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| Binary files differ @@ -527,7 +527,7 @@ Birdie's people were sea gypsies. Alban, was what her father called himself. Got The low landers, as he called anyone who didn't live on the sea (which again made no sense to Birdie: how could people who lived on the sea not be the lowlanders?), "talk to hear themselves, talk about what they don't even know until they're half way through talking about it," he said. "I know I am the only one of our people you have to judge by, but we are not that way. If there is something to say, say it. But mark your words Birdie, pay attention to them, think on them, choose them well. Find the best ones you can and don't speak until you have found them. The low landers think they can learn by talking, by asking questions, but you must listen first. Listen and watch the world around you. If you have a question, ask it first of yourself, see what answers you can come to. Once you have those, ask someone else and see what answers they have. Compare yours with theirs. This is how you learn." -Her father sat silent now beside her. She wondered where he was. Was he here, next to her? Was he on some other shore? As if reading her mind he turned to her and smiled. "It will be good day." And then he rose and walked back toward camp. +Her father sat silent now beside her. She wondered where he was. Was he here, next to her? Was he on some other shore? As if reading her mind he turned to her and smiled. "It will be a good day." He rose and walked back toward camp. Lulu sat up. "I was dreaming of pine trees." Birdie glanced sharply at her. She too had dreamed of pines. She wondered if they both were thinking of burning stumps or if there was something more. @@ -535,27 +535,27 @@ Birdie still remembered the forests of the old country, or thought she did, or p She stood up. "I'm going to get some food." She skipped down the slope, feet squeaking in the dry sand. -Memories of cold salt air, fog and pines, a place where it was always cool and soft breezes blew did not help her here. This land of swelter and storm had none of that coolness. What she wouldn't give for a cool dry breeze stirring the pines of some rocky northern shore. +They followed her though. Memories of cold salt air, fog and pines, a place where it was always cool and soft breezes blew did not help her here. This land of swelter and storm had none of that coolness. What she wouldn't give for a cool soft breeze stirring the pines of some rocky northern shore. She stopped at the top of the dune and watched the disk of the sun break the horizon. She stood, rooted like a sago, feeling the first warm orange rays, savoring the brief moments when it seemed like perhaps it would not be murderously hot by mid morning. -Then she uprooted herself and walked toward the hut. Inside it was dark, she blinked as her eyes adjusted to reveal the thin slivers of light from the windows, the rafters hung with dried fish and herbs, roots and tubers she and Lulu had dug the day before. Plants Tamba had shown them that he had learned from the Edistow. There was plenty to eat in the marshes and pine forests if you knew where to look. Still the hut smelled as it always did, of the sea and fish. There was fishy smell inside that rarely left since most of what the family ate came from the sea, fish, clams, mussels, oysters as big as Birdie's head, seaweed and sea oats, even salt dried from the sea. There was always a bit of the sea in the stew pot. This morning it smelled of dried fish and onions. Her father smiled at her, asked about her dreams while he ladled the leftover stew into Birdie's bowl, a coconut shell sanded and polished smooth, carved with a scene of mermaid rising from a clam shell, something her father had seen in London. It was in fact the one and only story of London he had ever told her. +Then she uprooted herself and walked toward the hut. Inside it was dark, she blinked as her eyes adjusted to reveal the thin slivers of light from the windows, the rafters hung with dried fish and herbs, woven bags of drying roots and tubers that Lulu and Birdie dug the day before. Tamba had learned of them from the Waccamaw. There was plenty to eat in the marshes and pine forests if you knew where to look. Still the hut smelled as it always did, of the sea and fish. There was fishy smell inside that rarely left since most of what the family ate came from the sea, fish, clams, mussels, oysters as big as Birdie's head, seaweed and sea oats, even salt dried from the sea. There was always a bit of the sea in the stew pot. This morning it smelled of dried fish and onions. Her father smiled at her, asked about her dreams while he ladled the leftover stew into Birdie's bowl, a coconut shell sanded and polished smooth, carved with a scene of mermaid rising from a clam shell, something her father had seen in London. It was in fact the one and only story of London he had ever told her. --- Birdie sat in the shade of a sago palm. It was the last palm, the scout at the edge of camp. After the palm was the beach. She watched the ocean from the top ridge of the small, shaded dune, squinting in the bright light of the midday sun. Birdie's real name was Māra, after her mother's sister, her Aunt Māra who was down at the shoreline, pulling in a fishing net with Henry. Birdie had helped them cast out the net and secure it to the buoys earlier in the morning. Now they were pulling it in. -Birdie was waiting for her cousins to be done with their chores. She glanced up the beach toward their camp but there was no sign of Francis or Owen. Aunt Māra had told her they were helping their father with the boat. Birdie sighed and plucked at a sea oat, slowly breaking up the stem and letting the breeze pick up and carry them off. +Birdie was waiting for her cousins to be done with their chores. She glanced up the beach toward their camp but there was no sign of Francis or Owen. Aunt Māra had said they were helping their father with the boat. Birdie sighed and plucked at a sea oat, slowly breaking up the stem and letting the breeze pick up and carry the crumbs off down the shore. -Down the beach she could see the single mast of the Arkhangelsk. Most of the time she loved seeing the boat, but sometimes it reminded her of the awful day it arrived. After her father had told the captain of the Ave Marie it could not be saved, the rest of his crew shrugged and went off hunting the wild boar that were forever rooting in the jack pines of the island interior. The captain sat on the beach and stewed in anger. He drank rum all afternoon until finally he'd strode into camp shouting for her father, who eventually appeared. There was a good bit of quarreling in several languages until at some point Birdie remembered the captain drew his sword and her father had gone very quiet. Aunt Māra pulled all the children inside the teepee, but Birdie had stood by the door and watched as her father walked very slowly forward until he had placed his neck against the captain's sword, a move that had been so unexpected that the captain did not appear to know what to do. He stammered something Birdie could not hear, though she heard her father's voice quite clearly, I know how I will die and it is not by your hand. The captain had dropped his sword, spun on his heel and marched right out of camp in the direction of Charlestown. +She could see the Arkhangelsk nestled in the dunes. Most of the time she loved seeing the boat, but sometimes it reminded her of the awful day it arrived. After her father had told the captain of the Ave Marie it could not be saved, the rest of his crew shrugged and went off hunting the wild boar that were forever rooting in the jack pines of the island interior. The captain sat on the beach and stewed in anger. He drank rum all afternoon until finally he'd strode into camp shouting for her father, who eventually appeared. There was a good bit of quarreling in several languages until at some point Birdie remembered the captain drew his sword and her father had gone very quiet. Aunt Māra pulled all the children inside the hut, but Birdie had stood by the door and watched as her father walked very slowly forward until he had placed his neck against the captain's sword, a move that had been so unexpected that the captain did not appear to know what to do. He stammered something Birdie could not hear, though she heard her father's voice quite clearly, I know how I will die and it is not by your hand. The captain had dropped his sword, spun on his heel and marched right out of camp in the direction of Charlestown. No one ever saw him again. A few hours later the crew of six returned from the woods with a wild boar so huge they staggered under the weight of the pole it was slung out on. Birdie's father had informed them of their captains departure, the news of which they barely acknowledged, bent as they were to the task at hand, namely butchering and roasting the boar. There'd been a great feast in camp that night, with music and dancing that didn't stop until long after Birdie was asleep. The crew had stayed on for a quarter of a moon, until the rum ran out and they too headed off down the road in the direction of Charlestown. -Birdie had been worried that the angry captain might return. For several nights she refused to sleep outside until her father finally coaxed the problem out of her. "My girl, you don't need to worry," her father had said, "he's gone." And indeed no one had ever seen him again. +Birdie had been worried that the angry captain might return. For several nights she refused to sleep outside until her father finally coaxed the problem out of her. "My girl, you don't need to worry," her father had said, "he's gone." No one seemed to know what became of him, but he never bothered them again. And so the little ship had been commandeered by Birdie and her siblings and cousins. That first year they'd spent the autumn in the ship, every free moment they had, sailing the sands of the island, re-christening her the Arkhangelsk. Birdie was captain. They had voted, as free sailors did, and she had been elected. As Lulu was always careful to point out the captain only had authority during pursuit and battle, the rest of the time the whole crew was in charge. Birdie did not argue. She had only been voted out of her captain position once, when Lulu called a new vote after Birdie had ordered all the boys over the side to raid an enemy ship for the hundredth time, holding Lulu back. But Lulu's term as captain had lasted only a few days before Henry called a vote that put Birdie back in charge, and set the boys, along with Lulu, over the side to attack the forts and towns of the coasts they sailed. -Birdie was trying to decide what they should do today. A new pot called for new adventures, but she wasn't quite sure what. Perhaps they should sail to the Spanish main and sack Campache. It had been a while since they'd done that. She was deep in contemplation of her battle plan when out of the corner of her eye she noticed a small sail rounding out of the northern river. The boat road the middle of the current. This jarred her out of her reverie. Don't do that Charles. She tried to send this thought to him somehow, but before she could even begin to concentrate she watched as the boat slammed hard into the leeward shore of the bank, hurling two small figures through the air like dolls pitched from a catapult. She winced as they landed. She watched them get up. Down at the shoreline Henry and Māra were laughing as they folded up the net. +Birdie was trying to decide what they should do today. A new pot called for new adventures, but she wasn't quite sure what. Perhaps they should sail to the Spanish main and sack Campache. It had been a while since they'd done that. She was deep in contemplation of her battle plan when out of the corner of her eye she noticed a small sail rounding out of the northern river. The boat road the middle of the current. This jarred her out of her reverie. Don't do that Francis. She tried to send this thought to him somehow, but before she could even begin to concentrate she watched as the boat slammed hard into the leeward shore of the bank, hurling two small figures through the air like dolls pitched from a catapult. She winced as they landed. She watched them get up. Down at the shoreline Henry and Māra were laughing as they folded up the net. "My son sails like his father," said Auntie Māra as she walked by Birdie carrying the basket of fish on her hip, with the net slung over her shoulder. @@ -577,13 +577,15 @@ Birdie stood up and started down the dune toward shore. It took Francis the better part of an hour to get the boat down the beach to their camp. While she loved her cousins, they were not sailors. The did not come with Birdie and her family to Summer camp in the north. The left the island, but only went as far as Charlestown where they lived on Sullivan's Island. Birdie's Uncle Cole helped run a distillery, spending his days tending the vast vats of boiling sugar, turning it slowly to rum. -No one in Delos's crew drank rum. Her father didn't forbid it exactly, he simple did not associate with people who drank alcohol. "When you drink or eat something you do not