uneasily on top of all the things. Alaia was our fire guardian now my mother was Go-Between. The fire guardian has to be someone who stays in this world and isnât likely to suddenly go away or forget all about it. Alaia carried the fire in a leather bag lined with damp moss, arranged so the oak embers wouldnât burn through the hide. We knew that whatever the weather brought us, our fire would be safe with Alaia.
The sea crinkled and sparkled under the Sun. Seals slept on the skerries beyond River Mouth, wet bodies gleaming. One or two raised their heads to watch us pass, but they didnât move. They knew that no Seal had agreed to give itself that day. The wind from the Sunless Sky touched my right cheek with its cold finger. We met it head on, paddling as fast as we could into the slackening flood.
I knelt in the bows between my fatherâs knees. I paddled on one side and he paddled on the other. Iâd made myself a new paddle because my old one was too small, and my father let me think that my hard paddling helped us along. When weâd cleared River Mouth and turned towards the Evening Sun Sky, Amets raised the mast. Soon the wind filled our sail. My father said I neednât paddle any more, although he never broke his own stroke for as much as a heartbeat. I dabbled my fingers in the shining water and watched Fierce Point grow nearer.
White gulls wheeled overhead. Rafts of auks in their new spring feathers slid over the waves. I felt that old Aurochsâ hide come alive against the soles of my feet when he felt the sea against his skin. He saw how the Auks let the sea slide away under them, and he did the same. He hadnât forgotten he was Animal. Through his skin I felt the sea ripple against my skin. I flexed my toes against his frame, and I felt the strength in the hazel wands as they remembered to bend with the sea. Small waves made slapping sounds against his side. Our boat was Auk. We â Aurochs, Hazel, Willow, Dog and People â were Boat-Animal. We were Auk.
Slowly River Mouth country turned from grey-green to blue under the High Sun Sky. The cliffs of Mother Mountain Island were like rows of teeth snarling at us. White water curled over the reefs off Fierce Point: we kept well away. Now we were coming into different water. The tides met, tossing our boat to and fro between them. At the foot of each swell we couldnât see over the crest. Ametsâ young dog started whining. But the flood was slackening. My father had been too clever for it, and its strength was almost gone. We rounded Fierce Point at slack water into the great groundswell of the Open Sea. Now, far off under the High Sun Sky, we saw the soft blue shadow of White Beach Island.
The ebb tide swept us forward. The sea settled into a slow swell. Looking back under the sail, I saw the snow-capped mountains of the lands that lie under the Sunless Sky. Beyond those mountains Ametsâ family have their summer Camps. Thatâs Estiâs country, although our Esti hasnât been there in her present life. Ahead of us, White Beach Island turned from a hump in the blue distance to firm land with green grass and thickets of trees. Between us and the island lay islets surrounded by stretches of gleaming seaweed and drying reefs.
âTake down the sail!â
Amets obeyed my father at once. Our boat rocked in the swell. Seaweed rose and fell beside us, so close I tried to reach out and touch it.
âStop that, Haizea! Amets, listen to me! Weâre coming into the channel. No, you canât see it yet. As we go through Iâll tell you the sea-marks. B . . . my son . . . he knew the marks as well as I do. Now itâll be up to you. Iâm not saying these women mightnât know something about it. Women are always listening to what doesnât concern them! But if you rely on your wife to tell you your sea-marks, you might as well cut off your balls now and be done with it. So listen, and
The sea crinkled and sparkled under the Sun. Seals slept on the skerries beyond River Mouth, wet bodies gleaming. One or two raised their heads to watch us pass, but they didnât move. They knew that no Seal had agreed to give itself that day. The wind from the Sunless Sky touched my right cheek with its cold finger. We met it head on, paddling as fast as we could into the slackening flood.
I knelt in the bows between my fatherâs knees. I paddled on one side and he paddled on the other. Iâd made myself a new paddle because my old one was too small, and my father let me think that my hard paddling helped us along. When weâd cleared River Mouth and turned towards the Evening Sun Sky, Amets raised the mast. Soon the wind filled our sail. My father said I neednât paddle any more, although he never broke his own stroke for as much as a heartbeat. I dabbled my fingers in the shining water and watched Fierce Point grow nearer.
White gulls wheeled overhead. Rafts of auks in their new spring feathers slid over the waves. I felt that old Aurochsâ hide come alive against the soles of my feet when he felt the sea against his skin. He saw how the Auks let the sea slide away under them, and he did the same. He hadnât forgotten he was Animal. Through his skin I felt the sea ripple against my skin. I flexed my toes against his frame, and I felt the strength in the hazel wands as they remembered to bend with the sea. Small waves made slapping sounds against his side. Our boat was Auk. We â Aurochs, Hazel, Willow, Dog and People â were Boat-Animal. We were Auk.
Slowly River Mouth country turned from grey-green to blue under the High Sun Sky. The cliffs of Mother Mountain Island were like rows of teeth snarling at us. White water curled over the reefs off Fierce Point: we kept well away. Now we were coming into different water. The tides met, tossing our boat to and fro between them. At the foot of each swell we couldnât see over the crest. Ametsâ young dog started whining. But the flood was slackening. My father had been too clever for it, and its strength was almost gone. We rounded Fierce Point at slack water into the great groundswell of the Open Sea. Now, far off under the High Sun Sky, we saw the soft blue shadow of White Beach Island.
The ebb tide swept us forward. The sea settled into a slow swell. Looking back under the sail, I saw the snow-capped mountains of the lands that lie under the Sunless Sky. Beyond those mountains Ametsâ family have their summer Camps. Thatâs Estiâs country, although our Esti hasnât been there in her present life. Ahead of us, White Beach Island turned from a hump in the blue distance to firm land with green grass and thickets of trees. Between us and the island lay islets surrounded by stretches of gleaming seaweed and drying reefs.
âTake down the sail!â
Amets obeyed my father at once. Our boat rocked in the swell. Seaweed rose and fell beside us, so close I tried to reach out and touch it.
âStop that, Haizea! Amets, listen to me! Weâre coming into the channel. No, you canât see it yet. As we go through Iâll tell you the sea-marks. B . . . my son . . . he knew the marks as well as I do. Now itâll be up to you. Iâm not saying these women mightnât know something about it. Women are always listening to what doesnât concern them! But if you rely on your wife to tell you your sea-marks, you might as well cut off your balls now and be done with it. So listen, and
Similar Books
