was washing ashore of the little island. They stacked logs up against the hull of the lifeboat the hold it down, they retied the lines on Delos. They hunted for anything that the second round might be able to hurl at them, and they moved and cleared it all as best they could. Lulu and Birdie crawled out from under the tarp and looked around. The wind was steady, a stiff onshore breeze, but with gusts that would rip through suddenly, ferociously, a little reminder from the storm that it was not done yet. -The men were joking and laughing as they came back from securing the tk. Tamba and tk man were carrying a barrel of water. Everyone came out and drank in the darkness and calm. Lulu wasn't sure, but she thought it was probably past midnight by now. +The men were joking and laughing as they came back from securing Delos. Tamba and the Waccamaw man were carrying a barrel of water. Everyone came out and drank in the darkness and calm. Lulu wasn't sure, but she thought it was probably past midnight by now. "How much longer will it last Papa?" She could see the whites of his eyes gleam in a flash of lightning. "I don't know my girl, maybe it'll be over by morning." -Tamba said something in tk, the tk man nodded. He knelt down by Lulu and looked at her face. It was so dark Lulu could feel his breath better than she could see him. He reached out in the darkness, she felt his rough hands on her shoulders. He began to sing in a soft voice. Lulu could not understand the words, but she understood the meaning. His own daughter came out and stood next to Lulu, holding her hand. +Tamba said something in Waccamaw, the man nodded. He knelt down by Lulu and looked at her face. It was so dark Lulu could feel his breath better than she could see him. He reached out in the darkness, she felt his rough hands on her shoulders. He began to sing in a soft voice. Lulu could not understand the words, but she understood the meaning. His own daughter came out and stood next to Lulu, holding her hand. -The wind began to rise again, it felt like the pulse of the storm was quickening, building back to roar once more. The man's song finished. He squeezed Lulu's shoulder and she saw him smiling in the darkness. She crawled back under the boat with birdie and sat back down in the bow. +The wind began to rise again, it felt like the pulse of the storm was quickening, building back to roar once more. The man's song finished. He squeezed Lulu's shoulder and she saw him smiling in the darkness. She crawled back under the boat with Birdie and sat back down in the bow. Despite the roar of the storm and the pounding of the rain Lulu felt her eyes beginning to droop. She leaned against her aunt and closed her eyes. -She wasn't sure how long she'd been asleep but all at once she was awake, the hair on the back of her neck stood up. She couldn't see, she couldn't hear anything other than the rain drumming on the canvas and wood, but she could feel danger. It wasn't until the next flas of lightening that she understood. She saw the teeth first, whatever part of her brain was in charge of keeping her alive zeroed in on the immediate threat of teeth. Teeth that were far to bit and far too close. Above them a single eye regarded her. Lulu felt the fear wash over her like a storm sopped wave and she realized that though she was shivering from the wind and water that soaked her the hot flash of fear made her sweat. She kicked at her fathers leg, but could not find words. He leaned over and stroked her head and looked at her kindly, as if she were scared of the storm. Still she could not find the make her mouth form the words. Finally in a whisper she said, "alligator" +She wasn't sure how long she'd been asleep but all at once she was awake, the hair on the back of her neck stood up. She couldn't see, she couldn't hear anything other than the rain drumming on the canvas and wood, but she could feel danger. It wasn't until the next flash of lightening that she understood. She saw the teeth first, whatever part of her brain was in charge of keeping her alive zeroed in on the immediate threat of teeth. Teeth that were far too big and far too close. Above them a single eye regarded her. Lulu felt the fear wash over her like a storm sopped wave and she realized that though she was shivering from the wind and water that soaked her the hot flash of fear made her sweat. She kicked at her fathers leg, but could not find words. He leaned over and stroked her head and looked at her kindly, as if she were scared of the storm. Still she could not find the make her mouth form the words. Finally in a whisper she said, "alligator" Her father had his pistol out and pointing in the darkness so fast everyone jumped. What is it Tamba screamed over the whining howl of the wind. Her father pointed the gun. The gator eased itself further in under the tarp and seemed to regard them. -Despite her fear Lulu could not help thinking that that the alligator looked every bit as scared as she was. Except it had giant teeth with which to protect itself from fear. Then again she thought, her father had a gun. A bunch of creatures thrown together, all afraid of each other. Maybe this was how the storm wanted to move her, maybe it did not want to blow her though the pines so much as put her under a boat with a scared alligator. But why? What was she supposed to do? It continued to stare at her, and it seemed to stare only her, though she thought maybe she was imagining that. She stared right back anyway. The fear faded some. One can only be truly terrified for so long, one adjusts. Terror becomes normal if you experience it long enough, and it when it comes to terror you don't have to experience it long to reach long enough. It's how you survive battles, storms at sea, perhaps alligators. +Despite her fear Lulu could not help thinking that that the alligator looked every bit as scared as she was. Except it had giant teeth with which to protect itself from fear. Then again she thought, her father had a gun. A bunch of creatures thrown together, all afraid of each other. Maybe this was how the storm wanted to move her, maybe it did not want