just drink the liquid or eat the flesh of the thing, you consume its spirit as well," he told her one day when she asked why he never drank rum. +No one in Delos's crew drank rum. Her father didn't forbid it exactly, he simply did not associate with people who drank alcohol. "When you drink or eat something you do not just drink the liquid or eat the flesh of the thing, you consume its spirit as well," he told her one day when she asked why he never drank rum. "Different things have different spirits Birdie." He dipped a ladle of water and drank it. "The spirit in the rum, it is not a good spirit. To me it seems like not a good spirit anyway. Many people, it takes them and makes them do as it wishes, sends them nowhere but in search of more of itself. Your uncle for instance, it drives him to work all summer making it. Other people it just visits and then leaves with no problems, it all depends." He shrugged and swatted at a mosquito on his shoulder. "Some days it visited me and left, but some days it visited me and wanted to stay even after I no longer wanted it, so I decided one day not to let it in me any more." "It is not the way of our people I don't think. We did not have it back home. There was Vodka, but that was a drink of the lowlanders. We never drank it. Vodka has a strong spirit, but we did not need it. For us there is the sea, it has the strongest spirit, as far as I know. I would rather stand on its shore for one minute and taste its salt air than have a lifetime of rum or vodka. The sea is the spirit I want to spend my time with, the sea is who I serve." -Birdie had decided then and there not to waste her time with rum or vodka or anything with bad spirits. She too would serve the sea. She watched as Francis tried to bring the little boat in through the waves. It was an offshore wind, which mean the sail luffed whenever he tried to head straight in through the waves, but to take them at an angle meant the little boat pitched and tumbled and threatened to roll with every wave. Francis might enjoy catapulting himself out of it when there was a nice soft sandbar to land on, but rolling in this surf would quickly be the end of the boat, and quite possible Francis and Owen as well. +Birdie had decided then and there not to waste her time with rum or vodka or anything with bad spirits. She too would serve the sea. + +She watched as Francis tried to bring the little boat in through the waves. It was an offshore wind, which meant the sail luffed whenever he tried to head straight in through the waves, but to take them at an angle meant the little boat pitched and tumbled and threatened to roll with every wave. Francis might enjoy catapulting himself out of it when there was a nice soft sandbar to land on, but rolling in this surf would quickly be the end of the boat, and quite possibly Francis and Owen as well. Birdie considered swimming out to help them, but beyond the break was where most of the sharks hung out. She did not mind the sharks too much, most of them were harmless enough, but there were a few that seemed to have bad tempers. It was always the larger ones with very sharply pointed fins. She avoided them unless there were dolphins around. She walked down to the shoreline just as Francis finally road a wave through the break, somehow failing to capsize despite forgetting to lean back and counterbalance the roll of the boat. @@ -623,15 +625,16 @@ They both glanced down the beach in the direction Owen had gone, but there was n Birdie bit her lip, Henry had wanted to go, but she'd spent all morning with him and going without him suddenly sounded good, though she knew she would feel guilty about it the whole time she was out. "Okay." -He seemed to sense the hesitation in her voice and sighed. "Owen probably talked him into going turkey hunting." Owen and Francis had somehow managed to kill a turkey with their homemade bow and arrows and Henry was obsessed with doing the same. Francis was probably right she decided. Lulu had gone up the river with Kadiatu. There was no one else around except her father and Aunt Māra back in camp. She smiled. "Alright, you push us out." +He seemed to sense the hesitation in her voice and sighed. "Owen probably talked him into going turkey hunting." Owen and Francis had somehow managed to kill a turkey with their homemade bow and arrows and Henry was obsessed with doing the same. Francis was probably right she decided. Lulu had gone up the river with Tamba. There was no one else around except her father and Aunt Māra back in camp. She smiled. "Alright, you push us out." Francis went to bow and pushed the boat while Birdie pulled on the stern. They dragged her into the water and spun her around. Birdie jumped in as Francis continued to push from the stern. Birdie grabbed the foresail line and sat down on the port gunwale. The little boat was a lateen rig, like Delos, but with a single mast, a fore and back stay holding the sail, and a cleated line that could be loosed and tightened to draw in the sail and come closer to the wind. Birdie unwrapped Francis's poorly cleated line and let the sail out to catch the wind. Francis was up to his waist now in the water. Birdie leaned out to look past the sail and saw nothing but water. "Get in," she shouted. -Francis heaved himself up over the side of the boat and rolled down into the bottom, Birdie drew the line in and turned the tiller to put them at an angle up the face of the first wave. Near the top a gust of wind finally hit the sail the little boat leaped forward, sending them over the wave and rushing out, toward the next. Two more waves and they were beyond the break. Birdie watched the dark shape of a shark cruise slowly under the boat and then the bottom dropped away and there was nothing but dark, blue-green water. She pointed the boat as northerly as she could without luffing the sail. When she was happy she wrapped the line around the wooden cleat, looped it back under itself and sat back, letting her body relax for the first time since she'd hopped in. +Francis heaved himself up over the side of the boat and rolled down into the bottom, Birdie drew the line in and turned the tiller to put them at an angle up the face of the first wave. Near the top a gust of wind finally hit the sail and the little boat leaped forward, sending them over the wave and rushing out, toward the next. Two more waves and they were beyond the break. Birdie watched the dark shape of a shark cruise slowly under the boat and then the bottom dropped away and there was nothing but dark, blue-green water. She pointed the boat as northerly as she could without luffing the sail. When she was happy she wrapped the line around the wooden cleat, looped it back under itself and sat back, letting her body relax for the first time since she'd hopped in. -She glanced at Francis, he was leaning over the side, dragging his hand in the water. Birdie pulled her handline out of her pocket and baited the hook, she dropped it gently into the water, letting the speed of the boat cutting through the waves carry it back away from her. She pointed the little boat toward the outer eastern edge of the bank. When they'd sailed by last month on their way in she'd noticed that there appeared to be an upwelling not too far out past the bank and it was near the updraft of cold water where she'd landed her two catches that day. She wanted to do it again, though she wasn't entirely sure she and Francis would be able to pull in something as big as she'd caught last time. It had taken her father and Kobayashi with a gaff hook, and still a considerable effort to land the last one. But Delos was a bigger boat and much of the trouble was getting it aboard, up the side of the boat without it breaking the line or getting away. The skiff was only twenty feet long and worst case, she could always tie off the line and sail for shore to get it in. Although that would be very tempting to the sharks. +She glanced at Francis, he was leaning over the side, dragging his hand in the water. Birdie pulled her handline out of her pocket and baited the hook, she dropped it gently into the water, letting the speed of the boat cutting through the waves carry it back away from her. She pointed the little boat toward the outer eastern edge of the bank. When they'd sailed by last month on their way in she'd noticed that there appeared to be an upwelling not too far out past the bank and it was near the updraft of cold water where she'd landed her two catches that day. She wanted to do it again, although she wasn't sure she could. Her father had helped her reel it in on Delos. But Delos was a bigger boat and much of the trouble was getting the fish out of the water and up the side of the boat without it breaking the line or getting away. The skiff was only twenty feet long and worst case, she could always tie off the line and sail for shore to get it in. Although that would be very tempting to the sharks. -As they eased further away from the shore she saw Francis glance back at her more frequently. She could tell he didn't like to go this far out. At least not in the smaller boat. It was a calm day though, the wind was light, it was the best sailing day she could remember since they'd arrive, especially for a vessel this size, light and springy as she was. Birdie could feel her dancing across the water, almost giddy to be moving it seemed to her. Boats have character. This one liked the zip and zig and zag, she like the lean too, which Birdie fought by leaning out over the water to counterbalance the wind. A flat boat is a fast boat her father always said. Tipping was more fun though. If you knew your boat well enough to know where she like to be, what was too far, what was not far enough. You had to spend time with a boat to get a sense of her, and then you had to spend time on the water to get a sense of different conditions and how she would handle each of them. Birdie had been sailing the twenty foot sloop her father had built and named Maggie for three season now, and in every weather short of a gale. While her father had given Maggie to his wife's sister and her British husband, Uncle Cole, Birdie still thought of her as *her* boat. Only Birdie ever took her more than 100 meters offshore. Only Birdie pushed her, though Birdie did not think of it that way. She thought of it the way Lulu thought of horses. She just gave the boat its lead and let it go where it naturally wanted to go. A good boat you could trust like that and Maggie was a good boat. +As they eased further away from the shore she saw Francis glance back at her more frequently. She could tell he didn't like to go this far out. At least not in the smaller boat. It was a calm day though, the wind was light, it was the best sailing day she could remember since they'd arrived, especially for a vessel this size, light and springy as she was. Birdie could feel her dancing across the water, almost giddy to be moving it seemed to her. Boats have character. +This one liked the zip and zig and zag, she like the lean too, which Birdie fought by leaning out over the water to counterbalance the wind. A flat boat is a fast boat her father always said. Tipping was more fun though. If you knew your boat well enough to know where she like to be, what was too far, what was not far enough. You had to spend time with a boat to get a sense of her, and then you had to spend time on the water to get a sense of different conditions and how she would handle each of them. Birdie had been sailing the twenty foot sloop her father had built and named Maggie for three seasons now, and in every weather short of a gale. While her father had given Maggie to his wife's sister and her British husband, Uncle Cole, Birdie still thought of her as *her* boat. Only Birdie ever took her more than 100 meters offshore. Only Birdie pushed her, though Birdie did not think of it that way. She thought of it the way Lulu thought of horses. She just gave the boat its lead and let it go where it naturally wanted to go. A good boat you could trust like that and Maggie was a good boat. They crossed into a different channel of wind and suddenly the water around them went dark. They were still within sight of the shore, an easy swim to the bank even, but here was where the ocean began in Birdie's mind. That deep blue that speaks of depth, real depth. That was the open sea. That was the point at which land, even if you could see it, became irrelevant to your life. You were out here, in the deep blue beyond. Free. @@ -645,7 +648,7 @@ Her eyes popped open, startled. "What?" She looked around. Maybe? They were definitely too far from shore to have any hope of swimming in if something went wrong. They might make the bank. But what did it matter really? They could just keep sailing out here forever... she smiled at Francis. "Sorry, we'll jibe round." -He ducked as she jibbed around, something she rarely got to do in the bigger boat since jibbing with three sails was a rather violent maneuver. When Delos jibbed two booms came swinging across the deck at high speeds, which put tremendous force on the rigging and the boom itself. Delos had broken her boom two years ago during an unintentional jibe that happened when her uncle fell asleep at the