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@@ -196,24 +196,12 @@ That year, when the last the southerlies blew out and before the northerlies tur They kept to the coast, giving wide berth to the places men gathered. When they came upon the marshy lowlands of London, they put in for a time. A brother arrived, his mother too left as he came. Their father grew even quieter for a time, then he disappeared altogether for a while. -When he returned the winds blew favorably again and they left, hugging the coast until there was no coast left. And they were gone again. +When he returned the winds blew favorably again and they left, hugging the coast until there was no coast left. And they were gone again. To a new world where people said the soldiers were fewer, the winds warmer, the possibilities wider. -To a new world where people said the soldiers were fewer, the winds warmer, the possibilities wider. By the time they arrived all the twins had left was a memory of trees. The deep darkness of the forest floor where they would lie as babies, staring up at the trees, the branches reaching like thick fingers to scratch at the light of the sky above. +By the time they arrived all the twins had left was a memory of trees. The deep darkness of the forest floor where they would lie as babies, staring up at the trees, the branches reaching like thick fingers to scratch at the light of the sky above. # Autumn -""" -Opening scene on the boat establishes birdie, always aware of her surroundings, always learning from her papa. - -Also needs to to introduce Lulu and Henri, Kobayashi, Tambo and his wife to be. At the end of the chapter, they land on Edisto, set up camp. Papa goes to fetch the cousins. - - - - -They sail in the next day, father tells a story of some kind, a gannet dives at the boat to add some drama. they reach edisto, sam and charlie, the cousins come out from Owen twon. Tamba and tk and cuthie, he gets introduced, they set up camp, play on the dunes, find the arkhangelsk, make tar, go inland to get chicle, hunt and fish and swim. Then north to Owen town, then the storm. The death of Sam and then the family heads north again. - -""" - ## Chapter 1: On The Sea The scent of the world crept into her hammock before she ever opened her eyes. The smell of wet wood and salt. The soft sweetness of wood too long at sea and then the bright briny salt smell of the sea itself. She opened her eyes and looked up. A sliver of purple twilight peaked through the canvas of the hammock, wrapped up around her. She craned her head back to look at the dark brown mast, crusted with salty white patterns that looked like the drawings of snowflakes in Papa's big book, which was wrapped carefully in walrus leather and stored somewhere in the small hold below her. She did not know where. Neither did her sister. Neither did her brother. It was a mystery they worked on nearly every day they were at sea. @@ -252,25 +240,29 @@ She could see her brother's unruly mop of hair sticking out the side of the hamm "Papa?" -He nodded to her and then turned back around to watch the sun rise. Birdie ran aft, ducking under booms, and hopping over the coiled lines and small barrels stacked along the gunwales, a name she did not understand since there were no cannon on the tk. Well, none on the gunwale anyway. Below deck in the stern were two small cannon loaded with forks and knives designed to shred an enemies sails. The tk is small, Tambo once told her. We would be blown to bits by a cannon, but we're fast, we can outrun them all. We have just enough fire power to convince any other small, fast ships not to chase us. That's all we need. +He nodded to her and then turned back around to watch the sun rise. Birdie ran aft, ducking under booms, and hopping over the coiled lines and small barrels stacked along the gunwales, a name she did not understand since there were no cannon on Delos. Well, none on the gunwale anyway. Below deck in the stern were two small cannon loaded with forks and knives designed to shred an enemy's sails. "Delos is small," Tambo once told her. "We would be blown to bits by a cannon, but we're fast, we can outrun them all. We have just enough fire power to convince any other small, fast ships not to chase us. That's all we need." -She ducked into the small doorway that led below decks, hands on the rails and flung herself down with a single leap. It was much darker below, it took her eyes a moment to adjust. She could see the glow of the stove and Kobayashi's form bent over, stirring a pot. He never looked up at her thud. He kicked a clay pot by his feet so that it slid slightly toward her. She grabbed a basket hanging from the rafters and scooped rice out of the pot and into it. +She ducked into the small doorway that led below decks. Keeping her hands on the rails -- always keep one hand on the boat was her father's mantra -- she flung herself down with a single leap, bypassing the wooden ladder completely. It was much darker below, it took her eyes a moment to adjust. She could see the glow of the stove and Kobayashi's form bent over, stirring a pot. He never looked up at her thud. He kicked a clay pot by his feet so that it slid slightly toward her. She grabbed a basket hanging from the rafters and scooped rice out of the pot and into it. He handed her several strips of dried fish, which she balanced on top of the pile of rice. "Aiiie. You eat everything." Kobayashi smiled. "It's for everyone" she said tucking the lid on. -Make sure your brother eats some, that boy is too skinny. +"Make sure your brother eats some, that boy is too skinny." -"You sound like Kadi." Kobayashi frowned at her, but but she hardly noticed, the thought of Kadiatu made her heart flutter like a bird's wings. Only a few more days and they would be at Edisto. Kadiatu and her family would join them, her cousins would be there. They'd have the forest to run through, the dunes, they'd have space again. Birdie loved the sea, the way it held and rocked them, the way the boat glided through it, but she always felt a guest at sea. It was like visiting a distant relatives, you have a connection, but it is an old one that's difficult to put your finger on, like the memory of a smell you can't quite smell again, you try to sniff deeper, but the harder you try the more it receeds. The soul of the sea was too old, to vague to under stand in a human way. Very few could ever feel at home in the sea. Birdie felt at home on the land. It was there at the shore, the edge, the space where the ancient sea met the land today that she felt most herself. +"You sound like Aunt Māra." -She managed the trip out of the hold with one hand on the ladder, one carrying the basket of rice and dried fish. The rolling motion of the swells moving beneath them way it difficult to walk evenly. She lurched and stumbled her way to stern where everyone was waiting for the cold rice and dried fish. She'd be happy to eat some meat again. She hoped Papa and Tamba would go hunting as soon as they landed. They'd run