to blow her though the pines so much as put her under a boat with a scared alligator. But why? What was she supposed to do? It continued to stare at her. It seemed to stare only at her, though she thought maybe she was imagining that. She stared right back anyway. The fear faded some. One can only be truly terrified for so long. One adjusts. Terror becomes normal if you experience it long enough. And when it comes to terror you don't have to experience it long to reach long enough. It's how you survive battles, storms at sea, perhaps alligators. Instead of terror she began to feel uncomfortable. Why was it staring at her? Was it staring at her? @@ -1493,15 +1496,15 @@ Lulu cocked her head. Are you trying to decide if you should eat me? She glanced "If I shoot it we'll all be deaf and burned. And I'm not sure it'll kill it." -Tamba nodded. "Maybe it will just go away." +Tamba nodded. "Maybe it will go away." -A particularly close flash of lightning made them all flinch and when they did the alligator flinched as well and it was then that Lulu noticed it was missing its other eye. Lulu cocked her head and stared at it's one eye again, but this time she saw it differently. Are you the same creature? Is that possible? You're bigger. So am I. A year is a long time. Do you recognize me? Is that why you're staring at me? Are you trying to tell me something? +A particularly close flash of lightning made them all flinch and when they did the alligator flinched as well and it was then that Lulu noticed it was missing its other eye. Lulu cocked her head and stared at it's one eye again, but this time she saw it differently. Was that possible? You're bigger, she thought. So am I. A year is a long time. Do you recognize me? Is that why you're staring at me? Are you trying to tell me something? The eye moved as she thought these questions. It focused back on her for a moment and then it lifted it's body up. Lulu saw her father raise the gun. "Wait!" she yelled. The alligator turned it's eye to her one last time and then it slipped out from under the tarp and disappeared into the night. --- -Lulu did not remember falling asleep, but she woke with a start, stiff and slumped against her father, who was still asleep. She did not move, but lay slumped, listening. The wind still blew, but it was only a gale, strong, stiff, steady, bending the palms and pines, but not tearing at the earth, not seeking to rearrange the world in a night. She gently eased off her father and crawled out from under the small boat that had been their world for a long terrible night. She half expected to see the alligator somewhere just outside, waiting for her, like a patient dog. Instead she found her sister, sitting on a washed up piece of gnarled old oak, starring down the river, out toward the sea, crying. +Lulu did not remember falling asleep, but she woke with a start again, stiff and slumped against her father, who was still asleep. She did not move, but lay slumped, listening. The wind still blew, but it was only a gale, strong, stiff, steady, bending the palms and pines, but not tearing at the earth, not seeking to rearrange the world in a night. She gently eased off her father and crawled out from under the small boat that had been their world for a long terrible night. She half expected to see the alligator somewhere just outside, waiting for her, like a patient dog. Instead she found her sister, sitting on a washed up piece of gnarled old oak, starring down the river, out toward the sea, crying. Lulu came ad sat beside her. Neither of them said anything. Lulu thought of Francis and hoped he was okay. Francis was kind and good, you could see it in his eyes. Her uncle had something of that in his eyes too, but he didn't listen to it. She put her arm around Birdie. "I'm sure they went ashore. I'm sure they're fine." @@ -1529,26 +1532,17 @@ Birdie smiled, but started to cry again. "But now I don't know, I think about Fr Lulu felt herself start to cry. She hugged her sister and began to cry on her shoulder, and she felt Birdie crying on hers and they cried together, until they had nothing left to cry. -## Sails +## Chapter 12: Sails -''' -so Tamba comes to the fire and starts to tell stories, her father tries to get him to stop but the fgirls, and the reader begin eto put things together, the swimming at night, the sailing at night, the sails on the horizen, Tabna's stories of beinging goods into the harbor. Then her father asks for a story aout tk, something to get the kids away from being curious about whta all he does besides making tar. +It was after breakfast, the first truly cold morning of the year. It would be plenty warm by midday, but it was cold now in the mornings. Her father had come in from his morning swim and for the first time sat by the fire, hands spread over the flames to warm himself. Birdie had been stirring leftover stew in the kettle, which she'd hung herself over the fire. She was the first up, after her father. She scooped out a bowl bowl stew and sat down on a stump to eat. The more she ate the hungrier she felt and before long she went back for another bowl. "That's my girl," said her father, ladling another bowl for her. -What does he do, he helpos get the goods ashore and brings water out to the boats when the need it. dried fish, he's paid in whatever the boat has, somethimes rich fabrics their mother makes into fine dresses f, sometimes rum, which her father sells to the taverns in charlestown. Perhaps there's ascene where they all go to charles town to trade the rum for money and the kids get to go to the traders, scene at the slave market. That could be a rough one. need to find out when slavery reeally took off, when the slave market opened. woiuld it have been their in 1705? If not then some seen of blacks being treated poorly and the family's rage. Maybe her father buys someone, a child perhaps, a man and a child. Her father hauls them back out to camp and sets them free. They help out and then they go to join a crew. +Birdie tried to smile but she didn't feel it. She hadn't felt it. It had been a week since the storm and there had been no sign or word of