helm. This was why her cousins and their family no longer sailed north with Birdie's family. Birdie did not understand why her father, who was normally quick to forgive, even if his temper was sometimes easily ignited, refused to forgive this incident, but she did know it had made it so no one else was in a hurry to jibe on purpose either. +She rarely got to jibe in the bigger boat since jibing with three sails was a rather violent maneuver. When Delos jibed two booms came swinging across the deck at high speeds, which put tremendous force on the rigging and the boom itself. Delos had broken her boom two years ago during an unintentional jibe that happened when her uncle fell asleep at the helm. This was why her cousins and their family no longer sailed north with Birdie's family. Birdie did not understand why her father, who was normally quick to forgive, even if his temper was sometimes easily ignited, refused to forgive this incident, but she did know it had made it so no one else was in a hurry to jibe on purpose either. Since the wind never left the sails when jibing there was a lot of power in it, and with anything involving a lot of power, a lot care needed to be taken. The safer thing to do would have been to point the bow through the wind, which let the sail luff and slowed the boat, making for a gentler turn. But Birdie did not want to slow in this swell. Maggie handled it well when she was moving, but slowed down she would bob like a cork in these waves and that idea did not sound like fun to Birdie. So she brought her stern around through the wind and waited, feeling for that moment when the boom would swing over, it was like that moment when you swing on a vine high up in to the air and you can feel yourself slowing slowing slowing but never stopping, instead you're suddenly moving the other way. And with a sudden snap of the boom, which Birdie slowed by tightening the line that held it, Maggie came around and started her broad reach back to the shoreline. @@ -653,13 +656,13 @@ They'd come far enough out past the back end of the bank that Birdie was able to It was somewhere between tides, which gave them about thirty square feet of soggy sand to stand on. Periodically a swell came through with a wave large enough to soak their feet, but it was protected enough that she and Francis could stand on the edge of the sand and untangle and prep the net. -If you had looked out from the shore you would have seen two children standing on the water, appearing in fact to walk around their boat, as if out for stroll on the water. Even though Birdie could not see herself that way, everything felt magical to her out here. +If you had looked out from the shore you would have seen two children standing on the water, looking for all the world as if they were walking around, out for stroll on the water. Even though Birdie could not see herself that way, she had seen others do it, she knew how magical it looked. Everything felt magical to her out here. It was warm, but not hot. The wind and water together kept them cool in spite of the afternoon sun and sweltering humidity. Birdie took off her skirt, then her shirt, and dove naked into the water, dragging the net behind her with her foot. She slipped under and tried to kick like a mermaid, legs locked together. She surfaced well beyond the bow of the boat, treading water. "Come on Francis! It's so lovely. Oh, it's perfect really." She dove under as he took off his shirt and dove in. Under water everything was silent save the occasional squeaks and pops of shrimp running in the sand somewhere below her. A school of dark, silver-sided fish she did not recognize through the blur of salt water was swimming just beyond where she could touch. She came up for air. -"I see a school out here. Quick, Francis, tie the net to the stern and we'll drag it out behind us, then circle back. She threw up the anchor and scrambled into the bow. Francis pushed them off the sand and they slipped silently, slowly through the water, Birdie could see the school better from above, she directed him to turn the boat to port, then starboard, and then, when she could tell the net was fully extended she grabbed the boom and pushed it back, against the wind to stop them dead in the water. They slowed, and then stopped. Francis pointed them into the wind and they both leaned over as watched and the net slowly sank down, startling the fish as it touched them, they darted and shimmered in confusion. "Bring it round." Francis laid the tiller over and Maggie slowly turned, catching a breath, then another, and with a snap the sail filled and the boat leapt forward, back toward the bank. Birdie scrambled to the stern and looked back to see nearly the whole school of fish caught in the net. She let out a whoop. And looked at Charles. She was so excited she jumped up and hugged him. +"I see a school out here. Quick, Francis, tie the net to the stern and we'll drag it out behind us, then circle back. She threw up the anchor and scrambled into the bow. Francis pushed them off the sand and they slipped silently, slowly through the water, Birdie could see the school better from above, she directed him to turn the boat to port, then starboard, and then, when she could tell the net was fully extended she grabbed the boom and pushed it back, against the wind to stop them dead in the water. They slowed, and then stopped. Francis pointed them into the wind and they both leaned over as watched and the net slowly sank down, startling the fish as it touched them, they darted and shimmered in confusion. "Bring it round." Francis laid the tiller over and Maggie slowly turned, catching a breath, then another, and with a snap the sail filled and the boat leapt forward, back toward the bank. Birdie scrambled to the stern and looked back to see nearly the whole school of fish caught in the net. She let out a whoop. And looked at Francis. She was so excited she jumped up and hugged him. -They landed and pulled the net in, there were easily hundreds of fish. They could not even haul it all the way up out of the water. They waded out to inspect it, Birdie knew there was no way they could get their entire catch to shore in Maggie, she would have sunk under the weight. Birdie looked at the writhing mass of fish trying to decide how they could divide it up, let some go without losing them all. That was when she noticed a strange line sticking out for the water. It was a slight thing, thin and gray. She had never seen anything quite like it, which was why it took her so long to realize it was a dorsal fin and it was coming straight for Francis faster than Birdie had ever seen a fin move. +They landed and pulled the net in, there were easily hundreds of fish. They could not even haul it all the way up out of the water. They waded out to inspect it, Birdie knew there was no way they could get their entire catch to shore in Maggie, she would have sunk under the weight. Birdie looked at the writhing mass of fish trying to decide how they could divide it up, let some go without losing them all. That was when she noticed a strange line sticking out of the water. It was a slight thing, thin and gray. She had never seen anything quite like it, which was why it took her so long to realize it was a dorsal fin and it was coming straight for Francis faster than Birdie had ever seen a fin move. "Francis! Get out! Now!" Birdie dropped the net and ran for the bank. Francis was right behind her, but as Birdie scrambled up on the dry sand she realized the fin was curved, not straight. She started to laugh. At first Francis thought she had played a trick on him, but then teeth closed around his leg and he screamed. @@ -667,9 +670,9 @@ Fortunately for him, they were not shark teeth, but it took a moment of screamin They sat panting on the sand, watching the fin trace circles around the boat. -"Let me see your leg." Birdie went to the boat and pulled on her skirt again, and pulled her knife from her belt. She cut back his pant leg and surveyed the wounds, there were five punctures, none more than a quarter inch across, and none very deep. But there was still plenty of blood and it looked like it would hurt. Birdie felt a wave a fear come over her and she wanted to run away from the blood and the torn flesh and the pain it must have been causing, but she quickly set that aside and went to work. She cut off Francis's pant leg to the knee, and then cut it into strips. She helped him down the water's edge—which was getting closer as the tide came up—and washed out the wounds with salt water. Then she wetted a few of the strips of torn pantleg and wrapped them gently around his leg. She tied to strips together and wrapped that one over the others, gently tying it to help hold everything in place. +"Let me see your leg." Birdie went to the boat and pulled on her skirt again, and pulled her knife from her belt. She cut back his pant leg and surveyed the wounds, there were five punctures, none more than a quarter inch across, and none very deep. But there was still plenty of blood and it looked like it would hurt. Birdie felt a wave a fear come over her and she wanted to run away from the blood and the torn flesh and the pain it must have been causing, but she quickly set that aside and went to work. She cut off Francis's pant leg to the knee, and then cut it into strips. She helped him down the water's edge—which was getting closer as the tide came up—and washed out the wounds with salt water. Then she wetted a few of the strips of torn pantleg and wrapped them gently around his leg. She tied two strips together and wrapped that one over the others, gently tying it to help hold everything in place. -"That's the best I can do. When we get in we'll go to Kadi's and her grandmother will know something to put on it so it won't get infected." She glanced over that Maggie. "Let's get you in the boat." +"That's the best I can do. When we get in Tamba will know something to put on it so it won't get infected." She glanced over that Maggie. "Let's get you in the boat." "No, let's deal with the fish first." @@ -679,7 +682,7 @@ They sat panting on the sand, watching the fin trace circles around the boat. Birdie considered it. It was a lot of fish. "Are you sure you're okay?" -"I'm fine, help me in the boat and I can help you from inside, that way I can sit down." Francis stood and she helped him limp to the boat. Birdie stepped into the water, looking around for the dolphin, but she saw no sign of it. She waded out to her knees and started to pull the net full of fish over to the hull. That was when she noticed a lot of fish guts already in the water. Had the dolphin attacked because it was hungry? She turned the net pulling up the bottom and heavy the top into the boat. Francis took it and began to pull it out of the water and into the boat. That was when Birdie noticed a very different eye in the net, not a fish eye, staring at her. "Stop!" +"I'm fine, help me in the boat and I can help you from inside, that way I can sit down." Francis stood and she helped him limp to the boat. Birdie stepped into the water, looking around for the dolphin, but she saw no sign of it. She waded out to her knees and started to pull the net full of fish over to the hull. That was when she noticed a lot of fish guts already in the water. Had the dolphin attacked because it was hungry? She turned the net, pulling up the bottom and heaving the top into the boat. Francis took it and began to pull it out of the water and into the boat. That was when Birdie noticed an eye in the net, not a fish eye, staring at her. "Stop!" "What?" @@ -689,15 +692,15 @@ Birdie considered it. It was a lot of fish. "Are you sure you're okay?" "There's a baby dolphin in the net" In flash she realized why the dolphin had attacked. It hadn't attacked, it had defended. -"What do we do?" Charles stared at her. +"What do we do?" Francis stared at her. "I don't know." She thought for a minute. They could haul it all in, and risk crushing the dolphin. Or she could cut the net, let the dolphin out, but she'd lose possibly all the fish and she'd have a net to repair. She wondered what her father would do. She signed. She cut the net. She cut just in front of the baby dolphin, which had already eaten half of the fish in front of it, so there was no thrashing when her knife stabbed that fish. When she had a hole big enough for the dolphin to get out she worked the fish out first, and another came shooting out after it. Then the dolphin kicked once and shot free. It paused and seemed to eye her for a moment. I'm sorry Birdie said softly, staring at its big dark eye. It twitched and disappeared under the boat, out of sight. Birdie tried as best she could to keep the net closed while Francis pulled it into the boat. It took them a good twenty minutes to get it into the boat, but in the end they saved well over half their catch. The ride back into shore was shared with dozens of flopping fish, and once, Birdie thought she saw a dolphin streak by. -After she had helped Francis limp back to their camp, and her father and Tamba had organized a trip upriver to see Kadiatu's family, Birdie came back out the beach to sail Maggie back to her home at her cousin's camp around the north end of the