out the last of the Pemmican two weeks before when they were held up in the outer islands by a late season storm. They'd spent the better part of two days beached, living under the tipped over hull, huddled out of the wind and rain, spitting the sand out of their mouths and wishing for sunshine. +Kobayashi frowned at her, but but she hardly noticed, the thought of Aunt Māra and Birdie's cousins made her heart flutter like a bird's wings. Only a few more days and they would be at Edisto. They'd have the forest to run through, the dunes. They'd have space again. Birdie loved the sea, the way it held and rocked them, the way the boat glided through it, but she always felt a guest at sea. It was like visiting a distant relatives, you have a connection, but it is an old one that's difficult to put your finger on, like the memory of a smell you can't quite smell again, you try to sniff deeper, but the harder you try the more it recedes. The soul of the sea was too old, to vague to understand in a human way. Very few could ever feel at home in the sea. Birdie felt at home on the land. It was there at the shore, the edge, the space where the ancient sea met the land of today that she felt most herself. -When they finally floated tk again after the storm had past the rough seas seemed like nothing, anything was better than being wet and cold and chewing sand in the ceaseless wind. +She managed the basket of food in one hand, the other on the ladder as she ascended back into the light of the deck. The rolling motion of the swells moving beneath them way it difficult to walk evenly. She lurched and stumbled her way to stern where everyone was waiting for the cold rice and dried fish. She'd be happy to eat some fresh meat again too. She hoped Papa and Tamba would go hunting as soon as they landed. She hoped this year she'd be able to hunt too. Her father had promised her last year that this year she could hunt. -The wind had born them south, hugging the shoreline, out of the strong northward current that ran further offshore. They saw sails only twice and both times the ships were too far over the horizon to see more than a top sail. They were big her father said. This morning they were using a favorable offshore breeze to ride out further so they would only be a small bit a sail on the horizon to anyone with a spyglass standing on the shore in Charlestown. +They'd run out the last of their Pemmican two weeks before when they were held up in the outer islands by a late season storm. They'd spent the better part of two days beached, living under the tipped over hull, huddled out of the wind and rain, spitting the sand out of their mouths and wishing for sunshine. -Running downwind, as they were, meant they were moving at the same speed as the wind. So even though there was wind all around them, it felt still, dead still, and the warm humid Florida air was like sitting inside a wet wool sweater. Birdie sat in the slight shade of the sail, with her back against the mizzen, alternately watching the shoreline for signs of Charlestown, and whittling a whistle she was planning to use to find duck nests when they got the island. +When they finally floated Delos again after the storm had passed, the rough seas seemed like nothing. Anything was better than being wet and cold and chewing sand in the ceaseless wind. + +The wind had born them south, hugging the shoreline, out of the strong northward current that ran further offshore. They saw sails only twice and both times the ships were too far over the horizon to see more than a top sail. They were big her father said. This morning they were using a favorable offshore breeze to ride out further so they would only be a tiny bit a sail on the horizon to anyone with a spyglass standing on the shore at the mouth of the river near Charlestown. The pilot boats that helped merchant ships navigate the narrow shoals up the river into Charlestown harbor kept a sharp eye out for sails. Not every ship in these seas were welcome on the land. + +Running downwind, as they were, meant they were moving at the same speed as the wind. So even though there was wind all around them, it felt still. Dead still. The warm humid Carolina air was like sitting inside a wet wool sweater. Birdie sat in the slight shade of the sail, with her back against the mizzen, alternately watching the shoreline for signs of Charlestown, and whittling a whistle she was planning to use to find duck nests when they got to the island. Her father, Tambo, and Kobayashi sat in the stern, taking turns tending the wheel. She did not turn around to see who was at the wheel, she could feel the boat and knew it was her father. The other two were probably smoking their pipes, and scanning the horizon for any sign of sail. They'd all done close to the same every day for the past ten days, but now it felt different. Birdie sensed a tension that had not been there when they were in the north. A tension that had not been there, she stopped whittling for a moment and considered it. Had she ever sensed a tension? She could not recall every feeling the tightness in her chest that she felt now. It felt like something was swelling in the air around them, squeezing them somehow. Her father's voice brought her back to the ship. @@ -280,7 +272,7 @@ Tambo grunted. "Easier for you to say." "Well then at least put your glass more to the north, They'll not cross the stream where we did, they'll stay out longer. They're provisioned better, have more sails. Why would they sail these shallows?" -"Because they people they are hunting sail these shallows." +"Because the people they are hunting sail these shallows." "They aren't hunting you Tam. They aren't hunting anyone. They're coming to retake Nassau." @@ -288,11 +280,13 @@ Tambo grunted. "Easier for you to say." "No." -The rumors from early in the summer, up on the cape, were that the British were planning to retake Nassau soon, and would very likely be putting in at Charlestown before they did. +The rumors from early in the summer, up on the cape, were that the British were planning to retake the Bahamaian port of Nassau soon. Once abandoned as useless, pirates had found a use of Nassau and for two seasons running they had openly controlled, administered, governed, and otherwise run the port of Nassau. The entire eastern seaboard talked of nothing but pirates. Birdie and her family had overhead plenty during their summer stay on Block Island, a small, nearly bare island off the coast of the colony of Rhode Island. It had no good harbor, little land worth farming, and almost no one went there making it a popular destination for ships with cargoes that could not sail into Boston proper and expect a warm welcome. + +Delos was not a pirate vessel, and did not sail with pirate vessels, but it, and Birdie along with it, definitely knew and spent time with ships and crews that were often called pirate by those that spread rumors up and down the Atlantic coast of the colony. Rumors that were always saying, the British are coming. Except