her uncle or cousins. Twice her father and Kobayashi had sailed the river to Charlestown and back, trying the marshes and tributaries, looking for any sign of her cousins or the boat, but had found nothing. Her father still said that they had likely been driven into the marshes and probably had to walk out, but Birdie could tell he believed that story less every day. -Tamba asks them their names, asks if they can sail. They buy someone that can and set them free. - -''' +Aunt Māra rarely came to their camp anymore. She wandered the north end of the island like a ghost, staring out over the marsh. She seemed in a daze. She did not talk to anyone and Birdie had not seen her eat for days. Every now and then her father would convince her to eat something, but it was never much and afterward she would wander back to her camp and sit on the top of the dune, as if waiting. -It was after breakfast, the first truly cold morning of the year, it would still be plenty warm by midday, but it was cold now in the mornings. Her father had come in from his morning swim and for the first time sat by the fire to warm himself. Birdie had been stirring leftover stew in the kettle, which she'd hung herself over the fire. She was the first up, after her father. She scooped out a bowl bowl stew and stepped out into the cold air. She sat on a stump and ate. The more she ate the hungrier she felt and before long went back inside for another bowl. "That's my girl," said her father, ladling another bowl for her. +Birdie had taken to following her, making sure she was okay by watching from a distance. She wasn't sure if Aunt Māra knew she was there or not and she didn't really care, she just knew that she could not bear the thought of anything happening to her and so she appointed herself to look after her. It helped to have something to do too, it took her mind off the ache that sat at the middle of her, a vast blackness of loss and sorrow she did not want to touch, but knew would not go away. She kept it at bay, and was able to avoid Aunt Māra's state by focusing herself on caring for her Aunt. She brought her food, put her to bed at night the way she had once tucked Birdie in, walking back to her own camp along the shore in the dark, using the moonlight and the Arkhangelsk's mast to navigate her way through the dunes. She came to love these moonlit walks and she thought perhaps she understood why her Aunt wandered and stared, not just loss, though there was that, but also just to see something so vast so incomprehensibly huge and unfathomable made everything else feel less real, less important, less like a weight pushing in on you. -Birdie tried to smile but she didn't feel it. She hadn't felt it. It had been a week since the storm and there had been no sign or word of her uncle or cousins. Twice her father and Kobayashi had sailed up the coast toward Charlestown stopping along the way to survey the beaches and marshes for any sign of Delos, but had found nothing. Her father still said that they had simple been driven into the marshes and probably had to walk out, but Birdie could tell he believed that story less every day. - -Her aunt wandered the north end of the island, staring out at the sea. She seemed in a daze, she did not talk to anyone and Birdie had not seen her eat for days. Every now and then Kadiatu would convince her to eat something, but it was never much and afterward she would wander back to her camp and sit on the top of the dune, waiting. - -She probably saw the sail before anyone else, but if she did she didn't bother to come tell them. It was Birdie who saw it first at their camp. - -She and Lulu had walked together down to the shore to wash their bowls in the surf. +Aunt Māra probably saw the sail before anyone else that morning, but she didn't tell them. It was Birdie who saw it first at their camp. She and Lulu had walked together down to the shore to wash their bowls in the surf. Birdie stopped at the shore. Lulu knelt and let the rushing water of the wave fill her bowl and pull the bit of fish at the bottom back out the sea. Birdie watched but she made no move to wash her own bowl. She stared out at the sea where she thought she saw something white on the horizon, something that might be a topsail coming into view. @@ -1556,9 +1550,9 @@ Birdie stopped at the shore. Lulu knelt and let the rushing water of the wave fi Lulu stood up, she was shorter than Birdie by half a head, but she saw it too. "Sail?" -They looked at each other and smiled. Birdie quickly washed her bowl and they turned and ran back up to camp. Laughing and shouting "sail." Her father turned and squinted out at the sea. He hmmmed and went inside, returning with the spyglass. He trained it on the speck still wavering at the horizon. +They looked at each other and smiled. Birdie quickly washed her bowl and they turned and ran back up to camp. Laughing and shouting "sail." Her father turned and squinted out at the sea. He hmmmed and went inside the hut, returning with the spyglass. He trained it on the speck still wavering at the horizon. -"Topsail, moving north." He handed Birdie the glass and she climbed up the nearest dune to get a better look. Northeast was no good, that meant it was headed away from them, but that made no sense, they should have spotted it earlier if it was coming out of Charlestown. They'd have seen sails well and clear when she rounded cape and turned to the north, headed for London or Northampton. The only boats that ever headed northeast without coming out of Charlestown were... she glanced over at her father. He was watching her, she could see him smile, she watched him watch her figure it out. Privateers. Pirates. It was a coasting ship that had drifted too close and, probably unbeknowst to its captain and crew, had been spotted. Word would spread north. Not from their camp, her father never passed on sea gossip as he called it, it was one of the reasons raiders came to their shore in peace, but this one obviously wasn't. She walked back over to her father and passed the glass to Lulu. +"Topsail, moving north." He handed Birdie the glass and she climbed up the