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@@ -165,27 +165,27 @@ Everyone on the island had seen them come in, but they were still too deep in th ## Chapter 2: Edisto Landing -Lulu flicked her fingers and felt the rough sand fall away and the smooth skin beneath. She was inside a pale white cocoon of sheet. She stretched her arms up over her head, feeling for the edge, for the sand. She found it and pulled it down over her head. The world was already bright. She sat up to look around. +Lulu flicked her fingers and felt the rough sand fall away and the smooth skin beneath. She was inside a pale white cocoon of sheet. She stretched her arms up over her head, feeling for the edge, for the sand. She found it and pulled the edge of the sheet down over her head. The world was already bright. She sat up to look around. -She was named Linnea after her father's friend in the old country, but her mother called her Lulu the only day she saw her. Like her twin sister she'd been easing sheets and tightening lines since she could walk, crossed an ocean before she'd seen five winters, and survived the burning sun and flaming fevers of the Carolina swamps to reach her ninth year. +She was named Linnea after her father's friend in the old country, but her mother called her Lulu the only day she saw her. It stuck. Like her twin sister she'd been easing sheets and tightening lines since she could walk, crossed an ocean before she'd seen five winters, and survived the burning sun and flaming fevers of the Carolina swamps to reach her ninth year. -Her skin was brown from long days in the sun. She was thin, but strong. Her body all bone and taut ropey muscle. Her hair was brown bleached to blond by the summer sun. She licked her lip, pulling beads of sweat into her mouth and savoring the salty flavor. *You are the sea, you sweat the sea all day every day.* +Her skin was brown from long days in the sun. She was thin, but strong. Her body all bone and taut ropey muscle. Her hair was brown with blond streaks bleached by the summer sun. She licked her lip, pulling beads of sweat into her mouth and savoring the salty flavor. *You are the sea, you sweat the sea all day every day.* -She sat on a low rising dune a hundred yards from the shoreline. The eastern sky was pink and rapidly turning orange. She knew her father would already be awake back at the boat. Lulu hadn't wanted to sleep in the marsh. She preferred the seaside. Near where their camp would be, where she would sleep all winter. She didn't mind the hammocks of the boat, but there was something about the sand that made Lulu sleep easier. It conformed to you, it hugged you. Like floating in the sea, but firmer. +She sat on a low rising dune a hundred yards from the shoreline. The eastern sky was pink and rapidly turning orange. She knew her father would already be awake back at the boat. Lulu hadn't wanted to sleep in the marsh. The thick humid air made her choke. She preferred the seaside. Near where their camp would be, where she would sleep all winter. She didn't mind the hammocks of the boat, but there was something about the sand that made Lulu sleep easier. It conformed to you, it hugged you. Like floating in the sea, but firmer. She wrapped the sheet, which had once been Wanderer's foresail, around her shoulders and walked down the beach toward the wreck of *Arkhangelsk*. The *Arkhangelsk* was the second best thing about winter camp, after her cousins and the other children of the island. The *Arkhangelsk* was her ship. Well, *their* ship. The island's ship really, but Lulu thought of it as her ship. Wanderer might be her home, but *Arkhangelsk* was *her* ship. *Arkhangelsk* was a 42-foot Bermuda sloop that had been taken by the *Whydah* and put ashore with a small crew to careen and re-tar the hull. Unfortunately for the *Ave Marie*, as she was known at the time, her hull was too worm eaten and leaky to be repaired. Even a coat of the quality tar that Lulu's family was known for making wasn't going to save the *Ave Marie*. This had been the subject of some dispute between her father and the would-be captain of the Ave Marie, but in the end, the boat was abandoned on the beach. -Two years ago a huge storm that Lulu had fortunately not experienced personally had washed the Ave Marie up and into the dunes. Her main mast was destroyed, but the rest of her, somehow, remained mostly intact. The next year another storm had brought a huge tidal surge that swamped the dunes, lifting *Arkhangelsk*, as Lulu and Bridie had by then renamed her, and spinning her around, pointing the bow to the sea in the process. Most of her stern had been torn off that time but as she settled back into the shifting dunes, the top deck leveled out and she wasn't hard to climb. +Two years ago a huge storm that Lulu had fortunately not experienced personally had washed the Ave Marie up and into the dunes. Her main mast was destroyed, but the rest of her, somehow, remained mostly intact. The next year another storm had brought a huge tidal surge that swamped the dunes, lifting *Arkhangelsk*, as Lulu and Bridie had by then renamed her, spinning her around, pointing the bow to the sea in the process. Most of her stern had been torn