that the British never actually came, or came to the wrong place, or not enough of the came. Birdie had lost track of what it was the British did and didn't do. They were about as real as the black and white birds that couldn't fly that Kobayashi swore he had seen on a trip around cape horn. -You don't think they'll come at all or you don't think they take Nassau. +"You don't think they'll come at all, or you don't think they take Nassau." Tambo's voice was low, as if he didn't want Birdie and her sibling to here this part of the discussion. -I don't think they'll come at all. Not this year. They'll retake Nassau someday. They can't let Vane have run of the place forever. But they aren't coming this year." +"I don't think they'll come at all. Not this year. They'll retake Nassau someday. They can't let Hornigold have run of the place forever. But they aren't coming this year. Or the next." "How can you be so sure" @@ -302,63 +296,79 @@ I don't think they'll come at all. Not this year. They'll retake Nassau someday. "Okay. But on this one you'll have to trust me. No British warships coming to take Nassau this year." -Neither of the other men said anything. The silence stretch out until Henri came running from the bow, careening the length of the ship without ever touching a railing or handhold yet somehow never losing his footing. She watched him shove his hand in the basket, pull out a handful of now dried out rice, and then turn and run back the length of the ship, again without touching anything or seeming to stumble, and then disappear into the hold where he was playing with Lulu. She envied him, those sea legs. Even her father seemed somewhat taken aback by Henri's sea legs. But he usually just shrugged and said, "I guess that's how it is when you're born at sea". +Neither of the other men said anything. The silence stretch out until Henri came running from the bow, careening the length of the ship without ever touching a railing or handhold, yet somehow never losing his footing. She watched him shove his hand in the basket, pull out a handful of now dried out rice, and then turn and run back the length of the ship, again without touching anything or seeming to stumble, and then disappear into the hold where he was playing with Lulu. She envied him, those sea legs. Even her father seemed somewhat taken aback by Henri's sea legs. But he usually just shrugged and said, "I guess that's how it is when you're raised on the sea." -Henri's mother had given birth to Henri and died shortly thereafter on the short passage to London. Birdie had been two and half years old, she had a few fuzzy memories of Henri's mother. Dark hair leaning over her, the sunset in a window behind her. They had lived for a time on shore. Near the Thames. Her father worked on ships. It was here he had first met Tambo. A woman watched Birdie and her sister during the day. Sometimes her father would hire on a ship and be gone for several weeks. The last of these trips was nearly two months. Birdie remembered sitting under the table with Lulu, both of them crying, while the woman who watched them spoke to a harbor master about storms and her father's ship going down. +Birdie had been two and half years old, when Henri was born. She had only a few fuzzy memories of Henri's mother. Dark hair leaning over her. The sunset in a window behind her. They had lived for a time on shore. Near the Thames. Her father worked on ships. A woman watched Birdie and her sister during the day. Sometimes her father would hire on a ship and be gone for several weeks. The last of these trips was nearly two months. Birdie remembered sitting under the table with Lulu, both of them crying, while the woman who watched them spoke to a harbor master about storms and her father's ship going down. -Two night later, there had been a tap at the window and there he was. +Two night later, there had been a tap at the window and there he was. She'd picked Henri out of his crib and they had all disappeared into the London night. The next day they were well out of Thames and bound for the Colonies. -Neither she nor Lulu had any memories of their mother, save the stories she had heard her father tell, memories she inherited and clung too sometimes when she felt the tightness in her chest grow too much to bear. +Neither she nor Lulu had any memories of their own mother, save the stories she had heard her father tell, memories she inherited and clung too sometimes when she felt the tightness in her chest grow too much to bear. -She was startled out of a midday drowse by Tambo's shout from the bow. "I see the bank." Birdie jumped up and ran the bow (grabbing the mizzen mast, rails, lines and other other holds, as normal people do on a ship), racing past Lulu and Henri coming out of the hold. She nearly slammed into a Tambo, but managed to hit the rail next to him instead. She followed his finger and saw the light green patch that marked the bank. It was high tide, still under water. The bank was a deposit of sand and silt that started a few hundred yards out from the north fork of the Edisto river and stretched between half a mile and mile out to sea, depending on the year. This year it looked to be shorter than usual. The bank was where they did most of the their fishing, and last year they'd even careened a very large ship on it. Birdie had not been allow to come on that ship, but she, her siblings, her cousins and some of the local kids had all sat on the end of the island and watched as three smaller ships careened a new ship, the largest ship Birdie had ever seen, a ship called Queen Anne's Revenge. +She was startled out of a midday drowse by Tambo's shout from the bow. "I see the bank." Birdie jumped up and ran the bow (grabbing on the way the mizzen mast, rails, lines and other other holds, as normal people do on a ship), racing past Lulu and Henri coming out of the hold. She nearly slammed into a Tambo, but managed to hit the rail next to him instead. She followed his finger and saw the light green patch that marked the bank. It was high tide, still under water. The bank was a deposit of sand and silt that started a few hundred yards out from the north fork of the Edisto river and stretched between half a mile and mile out to sea, depending on the year. This year it looked to be shorter than usual. The bank was where they did most of the their fishing, and last year they'd even careened a very large ship on it. Birdie had not been allow to come on that ship, but she, her siblings, her cousins and some of the local kids had all sat on the end of the island and watched as three smaller ships careened a new ship, the largest ship Birdie had ever seen, a ship called Revenge sailed by a captain with the curious name of Bonnet. Birdie ran astern to tell her father what they had seen, but he was already standing on the Taffrail, glass to his eye. "Bit smaller this year, eh Birdie?" "I thought so, but I wasn't sure." -"Must've 'ad some weather this summer." Her father hopped down. "Hope we're done with