nearest dune to get a better look. Northeast was no good, that meant it was headed away from them, but that made no sense, they should have spotted it earlier if it was coming out of Charlestown. They'd have seen sails well and clear when she rounded cape and turned to the north, headed for London or Northampton. The only boats that ever headed northeast without coming out of Charlestown were... she glanced over at her father. He was watching her, she could see him smile, she watched him watch her figure it out. It was a coasting ship that had drifted too close and, probably unbeknownst to its captain and crew, had been spotted. Word would spread north. Not from their camp, her father never passed on sea gossip as he called it, it was one of the reasons raiders came to their shore in peace, but this one obviously wasn't. She walked back over to her father and passed the glass to Lulu. "Doesn't look like they're headed this way." @@ -1574,68 +1568,75 @@ He stared for a while. "Indeed she is." He put the glass down and frowned. "Lulu Lulu frowned, "where is he?" -Her father smiled, "Why he's at Kadiatu's of course." +Her father smiled, "He's upriver at the trading post." -"Why is he at Kadiatu's?" Birdie wanted to know. +"Why is he there?" Birdie wanted to know. "Never mind that, just go get him." Her father ducked into their hut and Birdie heard him waking Kobayashi. Lulu shrugged. "Let's go." -They ran through the woods to the edge of the marsh where they kept the pirogue. They took turns padding up the river. +They ran through the woods to the edge of the marsh where they kept the pirogue. They took turns padding up the river. Normally Birdie liked going up river, whatever the reason. She liked going anywhere on water, but today, strangely when she stopped to think about it, she wanted to be on the beach. She wanted to find out which ship it was, whether it was anyone they knew. -Tamba was about her fathers age Birdie guessed, perhaps a few years older, the hair at his temples was whiter than her father's anyway. Tamba had no beard so it was hard to say what color it might have been, though Birdie figured it would be black like her father's. Tamba did not often stay with then at the beach. He spent the winters at a Gullah village deeper in the woods, ten minutes further up the river and then a good walk from the shore. We are not water people he told Birdie when she asked him why they did not live near the beach where it was cooler. We come from jungles hotter than this, he said, smiling. This English was stiff around the edges, acquired from many sources, including her father, who had acquired his from many different people. Birdie liked hearing Tamba tell stories though because his voice and the way he pronounced word made English sound more beautiful, more thoughtful, more important than when other people talked. +Tamba was lying in the shady grass beside the river with a young Waccamaw woman that Birdie did not recognize. He watched them approach, but did not get up until Birdie said, "sail." Tamba nodded and threw a piece of grass he'd been picking apart into the river. Birdie watched it bob in the water as ripples from the pirogue pushed it out from the shore. She looked up to see Tamba kissing the woman. She looked away quickly again. Tamba turned around, put his tripoint hat on, gathered up his rifle and sword, glanced at the sky, and without a word stepped onto the boat. Lulu pushed them off. Tamba sat in the middle of the boat and let Birdie sail them down river. None of them spoke for a long time. It wasn't until they were almost back to camp that Tamba asked Lulu if she knew the name of the ship. -Her father nodded when she told him this once. "Tamba is like us. He is the Alban of his place. Highlanders always speak less. We put more thought into what we are going to say." +Kobayashi told them when they landed. He was unloading extra cooking pots from Delos. -Birdie wasn't so sure any of them would qualify as highlanders, living as they did, so low, near to the sea. Even Tamba, though he claimed not to be water people, lived by and survived mainly from the water that was ever-present around all of them. +"Whydah." -Tamba's skin was near black. Light seemed to disappear when it landed on him. She noticed that he used this to his advantage, sometimes to disappear into shadow, sometimes by wearing a white shirt that provided such a contrast he was impossible not to see, a shadow fleshed out into the light. She noticed too that he used clothes in a way that most people did not, they were not simply things that hung over his frame to keep the sun off, they were tools that helped him navigate the world. +Tamba smiled. "Ah, Captain Sam. It is always good to see Sam." -And Birdie knew that it was harder for Tamba to navigate the world than it was for her. Many Africans were slaves, and those like Tamba who were not, who had arrived here free men aboard ships they helped to sail, were always in danger of becoming slaves. "Englishmen are devils, the worst kind of devils, the dumbest devils, so dumb they don't even know they are devils. Dumbest lot of humans I ever had the misfortune to be among," her father had said once in her hearing. Tamba had nodded with a sad smile Birdie still remembered. It was a smile of defeat, a smile one had when everything else has already been tried and still one was defeated, a smile that protects against a hurt too large to look at otherwise. +Lulu and Birdie shared an excited look. Their favorite sailor often sailed with Captain Sam. Although they liked Captain Sam as well. But no one told stories like Jack. No one was as comical and somehow earnestly serious and understand as Jack. -"We should burn that lot of them." She'd burst out with it so fast she startled even herself. - -Her father and Tamba had turned to look at her and her face grew red under their gaze, but then Tamba had grunted and glanced at her father. "That's one we haven't tried." - -Her father smiled at her. "A wonderful idea my darling freewoman, but... but, we've other business here this go round. Besides," his eyes twinkled impishly, "they'll get