island. She pushed off, but the wind was blowing off shore, forcing her farther out than she wanted. She ended up right back at the bank. She took it as a sign. There was only a small spit of sand still above water, wet sand, but she ran aground on it and climbed out. She looked around for a fin, but saw nothing. A turtle swam by in the shallow water. Birdie sat down on the sand and lay back in the sun, feeling its warmth against the cool of her skin. She felt the chill of the wind as it dried the salty drops of water running down her arm. +After she had helped Francis limp back to their camp, and her father and Tamba had organized a trip upriver to see a medicine man who lived near the Waccamaw trading post. Birdie came back out the beach to sail Maggie back to her home at her cousin's camp around the north end of the island. She pushed off, but the wind was blowing off shore, forcing her farther out than she wanted. She ended up right back at the bank. She took it as a sign. There was only a small spit of sand still above water, wet sand, but she ran aground on it and climbed out. She looked around for a fin, but saw nothing. A turtle swam by in the shallow water. Birdie sat down on the sand and lay back in the sun, feeling its warmth against the cool of her skin. She felt the chill of the wind as it dried the salty drops of water running down her arm. -She lay back on the sand and closed her eyes, and she immediately felt something strange happening in her body, or to the world around her, she couldn't tell. At first she thought perhaps it was the linger pitch and roll of the boat, which stayed with you even after you got out. But then the whole world seemed to undulate, like a ripple passing through it. +She lay back on the sand and closed her eyes, and she immediately felt something strange happening in her body, or to the world around her, she couldn't tell. At first she thought perhaps it was the lingering pitch and roll of the boat, which stayed with you even after you got out. But then the whole world seemed to undulate, like a ripple passing through it. She felt as if she were floating in the water, but she was laying on solid sand. Then it came so suddenly it was terrifying. Something immense and unfathomable washed over her, a presence that stretched through her, encompassing her and everything she had ever known or done in an instant. She was afraid to open her eyes. A voice, no, that was the wrong word, something thought words for her, inside her. She could not understand them, a jumble of words falling in her mind so fast that she could not catch them, could not find the meaning of them, not even the order. She felt as if something massive and uncontrollably wild had seized her up in its arms and was taking her on some wild, frightening, but exhilarating dance. She became afraid again and forced herself to breathed slowly in and then slowly out. As she did this is was like the thing gave up and set her down again. She felt it slipping away. She blurted out, "No! Wait!" She wanted it to stay, it was just too much, too sudden, she wanted to say, give me a minute, but it was already gone, slipping away, the world settled, she opened her eyes and there was the sea, looking as it always did. @@ -705,35 +708,35 @@ She stared out the flat horizon where the sky bled into the blue of the sea. Com ## 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 Henry 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. +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. There was a very precise mixture of grasses and wood required the get the temperature right. The mixture resided entirely in Papa's head, but Lulu and Birdie, and even Henry, had learned to know 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 camp, or sold to the shipyards in Charlestown. -This year Papa had built three kilns. Each used the side of a dune as its primary structure, reinforced with a layer of split logs, and then packed earth and then packed clay. The other side was built up of logs and earth until a conical shape was formed and then the whole thing was filled with clay. For days Lulu, her father, and Kobayashi had hauled the rich red clay of the banks upriver down to the beach and packed it into the kilns until they were smooth as glass. Then they lit little smoldering little fires to dry the clay and bake it hard. This took several days, but when it was done the kiln was ready to make pitch. +This year Papa had built three kilns. Each used the side of a dune as its primary structure, reinforced with a layer of split logs, and then packed earth and then packed clay. The other side was built up of logs and earth until a conical shape was formed and then the whole thing was filled with clay. For days Lulu, her father, and Kobayashi had hauled the rich red clay of the banks upriver down to the beach and packed it into the kilns until they were smooth as glass. Then they lit small, smoldering fires inside to dry the clay and bake it hard. This took several days, but when it was done the kiln was ready to make pitch. -Kobayashi and her father worked all the next day dragging last year's stumps to the kilns and took turns splitting them with the axe until all the roots had been neatly stacked. Tamba, her uncle, and Francis had gone inland to gather walnut logs in the wagon, while Lulu, Birdie and Henry gathered downed oak and stacked the grasses they had cut and dried several weeks before.Now they had everything neatly stacked and ready. +Kobayashi and her father worked all the next day dragging last year's stumps to the kilns and took turns splitting them with the axe until all the roots had been neatly stacked. Tamba, her uncle, and Francis had gone inland to gather walnut logs in the wagon, while Lulu, Birdie and Henry gathered downed oak and stacked the grasses they had cut and dried several weeks before. Now they had everything neatly stacked and ready. -Lulu was chewing something Francis had brought back from his trip inland. A Mvskoke woman they'd run into far up river had given him a strip of partly dried spruce gum. Francis did not like it. "It's like eating a tree," he said. +Lulu was chewing something Francis had brought back from his trip inland. A Muskoke woman they'd run into far up river had given him a strip of partly dried spruce gum. Francis did not like it. "It's like eating a tree," he said. Lulu thought that made sense. "You are eating a tree." -He gave the rest to her. She enjoyed it. It *was* like eating a tree. And there was something wonderful about eating a tree. It gave her some of its huge spirit. Lulu could almost feel herself expand as she chewed, though she did wondered if the tree people minded her walking among them chewing up the flesh of one of their fellow trees. She asked an oak, but it just shrugged off a few leaves in the wind. Everything gets eaten eventually. +He gave the rest to her. It *was* like eating a tree. And there was something wonderful about eating a tree. It gave her some of its huge spirit. Lulu could almost feel herself expand as she chewed, though she did wondered if the tree people minded her walking among them chewing up the flesh of one of their fellow trees. She asked an oak, but it just shrugged off a few leaves in the wind. Everyone gets eaten eventually. -Lulu wandered away from piles, deeper into the sandy hummock that separated their camp from the marsh adjacent the leeward side of the island. Edisto wasn't a very wide island. It was long and skinny. Not as long and skinny as Ocracoke Island where they stopped on their trips north and south to provision and get the news, but long and skinny nonetheless. Edisto's marshy backside meandered for miles, as ribbons of the river traced their way through the flatlands. +Lulu wandered away from the piles of grass and twigs, deeper into the sandy hummock that separated their camp from the marsh adjacent the leeward side of the island. Edisto wasn't a very wide island. It was long and skinny. Edisto's marshy backside meandered for miles, as ribbons of the river traced their way through the flatlands. The forest was a clutter of shadow and light. Lulu sat down on a log and watched the shimmering leaves dancing in the breeze high up in the tree tops. Everything was so different up there. She decided to climb up and have a closer look. She cast about for a suitable tree to climb. She was near the marsh, in a mostly oak and pine forest. She would liked to have climbed a pine, but there was nothing to hold onto, the trunks were bare well above her head. -She settled an youngish oak that had a huge low limb she should get on and then make her way up it, to the trunk where another branch allowed her to pull herself up. She kept at this for a while, ignore the scrapes from rough bark and trying to not pay attention to how high up she was. It took her a good ten minutes but she manged to get high enough up that she was afraid, and could no longer drive the fear from her mind and continue. +She settled on a youngish oak that had a huge low limb she could get on, and then make her way up it to the trunk where another branch allowed her to pull herself up. Above that was another branch, and another, and another. She kept at this for a while, ignoring the scrapes from rough bark, and trying not to pay attention to how high up she was. It took her a good ten minutes but she managed to get high enough up that she was afraid, and could no longer drive the fear from her mind and continue. -She made herself step up to the next branch, the last that seemed like it would support her. She sat down on it, and wrapped her other arm around the trunk and looked out over the forest canopy. She was higher than the Delos' main mast, she knew that because she'd been hoisted up it several times to fix things. The mast was 35 feet. She guessed she was 50 feet up. High enough to see out over the tops of the trees anyway. She watched two squirrels who'd scolded her the whole way up retreat through the thin branches to the next tree over where they took up their scolding again until Lulu threw a nearby acorn at them and they took off for good. +She made herself step up to the next branch, the last that seemed like it would support her. She sat down on it, and wrapped her other arm around the trunk and looked out over the forest canopy. She was higher than Delos's main mast. She knew because she'd been hoisted up it several times to fix things. The mast was 35 feet. She guessed she was 50 feet up. High enough to see out over the tops of the trees anyway. She watched two squirrels who'd scolded her the whole way up retreat through the thin branches to the next tree over where they took up their scolding again until Lulu threw a nearby acorn at them and they took off for good. She watched an eagle circle the marsh, slowly, lazily, hardly ever beating its wings, just riding the air like a boat in the water. Lulu wished she could fly. That would be even better than sailing, to glide on the air, up and down with the thermals and drafts rather than be stuck on the ground, moving side to side across the water. Although that was fun too. She twisted her head to try to see if she could see the beach from up here, but there was another tree in the way. Just then the breeze kicked up again and Lulu felt the whole tree sway. She wondered what it would be like to be up here in a storm, to ride the winds. She closed her eyes to enjoy the music of the leaves tinkling around her, mixing with the percussive clatter of palm fronds drifting up from somewhere below her. The tree smelled of a tonic of warm, wet wood, not unlike Delos after many days at sea, but here it mixed with traces of scents coming off the marsh, and farther off, from the sea. A briny mix of salt coming in undulating currents across the marsh to wave the leaves of her tree. -Birdie and her father loved the sea in a way that Lulu understood, but did not. She loved the wind. The wind is everything. The wind is everything it has ever touched. You could almost always smell the land from the sea. Whenever they were coming down the coast, any time the wind blew offshore Lulu could tell how far away land was by how strong the scent of flowers. She assumed the opposite was true as well, that if she ever went far enough away from the sea, she would know just how far she had gone be how faded its tangled smell of salt and seaweed and damp wood and rotting kelp had become. It suddenly occurred to Lulu that she had never been far enough from the sea not to smell it. She knew the smell of land more as a stranger scenting exotic perfumes on the wind and reading them than she did of walking on it and losing herself on it. She resolved to one day walk inland far enough that she no longer smelled the sea and smell perhaps what other tales the wind had to tell as it passed over all those mountains and valleys and forests and deserts that lay between here and the infinite Lulu would walk toward. She sat swaying in her tree, planning grand expeditions to chase the sun around the world. She would cross the deserts, she would walk with lions, she would climb the mountains and stand on the peaks with her snowy leopard companion, and then she would say her goodbyes and journey deep into