Kaya Stormchild (10 page)

“
Now I’m
going to go try and get Josh in here,” said Kaya. “He won’t be able
to walk. I hope he can haul himself this far!”

It was
difficult, but with Kaya’s help Josh at last managed to heave
himself up the beach. Kaya steered him backwards by the shoulders,
and he used his arms and his one good leg to propel himself.
Finally, he slithered in through the small door and flopped onto
his back, groaning with pain. Once he was inside, Kaya stacked some
fir boughs across the doorway from the outside.

“
Look after
them, Tike,” called Kaya from outside the shelter. “I’m going to
find some medicine.”

Kaya raced
along the edge of the forest, hoping desperately that she would
find what she needed. She had seen some growing on the other island
where they had stopped for lunch. There must be some here
too.

“
Please,” she
begged aloud as she searched, “please grow here. We need
you!”

At last she
saw a clump of the plants she sought: yarrow -- tall stalks with
clusters of small white flowers. They were growing just beyond the
high tide mark, in a grassy meadow at the edge of the forest of
cedar and fir trees. Kaya cried out with relief when she saw the
plants.

“
Thank you,”
she whispered.

She stooped
and picked an armful and then hurried back to the shelter. She
retrieved the water bottle from inside and placed it next to her
feet outside. Squatting, she began to pick apart the flowers and
leaves, placing them on a dish-shaped piece of driftwood she had
found nearby. Using a smooth round stone as a pestle, Kaya ground
the plants, adding a little water now and then from the bottle
until at last she had made a bright green paste. When she was
satisfied with the consistency, she carried the wooden dish to the
doorway of the shelter and removed the boughs blocking the
entrance.

Once inside,
there was just enough light coming through the open door for her to
see what she was doing. She knelt beside the Duchess. Removing the
tourniquet once more, Kaya gently ripped away the sleeve of the
Duchess’s dress, exposing the wound in the old woman’s arm. Kaya’s
breath caught in surprise. The wound was deep, and still seeping
blood. It would easily get infected. Kaya would have to do her
best.

She pressed
the paste she had made against the wound, covering it entirely.
Then, ripping a narrow strip from the red checkered picnic cloth,
she gently bound the wound with a tight bandage.

“
Lie down, my
dear,” said Kaya soothingly. She moved the picnic basket next to
the old woman and gently placed the wounded arm across it. “Here,”
said Kaya, “keep your arm raised as long as you can. That will slow
the bleeding.”

She turned to
Josh. His teeth were beginning to chatter, and he shivered as he
lay.

“
Tike,” said
Kaya, “I think you’d better help me warm Josh up now. He’s
freezing!”

Kaya stretched
out under the blanket, nestled between the Duchess and Josh, while
the otter crawled close to the boy’s chest. The four remained
curled up together in silence for what seemed a long time. Outside
the rain began to fall in earnest, and the wind rattled at the
shelter as if it, too, wanted to come inside.

At last, Josh
stopped shivering. Kaya heard his breathing slow and deepen until
she knew he had fallen asleep. The Duchess dozed. Tike
snored.

It seemed to
Kaya that the four friends were enclosed in a strange cocoon,
separated from the rest of the world, alone in the coming
storm.

Chapter 6 :
Asking Magic

Kaya woke up
shivering. The wind howled around the shelter. Part of the covering
of boughs on the roof had blown away and large, cold drops of rain
were leaking in. The light outside was very dim. It must be nearing
sunset.

Kaya felt
Josh’s body shuddering on one side of her. On the other side she
heard the Duchess moan softly.

“
Duchess? Are
you awake?”

The old woman
did not reply. Kaya rolled over and peered closely at her friend.
She could see, even in the dim light, that the old woman’s face was
ashen white and her lips were tinged with blue. The Duchess
shivered uncontrollably. Kaya recognized the signs of shock. The
Duchess had lost a lot of blood and was now also wet and chilled to
the bone. Kaya realized that her friend was in grave
danger.

Kaya tucked
the picnic blanket more tightly around the Duchess’s body then sat
up, tears stinging her eyes. She felt so helpless. What could she
do? She had no other medicine to give her friend. There was no way
to keep her warm in this wind and rain, and soon night would fall
and it would be even colder. Josh was young, he was not in as much
danger, but the Duchess was elderly and frail! What if she died
before help could come? Oh, why hadn’t Grandmother found
them?!