theirs. Satisfying as it would be for us to be the ones to hand it to them." He glanced at Tamba and said more softly, "and gods it *would* be satisfying, but that is not our path on this turn." +"Ko," said Birdie. "Does Whydah have the same quartermaster?" -Birdie pushed the canoe up onto the shore and used her pole to vault out of the stern of the boat, over the water, to land on the shore. She dragged the boat up and tied it off to a branch hanging down from the sprawling oak that marked the landing that led to Kadiatu's family's land. She and Lulu followed the well worn path through the trees. Their house was on stilts made of cypress, thatched like every house in the area, but better and more substantially made. Kadiatu and her family were not travelers. They did not move camps like Birdie's family. Their camp had a more permanent feel to it. There was a privy made of leftover oak boards her father and Tamba had split last year to repair the shelving in the hold of the tk. Beyond the clearing the house sat in was a larger clearing where Kadiatu's grandmother grew corn and beans, plants she had received as gifts from the few remaining Edistow that lived on the island. +Kobayashi smiled. "I believe she does." +--- -## The Whydah +Sam Bellamy was the nicest captain to ever call on their camp. He was tall, strong, and rode the launch in the next morning like a true captain, one foot on the gunwale, holding the bowline, in command. He was dressed in his trademark black pants, red sash and worn, but still very stylishly cut, black jacket. In the sash were four duelling pistols that never left his person. At his side hung a French style rapier that we was reportedly very deft at wielding. He leaped just as the launch hit the sand and cleared the last bit of surf and foam to land on the sand, crouched down like a cat. Captain Black Sam had arrived. -Sam Bellamy was the nicest captain to ever call on their camp. He was tall, strong, and road the launch in with one foot on the gunwale looking every bit the conquering captain. He was dressed in his trademark black pants, red sash and worn, but somehow still very stylishly cut black jacket. In the sash were four duelling pistols that never left his person. At his side hung a French style rapier that we was reportedly very deft at wielding. He leaped just as the launch hit the sand and cleared the last bit of surf and foam to land on the sand. Captain Black Sam had arrived. +Lulu stood with her brother and sister and father watching the men run the launch boat up on shore and secure her anchor in the sand. Captain Sam left them to their business, marching up the shore without a backward glance. He stopped in front of them with a smile. And bowed to her father. "Captain tk father's name, we humbling ask that we might anchor here at your island." He straightened back up. Her father laughed and stepped forward, embracing Bellamy. "Good to see you Sam." -He marched up the shore without a backward glance. When he got to her he stopped and smile. "Birdie, how you've grown my dear." He turned to her sister. "And Lulu, still climbing trees?" +He crouched down in front of the kids and smiled. "Birdie, how you've grown my dear." He turned to her sister. "And Lulu, still climbing trees?" -"Oh yes sir." Lulu wanted to tell him all about her latest adventure, but she stopped herself. She was trying her father's tactic of letting others do the talking. But she couldn't stop herself from one question. "Is Calico Jack with you?" +"Oh yes sir." Lulu caught herself, and then managed to ask, "is Calico Jack with you?" Bellamy knelt down and glanced out at his ship, the Whydah. "The quartermaster is indeed somewhere on the ship. He is attending to some needs of the crew, but I do believe he will be ashore later. We plan to careen." He straightened up and turned to her father. "That is, Captain, if you have any tar to spare us." -Her father laughed. "I do believe that's why were out here." He hugged Bellamy. "Good to see you Sam." +Her father laughed. "I do believe that's why were out here." "Likewise." -There was much hugging and patting of backs and the crew shook hands with them, some they remembered from the previous summer, when Bellamy had come north to the cape. +There was much hugging and patting of backs and the crew shook hands with them, some they remembered from the previous summer, when Bellamy had come north to the cape. The crew rolled barrels down the beach, they were headed upriver with Kobayashi to fill up on fresh water. -Bellamy glanced up at the dunes. "I see the Arkhangelsk has survived two years worth a storms." +Bellamy sat down with the children in the sand. He glanced up at the dunes. "I see the Arkhangelsk has survived two years worth a storms." "She lost her mast last week." Birdie dropped her head. "And her mate." -Bellamy knelt down beside her. "It's a tough thing to take as a captain, Birdie. You, you are still captain, yes?" +Bellamy signed. "You were close?" + +Birdie nodded. "My cousin sir." + +"It's a tough thing to take as a captain, Birdie. You, you are still captain, yes?" Birdie nodded and fought to keep the tears out of her eyes. + +"I lost a first mate to a storm. Whole ship full of men in fact, whom I'd been drinking with not three days before." Bellamy stared down at the sand, seemed lost in thought for a moment. "I wish I could tell you something that would make it easier. But the truth is, it's never gotten any easier for me." + +Birdie did not say anything, but she understood then that it would never get any easier. That people-size holes in your life never filled in. The passing of years would teach you how to step around them, but they would always be there, yawning abysses capable of swallowing everything that remained if you let them. The trick was to pick your way around them, to acknowledge them without falling into them. + +Captain Sam put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry Birdie." -Birdie nodded and fought to keep the tears out of her eyes. +"Thank you sir," was all she could manage. -"I lost a first mate to a storm. Whole ship full of men in fact, whom I'd been