the jungle with her jaguar guide to see the lost cities of gold. Then she would say goodbye to her jaguar and walk again to the sea where she would build a boat and return home. +Birdie and her father loved the sea in a way that Lulu understood, but did not. She loved the wind. The wind is everything. The wind is everything it has ever touched. You could almost always smell the land from the sea. Whenever they were coming down the coast, any time the wind blew offshore Lulu could tell how far away land was by how strong the scent of flowers. She assumed the opposite was true as well, that if she ever went far enough away from the sea, she would know just how far she had gone by how faded its tangled smell of salt and seaweed and damp wood and rotting kelp had become. It suddenly occurred to Lulu that she had never been far enough from the sea not to smell it. She knew the smell of land more as a stranger scenting exotic perfumes on the wind and reading them than she did of walking on it and losing herself on it. She resolved to one day walk inland far enough that she no longer smelled the sea and smell perhaps what other tales the wind had to tell as it passed over all those mountains and valleys and forests and deserts that lay between here and the infinite Lulu would walk toward. She sat swaying in her tree, planning grand expeditions to chase the sun around the world. She would cross the deserts, she would walk with lions, she would climb the mountains and stand on the peaks with her snowy leopard companion, and then she would say her goodbyes and journey deep into the jungle with her jaguar guide to see the lost cities of gold. Then she would say goodbye to her jaguar and walk again to the sea where she would build a boat and return home. This she would do. -The sun has already disappeared into the thickets of distant trees on the western horizon when she noticed for the first time that it was finally growing cooler. There was some almost imperceptible drop in the humidity, some deep part of her awareness noticed ever so slightly less sweat seeping out of her in the course of the day and that triggered some unconscious part of her to conclude, that winter is nearly here. She shivered slightly at the thought and then made a mistake. She was thinking only of getting down, but to do so she had to look down and when she did, a hot flash of fear shot through her. +The sun had already disappeared into the thickets of trees on the western horizon when Lulu noticed for the first time that it was growing cooler. There was some almost imperceptible drop in the humidity as the sun faded, and she knew, winter was nearly here. She shivered slightly at the thought and then made a mistake. She was thinking only of getting down, but to do so she had to look down and when she did, a hot flash of fear shot through her and she was unable to move. -She realized suddenly she was alone in the forest, high in a tree. No one was coming to help her. It was possible they might hear her if she yelled loud enough, but it would be after dark before they found her and that would be worse. No, she realized, I am alone. I have to do this myself. +She started to yell Papa, but then she realized she was alone in the forest, high in a tree, at least half a mile from camp. No one was coming to help her. They would come looking for her, and it was possible they might hear her if she yelled loud enough, but it would be after dark before they found her and that would be worse. She realized, I am alone. I have to do this myself. She sat back down and gripped the trunk of the tree until she felt stable. She forced herself to breath deeply and slowing. She heard her father's voice in her head, count to four as you inhale, hold that breath while you count to four. Count to four as you exhale, count to four with your lungs empty. Slowly and steadily in and out. Lulu did this until she began to lose count and found that she was breathing normally. She opened her eyes and looked around. The last rays of the sun had poked their way through the forest thickets to fall here and there on Lulu's tree. It seemed to her as she looked below—she was careful not to look down, but at the trunk just below her feet—that the light was illuminating a kind of path down the tree. She could see the irregularity of bark in startling detail. She began to form a pattern of moves in her head, knobs seemed to jump out at her and she moved her foot down to the first one, easing her weight onto it as she gripped a branch above her with both hands. She shifted her weight onto that foot and gently moved forward, off the branch where she'd been sitting. She was up and moving. Now she looked down again and saw the perfect branch below her other foot. She stepped down. And down again, her arms finding the branches her feet had given up only moments before. She moved in a zig-zag pattern down the tree, using branches like a staircase, back and forth across the trunk, until she found herself back at the large branch she'd used to get up. She walked out on it, away from the trunk, balancing with her arms out, to where it very nearly touched the ground, and then she vaulted off to the ground. @@ -741,27 +744,27 @@ She turned back and looked at the tree, up at where she'd been. The light was go The smell of simmering boar reached her well before she got to camp. Her father was busy getting ready for the kiln ceremony, if he'd noticed she was gone, he did not say anything. Her siblings too did not seem to have noticed her absence. They were sitting near the fire. Her Aunt Māra looked long and carefully at her as Lulu walked by her, but she did not say anything. She joined her siblings and cousins by the fire and sat down. They listened, bored,waiting for the stew, as the grown ups talked and seemed to do everything but get food. Lulu did not realize how hungry she was. Her hands shook slightly when she didn't keep them wrapped around her legs. It was dark in the east, stars were out on the horizon. -Finally her father stepped toward the fire and raised his hands. Everyone fell silent. "Friends," he began. "Thank you for being here with me." He paused. Lulu looked around the fire at all the faces flickering warm and orange in the firelight and she realized everyone she loved was here in one place, at one timer It did not happen all that often and it made it even better when it did. She felt a wave of warmth pass over her, noting in passing that it washed over her much like the fear had passed through her earlier in the tree. Emotions always move like waves, she thought. You just have to ride on them. Maybe you can't change the wave, but maybe you can control how you ride it and where it takes you. +Finally her father stepped toward the fire and raised his hands. Everyone fell silent. "Friends," he began. "Thank you for being here with me." He paused. Lulu looked around the fire at all the faces flickering warm and orange in the firelight and she realized everyone she loved was here in one place, at one time. It did not happen all that often and it made it even better when it did. She felt a wave of warmth pass over her, noting in passing that it washed over her much like the fear had passed through her earlier in the tree. Emotions always move like waves, she thought. You can't change the wave, but maybe you can control how you ride it and where it takes you. -Her father turned toward the sea and with both her arms still raised over his head, "Hekas, hekas! Este bebeloi!" His voice vibrated as he spoke and Lulu felt the words move through her, vibrating her blood with a tingling sensation that faded slowly as the sounds of the night became louder. +Her father turned toward the sea and with both his arms still raised over his head, "Hekas, hekas! Este bebeloi!" His voice vibrated as he spoke and Lulu felt the words move through her, vibrating her blood with a tingling sensation that faded slowly as the sounds of the night became louder. He again vibrated the words and again let the sounds of the night once more return. He then spoke in a language neither Lulu nor her sister knew, but which somehow seemed ancient, as if it had been born millenia ago around fires like this. It was guttural and strange in way that was both thrilling and a little frightening. Lulu knew what it all meant because her father had finally told her last year, but she still could not match the sounds she heard to the meaning in English and trying to do so made her head swirl in a confusion of noise and sense and meaning until she could feel more than she could understand. Tamba took a large stick out of the fire and went to each of the quarters in turn. First the East, then the South, then the West, then the North and then back to the East. At each stop he called on the archangel, the arkangelsk, of that station, offering a bowl of water to each. When he was finished he handed the stick, with its glowing red tip to her father. -Her father then nodded to Aunt Māra who went to the kettle of simmering stew. He handed her a bowl and she ladled some stew into it and gave it back to him. Lulu's father lifted the bowl in the air, the abalone shell glittered and sparkled in the moon light and not for the first time Lulu thought how lucky she was to be surrounded by such wealth, bowls that shone like gold in the light. "Uriel, bless this earth, bless this bounty we give back to you that you might bless these fires. Thank you for you love." He carried the bowl over and set it down on the first kiln. He repeated this incantation twice more until all three kilns had bowls atop them. Then he laid the stick to the dry grass that Lulu and her siblings had gathered over the past week. Lulu watched as he lit each of the kilns in turn. +Her father then nodded to Aunt Māra who went to the kettle of simmering stew. He handed her a bowl and she ladled some stew into it and gave it back to him. Lulu's father lifted the bowl in the air, the abalone shell glittered and sparkled in the moon light and not for the first time Lulu thought how lucky she was to be surrounded by such wealth, bowls that sparkled in the light. "Uriel, bless this earth, bless this bounty we give back to you that you might bless these fires. Thank you for you love." He carried the bowl over and set it down on the first kiln. He repeated this incantation twice more until all three kilns had bowls atop them. Then he laid the stick to the dry grasses that Lulu and her siblings had gathered over the past week. Lulu watched as he lit each of the kilns in turn. By tomorrow morning the first buckets of sap would be flowing, and then the fires would not stop until the stumps were burned up. This year Lulu was guessing it would take half a moon. Birdie thought longer, Henry was hoping it would only be a week, but she knew he was wrong. Her father turned back to face the bonfire. He raised his arms again as his voice vibrated a final incantation and then a word Lulu recognized, "ahmen". "Friends," his face broke into a smile. "Let's feast." -Everyone cheered and Birdie, always the hungry one, jumped up and was first in line at the kettle. Aunt Māra ladled out of the stewed meat into the abalone bowls. Lulu took hers and walked over the to kilns. She watch as the stew in those bowls slowly came to a boil while hers cooled. She whispered quietly, "thank you for helping us. Thank you for helping me." +Everyone cheered. Aunt Māra ladled out of the stewed meat into the abalone bowls. Lulu took hers and walked over the to kilns. She watch as the stew in those bowls slowly came to a boil while hers cooled. She whispered quietly, "thank you for helping us. Thank you for helping me." --- The next morning the smell of wood smoke and the faintly sweet scent of tar overwhelmed their camp. Lulu was watching the kilns while she ate, making sure the buckets below them were not too full so that they would be impossible to carry. She was not allowed to actually handle the hot tar. No one but her father and Tamba moved the buckets to the oak barrels, which, when full, were allowed to cool and then Lulu and her sister could hammer on the lids. No one had ever been burned too badly, though her father had once scalded his hand badly enough that the skin had come off. He made sure that the children did not handle the sap until it had cooled. -Lulu didn't need to be told twice. The hot tar scared Lulu. It was a fiercely hot, red-brown liquid that boiled and bubbled and almost seemed to snarl in the buckets. It smelled of the forest somehow, like the distilled essence of a tree made so dense that all the complex smells of the forest, the light smell of living leaves, the floral scent of flowers, earthiness of bark, the soil, the dry leaves, the rotting wood, the mushrooms and lichens and fungus were all condensed down to a single point that was all of them and somehow none of them as well. It was a deep smell, plumbed out of the depths of the earth, too deep, too much all at once. +Lulu didn't need to be told twice. The tar scared Lulu. It was a fiercely hot, red-brown liquid that boiled and bubbled and almost seemed to snarl in the buckets. It smelled of the forest somehow, like the distilled essence of a tree made so dense that all the complex smells of the