that," she heard him mutter to himself. He pointed to the wheel. "Bring us out a wee bit." Birdie turned the wheel a quarter to port and tk's nose edged out toward the open ocean, carving a wide berth around the bank. +"Must've 'ad some weather this summer." Her father hopped down. "Hope we're done with that," she heard him mutter to himself. He pointed to the wheel. "Bring us out a wee bit." Birdie turned the wheel a quarter to port and Delo's nose edged out toward the open ocean, carving a wide berth around the bank. -Orange-headed gannets and brown pelicans dove at the outer edge of the bank, their sleek wings pulled back until they looked like harpoon tips thrown from some unseen ship sailing in the sky. The sliced through the air and hit the surface of the sea with such a quiet, tiny splash, transformed in an instant from bird to fish. And they surface, the Gannet's always with a fish in their beak. Birdie turned to her father, "Papa can we fish?" +Orange-headed gannets and brown pelicans dove at the outer edge of the bank, their sleek wings pulled back until they looked like harpoon tips thrown from some unseen ship sailing in the sky. The sliced through the air and hit the surface of the sea with such a quiet, tiny splash, transformed in an instant from bird to fish. And they surface, the Gannets always with a fish in their beak. Birdie turned to her father, "Papa can we fish?" "Sure, throw in a line, see if you can grab dinner for us." Birdie dashed forward and down in the hull. She fumbled around in the darkness near the stack of water barrels where she kept her line. She felt the iron hook and pulled it gently until the spool of catgut revealed itself. Next to it her fingers felt for the burlap she used to wrap her hand. Once she had everything, she grabbed a piece of dried fish hanging from a rafter, and climbed back up on deck. -At the stern she baited the hook, tied it off on the rail, and threw it out. It jerked in her hands as skipped and then sank until the slack had all fed out. Before it had, she saw the tkfish coming for it. "Papa!" she squealed. He nodded, but turned back to watch the sea in front of them, hunting for the river mouth they would follow into the marshland, where they would secure the boat for the season. +At the stern she baited the hook, tied it off on the rail, and threw it out. It jerked in her hands as skipped and then sank until the slack had all fed out. Before it had, she saw the distinctive black and gray stripes of a porgy fish coming for it. "Papa!" she squealed. He glanced back and nodded as the line went taut in her hand, but turned back to watch the sea in front of them, hunting for the river mouth they would follow into the marshland, where they would secure the boat for the season. -Birdie pulled it in, Lulu held it for her while she cut its throat and tossed it in a bucket to let the blood drain out. She baited the hook and gain the tossed it out. This time, just as she was getting ready to bring her second fish on board, a gannet dove hard, the line jerked and her fish was gone. Birdie frantically pulled in the empty line and breathed a sigh of relief when she found the iron hook still there. I was, after the doll K had sewn her, her most prized possession. She took it as a sign, and began to coil up the line. It was far easier to fish from the smaller bateau she and her cousins rowed out to the bank. The slower boat meant their lines went deeper, the birds rarely had a chance to steal their catch. +Birdie pulled in the porgy, which was big enough to feed them all in a stew. Lulu held it for her while she severed its spine with her knife and tossed it in a barrel to let the blood drain out. She baited the hook and tossed it out again. This time, just as she was getting ready to bring her second porgy on board, a gannet dove hard at it, the line jerked and all but the head of her fish was gone. Birdie frantically pulled in the empty line and breathed a sigh of relief when she found the iron hook still there. The hook was, after the doll Aunt Māra had sewn her, her most prized possession. She took it as a sign, and began to coil up the line. It was far easier to fish from the smaller bateau she and her cousins rowed out to the bank. The slower boat meant their lines went deeper, the birds rarely had a chance to steal their catch. "Coming about," Her father yelled. Birdie instinctively ducked as the booms creaked and groaned and lines whirled and the ship pitched from starboard to port and pointed her nose at a sharper angle to shore. -The tk was a lateen rigged Caraval with two masts and two triangular sails. She was light, fast and manuverable, but still had a relatively short keep that made it possible to bring her nearly a mile up the Edisto river if they had really wanted to. Their winter home was nowhere near that far, in fact it was on the island, but they kept the boat in the marsh, protected from storms by a massive stand of lobblolly pine that protected the marsh. +Delos was a lateen rigged Caraval with two masts and two triangular sails. She was light, fast and maneuverable. She had a short keel that made it possible to bring her nearly a mile up the Edisto river if they needed. Their winter home was nowhere near that far up river, in fact they made their camp on the island, a mere quarter mile from the Atlantic shore. Delos would be kept further up in the marsh though, protected from storms by a massive stand of lobblolly pine that sheltered the marsh. -The worst part of winter camp was arriving. Every year they had to somehow beat upwind, while fighting the current of the river, while constantly sounding to watch for shallows in the mudding brown river mouth. Even now, still a quarter mile off shore, Kobayashi and Tambo were hauling up the sounding lines while her father shortened the traveler so the tk could take faster and beat closer to the wind. All Birdie wanted was to get ashore and see Kadi, but she went below and stowed her fishing gear. She and Lulu climbed to the crows nest on the main mast and began watching for light patches of water that meant shallows. +The worst part of winter camp was arriving. Every year they had to beat upwind, while also fighting the current of the river and constantly sounding to watch for shallows in the mudding brown river mouth. Even now, still a quarter mile off shore, Kobayashi and Tambo were hauling up the sounding lines while her father shortened the traveler so they could beat closer to the wind. -The tk tacked back and forth up and down the windward side of the island for most of the day, waiting for the tide to begin streaming in, since this would give them the added momentum the needed to make it into the river mouth where, for a time, it was too narrow to tack. Last year they had to run out the two oars that her father had carved from great thin, nearly perfectly straight tk pines and paddle with the current. This year though the gods smiled on them and the wind shifted to the north enough that they could swing out to see, and