off that time but as she settled back into the shifting dunes, the top deck leveled out and she wasn't hard to climb. -Lulu stood atop a dune studying her now. She still listed a little to port, but not much more than last year, and not so much that you couldn't race around the upper deck just like you could on Wanderer, but you could race around *Arkhangelsk* as much as you wanted and no one would give you a job to keep you busy like they would on Wanderer. Well, Captain Birdie might try, but just let her. Lulu always ignored Captain Birdie's orders anyway. +Lulu stood atop a dune studying her now. She still listed a little to port, but not much more than last year, and not so much that you couldn't race around the upper deck just like you could on Wanderer, but you could race around *Arkhangelsk* as much as you wanted and no one would give you a job to keep you busy like they would on Wanderer. Well, Captain Birdie might try, but just let her. Lulu ignored Captain Birdie's orders anyway. -Lulu walked around the *Arkhangelsk*, comparing her memory of it to the way it looked now. If there had been a storm over the summer it didn't seem to have affected the wreck at all. She stuffed her sheet in the hold so it wouldn't blow away and climbed up to the top deck. The wood was dry and brittle but so far it had not broken up as much as she would have expected. She and Birdie had begged their father to tar it, that it might last but he refused, the tar was too valuable. +Lulu walked around the *Arkhangelsk*, comparing her memory of it to the way it looked now. If there had been a storm over the summer it didn't seem to have affected the wreck at all. She stuffed her sheet in the hold so it wouldn't blow away and climbed up to the top deck. The wood was dry and brittle but so far it had not broken up as much as she would have expected. She and Birdie had begged their father to tar it, that it might last, but he refused. Tar was too valuable. She watched the sun rise over the sea from the deck. The wind was already blowing strongly offshore. White peaks churned in the wind tossed sea, blending white and green and murky brown waters into the kind of messy chop no one wanted to sail. It looked like the winter sea. It was technically still summer, but clearly the sea was already thinking of winter. She was glad they'd made it in last night. If they were trying this morning they'd have never made it. -She sighed and went to retrieve her sheet. Wanderer was waiting. She already knew she'd be yelled at for not helping out. She was always being yelled at for not cleaning up, not helping load, not helping unload, not helping keep the ship ship shape. She hated those words. Ship shape. It sounded stupid. Who wanted something ship shape? And why was swabbing even a thing? Normal people mopped. Why did sailors have to swab? Even the word made it sound harder. And it was, it was like mopping while standing on the back of a horse. The thought of horses made her want to get back. Her father had promised her he would teach her to ride this year. She jumped off the bow into the soft sand and began walking back toward the marsh where Wanderer waited to be unloaded. +She sighed and went to retrieve her sheet. Wanderer was waiting. She already knew she'd be yelled at for not helping out. She was always being yelled at for not cleaning up, not helping load, not helping unload, not helping keep the ship ship shape. She hated those words. Ship shape. It sounded stupid. Who wanted something ship shape? And why was swabbing even a thing? Normal people mopped. Why did sailors have to swab? Even the word made it sound harder. And it was, it was like mopping while standing on the back of a horse. "Perfect Jujutsu training," Kobayashi was always telling them. The thought of Jujutsu made her want to get back. Her father had promised she and her sister could start to train this year and she intended to beat Birdie. Her sister might be bigger, but Lulu was sure she was faster. She just needed to do more swabbing maybe. She jumped off the bow into the soft sand and began walking back toward the marsh where Wanderer waited to be unloaded. --- @@ -207,11 +207,11 @@ She was about to ask her father where Aunt Māra and her cousins were when she f "By yourself?" -She looked at him like he had two heads. "Of course." She could see the way he whithered under her looks and it made her feel guilty. She didn't mean to make him feel bad, but he asked such silly things sometimes, and she had no time for questions which seemed to her to have obvious answers. It made her dislike him a little for making her feel like she was a mean person. She was pretty sure she wasn't a mean person. Why did it seem like Francis thought she might be? +She looked at him like he had two heads. "Of course." She could see the way he withered under her looks and it made her feel guilty. She didn't mean to make him feel bad, but he asked such silly things sometimes, and she had no time for questions which had such obvious answers. It made her dislike him a little for making her feel like she was a mean person. She was pretty sure she wasn't a mean person. Why did it seem like Francis thought she might be? Henry and Owen