forest, the light smell of living leaves, the floral scent of flowers, earthiness of bark, the soil, the dry leaves, the rotting wood, the mushrooms and lichens and fungus were all condensed down to a single point that was all of them and somehow none of them as well. It was a deep smell, plumbed out of the depths of the earth, too deep, too much all at once. Lulu did not like the smell of it until the tar had been spread on the rigging or hull of a ship. Something about the way it mixed with the salt soaked wood and hemp lines of a ship took the edge off the smell of the tar and made it smell pleasant again, like the forest standing at the edge of the sea. @@ -771,7 +774,7 @@ The sun was directly overhead when her father and Tamba returned from a barrel r He nodded at her as he entered camp. Papa was a quiet man, prone to grunts and nods in lieu of the sort of comforting, I heard you type of comments most people make. He was often absorbed in a task to the degree that he seemed utterly unaware of the world around him and yet sometimes Lulu would notice that he was also watching her, watching her sister and not in fact missing anything that was going on around him at all, that he was in fact more aware of what she was doing than she was. She would pause and think about this sometimes and try to focus herself more fully on what she was doing. If she could not take in the whole world around her like her father she reasoned, she could at least pay closer attention to what she was doing. -"Lu, you look pale." He said finally. "Here, drink some water." Her father passed her a gourd and she gulped down the cool water. She had not realized how thirsty she was until she started drinking and then she could not stop. She finished the gourd gasping for breath. +"Lu, you look pale." He said. "Here, drink some water." Her father passed her a gourd and she gulped down the cool water. She had not realized how thirsty she was until she started drinking and then she could not stop. She finished the gourd gasping for breath. "You need to drink more when you're down here with the heat." @@ -779,7 +782,7 @@ He nodded at her as he entered camp. Papa was a quiet man, prone to grunts and n "You can go now. Tamba and I will take over here." -Lulu smiled and dashed off before he could change his mind. She knew Birdie and Henry were down at the ship. She found them playing with their cousins. Or rather Birdie and Francis were playing one game and Henry and Owen appeared to be playing another, which included harassing Birdie and Francis with toy arrows, a volley of which appeared as Lulu was climbing up into the ship. "hey" she shouted as one actually stuck into the wood deck near her foot. She grabbed it. The tip was a shell that had been broken to a point and sharpened. It could easily have split the skin if fired with sufficient force. The closer she looked at it the madder she got. "That could have hurt." She leaned over the railing looking for Owen. She knew Henry hadn't came up with this plan. He might be annoying some times, but he was nearly always kind and never dangerous. There was no sign of either of them. She descended below decks to find Birdie and Francis. +Lulu smiled and dashed off before he could change his mind. She knew Birdie and Henry were down at the ship. She found them playing with their cousins. Or rather Birdie and Francis were playing one game and Henry and Owen appeared to be playing another, which included harassing Birdie and Francis with toy arrows, a volley of which appeared as Lulu was climbing up into the ship. "Hey!" she shouted as one actually stuck into the wood deck near her foot. She grabbed it. The tip was a shell that had been broken to a point and sharpened. It could easily have split the skin if fired with sufficient force. The closer she looked at it the madder she got. "That could have hurt." She leaned over the railing looking for Owen. She knew Henry hadn't came up with this plan. He might be annoying some times, but he was never dangerous. There was no sign of either of them. She descended below decks to find Birdie and Francis. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she could see a strange dark shape wiggling up under a hole near the sand in the stern. Lulu could not tell who it was and started toward it. It was only then that she noticed Birdie in her peripheral vision, sitting on the ground, carving a stick with the knife her father hand given her for Christ Mass last year. Lulu did not acknowledge her sister though, padding softly past toward the stern where the shape had clearly made its way into the boat now. Lulu stopped and slid against a bulkhead to wait. The figured dusted the sand off itself and began to creep forward. Lulu heard a whispered "Birdie?" just as Henry walked through the bulkhead, past her, without seeing her, and Lulu let out a wild howl and leaped on him, tackling him to the sand. He shrieked and covered his face and before Lulu could properly box his ears he was crying and she felt bad so she stopped, sitting astride him, pinning his shoulders to the ground, she leaned close to his face. "That arrow could have hurt someone." @@ -813,18 +816,18 @@ Lulu gulped. "Birdie, that...." Her voice trailed off. "I suppose we could fish though. If we don't see him first." -Lulu and Henry looked at each other. "Okay," said Lulu nervously. Well, why don't we leave through the stern, and we'll just... we'll just walk down to the water and if we see they we'll say we aren't playing anymore. Whatever it is that you're playing." +Lulu and Henry looked at each other. "Okay," said Lulu nervously. Well, why don't we leave through the stern, and we'll just... we'll just walk down to the water and if we see them we'll say we aren't playing anymore. Whatever it is that you're playing." "I'm not playing." -"Okay, whatever. Let's just go before you hurt someone." Lulu loved her sister but she was prone to blind rages that were best avoided. Sometimes Lulu could talk her out of them, but usually, she'd learned, the best course of action was to find something Birdie liked to do and try to get her to do it. She was single-minded and once her mind had latched onto something everything else was forgotten. Even the previous thing her mind had been latched onto, like murderous desire to throw spears at her cousin. Lulu had become quite good an managing these rages, unless they happened to be aimed at her, in which case there was little she could do but run. Or hope that Henry could calm her down, which he was getting better at doing. At least he no longer egged her on, or not very often anyway. +"Okay, whatever. Let's just go before you hurt someone." Lulu loved her sister but Birdie was prone to blind rages that were best avoided. Sometimes Lulu could talk her out of them, but usually, she'd learned, the best course of action was to find something Birdie liked to do and try to get her to do it. She was single-minded and once her mind had latched onto something everything else was forgotten. Even the previous thing her mind had been latched onto, like murderous desire to throw spears at her cousin. Lulu had become quite good an managing these rages, unless they happened to be aimed at her, in which case there was little she could do but run. Or hope that Henry could calm her down, which he was getting better at doing. At least he no longer egged her on, or not very often anyway. Lulu stood up. "Can I see it?" Birdie handed her the spear, and Lulu knew she'd won. She was glad too because the point on the spear, combined with the way Birdie could throw it, would have gone right through Owen if he'd run afoul of it. It was then that Lulu noticed the dark spot on Birdie's leg. -"They hit you with an arrow? -" +"They hit you with an arrow?" + Birdie nodded. All at once Lulu could see the streaks on her cheeks and realized that Birdie wasn't mad, she was sad. And hurt. "Sorry," Lulu offered. "Does it hurt?" "No. Not anymore." @@ -837,7 +840,7 @@ Birdie nodded. All at once Lulu could see the streaks on her cheeks and realized Birdie smiled. "No, you can never call back an arrow." -Lulu sat down next to her sister. Henry slumped down into the sand and busied himself drawing with the stick. He always listened to everything they said, but he rarely made any comments of his own. Often they assumed he was in his own world, ignoring him and then weeks later he would make a comment referencing something they had said and Lulu and Birdie would look at each other amazed that not only had heard them talking, but had remembered every detail of it. +Lulu sat down next to her sister. Henry slumped down into the sand and busied himself drawing with the stick. Often the girls assumed he was in his own world, ignoring them, but then weeks later he would make a comment referencing something they had said, and Lulu and Birdie would look at each other amazed that not only had heard them talking, but had remembered every detail of it. This time, after they all fell silent, Henry 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." @@ -849,33 +852,33 @@ Still, that month, the month the tribes around them called Last moon of the Turt It was that smoke that drew the ship to them and forever changed the course of all their lives. -Birdie was the first to see it. She'd been on the north end of the island, helping Aunt Māra weave new reed baskets when she saw a patch of white on the horizon. She and her Aunt watched the ship work her way down the coast. Long before she'd come close enough to really study Birdie had decided her captain wasn't to be trusted. The sails were not trimmed like they should have been and her course wasn't nearly what it should have been. The closer she got the more Birdie began to wonder if maybe the captain wasn't bad so much as unwilling to get more than swimming distance offshore. She wasn't much of a ship. She wasn't far from joining the Arkhangelsk. Birdie could tell she'd once been a Bermuda sloop with a long bowsprit. Narrower than the Arkhangelsk, and smaller than Delos, she was missing her bowsprit entirely and her sails were torn. Her real trouble though looked to be that she'd been made of oak, rather than the Jamaican cedar used for Delos. Oak was a strong wood, but it did not last like cedar. It needed to be tarred more regularly, the worms that ate at ship's loved oak and this vessel showed it. She was riding low in the water and Birdie could tell she was probably taking on water faster than her crew was able to keep it out. That made her a good business proposition. Birdie and Aunt Māra build up their fire and then Birdie cut green fronds of sago palm to put on the top, sending thick white smoke billowing in to the air. +Birdie was the first to see it. She'd been on the north end of the island, helping Aunt Māra weave new reed baskets when she saw a patch of white on the horizon. She and her Aunt watched the ship work her way down the coast. Long before she'd come close enough to really study Birdie had decided her captain wasn't to be trusted. The sails were not trimmed like they should have been and her course wasn't nearly what it should have been. The closer she got the more Birdie began to wonder if maybe the captain wasn't bad so much as unwilling to get more than swimming distance offshore. She wasn't much of a ship. She wasn't far from joining the Arkhangelsk. Birdie could tell she'd once been a Bermuda sloop with a long bowsprit. Narrower than the Arkhangelsk, and smaller than Delos, she was missing her bowsprit entirely and her sails were torn. Her real trouble though looked to be that she'd been made of oak, rather than the Jamaican cedar used for Delos. Oak was a strong wood, but it did not last like cedar. It needed to be tarred more regularly, the worms, actually snails, though they looked like worms, that ate at ship's loved oak and this vessel showed it. She was riding low in the water and Birdie could tell she was probably taking on water faster than her crew was able to keep it out. That made her a good business proposition. Birdie and Aunt Māra build up their fire and then Birdie cut green fronds of sago palm to put on the top, sending thick white smoke billowing in to the air. At the same time Birdie ran to the other end of the island to fetch her father. By the time they returned the ship was nearly at the mouth of the river. Her father waded out on the point and waved his arms down the beach. Though they could not make out anyone on the deck, the little boat pointed off shore and began to head out around the bank. Birdie and her father walked slowly down the beach, keeping pace with her as she made her way south to the safer anchorage of the southern river, just beyond where Birdie's camp lay, waiting with it's fresh tar. -As they walked her father pointed out the ships weaknesses and strengths. He agreed she was riding low, but he wasn't sure it was because she was leaking. "It's possibly," he allowed, "but she could have a heavy cargo too." +As they walked her father pointed out the ships weaknesses and strengths. He agreed she was riding low, but he wasn't sure it was because she was leaking. "It's possible," he allowed, "but she could have a heavy cargo too." Birdie studied her for the minute. "I don't