ride the wind west right into the mouth of the river where they dropped the main sail and landed just as the sun was disappearing in the trees that tangled up the western horizon. +All Birdie wanted was to get ashore and see Aunt Māra and her cousins. She went below and stowed her fishing gear. She and Lulu climbed to the crows nest on the main mast and began watching for light patches of water that meant shallows. -Though it was very likely everyone on the island had seen them come in, they were still too deep in the marsh to make it to camp before dark. They made the last meal of the season on the ship with Birdie's fish and hatched plans to get tk unloaded the next morning. Birdie, Lulu, and Henri fell asleep making plans for what they would do when the saw their cousins again the next day. +Their father tacked Delos back and forth up and down the windward side of the island for most of the day, waiting for the tide to begin streaming in, since this would give them the added momentum the needed to make it into the river mouth where, for a time, it was too narrow to tack. Last year they had to run out the two oars that her father had carved from great thin, nearly perfectly straight pines and paddle with the current. This year though the gods smiled on them and the wind shifted to the north enough that they could swing out to sea, and ride the wind west, right into the mouth of the river where they dropped the main sail and landed just as the sun was disappearing in the trees that tangled up the western horizon. + +Everyone on the island had seen them come in, but they were still too deep in the marsh to make it to camp before dark. They made the last meal of the season on the ship with Birdie's fish and hatched plans to get Delos unloaded the next morning. Birdie, Lulu, and Henri fell asleep making plans for what they would do when the saw their cousins the next day. ## Chapter 2: Off The Sea The feel of sand stuck to her fingers. 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 pull it down over her head and sat up to look around. -She was named Linnea for 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 eighth year. +She was named Linnea for 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. -Her skin was brown from long days in the sun. She was thin, but strong. Her body all bone and taut ropy muscle. Her hair was brown bleached to blond by the summer sun. She licked her lip, pulling the 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 bleached to blond by the summer sun. She licked her lip, pulling the 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 already pink and rapidly turning orange. She knew her father would already be awake back at the boat. She 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 the sea, but firmer. -She wrapped the sheet, which had once been the tk's foresail, around her shoulders and walked down the beach to 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 the hull. 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 Birdie's family was known for making. 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. A storm two years ago had washed her up and into the dunes, but left her mostly in tact. Then the next year another storm had spun her around, bow to the sea and in doing so torn off much of the stern. But as she settled in the shifting dunes, the top deck leveled out. She still listed a little to port, but not so much that you couldn't raise around the upper deck more or less just like you could on the tk, which was currently back in the marsh, and would soon have to be unloaded. +She wrapped the sheet, which had once been the Delos'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. Nearly as much as she thought to Delos as her ship. Delos might be her home, but Arkhangelsk was her ship. + +She was a 42ft 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 Birdie'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. -Lulu walked around the Arkhangelsk, checking and comparing with her memory of it when they'd left last year. If there had been a storm over the summer it didn't seem to have affect 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. +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 in tact. 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. -She jumped off the bow into the soft sand and began walking back to camp. By the time she arrived everyone was up and unloading barrels except her father and Tambo who were looking over the pirogue, which had been stored for months now in the hold of the tk. They seemed satisfied with it and set in the muddy water next to where they'd landed the tk. +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 Delos, 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 Delos. Well, Captain Birdie might try, but just let her. Lulu always ignored Captain Birdie's orders anyway. -"Lulu, good of you to join us again" Her father smiled, but his tone of voice told her she was late. Papa did not suffer anyone not pulling their weight. She looked around. Henri and Birdie were bringing things up from the hold and stacking them as best they could and the listing deck. The tk was aground now that the tide was out. +Lulu walked around the Arkhangelsk, checking and comparing with her memory of it when they'd left last year. 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. -Suddenly arms grabbed her from behind and lifted her into the air, she was squeezed tight against a warm soft chest. "Lulu, I've missed you." Kadiatu put her down and spun her around. Lulu wrapped her arms around her. "Kadi, I missed you." Lulu felt the warm of Kadi's belly against her face, she felt the warmth spreading through her body and all the tighter. +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. -"Hi Lu." said a shy voice behind her. She slipped slow out of Kadi's embrace and turned to face her cousin Charles. He looked older. She wondered if she did too. His front teeth had finished growing in and he looked somehow like an adult. Lulu wasn't sure she liked this look, but she hugged him anyway. +She signed and went to retrieved her sheet. Delos 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 moping 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 to camp. + +--- + +She walked over the dunes into the area that would be the camp and took stock of it. The fire pit would need to be dug out again, the bamboo frame of the little hut that would be their winter home was nowhere to be seen, but she assumed her father or Tambo knew where it was buried. Or would claim too. There were already two barrels plopped unceremoniously in the middle of what would eventually be camp. Not very ship shape she thought as she started down the trail to the marsh. + +When she got to Delos everyone was already up and unloading barrels. There was no breakfast in sight and her stomach was growling. "Lulu, good of you to join us again" Her father smiled, but his tone of voice told her she was late. Papa did not suffer anyone not pulling