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| -rw-r--r-- | lbh.txt | 36 |
1 files changed, 28 insertions, 8 deletions
@@ -64,7 +64,31 @@ Lulu and Birdie and Henri and two other families worth of children, their cousin But that didn't make the day any cooler or her patience any greater. -She hadn't been able to see her father or Tamba for at least an hour. They were resting in the shade on the far side of the clearing she guessed. Which meant another hour before they'd be back. + +--- + +Birdie sat in the shade of the last sago palm. It was the edge of camp. After the palm was the shore. She watched the ocean from the top ridge of the dune, squinting in the bright light of the midday sun. Birdie's real name was tk, after her mother's sister, who was down at the shoreline, pulling in a fishing net with Birdie's own mother. Birdie had helped them cast out the net and secure it to their buoys earlier in the morning. Now she was waiting. Waiting for her brother to play, waiting for her sister to return, her cousins to be done with their chores. She glance up the beach toward their camp but there was no sign of Charles or Samuel. She sighed and plucked a sea oat and began to break up the stem. + +Down the beach she would see the single mast of the Arkhangelsk. She was a 22ft Bermuda sloop that had been taken by the Whydah and put ashore with a small crew to careen and re-tar. Unfortunately for the Ave Marie, as she was known at the time, her hull was too worm eaten and split even for the quality of tar Birdies family was know for. + +The captain of the Ave Marie had disagreed. While the rest of his crew shrugged and went off fishing and hunting, the captain stewed until finally he'd strode into camp one afternoon 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. Her mother had pulled all the children inside the thatched home the shared for the summer, but Birdie had found a crack in the palm fronds and watched as her father walked very slowly forward until he had placed his neck against the captain's sword, which had been so unexpected that the captain had not noticed her uncle tk had slipped quietly up behind the captain and put a pistol to the back of his head. + +In the end the captain tried to laugh and pass it off, but he was clearly still angry. The last she or anyone else had seen of him he'd been marching off up the road to Charles town. She'd been worried about him coming back for several nights, refusing to sleep outside until her mother finally coaxed the problem out of her. "Sweet girl, you don't need to worry," her mother had said, "he's gone." + +And indeed he never came back. The Ave Marie had been left where she was when the family departed for their winter camp in the south. When they came back this year they found a storm had pushed the ship high above the tideline, and filled her hull nearly full of sand. She listed considerably to port, but was plenty straight enough to climb about what was left of her decks and bones. + +She had been commandeered by Birdie, along with Lulu, Henri and their cousins from up the beach, Charles and Samuel, and Tamba and Kadiatu's boy Cuffee. They'd spent the summer in her, every free moment they had, sailing the sands of the island, re-christening her the Arkhangelsk. + + +They crested the last dune before the beach and all went tumbling, cartwheeling down to the firmer sand of the shoreline, along which lay the + + + + + +--- + +Lulu hadn't been able to see her father or Tamba for at least an hour. They were resting in the shade on the far side of the clearing she guessed. Which meant another hour before they'd be back. When they finally did return, both were pouring seat and no longer bickering about farming or anything else. They drank the gourd of water and sat a while in the shade in silence. Lulu sensed that asking anything at that moment would only have earned her grunts. After a few minutes her father motioned with his head and Lulu set off, back through the trees to the pirogue. @@ -80,7 +104,9 @@ Lulu could feel the water pulling them now, partly the tide of the marsh, partly The shadows of the moss dangled like fingers form the oak trees when the pirogue finally nosed onto the sandy shore of the island, not more than half a mile from their home. She hopped off the side into the water and waded ashore. She glanced back at her father who nodded once and she needed no further encouragement, taking off down the path that led back to camp. -Lulu rounded the corner at full speed, bursting out of the tall field of sea oats that formed the souther boarder of their camp like a lion out of the grass. She smelled the warm sweetness of fish stew. Her mother was stirring a kettle over the fire. Her sister and Henri came running from the other side of camp, calling her to come to the dunes, but she was hungry. She ran over and hugged her mother, who pulled the stray hairs from her face, tucked them back behind her ears and scooped her up a bowl of stew with a piece of cold fried cawn bread. Lulu slurped at the hot stew, earning her a frown from her mother. +Lulu rounded the corner at full speed, bursting out of the tall field of sea oats that formed the souther boarder of their camp like a lion out of the grass. She smelled the warm sweetness of fish stew. Her mother was stirring a kettle over the fire. Her sister and Henri came running from the other side of camp, calling her to come to the dunes, but she was hungry. She ran over and hugged her mother, who pulled the stray hairs from her face, tucked them back behind her ears and scooped her up a bowl of stew with a piece of cold fried bread. Lulu slurped at the hot stew, earning her a frown from her mother. + + "Did you mark stumps?" Birdie watched her eat. @@ -106,9 +132,3 @@ Henri was only four, but was, as their father said, clever as a Lynx and innocen Despite his twinkle, Henri never got away with anything. He was too naturally mischievous and not very good at being sneaky. If something was amiss at camp, some prank played, some calamity caused, Mama always came looking for "my little brown imp." The only other possible culprit was their cousin Charles, but he was a year younger, actually quite sneaky, and lived a quarter mile down the beach with their aunt and uncle, which generally absolved him. -They crested the last dune before the beach and all went tumbling, cartwheeling down to the firmer sand of the shoreline, along which lay the Arkhangelsk. She was a 22ft Bermuda sloop that had been taken by the Whydah and put ashore with a small crew to careen and re-tar. Unfortunately for the Ave Marie, as she was known at the time, her hull was too worm eaten and split even for the quality of tar her father produced. The captain had disagreed. While the rest of the crew fished and hunted, the captain stewed until finally he'd strode into camp one afternoon shouting for her father, who eventually appeared. There was a good bit of quarreling in several languages until at some point Lulu remembered the captain drew his sword and her father had gone very quiet. Her mother had pulled the children back, inside the hut, but Lulu had found a crack in the palm thatching and watched as her father walked very slowly forward until he had placed his neck against the captain's sword, which had been so unexpected the captain had not noticed her uncle tk had slipped quietly up behind the captain and put a pistol to the back of his head. - -In the end the captain tried to laugh and pass it off, but he was clearly still angry. The last she or anyone else had seen of him he'd been marching off up the road to Charles town. She'd been worried about him coming back for several night, refusing to sleep outside until her mother finally coaxed the problem out of her. You don't need to worry her mother had said, he will not be back. - -And indeed he never had. The Ave Marie had been left where she was when the family departed for southern shores the year before. When the came back this year the found a storm had pushed her high above the tideline, filled her hull nearly halfway full of sane and left her listing to the port, but surprisingly straight all things considered. She had been taken over by Lulu, Birdie, Henri and their cousins from up the beach, Charles and Samuel. They'd spent the summer in her, re-christening her the Arkhangelsk. - |