think so. She's old, she's worm eaten, who would load her down?" -Her father smiled. "That's good observation, but never underestimate a merchant's ability to let greed cloud their better judgment. She may be hardly seaworthy, but many a man would still load her full of gold if the gold needed moving." +Her father smiled. "That's a good observation, but never underestimate a merchant's ability to let greed cloud their better judgment. She may be hardly seaworthy, but many a man would still load her full of gold if the gold needed moving." "Why?" -Her father's smile faded. "I don't really understand it Birdie, tis the way the world is right now. It's been different before, it'll likely be different again one day, but for now, love of gold is thing we must account for." +Her father's smile faded. "I don't really understand it Birdie, tis the way the world is right now. It's been different before, it'll likely be different again one day, but for now, love of gold is a thing we must all account for." -A gust of wind blew his beard apart like the forked tail of a swallow and he gathered it back in his hands and stopped. "We don't though Birdie. We never to things for the love of gold. The love of people, the love of ships, the love of the sea. Always things that will return our love. Gold does not return love. There is nothing wrong with it, it is a fine metal, a grand reflection of the sun, but it is not a thing to work for, not a thing to worship. That is not the way of our people." +A gust of wind blew his beard apart like the forked tail of a swallow and he gathered it back in his hands and stopped. "We don't though Birdie. We never do things for the love of gold. The love of people, the love of ships, the love of the sea. Always things that will return our love. Gold does not return love. There is nothing wrong with it, it is a fine metal, a grand reflection of the sun, but it is not a thing to work for, not a thing to worship. That is not the way of our people." Birdie did not say anything, but she nodded to let her father know she'd heard him. She still didn't understand why people wanted gold so much. They wanted great piles of it, and for what? It wasn't comfortable to sit on, you could not eat it. You could buy food it with it. Flour was nice, Birdie liked flour for bread. She especially liked it when Kobayashi helped her fry little cakes in the pan. But it did not take much gold to buy flour. It seemed to her that you could get enough gold to buy a year's worth of flour in not much time at all. After that, why would you need it? You could make almost everything you could possibly need. Except maybe rope. Making rope was a pain. Birdie decided she would have to try getting some gold to see which was harder, getting gold or making rope. If getting gold was easier then perhaps she could understand why you'd go out and get some gold, so you didn't have to make cordage. -The little ship's captain was savvy enough at least to navigate the mouth of the inlet without too much trouble. He'd been lucky with timing, arriving with the rising tide and riding it it up the river mouth without trouble, until he'd promptly run aground on a sandbar. The ship came lurching to a halt just as Birdie and her father, along with Tamba, who'd strapped on a sword, came up over a dune. There was no one on the deck, which was confusing because surely someone had been steering. And then they watched a man come up out of the hold with a dazed look on her face. +The little ship's captain was savvy enough at least to navigate the mouth of the inlet without too much trouble. He'd been lucky with timing, arriving with the rising tide and riding it up the river mouth without trouble. Until he'd promptly run aground on a sandbar. The ship came to a lurching halt just as Birdie and her father came over the dune. Tamba, who'd strapped on a sword, came up behind them and the three of them stood watching the ship. There was no one on the deck, which was confusing because surely someone had been steering. And then they watched a man come up out of the hold with a dazed look on his face. He smiled and waved. Birdie and her father glanced at each other. Her father shrugged and waved back. Birdie did the same. -He smiled and waved. Birdie and her father glanced at each other. Her father shrugged and waved back. Birdie did the same. As they all stood smiling at each other there came a new sound from down in the hold, a light floating Irish lilt of a voice, a woman's voice that sounded like a song, but a bawdy, rough sailor's song of full of cussing, drinking, and fighting worked its way merrily forward somewhere below deck. And then a streak of gray came bounding out of the hold, landed softly on deck, and paused to survey the scene. Lulu came up the dune at the same time and bumped into Birdie just as the red hair of the stranger settled from under a hat to reveal one of the more striking faces Lulu and Birdie would ever see, albeit, barely see. A fair and sharply defined jaw, with thin red lips curled ever so slightly into a smile, extended out of the shadow that held the rest of her face in darkness from which Birdie could see only a white glimmer of eyes. The woman, for she was very obviously a woman, though she wore sailors britches, stiff and tarred like those her father, Tamba, Kobayashi, and nearly every other sailor on the sea wore, had on a long coat despite the heat, unbuttoned but held close to her waist by a sash much like the one Lulu was fond of wearing at sea, except that the woman had a hatchet and a pistol thrust into hers. +As they all stood smiling at each other there came a new sound from down in the hold, a light floating Irish lilt of a voice, a woman's voice, and it was singing a bawdy, rough sailor's song of full of cussing, drinking, and fighting. It worked its way merrily forward somewhere below the deck. And then a streak of gray came bounding out of the hold, landed softly on deck, and paused to survey the scene. Lulu came up the dune at the same time and bumped into Birdie. They watched as the woman's long red hair blew in the wind. Her large, wide brimmed hat partly hid one more striking faces Lulu and Birdie would ever see. A fair and sharply defined jaw, with thin red lips curled ever so slightly into a smile, extended out of the shadow that held the rest of her face in darkness. The woman, for she was very obviously a woman, even though she wore sailors britches, stiff and tarred, had on a long coat despite the heat. She wore it unbuttoned, but held close to her waist by a sash, much like the one Lulu was fond of wearing at sea, except that the woman had a hatchet and a pistol thrust into her sash. -She said something they couldn't here to the man, and a third man came up out of the hold and waved. The woman pulled out a knife and deftly sliced a backstay rope. Birdie instinctively glanced at her father. He raised an eyebrow but otherwise seemed just as transfixed as she was. Before Birdie could fully put together what was happening the woman backed up took two quick steps forward, vaulted up off the gunwale and sailed out into the air, riding the arc of the rigging up and out until she was very nearly clear of the water at which point she let go, arched her back and landed, knees bent, crouched like a cat, hand on her hatchet. +She said something they couldn't hear to the man, and a third man came up out of the hold and waved. The woman pulled out a knife and deftly sliced a backstay rope. Birdie instinctively glanced at her father. He raised an eyebrow but otherwise seemed just as transfixed as she was. Before Birdie could fully put together what was happening the woman backed up took two quick steps forward, vaulted up off the gunwale and sailed out into the air, riding the arc of the rigging up and out until she was very nearly clear of the water at which point she let go, arched her back and landed, knees bent, crouched like a cat, hand on her hatchet. Birdie saw out of the corner of her eye that Tamba and her father were both staring now, open mouthed. "Not the first time she's done that," her father muttered. Then he seemed to gather his wits again and slid down the dune they were standing on to greet the stranger. -Three men lowered a boat and came ashore in the usual manner to join the woman who was talking now with her Father. Lulu and Birdie stood on top the dune, watching as her father and Tamba greeted the strangers. Birdie wasn't sure where Kobayashi was, but she suspected he was in a tree with a rifle somewhere. Her father might like to pretend he welcomed every ship, but he was careful too. He made sure someone had his back and he there's whenever a new ship showed it's face. It seemed to Birdie though that this was probably a waste of time. There was a woman on this boat. Birdie had only twice before encountered women on boats and both times they were passing as men. At least they seemed to be. Birdie knew at once but no one else seemed to, or they pretended not to, it was hard to know. +Three men lowered a boat and came ashore in the usual manner to join the woman who was talking now with her Father. Lulu and Birdie stood on top the dune, watching as her father and Tamba greeted the strangers. Birdie wasn't sure where Kobayashi was, but she suspected he was in a tree with a rifle somewhere. Her father might like to pretend he welcomed every ship, but he was careful too. He made sure someone had his back whenever a new ship showed up. It seemed to Birdie though that this was probably safe. There was a woman on this boat. Birdie had only twice before encountered women on boats and both times they were passing as men. At least they seemed to be. Birdie knew at once but no one else seemed to, or they pretended not to, it was hard to know. This was the first time she'd seen a woman being a woman and being a sailor and perhaps being a captain. She was pretty sure this woman was her hero. She watched in awe as she shook her father's hand like a man, smiled and laughed freely. She was Birdie realized with a rush, just like Lulu and herself. Only bigger. Older. Was it possible to remain as she was now as she grew older? She had never really considered this until now. She had never really seen herself in any adult, even those she looked up to like her father and Tamba and Kobayashi, not even in Aunt Māra. She loved them all, but she was not like them, this she knew deep down in some place that she had not thought up or created through her experience. Some place that was just there, had always been there and would always be there she assumed. She was not like them. She was like this woman. This smiling, laughing, singing, swearing, hatchet-packing, trouser-wearing woman. @@ -891,7 +894,7 @@ Come on, let's go down there." Lulu started down the dune toward the adults. Bir They broke awkwardly into the semicircle of adults who were still laughing at some story. Her father glanced around and seeing Lulu and Birdie moved behind them and said, "these are my daughters, Lulu and Birdie." -The men tipped their hats, one of them said, nice to meet you ladies, but neither Lulu or Birdie looked anywhere but at the face of the woman, who Birdie now saw was not only a woman sailor, but beautiful as well, with striking green eyes that seems to sparkle and glitter as the evening light bounced off the river beside them. +The men tipped their hats, one of them said, nice to meet you ladies, but neither Lulu or Birdie looked anywhere but at the face of the woman. Birdie now saw she was not only a woman sailor, but beautiful as well, with striking green eyes that seems to sparkle and glitter as the evening light bounced off the river beside them. "My goodness Nicholas, what beautiful children." She stepped forward with a kind pretend formality and offered her hand to Birdie. Birdie smiled shyly, but shook her hand. The woman did not return her shake, instead she gripped her hand firmly and turned her arm over gently back and forth. She murmured and nodded. "You're a sailor?" @@ -899,7 +902,7 @@ The men tipped their hats, one of them said, nice to meet you ladies, but neithe "Oh, don't ma'am me my dear. My name is Sarah. Call me Sarah, please." -"Okay Sarah." She released Birdie's hand and turned to Lulu to repeat the handshaking. After which she turned away and nodded to her father. "Where is there mother?" +"Okay Sarah." She released Birdie's hand and turned to Lulu to repeat the handshaking. After which she turned away and nodded to her father. "Where is their mother?" "She's dead." It was Birdie who said it. It just popped out of her mouth before she had formed the thought. @@ -909,15 +912,15 @@ Her father nodded once. There was an uncomfortable silence. "It was a long time ago now," her father said at last. -Tamba, who had been starring at the sad little ship sitting on the sandbar, spoke up now. "We need to get your ship off that bar. I don't think the tide is going to do it, we'll need some long lines to pull her back when the ebb tide starts." He glanced inland. "Which should before the sun is behind those trees." +Tamba, who had been starring at the sad little ship sitting on the sandbar, spoke up now. "We need to get your ship off that bar. I don't think the tide is going to do