saved her from further awkwardness by zooming by at top speed, chasing each other with wooden swords. "Hi Lu!" screamed Owen as he dodged around her and dove into the oak shrubs after Henry, who hadn't even acknowledged her existence. -Francis took the opportunity to go back to where he and Birdie were helping unload stores from the ship. Lulu watched him go, feeling that sinking feeling she got every autumn when her brother and sister abandoned her. They didn't mean to. They didn't really, especially Birdie, who always went out of her way to make sure everyone was included in everything. Still, Birdie and Francis were like a little team. And Owen in Henry were another little team. Lulu did not have a team. There was just Lulu. In some ways she liked this. It left her free to do the things she wanted without anyone interfering. She could spent her time cooking with Aunt Māra, training with Kobayashi, or exploring the rivers and marshes in Delos. She loved sailing the muddy, reedy shallows. She love to drift along under the big oaks that stretched out over the river. She loved to beach the little boat and use the vines hanging down from the oak branches to swing out over the river and drop midstream, into delicious cool pools of black water. Sometimes she would spend the afternoon hunting plants in the thickets. Other days she raided birds nests of their eggs. Maybe she reasoned, she had the biggest team of all. Maybe the whole island was her team. This thought made her smile. +Francis took the opportunity to go back to where he and Birdie were helping unload stores from the ship. Lulu watched him go, feeling that sinking feeling she got every autumn when her brother and sister abandoned her. They didn't mean to. They didn't really, especially Birdie, who always went out of her way to make sure everyone was included in everything. Still, Birdie and Francis were like a little team. And Owen in Henry were another little team. Lulu did not have a team. There was just Lulu. In some ways she liked this. It left her free to do the things she wanted without anyone interfering. She could spent her time cooking with Aunt Māra, training with Kobayashi, or exploring the rivers and marshes in Delos. She loved sailing the muddy, reedy shallows. She love to drift along under the big oaks that stretched out over the river. She loved to beach the little boat and use the vines hanging down from the oak branches to swing out over the river and drop midstream, into delicious cool pools of black water. Sometimes she would spend the afternoon hunting plants in the thickets. Other days she raided birds nests of their eggs. Maybe, she reasoned, she had the biggest team of all. Maybe the whole island was her team. This thought made her smile. Lulu went back up onto the ship to help gather up the cooking pots, taking extra care with Kobayashi's precious rice steaming baskets. Kobayashi was Japanese and while he would eat the rice that was grown in the Carolinas because he wasn't about to starve to death, whenever he could he bought rice from ships returning from Asia. He never boiled it, he shook his head at the way the Africans and Lulu's family boiled their rice. Instead he boiled water and put the rice in a woven basket over the boiling water and let the steam cook it. It took longer, but even Tamba admitted it was the best rice he'd ever had. Lulu would never tell Kobayashi, but she liked the Carolina rice better. It was mushier, nuttier. It became part of the fish stews in ways that Kobayashi's rice never did. Although she liked his better when they were eating dried fish or Pemmican at sea. Maybe, she thought as she walked down the path to camp, she liked both kinds of rice. Maybe there wasn't a best rice, maybe there was the best rice for each thing. That was what Papa always said, there is no best, best for this, best for that, best for now, but no best always. @@ -219,17 +219,17 @@ All morning Lulu helped haul food and gear out of Wanderer and down the trail to Kobayashi, Tamba and her father set about constructing their camp, which consisted of little more than a thatched hut, built to a design the native people, most of whom were now gone, had shown them. It was, as all great shelters are, ingeniously simple. First they set up a pole structure made half of oak timbers, which gave it strength, and half of pine timbers, which were bent to give it shape. The structure was then covered with thatching made of reeds. Her father and Tamba had the basic structure done by mid afternoon. For the time being they draped an old, but freshly tarred, sail over the top to stop the rain. In the next few weeks everyone would chip in to make the thatching, which would slowly take the place of the sail cloth. Eventually it would cover the entire hut, down to the sand, except for one spot toward the rear, which her father called the back door. No one ever used it, but you could, if you lay down and wormed or rolled your way under the last layer of thatch, slip outside. -With the structure up, Lulu and her sister set about cleaning the inside, picking sticks and other debris out of the sand they'd be walking on, sitting in, and sometimes sleeping on for the next five or six