drinking with not three days before." Bellamy stared down at the sand, seemed lost in thought for a moment. "I wish I could tell you something that would make it easier. But the truth is, it's never gotten any easier for me." He stood up and rested his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry Birdie." He turned and clapped a hand on her father's shoulder. I know you don't drink captain, but I may have to tonight." +Bellamy struggle to his feet and dusted off the sand. He clapped a hand on her father's shoulder. "I know you don't drink captain, but I may have to tonight. Now tell me about the storm. We saw it, but it went well north of us at the time." -Her father and Bellamy headed down the path toward the camp. The crew of the Whydah gathered up their things and followed them leaving Birdie, Lulu, and Henri standing on the beach, staring at the Arkhangelsk. +Her father nodded, and started to walk down the path toward the camp, Bellamy followed, leaving Birdie, Lulu, and Henri standing on the beach, staring at the Arkhangelsk. "I wish it had been washed away." Birdie said it before she'd really thought about it, and then she realized she meant it. It would never been the same. She would never be able to play on the ship without thinking of Francis. She realized then that she didn't want to play on it anymore. She wondered if she really wanted to play. She wanted to... she wanted something and she didn't know what it was. She wanted Francis back. She wanted Owen back. She would even take her uncle Cole back. She just wanted things to be how they had been. She wanted her aunt to be like she was, she wanted to play on the boat, she wanted.... -But as she stood there in silence, wanting, she suddenly realized it would never be. Nothing would ever be the same. A thing came, a storm happened, it reshaped the land, it reshaped her. It had made her into something else and nothing would ever be the same. Her father had always told them, nothing remains the same, everything is always different, everything is always changing. He said it so often it was a kind of mantra they made fun of behind his back, not because they didn't believe him, but because they didn't realize, they didn't know. It was one thing to hear and understand a thing, it was another to live it and now, only now, did Birdie understand what her father was saying. Only now did she, for the first time, have some inkling of what it must have felt like for him to lose her mother. For her mother she felt nothing. There was an absence she knew, but it was not loss, she had never known her. Only now did she understood what loss felt like. And she understood that she did not understand the loss her father must have felt when her mother died. +But as she stood there in silence, wanting, she knew it would never be. Nothing would ever be the same. A thing came, a storm happened, it reshaped the land, it reshaped her. It had made her into something else and nothing would ever be the same. Her father had always told them, nothing remains the same, everything is always different, everything is always changing. He said it so often it was a kind of mantra they made fun of behind his back, not because they didn't believe him, but because they didn't realize, they didn't know. It was one thing to hear and understand a thing, it was another to live it and now, only now, did Birdie understand what her father was saying. Only now did she, for the first time, have some inkling of what it must have felt like for him to lose her mother. For her mother she felt nothing. There was an absence she knew, but it was not loss, she had never known her mother, she had never really lost her, she had just never been there. Only now did she understood what loss felt like. And she understood that she did not understand the loss her father must have felt when her mother died. -Birdie glanced up and saw a second boat coming in, slowly rowing in against the tide. A figure in a wide brimmed hat was standing up in the front, one foot on the gunwale, holding a line tied to the bow, as if were reins on an unseen porpoise. It was too far to make out the figure's face, but Bridie knew who it was just by the way he stood. No one stood the way Calico Jack stood. He had a perfectly balanced poise that suggested no matter where you might put him, he would be utterly at ease and soon in charge. +Birdie glanced up and saw a second boat coming in, slowly rowing in against the tide. A figure in a wide brimmed hat was standing up in the front, he also had one foot on the gunwale, holding the bowline as if were reins on an unseen porpoise. It was too far to make out the figure's face, but Bridie knew who it was just by the way he stood. No one stood the way Calico Jack stood. He had a perfectly balanced poise that suggested no matter where you might put him, he would be utterly at ease and soon in charge. Her father had come walking back down and stood beside Birdie now, watching the boat come him. He shook his head. "That man knows how to make an entrance. He'll be a hell of captain one day." @@ -1643,7 +1644,7 @@ Birdie didn't say anything, but she smiled thinking about it. Captain Jack. Jack He knelt down before them, his ridiculously large tri-pointed hat with its single ostrich feather was all they could see. He lifted his head and looked at each of their faces. "Birdie, Lulu. Have you been taking good care of your father and your brother?" -Birdie nodded, but could not being herself to speak. Jack spun his head around to Henri. "Is this true Henri?" +Birdie nodded, but could not bring herself to speak. Jack spun his head around to Henri. "Is this true Henri?" "Yes, sir." @@ -1669,40 +1670,41 @@ Ratham laughed. "Well there you go then. Good man." He walked over to the first --- -Ratham and her father did most of the work to get Revenge in and on her side. Black Sam as Bellamy told the kids to call him, made a chair out of some wood planks and a pile of sand and sat down, jug of rum at hand, watching the progress. It took the entire crew and half the trees they'd cut that summer to bring Whydah in and get her on her side, sufficiently out