it, we'll need some long lines to pull her back when the ebb tide starts." He glanced inland. "Which should be before the sun is behind those trees." The men climbed back in the boat to bring lines ashore to help pull the boat off the sandbar. Birdie and Lulu took Sarah to camp. There was an awkward silence when they arrived to find no one else there. Birdie had a assumed Aunt Māra would be starting dinner, but she was nowhere to be found. Birdie stirred the ashes of the fire and laid in some grass and twigs, building up the fire. She turned around to get larger pieces of wood and found Sarah behind her, a bundle of wood under her arm. Birdie smiled. "Thank you." Birdie took the wood and laid it carefully into the fire, making sure not to choke the flames. Sarah sat down on a log. "How long have you been here?" -Birdie considered this for a moment. "Two moons I think." +Birdie considered this for a moment. "Four moons I think." -"Two moons?" Sarah chuckled. "I expect it's been longer than that if you're counting time in moons. Where did you grow up?" +"Four moons?" Sarah chuckled. "I expect it's been longer than that if you're counting time in moons. Where did you grow up?" Birdie glanced at Lulu. Lulu shrugged. "Here. The sea. Summer camp." @@ -931,7 +934,7 @@ Sarah laughed again. "You two are suspicious of me aren't you? Well, I suppose y "Do you want to know where I am from?" -Birdie considered this, and realized that, although she was about to say yes because it was the polite thing to do, the truth was she did not care. She did not know where Tamba was from beyond the vague understanding that he came from Western Africa. Kobayashi came from Japan. She already knew Sarah probably came from Ireland since her voice reminded Birdie of Uncle Cole who was from Ireland. Beyond that it did not much matter out here. It mattered who you were, what you did every day that made up who you were, not who you used to be or where you came from. That was something the British cared so much about and the people Birdie knew made it a point not to care about at all. Her father made it a point to tell them they were Alban, that they were different in some regards, that they were to hold themselves to a higher standard, this Birdie understood very clearly, but it was not because of where they came from, they did not come from anywhere, they were just out here, they had alway been out here. +Birdie considered this, and realized that, although she was about to say yes because it was the polite thing to do, the truth was she did not care. She did not know where Tamba was from beyond the vague understanding that he came from Western Africa. Kobayashi came from Japan. She already knew Sarah probably came from Ireland since her voice reminded Birdie of Uncle Cole who was from Ireland. Beyond that it did not much matter out here. It mattered who you were, what you did every day that made up who you were, not who you used to be or where you came from. That was something the British cared so much about and the people Birdie knew made it a point not to care about at all. Her father made it a point to tell them they were Alban, that they were different in some regards, that they were to hold themselves to a higher standard, this Birdie understood very clearly, but it was not because of where they came from, they did not come from anywhere, they were just out here, they had always been out here. Still, Birdie nodded. But she'd been slow on the draw and Sarah realized it and so she smiled and looked down and said nothing for a moment. When she looked up there was something different about her eyes, like she understood Birdie somehow. "You don't care at all do you?" @@ -943,11 +946,11 @@ Sarah took off her hat and then her kerchief that held back her red-brown hair. "We're headed to New Providence Island." -Lulu and Birdie glanced at each other. The sailor's answer to the question where are you going is always, where the wind takes me. +Lulu and Birdie glanced at each other. A sailor's answer to the question where are you going is always, wherever the wind takes me. -Several ships that had careened at Lulu and Birdie's camp the previous year had called New Providence Island home. The men on those ships described it as a kind of chaotic paradise. Lulu and Birdie had found their stories hard to believe. Still, Bridie understood wanting to sail and the idea that Sarah really was a sailor made a kind of light buoyant feeling swelled in her and made her feel like she was larger and could do anything. +Several ships that had careened at Lulu and Birdie's camp the previous year had called New Providence Island home. The men on those ships described it as a kind of chaotic paradise. Lulu and Birdie had found their stories hard to believe. Still, Birdie understood wanting to sail and the idea that Sarah really was a sailor made a kind of light buoyant feeling swelled in her and made her feel like she was larger and could do anything. -"You know how to sail then? +"You know how to sail then?" "I'm learning." She laughed. "I could be better, that's why I want to join a crew. If they'll have me." @@ -967,13 +970,13 @@ Sarah smiled. "And that's what you do? You help them careen and tar?" The girls nodded. -Their father returned saying Tamba had taken the ship into the marsh, to help them anchor it just offshore from Delos. They were going to careen and tar them together beginning the next day. Eliza May turned out to have a crew of six, including Sarah. Her father sent Birdie down to the end of the island to fetch her Aunt and Uncle and cousins. Between the two camps, plus some salt pork from Eliza Maj, they were able to put together a stew that Birdie seasoned with wild onions she'd gathered the day before. She and Lulu had spent the morning hunting the marsh for eggs, which they boiled to go along with stew. Aunt Māra made bread the way the Edistow did, laying the dough right on on the coals and then breaking the hard crust into half moon shapes into which they poured the stew before setting the whole thing in their abalone bowls to cool. The result was a bready, gooey, stewy mess that was Birdie's favorite meal, after turtle. +Their father returned saying Tamba had taken the ship into the marsh, to help them anchor it just offshore from Delos. They were going to careen and tar them together beginning the next day. Eliza May turned out to have a crew of six, including Sarah. Her father sent Birdie down to the end of the island to fetch her Aunt and Uncle and cousins. Between the two camps, plus some salt pork from Eliza Maj, they were able to put together a stew that Birdie seasoned with wild onions she'd gathered the day before. She and Lulu had spent the morning hunting the marsh for eggs, which they boiled to go along with stew. Aunt Māra made bread the way the Waccamaw did, laying the dough right on on the coals and then breaking the hard crust into half moon shapes into which they poured the stew before setting the whole thing in their abalone bowls to cool. The result was a bready, gooey, stewy mess that was Birdie's favorite meal, after turtle. -It was beginning to get cool in the evenings and her father had been lighting the big fire again some nights. Though it wasn't cold enough to gather around it he lit it tonight and Unle Cole brought out his fiddle and the men from Eliza May brought their instruments and there was playing and dancing well into the night. Birdie danced with her father, with Sarah, with Tamba, and finally was too tired to dance anymore and sat and watched the men from Eliza May, pass the rum between them. They offered it to her father, who glanced up at their commotion to see the jug being offered. Birdie watched as he stood. Her father looked at the men and smiled. "Normally I don't drink. But I do appreciate the offer and I want you to feel welcome here, I have no complaint with any man that drinks, so long as he controls himself within the bounds of reason." The other men listened, glanced among themselves and slowly nodded. "Sounds good," said one. +It was beginning to get cool in the evenings and her father had been lighting the big fire again some nights. Though it wasn't cold enough to gather around it he lit it tonight and Uncle Cole brought out his fiddle and the men from Eliza May brought their instruments and there was playing and dancing well into the night. Birdie danced with her father, with Sarah, with Tamba, and finally was too tired to dance anymore and sat and watched the men from Eliza May, pass the rum between them. They offered it to her father, who glanced up at their commotion to see the jug being offered. Birdie watched as he stood. Her father looked at the men and smiled. "Normally I don't drink. But I do appreciate the offer and I want you to feel welcome here, I have no complaint with any man that drinks, so long as he controls himself within the bounds of reason." The other men listened, glanced among themselves and slowly nodded. "Sounds good," said one. -But then her father did a thing Birdie did not expect. He took the jug and drank a bit gulp from it and handed it back to men, who cheered. Her father smiled and sat back down next to Sarah and resumed talking. +But then her father did a thing Birdie did not expect. He took the jug and drank a bit gulp from it and handed it back to men, who smiled and cheered. Her father smiled and sat back down next to Sarah and resumed talking. -Birdie soon found herself jerky away after having dosed off and so whe went into the hut, gathered up her quilts and climbed the dune just beyond the fire and laid down on the top to watch the sea as she fell asleep. She heard the sandy squeak of bare feet and her father sat down beside her, resting his arm on her back. "Good night Birdie." he patted her back. +Birdie soon found herself jerking awake after having dosed off and so she went into the hut, gathered up her quilts and climbed the dune just beyond the fire. She laid down on the top to watch the sea as she fell asleep. She heard the sandy squeak of bare feet and her father sat down beside her, resting his arm on her back. "Good night Birdie." he patted her back. "Good night Papa." @@ -987,9 +990,9 @@ The sat in silence, staring out at the moonlight on the water. He leaned over and looked her in the eyes, his beard tickling her forehead. "Sometimes Birdie people are far enough from the path that they need know there is path, and more importantly, that they can get from where they are to the path. If I had just said no thank, I don't drink, while that's true, it would have set me far apart from them. For me to have a sip of rum to bring them closer is more important, more valuable for both of us." -Birdie knew her father believed there was a path, a right and true path, for everyone. He believed that the first task of life was finding that path, but that noone walked the same path and there was no single way to find that path. That was life he said, finding that path and then sticking to it. Bridie had heard him say this thousands of times it seemed like, but until then she'd never really understood that it wasn't a path where you could see what was ahead of you, it was a path you were constantly making. There wasn't a right answer in front of you, there wasn't an answer at all. You were making the path every time you chose to do or not do something. +Birdie knew her father believed there was a path, a right and true path, for everyone. He believed that the first task of life was finding that path, but that no one walked the same path and there was no single way to find that path. That was life he said, finding that path and then sticking to it. Birdie had heard him say this thousands of times, but until now she'd never really understood that it wasn't a path where you could see what was ahead of you, it was a path you were constantly making. There wasn't a right answer in front of you, there wasn't an answer at all. You were making the path every time you chose to do or not do something. -"so there is no path then?" +"So there is no path then?" "What do you mean?" @@ -1843,7 +1846,7 @@ Lulu rolled over and looked at Henry. Her back was to the fire, but he was sitti He continued to stare off into the fire as a tears ran down his face. Finally he spoke again, his voice choked. "I think Owen is out there somewhere, missing me." -Lulu didn't know what to say. She thought a thousand thoughts, but none of them could do anything to ease the pain of that image, of Owen and Charles and Uncle Cole, somewhere out there in the darkness, never able to find their way back, searching for their families, but never able to find them. She said nothing, but when Henry finally laid his head down, she pulled him close and wrapped her arms around him and they fell asleep that way. +Lulu didn't know what to say. She thought a thousand thoughts, but none of them could do anything to ease the pain of that image, of Owen and Francis and Uncle Cole, somewhere out there in the darkness, never able to find their way back, searching for their families, but never able to find them. She said nothing, but when Henry finally laid his head down, she pulled him close and wrapped her arms around him and they fell asleep that way. ## Chapter 14: Careen |