months. Aunt Māra helped them hang the hammocks, which they'd use for beds when the weather drove them inside. Most of the time it was warm enough to sleep outside with a sheet and one of Aunt Māra's quilts, which is how Lulu, Birdie and Henry preferred it. The hut was better than being rained on, but the rest of the time they would rarely be in it for more than a few minutes at a time. +With the structure up, Lulu and her sister set about cleaning the inside, picking sticks and other debris out of the sand they'd be walking on, sitting in, and sometimes sleeping on for the next five or six months. Aunt Māra helped them hang the hammocks, which they'd use for beds when the weather drove them inside. Most of the time it was warm enough to sleep outside with a sheet and one of Aunt Māra's quilts, which is how Lulu, Birdie, and Henry preferred it. The hut was better than being rained on, but the rest of the time they would rarely be in it for more than a few minutes at a time. -Lulu stepped out from under the sail cloth her aunt was busy tying down and into the sun. It was hot, humid still. She guessed it was early September, but she didn't keep track of the date the way her father did in the ship's log. She knew the position of the sun and the phase of the moon. Those were the only useful accountings of time in Lulu's world. The moon told her what the tides would be like, how many stars would be visible, and whether or not it was a good night to hunt turtles. The position of the sun told her how much longer it would be hot, and when it was safe to stop worrying about storms. It was still hot and humid. Storms might well still be coming. +Lulu stepped out from under the sail cloth her aunt was busy tying down and into the sun. It was hot, humid still. She guessed it was early September, but she didn't keep track of the date the way her father did in the ship's log. She knew the position of the sun and the phase of the moon. Those were the only useful accountings of time in Lulu's world. The moon told her what the tides would be like, how many stars would be visible, and whether or not it was a good night to hunt turtles. The position of the sun told her how much longer it would be hot, and when it was safe to stop worrying about storms. It was still hot and humid. Storm season was far from over. -The first thing she saw stepping out of the hut was their communal cooking area, which consisted of a fire pit, along with several old, weathered trunks of palm trees they used for sitting or as tables if they sat next to them in the sand. This was where the days started and ended, where guests would come to sit and talk, where visiting ship crews would tell the news from Boston, London, Kingston, Madagascar, Nicobar, Manilla. It was where Lulu and her sister would fall asleep at night, watching the fire listening to tales of storms, close calls in the rigging, sand bars where they should not have been, and cruel captains cursed in language their father told them not to use. The fire was the center of their world and the best thing in it. +The first thing she saw stepping out of the hut was their communal cooking area, which consisted of a fire pit, along with several old, weathered trunks of palm trees they used for sitting or as tables if they sat next to them in the sand. This was where the days started and ended, where guests would come to sit and talk, where visiting ship crews would tell the news from Boston, London, Kingston, Madagascar, Nicobar, Manilla. It was where Lulu and her sister would fall asleep at night, watching the fire, listening to tales of storms, close calls in the rigging, sand bars where they should not have been, and cruel captains cursed in language their father told them not to use. The fire was the center of their world and the best thing in it. -When they had to they could cook on a small fire inside the hut, and around winter solstice it would be cold enough for a few weeks that they'd use the fire place inside for heat, but mostly, life was lived outside, under the sun and moon. +When they had to they could cook on a small fire inside the hut, and around winter solstice it would be cold enough for a few weeks that they'd use the fire place inside for heat, but mostly, life was lived outside, under the sun and moon. Just as it was on *Wanderer*. -Birdie and Henry were down by the shoreline gathering small stones to fill some gaps in the fire pit. Her father and Kobayashi took the pirogue upstream to find larger stones to brace the iron tripod, which was where they did most of their cooking. It was their father's doing, though Kobayashi did much of the cooking. Papa had forged the tripod using iron scrounged from a shipwreck many years ago. +Birdie and Henry were down by the shoreline gathering small stones to fill some gaps in the fire pit. Her father and Kobayashi took the pirogue upstream to find larger stones to brace the iron tripod, which was where they did most of their cooking. The tripod was their father's doing, though Kobayashi did much of the cooking. Papa had forged the tripod using iron scrounged from a shipwreck many years ago. -When her father and Kobayashi returned Lulu went to help unload the stones, but they were