their weight. She looked around. Henri and Birdie were bringing things up from the hold and stacking them as best they could and the listing deck. Delos was aground now that the tide was out. + +Her father and Tambo were alongside Delos, looking over the pirogue, which had been stored for months now in the hold. They seemed satisfied with it and set in the muddy water next to Delos. + +She was about to ask her father were Aunt Māra and her cousins were when she felt herself grabbed from behind and swept off the ground into her Aunt Māra's arms. She was squeezed tight against a warm soft chest. "Lulu. I've missed you so much." Aunt Māra kissed her cheeks before she put her down and spun her around. Lulu wrapped her arms around her. "Māra, I missed you." Lulu felt the warm of Aunt Māra's belly against her face, she felt the warmth spreading through her body and all the tighter. + +"Hi Lu." said a shy voice behind her. She slipped slow out of Kadi's embrace and turned to face her cousin Francis. He looked older. She wondered if she did too. His front teeth had finished growing in and he looked somehow like an adult. Lulu wasn't sure she liked this look, but she hugged him anyway. "The Arkhangelsk is still in good shape." @@ -370,7 +380,7 @@ Suddenly arms grabbed her from behind and lifted her into the air, she was squee 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 Francis seem like he thought she might be? Henri 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 Henri, 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 Henri 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 with Kadi and her daughter Cuffee, and her mother and grandmother at their cottage up the river. She loved to sit and rough pine boards of their porch and listen to them talk about anything and everything. She love to use the vines hanging from the big oak that stretched out over the river to swing out and drop midstream into the delicious cool pool of black water. +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 Henri 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 with Aunt Māra or go upriver to see Kadiatu and her daughter Cuffee and her mother at their cottage on the mainland. She loved to sit on the rough pine boards of their porch and listen to them talk about anything and everything. She love to use the vines hanging from the big oak that stretched out over the river to swing out and drop midstream into the delicious cool pool of black water. Sometimes she would spend the afternoon hunting plants in the thickets with Kadi and her mother. Other days, when Cuffee was in the mood, she would bring her down river to their camp to play in the Arkhangelsk. Cuffee would be thirteen this year though, and from what her grandmother had said last year, she might not be playing on the Arkhangelsk anymore. Lulu wondered why, but did not want to ask because it seemed assumed that she knew why, and she did not want to admit that she didn't know. Birdie did not know either when Lulu asked her. @@ -382,9 +392,11 @@ Today though, Cuffee came up out of the hold of the Arkhangelsk with a load of p The hugged and laughed and hugged some more. Until that moment Lulu would not have said that she missed Cuffee that much, but then suddenly she realized she had, without knowing she had. And somehow it made her want to cry that she did not know that she had missed her this much and so she squeezed her tighter and buried her face in her shoulder and thick braids of hair and cried for a moment. Cuffee pulled her back and wiped her tears. "It is okay, we are here now. Together. Come on, help me get these pots down to your camp." -Lulu followed her back up onto the ship and helped gather up the pots, taking extra care with Kobayashi's precious rice steamer and basket. +Lulu followed her back up onto the ship and helped gather up the pots, taking extra care with Kobayashi's precious rice steaming basket. 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 Tambo 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 just the best rice for each thing. That was what Papa always said, there is no best, just best for this, best for that, best for now. -All morning they hauled gear out of the Arkhangelsk down the island to the cluster of dunes at the south eastern tip. There they found a sheltered area in the middle of the dunes and set about constructing their camp, which consisted of little more than a thatched hut, built to a design the Edistow had taught Tambo, who had taught her father, who had taught his children. It was, as all great shelters are, ingeniously simple. A pole structure made of half oak timbers, which gave it strength, and half pine timbers, which were bent to give it shape, was then covered with thatching made of half woven reed mats. Her father and Tambo had the basic structure done by mid afternoon. For the time being they simply draped the main sheet over the top in case of rain. In the next few weeks Lulu, Birdie, her Aunt Māra, Cuffee, Kadiatu and sometimes her parents would help to make the thatching. +All morning Lulu helps hauled food and gear out of the Arkhangelsk down the trail to the cluster of dunes at the south eastern tip of the island. Here, alongside the mouth of the tk river they used a sheltered area of dunes to make camp. It was exactly where they had stayed for three years now, ever since the northern end of the island shifted and water turned too salty to even cook with. + +Kobayashi, Tambo and her father set about constructing their camp, which consisted of little more than a thatched hut, built to a design the Edistow had taught Tambo, who had taught her father, who had taught his children. It was, as all great shelters are, ingeniously simple. A pole structure made of half oak timbers, which gave it strength, and half pine timbers, which were bent to give it shape, was then covered with thatching made of half woven reed mats. Her father and Tambo had the basic structure done by mid afternoon. For the time being they simply draped the main sheet over the top in case of rain. In the next few weeks Lulu, Birdie, her Aunt Māra, Cuffee, Kadiatu and sometimes her parents would help to make the thatching. Her father brought two large flat stones to build a hearth in the middle so the smoke would drift up through the opening. He lit a fire, said a prayer, the threw of some Frankincense resin on the coals. The sweet, light scent of Frankincense filled the hut when Lulu walked in carrying a load of tk and it immediately smelled like home. @@ -2020,7 +2032,7 @@ Henry did not say anything, he just continued to lean against her. Lulu watched the water in front of them shimmering black in the starlit night. Overhead the wispy cloud of stars her father called the great sail was glowing above them. Lulu felt herself relax. She felt the weight of her brother against her, warm and safe. She squeezed him tighter and said a prayer for them all. -### +--- The darkness felt like a black quilt wrapped around them, a cover beneath which they