of the water to work on her hull. At Ratham's insistence they started on the starboard side. "Always start on starboard," he said. tk father's name had just shrugged and passed the word on to the men doing the work. +Bellamy and her father did most of the work to get Revenge in and on her side. Jack made a chair out of some wood planks and a pile of sand and sat down, jug of rum at hand, watching the progress. It took the entire crew and half the trees they'd cut that summer to bring Whydah in and get her on her side, sufficiently out of the water to work on her hull. At Ratham's insistence they started on the starboard side. "Always start on starboard," he said. tk father's name had just shrugged and passed the word on to the men doing the work. Lulu, Birdie and Henri sat on the bow of the Arkhangelsk, watching the men work on the hull of the Whydah. "She looks to be pretty badly worm eaten. Probably doesn't have but a couple years left in her at most," said Lulu. Birdie swung her legs idly. She wished she could help, but her father wouldn't let her even roll barrels of tar down the beach. Too dangerous he'd said. Birdie understood the danger of careening, but she failed to see what was dangerous about painting a hull with tar. "If a line gives way, if a timber rolls and that ship moves, it crushes anything in it's path like a bug" her father said. "I'd just jump out of the way," she said, but he'd only grunted and ignored her further pleading. And so she sat, watching from another ship. -Over Lulu's shoulder, back toward camp she could see a plume of smoke rising up from the great pits her father had buried two huge boar in last night. By evening they'd be ready to dig up, and it would be Birdie's favorite meal, the delicious sweetness of the pork, with the special rice Kobayashi made to go with it, her mouth watered even now at the thought. +Over Birdie's shoulder, back toward camp she could see a plume of smoke rising up from the great pits where her father had buried two huge boar in last night. By evening they'd be ready to dig up, and it would be Birdie's favorite meal, the delicious sweetness of the pork, with the special rice Kobayashi made to go with it, her mouth watered even now at the thought. -It wasn't until she glanced out at the sea beyond Whydah that she realized she had not thought of Francis or Owen for several hours. Is this what happens she thought with a start. Is this how we move on? We slowly forget them? It seemed somehow the most horrible thing she could have done and yet she realized she didn't do it, it simply happened. At most she let it happen. Suddenly she understand why Aunt Māra wore black and kept to herself. If you didn't make an effort to hold the dead in your mind you risked them slipping away from you. +It wasn't until she glanced out at the sea beyond Whydah that she realized she had not thought of Francis or Owen for several hours. Is this what happens she thought with a start. Is this how we move on? We slowly forget them? It seemed somehow the most horrible thing she could have done and yet she realized she didn't do it, it simply happened. At most she let it happen. Then she understand why Aunt Māra wore black and kept to herself. If you didn't make an effort to hold the dead in your mind you risked them slipping away from you. -She found herself wondering what Francis would have thought of Black Sam. He would have loved Calico Jack, he was hard not to love. He was loud, often drunk, a bit of a fool, but completely lovable. Henri followed him around like he was the greatest thing on the island, which she knew irritated her father, though he never said anything or made any effort to stop him. Jack was harmlessly hilarious, though from stories the crew told he was fierce and quite capable when he needed to be. He was after all quartermaster of a ship of about sixty men who'd picked him to lead them. More than the captain, the quartermaster ran a ship. The captain decided where to go, what course to set, but the quartermaster represented the men, and was first over the rail in a fight. They'd captured a Spanish Galleon the previous year off the coast of Port Royal Jamaica, which Birdie knew had taken skill, perhaps some luck, but skill and daring certainly. It was hard to imagine the man now sitting in the sand in his fancy coat, swigging rum from a jug and throwing shells as seagulls leading a ship full of men into battle with a ship twice, maybe three times the size of Whydah, with three decks of 24 pound canons sticking out the side of it. Birdie had never seen a galleon. None of them had, not even her father, though he'd at least seen the British equivalent. If the rumors were to be believed British warships would be here soon enough. Birdie shivered. She wondered what Ratham would do when the British came for him. Probably get drunk she decided. +She found herself wondering what Francis would have thought of Calico Jack, he was hard not to love. He was loud, often drunk, a bit of a fool, but completely lovable. Henri followed him around like he was the greatest thing on the island, which she knew irritated her father, though he never said anything or made any effort to stop him. Jack was harmlessly hilarious, though from stories the crew told he was fierce and quite capable when he needed to be. He was after all quartermaster of a ship of about sixty men who'd picked him to lead them. -She watched as Ratham walked away from the Revenge, over to where Bellamy sat and flopped down beside him, taking a swig from the jug of rum. - -"You know what would be fun." +More than the captain, the quartermaster ran a ship. The captain decided where to go, what course to set, but the quartermaster represented the men, and was first over the rail in a fight. They'd captured a Spanish Galleon the previous year off the coast of Port Royal Jamaica, which Birdie knew had taken skill, perhaps some luck, but skill and daring certainly. It was hard to imagine the man now sitting in the sand in his fancy coat, swigging rum from a jug and throwing shells as seagulls leading a ship full of men into battle with a ship twice, maybe three