too heavy for her to carry. She contented herself gathering wood for the fire. It wasn't hard. The past summer's storms had brought down plenty of dry oak branches that lay amongst the sandy leave debris of the forest floor. Lulu ducked into some thickets of palmetto to see what had made its home in them this year. She flushed a few quail, and started a dozen squirrels angrily chattering and twitching their thick fuzzy tails at her. When she had enough twigs and small branches to fill the leather thong, she looped it tight, heaved the bundle onto her shoulder, and headed back to camp. +When her father and Kobayashi returned Lulu went to help unload the stones, but they were too heavy for her to carry. She contented herself gathering wood for the fire. She grabbed a leather strap and headed for the oak forest at the back of the island. It wasn't hard to find wood. The past summer's storms had brought down plenty of dry oak branches that lay amongst the sandy leave debris of the forest floor. Lulu ducked into some thickets of palmetto to see what had made its home in them this year. She flushed a few quail, and started a dozen squirrels angrily chattering and twitching their thick fuzzy tails at her. When she had enough twigs and small branches to fill the leather thong, she looped it tight, heaved the bundle onto her shoulder, and headed back to camp. Her father arranged the tripod and tested its balance with a kettle full of water. They carried a number of large kettles, far larger than they needed to cook for the six of them, for occasions when a ship came to careen. Then whole crews of men, sometimes as many as a hundred would eat with them. Usually Tamba would kill a few pigs on those occasions. Last summer some sailors had managed to kill a bear. @@ -237,9 +237,11 @@ Lulu sat now and watched as Papa lit a fire. He said a prayer thanking Hestia, g With the fire going her father and Kobayashi began setting up the final element of camp, the ring. They took a circular piece of sailcloth about 20 feet in diameter with brass grommets ringing the outer edge, spaced about two feet apart. At each grommet there was a thin strip of leather which looped through the grommet and was tied off to a wooden stake at the other end. The stakes were then pounded into the sand and buried so that circle of sail cloth, while not quite taut, was tight enough to be swept free of sand. This was the ring in which they trained. -Everyone aboard *Wanderer* was expect to wrestle. Skilled wrestling, which Kobayashi insisted should be called Jujutsu, was the only practical self defense on a ship. The deck of a ship is a crowded place. Coiled lines are everywhere, capstands, booms, rigging, railings, and dozens of other things scattered about make wielding a sword difficult. As her father told it, the ship he and the others had served together on was attacked by pirates off the coast of Batavia. While others swung swords wildly, rarely hitting their mark, Kobayashi came bounding out of the hold unarmed, but began ducking and weaving around the deck, knocking people out, flinging them overboard, and occasionally killing them, all without ever touching a weapon. Later, after the boarding party was repelled, and the ship out of harms way, her father had pulled Kobayashi aside and asked him to teach him how to fight like he had fought. This was the beginning of their friendship. Once trained her father had become a devotee of the Jujutsu way as Kobayashi explained it and he insisted that everyone, even young Henry, train in Jujutsu. +Everyone aboard *Wanderer* was expect to wrestle. Skilled wrestling, which Kobayashi insisted should be called Jujutsu, was the only practical self-defense on a ship. The deck of a ship is a crowded place. Coiled lines are everywhere, capstands, booms, rigging, railings, and dozens of other things scattered about make wielding a sword difficult. As her father told it, the ship he and the others had served together on was attacked by pirates off the coast of Batavia. While others swung swords wildly, rarely hitting their mark, Kobayashi came bounding out of the hold unarmed, but began ducking and weaving around the deck, knocking people out, flinging them overboard, and occasionally killing them, all without ever touching a weapon. Later, after the boarding party was repelled, and the ship out of harms way, her father had pulled Kobayashi aside and asked him to teach him how to fight like he had fought. This was the beginning of their friendship. Once trained her father had become a devotee of the Jujutsu way as Kobayashi explained it and he insisted that everyone, even young Henry, train in Jujutsu. -Lulu watched as her father and Tamba finished staking out the ring. When that last spike was buried they both looked at each and her father gestured to the center. Tamba nodded and stripped off his shirt. Lulu still flinched at the scars on his back every time she saw them. After shaking hands they began to slowly circle each other with the steady patience of two fighters who knew each other well. Lulu watched as they both visible slowed their breathing, their diaphragms expanding with each inhale. Her father came in first, but he was too hasty, Tamba