could disappear into safety. She still didn't know why they were running, but if that was what they were to do, then do it already, she thought. But she said nothing to Tambo and Kobayashi who had relieved her just as her eyelids were starting to drop. Henri had long since fallen asleep with his head in her lap. Kobayashi carried him back to the stern and placed him in his hammock. Lulu wanted to stay up but her eyelids were so heavy it hurt to keep them up. She didn't remember giving in, but she jolted awake again when she felt Delos move. She tried to gauge how long she had been a sleep, but she couldn't see the moon for teh trees and wasn't sure where it had been when she fell asleep anyway. @@ -2524,7 +2536,7 @@ This was what she'd been waiting for him to say. "If that's not wrong then why i "Woah!" He jerked the reins tight, and the horses nearly reared as the wagon can lurching to a stop. He said nothing, but turned and stared at her for a long time. She felt his eyes memorizing her features the way she had studied the pictures her book. Then he turned around again, shook the reins, and resumed their journey. This was what grownups did when they lost an argument, they pretended as if the whole thing had never happened. McPhail stared off into space and ignored her the remainder of the way into Charlestown. ---- + --- The landscape changed as they neared Charlestown, swampy forest gave way to large rice fields and sugar plantations. Charlestown sat on a peninsula at the confluence of two rivers, nearly five miles upriver from the sea. The first river you came upon from the southern road that Birdie's wagon was slowly lumbering up, met the Ashley river and followed the edge of it to the ferry at the edge of town. The road was better here, Birdie was able to sit up without bracing herself again the sides. It wound through the great sugar plantations where her uncles and cousins once worked in the summer. Birdie felt a now familiar lump in her throat at the thought of them. She squinted in the sun and watched as armies of slaves worked the fields. Men with guns sat idly in the shade of oak trees. They waved to the party of soldiers and wagon as it lumbered past. Birdie just stared back. The slaves in the field looked up and just a quickly looked down again, lest the men in the shade notice them. @@ -2836,7 +2848,139 @@ Her father grunted and rubbed his beard thoughtfully. "That's true, but McPhail "Maybe it's time the Alban brought some order to Nassau then." -Her father narrowed his eyes at her. "Now you're talking Birdie. Now you're talking. We'll bring this to rest of the crew and see what they think." +Her father narrowed his eyes at her and smiled. "Now you're talking." + +### Back to camp + +Their camp looked just as they had left it. Birdie ran ahead of her father and Edward's men who'd come for the tar. As she crested the dunes and looked down she half expected it to all be gone, but it was all there, the hut, the fire, the kettles beside it. Everything just as she had left it that afternoon, just a few days ago she realized with a start. A few days and the whole world had turned upside down. + +Now it was time to turn their camp upside down. While Tambo and Henri, along with two of the better hunters among Queen Anne's crew headed off to the interior of the island in search of boar and deer, Kobayashi and her father fashioned sleds from spars the yanked out of the roof of the hut. Birdie and Lulu gathered up their belonging and piled them next to the sleds. There wasn't much to gather, it took longer to build the sleds than it did to make the piles next to them. + +It made Birdie a little sad to see the hut begin to sag where her father had removed poles for the sled. They'd never taken it down before. It always needed work when they returned, it always needed new thatching, but they had never destroyed it before. It was always there. Now her father planned to burn it. "Let McPhail build his own damn huts," he'd muttered. + +Edward laughed. "That'll show him tk father's name" + +Her father looked up and then laughed. "Well, it'll give us plenty of dried wood for a bonfire tonight. + +Edward smiled. "Now you're talking, tk father's name" + +Birdie didn't really want to burn what the hut. It wasn't home, but she like it. More importantly she liked know it was out there, waiting for her to return. Of all the places they made camp, Edisto Island was her favorite and she was having a hard time letting go of it. She sat on top a dune while her father and Kobayashi dragged the family's belonging on the sleds, through the dunes and then down the beach to where Delos' long boat waited. + +She thought of Aunt Māra. She thought of Owen. She thought of the hut behind her going up in flames. Everything ends. Everything that ever begins has to end. The only question is always, how long will it last? Edisto lasted three years. The longest anything in her life had lasted until now. She wasn't there always, but it was always there. And now it was ending. It made her chest feel tight. + +Lulu was scampering about the dunes, pretending to be a lynx stalking her father and Kobayashi as they hauled the second and final load down to the boat. Birdie marveled at her sister, that she did not seem bothered to be leaving. She wished it didn't bother her. She wished she could pretend to be a lynx and stalk them through the drifts of snow, but she did not feel like it, something pinned her to her seat, something stopped her from turning the sand dunes to snow drifts in her mind. + +She watched as her father and Kobayashi escaped the salking lynx, unaware of the danger they'd been in. Lulu came back over and sat down beside her. "I'll miss it here," she said. + +Birdie glanced at her surprised. "Me too." + +"This was a good place to come. I hope we find something like it again." + +Birdie realized it wasn't that Lulu didn't care, it was that she was able to matter of factly accepting what the world gave her. If she had to leave, fine, let's head to someplace where we can find something else that's similar, something else great. + +"Me too," she hesitated. "Though, maybe some place with some more kids." + +Lulu nodded. "Yeah, it could be nice to be in a town for a while. Do you think there are a lot of kids in Nassau?" + +"Papa says no." + +"I know, but how does he know? It's not like he's ever been." + +"True, but somehow I doubt kids our age hang around pirates." + +"We do." + +"True." + + + +### Bridie goes on a hunt + +It was midday before the Henri and hunters returned with two boar and a deer. The crew had already built a fire and wasted no time cleaning the animals and loading them onto spits. Henri strutted about the camp like some great warrior hunter even though Birdie knew he hadn't had anything to do actually killing any of the animals. Her father caught her glaring at Henri's back and asked her why she was scowling. On a whim she told him it was because no one ever asked her to go hunting. Her father looked at her for a minute and then