times the size of Whydah, with three decks of 24 pound canons sticking out the side of it. Birdie had never seen a galleon. None of them had, not even her father, though he'd at least seen the British equivalent. If the rumors were to be believed British warships would be here soon enough. Birdie shivered. She wondered what Ratham would do when the British came for him. Probably get drunk she decided. -Henri's voice broke the silence and interrupted Birdie's train of thought. +She watched as Ratham walked away from the Revenge, over to where Bellamy sat and flopped down beside him, taking a swig from the jug of rum. -"We should try to sneak up on Captain Jack and steal his rum." +"You know what would be fun?" Henri's voice broke the silence and interrupted Birdie's train of thought. "We should try to sneak up on Captain Jack and steal his rum." Birdie smiled. "Okay," she said. -Birdie wanted to do the belly crawl, but Lulu argued that Henri should. He was after all smaller. And he had a natural sneakiness about him. He had a much better chance. In the end Birdie agreed. And so Henri was sent out, worming his way across the sand, taking cover behind clumps of grass, stands of sea oat, until he came to a piece of drift wood which he used to worm is way down to just about even with Captain Jack's log. There was just about two knots of open sand to cross. Henri piled sand on his back and in his hair for camouflage and then he went for it. Slowly, ever so slowly, he would move, and then stop and lie still. Birdie was impressed. She understood now why he had become such a good hunter in such a short time. He was patient. And he was good at reading his prey. In this case it helped that his prey was very near drunk, if not completely drunk. Henri would have pulled it off had it not been for Bellamy, who happened at that moment to turn and look in Ratham's direction and then bend over laughing. He was too far away to be understood, but Ratham saw Bellamy and other men looking in his direction and laughing which made him glance behind him just as Henri laid his hands on the bottle of rum. Realizing the jig was up, Henri snatched the bottle and ran. +Birdie wanted to do the belly crawl, but Lulu argued that Henri should. He was after all smaller. And he had a natural sneakiness about him. He had a much better chance. In the end Birdie agreed. And so Henri was sent out, worming his way across the sand, taking cover behind clumps of grass, stands of sea oat, until he came to a piece of drift wood which he used to worm is way down to just about even with Captain Jack's log. There was only two knots of open sand left to cross. Henri piled sand on his back and in his hair for camouflage and then he went for it. Slowly, ever so slowly, he would move, and then stop and lie still. Birdie was impressed. She understood now why he had become such a good hunter in such a short time. He was patient. And he was good at reading his prey. In this case it helped that his prey was very near drunk, if not completely drunk. Henri would have pulled it off had it not been for Bellamy, who happened at that moment to turn and look in Ratham's direction and then bend over laughing. He was too far away to be understood, but Ratham saw Bellamy and other men looking in his direction and laughing which made him glance behind him just as Henri laid his hands on the bottle of rum. Realizing the jig was up, Henri snatched the bottle and ran. Ratham leaped to his feet and roared a half animal yell that made Birdie's hair stand on end. And then there was the sound that made everyone's blood run cold, the long ringing hiss of a sword coming out of its sheath. "Who dares steal my rum?" Thundered Ratham. Henri instantly dropped the bottle in the sand and kept running full speed back to the Arkhanglesk where he skidded into the sand and tried to hide. -Ratham shrugged and walked toward the bottle, fitting his sword back into its sheath with considerably less drama and noise than he'd used pulling it out. He bent down in the sand, picked up the bottle and glanced over at the Arkhangelsk. He slowly sauntered over, taking a long pull of rum as he walked. He did not say anything when he got there, he just leaned against the hull below where the children sat on deck and said simple, "You see children. Let this be a lesson to you. If your person strikes sufficient fear into the heart, you don't actually have to hurt anybody. Just the threat of hurting them is plenty." +Ratham shrugged and walked toward the bottle, fitting his sword back into its sheath with considerably less drama and noise than he'd used pulling it out. He bent down in the sand, picked up the bottle and glanced over at the Arkhangelsk. He slowly sauntered over, taking a long pull of rum as he walked. He did not say anything when he got there, he just leaned against the hull below where the children sat on deck and said simple, "You see children. Let this be a lesson to you. If your person strikes sufficient fear into the heart of others, you don't actually have to hurt anybody. Just the threat of hurting them is plenty." -He turned and walked back toward the beach. "Take the man you call uncle teach, he's the most feared pirate around and I don't think he's ever so much as messed up another man's hair." +He turned and walked back toward the beach. "Take the man you call uncle teach, he's the most feared man in this part of the world and I don't think he's ever so much as messed up another man's hair." "But," he spun around to face them with a menacing look on his face. "Never take another man's rum." +:TODO: Figure out how to reconcile the Henri hunting reference above, with the actual story of his hunting below, maybe move it earlier and then replace this chapter intro with something else? + + ## The Tale Black Sam Told Henri avoided Ratham for several days, heading off into the wood in search of boar, while Birdie helped clean up and organize their camp each morning. A full ship's company could make an impressive mess of their camp. Lulu helped out, but Birdie always went beyond cleaning into organizing, leaving Lulu to her own devices. |