pulled guard and when her father tried to pass, Tamba reversed him, took the side, mounted, and put him in a collar choke. He tapped three times. It was over so fast Lulu wasn't able to learn much, though she kept thinking that her father had ducked in too soon. Patience, was what he always told her. Know the difference between patience and passivity he said, but sometimes he couldn't see his own impatience. +Lulu watched as her father and Tamba finished staking out the ring. When that last spike was buried they both looked at each and her father gestured to the center. Tamba nodded and stripped off his shirt. Lulu still flinched at the scars on his back every time she saw them. After shaking hands they began to slowly circle each other with the steady patience of two fighters who knew each other well. Lulu watched as they both visible slowed their breathing, their diaphragms expanding with each inhale. Her father came in first, but he was too hasty, Tamba dropped on top of his back and forced him down. Tamba hooked his feet around her father's legs, rolled over and spun at the same time, reversed him. Her father rolled into Tamba, blocking him from taking mount, but Tamba slid lightly to the side, dragging her father's arm out between Tamba's legs and them moving his hips up until the arm began to hyperextend. Her father tapped Tamba with his other arm. Tamba released him and they both sat up smiling. They slapped hands and bumped fists the way Kobayashi had taught them. It was over so fast Lulu wasn't able to learn much, though she kept thinking that her father had ducked in too soon. Patience, was what he always told her. Know the difference between patience and passivity he said, but sometimes he couldn't see his own impatience. + +While everyone was expected to wrestle, Lulu, Birdie, and Henry were given on limited instructions. Mostly they were expected to watch and learn. Until this year. This year they would begin to train with Kobayashi, Tamba, and their father guiding them. Lulu made a note to herself in her head. Don't rush into Birdie. Take your time. Know the difference between patience and passivity. --- @@ -247,7 +249,7 @@ The long afternoon shadows began to race their way across the clearing they'd be They ate dinner as the sun set through the trees behind their half-finished hut. Lulu went down to the shore and rinsed her abalone bowl. The air had a hint of chill at the edge of it. The sea was cold on her feet. When she came back her father and Kobayashi were laying oak logs on the coals that had cooked dinner. It wasn't long before the fire was roaring and light filled the circle of dune. Lulu sat on a log of gray driftwood and watched her Uncle Cole play the fiddle while Birdie and her father danced in circles. Henry and Owen sat on a log next to her Aunt Māra and directly across the fire. Lulu smiled. She like winter camp, she liked her family. She knew enough of the world to know they were different. Perhaps even odd to most people. But she didn't care. She was glad they had a place to live their lives the way they wanted to, a place they could fish, a place they could weather storms. -Birdie sat down beside her breathing hard from dancing. Her father pulled Henry up and danced with him and then he switched to Lulu. After a while Uncle Cole professed he was tired and put away the fiddle and sat down by the fire. There was catching up, plenty of poking fun, a rather long story about planting rice that Lulu lost track of in the middle when she began to doze off. It wasn't a made up story like the ones her father told around the fire on winter evenings. These were the stories Lulu wanted to hear. The stories that felt like they were real. Like the worlds he described were out there somewhere, waiting for her to discover. Worlds of pirates and ships and storms, talking animals, strange mythical creatures. Her father never failed to take what would always start as a normal story and turn it in someway that you never saw coming but afterward couldn't imagine turning out any other way. +Birdie sat down beside her, breathing hard from dancing. Her father pulled Henry up and danced with him and then he switched to Lulu. After a while Uncle Cole professed he was tired and put away the fiddle and sat down by the fire. There was catching up, plenty of poking fun, a rather long story about planting rice that Lulu lost track of in the middle when she began to doze off. It wasn't a made up story like the ones her father told around the fire on winter evenings. These were the stories Lulu wanted to hear. The stories that felt like they were real. Like the worlds he described were out there somewhere, waiting for her to discover. Worlds of pirates and ships and storms, talking animals, strange mythical creatures. Her father never failed to take what would always start as a normal story and turn it in someway that you never saw coming but afterward couldn't imagine turning out any other way. Later she found a blanket in the pile of still unsorted belongings in the hut and went partway up a dune where she could still feel the heat the fire, but also see the stars and the sea. She fell asleep watching Castor and Pollux twinkle in the night. |