smiled. "Well Tambo's going again this afternoon to get something for us to bring when we head south, tell him you want to go." He turned and then spun back around and added, "And tell him I said you can use my gun." + +Birdie's face lit up in a smile and she bolted off off to find Tambo before he headed back off into the island. He was sitting cross legged by the firepit, a bowl of rabbit stew in his lap. A kettle of water hung over the fire and was nearing a boil. She sat down across from Tambo, unsure what to say. He raised an eyebrow at her. She looked down at her hands in her lap. She took a deep breath. "I was hoping I could go on the hunt with you today." + +Tambo did not say anything, he continued to chew on rabbit stew and watch her, squinting and narrowing his gaze. Finally he seemed satisfied. "Your father's gun?" + +She nodded. + +Tambo grunted. "Okay then. After the coffee, we hunt." + +Tambo made coffee like her father, by pouring the boiling water over the grounds and then waiting for them to settle. Tambo lifted the kettle lid with a sticks and then carefully unwrapped the coffee grinder from the cloth it was kept wrapped in. It was her father's prize possession, something he'd acquired from a man in Boston the year before. Most people, her father included drank tea, but Tambo and her father were the only she's ever seen drink coffee. Birdie had tried it once, it was bitter and tasted like moldy wood smelled. She'd never asked for it again. + +"Why do you drink coffee?" + +"Why do you want to hunt?" + +"Because it's fun." + +"There you go." + +"Coffee is not fun. I've tried it, it's awful." + +"It's awful to you. To me it is delicious. And fun." He smiled and began to grind. The rattling noise made him have to raise his voice to say, "get your father's gun, make sure it's loaded, you're only getting one shot." + +Birdie darted into the hut. Her father had two rifles, one was a new gun he'd bought on their journey down from a gunsmith in Philadelphia. It was a massive thing, easily two heads longer than Birdie was tall. She knew her father did not mean for her to use it. She grabbed the shorter, English navy rifle from over the door where it hung. It was heavy and the steel strangely cool in her hand despite the heat of the day. She knew it was loaded, she was careful not to put her finger over the trigger, but she carried it as her father had taught her, as she would on the hunt, one hand on the trigger and flintlock, the other on the barrel just up from the trigger, that way it was balanced in her hands. + +She brought it to Tambo who took it and examined it carefully. "This will do for our hunt. We will clean it when we return." + +She waited while Tambo drank his coffee and cleaned his own gun. He stood up and slid the ramrod out from it's place under the barrel. He took a small scrap of clean sailcloth and fastened it to the end of the ramrod. He scooped some boiling water still simmering in the kettle and poured it down the barrel. In one smooth, practiced motion he slammed the ramrod in after the water and rubbed it up and down, sending pulsing jets of powder-black water squirting out to base where the hole for the cap was located. Tambo lifted out the ramrod and repeat the process, this time though the water wasn't nearly as black. Tambo lifted out the ramrod, put another piece of sailcloth on the end, this one well greased with pig fat, and rammed it up and down. When it was well-coated he pulled it out and rubbed down the outside of the barrel and stock with a bit of grease. + +Tambo let Birdie hold the gun when he fetched his powder horn and shot bag. When he came bag he open the metal cap of the powder horn and poured in gunpower. He glanced over at Birdie, shrugged and then poured in a little more. He tapped the barrel and shook the gun a little to get it all down at the base. Then he dropped in a bullet and used the ramrod, with a bit of cloth to pack the bullet into place. He put the ramrod back in the gunstock and placed a cap under the hammer. He slowly lowered down the hammer. "Well then, let's go." + +The set off down the souther trail that led along the back of the marsh. Birdie was hoping they'd run across boar, but she knew deer were more plentiful on the island. The boar preferred the less swampy forests of the mainland that were not easily accessible without the pirogue. + +Tambo walked quickly and quietly, with a sense of direction and purpose. + +As they walked through the woods Birdie worked up her courage to ask. "What made you say I could hunt with you?" + +"What do you mean?" + +"I mean when I asked you, you stared at me for a long time, like you were figuring something out or testing me or something, I was just wondering what it was that I did that made you say yes." + +Tambo burst out laughing. "You give me too much credit little one. You give yourself too little. I wasn't testing you, I just had my mouthful. Didn't anyone tell you it's rude to talk with your mouth full?" + +Birdie stopped in her tracks. "You mean you were just chewing." + +He laughed again. "Yes, just chewing." + +Birdie was embarrassed and she was thankful the deep evening shadows of the oaks hid her burning cheeks. + +"Now, no more talking. We'll enter this grove up ahead, I have a tree I like, you are going to sit in a branch near me, where I can help you sight the gun and we will fire together okay? You know what to aim for? + +"In the heart?" + +"Yes, but where is the heart?" + +"Think of a salt pork barrel." + +"What?" + +"Think of a deer, or a boar, or even a bear really, though don't shoot at a bear. Think of their body as a salt pork barrel. Now, imagine about one third of the way back from the front of the barrel there is an orange hanging by a string." + +"An orange hanging by a string?" + +"Yes. That orange is the deer's heart. You want to aim for that orange. It's in the middle of the animal's chest. Hit that and it will drop where it is. Miss it and we will be walking in some slough mud." + + + + + + +### Ending scene + + + +She gathers up her thing, they load the baot, the find Kadiatu they have the full moon party on the solstice. They burn the hut and the kilns, then cut the Lulu watching Revenge sail away. She and her sister talk of what they want to do, finis. + + + + + + +Lulu leaned against the gunwale watching Queen Anne's Revenge silhouetted against the rising sun. The ship looked black, even the sails. A booming came across the water, one then another, the usual salute. Edward's crew had decided to head north in search of shipping traffic bound out of Virginia, the Chesapeake Bay, Boston. Lulu knew how Edward hated Boston ships. Soon everyone else would know too. Lulu watched the ship come clearer into focus as the sun swung higher into the sky. + + ### following your path campfire talk @@ -2892,10 +3036,7 @@ He smiled at her. "Helping them isn't telling them to be just like you. Helping -# Spring -## Into Town - - The take Aunt Māra to Charlestown, she no longer want to live on the island # Glossary |