Kaya thought
bitterly that if only she had matches she could make a fire and
send a signal out to the world. But, she quickly realized, even
with matches and dry kindling it would be almost impossible to get
a fire going in this storm. And who would see the smoke anyway? The
little island was hidden from Campbell Harbour by Heron island. No
one would see either fire or smoke. Not in this weather. Not in the
dark.

Kaya crept to
the door of the shelter and crawled outside. The rain was growing
stronger, and the wind hissed and tore at the boughs on the roof of
the teepee. Squinting against the wind, Kaya attempted to repair
the shelter, replacing the cedar and fir boughs and finding scraps
of driftwood to weigh them down.

“
Stop!” she
cried out to the storm. As if in answer, a powerful gust whipped at
her damp hair. It rose like a mighty hand and flung aside two of
the evergreen branches, tossing them end over end away into the
forest.

Then there
came a brilliant flash of light in the sky overhead. A horrific
thunderous CRACK followed. Kaya instinctively ducked, shielding her
head with her arms. More flashes and more thunderclaps shook the
ground beneath her. Rain began to pummel the earth like so many
thousands of tiny fists. The sky was a vast, angry, seething
expanse of wind and water and electricity, punishing the sea and
the shore without mercy.

Kaya gave up
trying to repair the roof of their teepee. She stood staring into
the storm. A memory surfaced slowly from the depths of her mind. It
was one of Grandmother’s lessons, learned long ago and never
practiced because up until now her life had never been in danger.
Grandmother had called it
Asking
Magic
: a way of summoning help in a time
of desperate need.

Now was such a
time. Kaya focused her mind, remembering. Brushing the wet hair
from her eyes she began to search along the stormy beach for two
round stones. More thunder pounded overhead, but she paid no
attention. She found one, and then another close by – smooth stones
about the size of fists. She straightened and turned her face once
more towards the sea. With an immense effort of will she drained
all thought, all fear, all expectation from her mind.

She cupped
one stone in each palm, and then began to hit them softly together.
The rhythmic tapping sound was barely audible above the wind, but
she continued. Tap, tap. Slowly, she began to sing. The song
contained no words, only a feeling, intense, and deep, swelling up
through her body and out through her throat like a fountain of
energy. Kaya closed her eyes and swayed with the rhythm of the
stones. Her voice became louder and stronger. The strange, dark
melody of her song twined in and out of the claps of thunder and
mingled with the hissing of the rain. It was the song of
Asking
. Kaya asked the
world for help. She begged the sea, the sky, the earth, the wind,
and all the creatures that roamed or swam or flew to hear her
plea.

She did not
know whether minutes or hours passed. Her voice trailed almost to a
whisper. Then she stopped singing abruptly. She had heard
something.

Kaya opened
her eyes, straining her ears to catch the sound. Was it-?! The
sound came again: a distant, familiar call, far off, almost
blending with the roar of the wind but yet distinct. The call of an
eagle, shrill and wild.

“
Grandmother!” Kaya’s voice caught in her throat.

She stood on
the shore and waited. Rain had drenched her t-shirt, and the wind
tore at her hair. It was nearly sunset. The black storm clouds
overhead made it seem as if night had already fallen, but far off
in the distance, a streak of red light gleamed over the water
through a tear in the clouds, like a gash in the flesh of the
sky.

Again, Kaya
heard the cry, closer now. A black speck began to descend towards
her. Soon she could make out Grandmother’s gleaming white forehead
and white tail feathers. The eagle landed with a whirl of wings on
the beach and Kaya ran to throw her arms around the neck of the
huge bird.

“
You came!’
cried Kaya. “I called you and you came!”

“
It was a
powerful call, my child,” said Grandmother. “You are in trouble.
Tell me what has happened.”

Quickly the
girl related the events of the past few hours. The eagle nodded
solemnly.

“
Help is
coming, Kaya. A boat is heading this way. You’ll have to make a
signal. Try to wave your arms and yell as loudly as you can so they
will know you are here. I must fly to get help. That was indeed the
Omrith you saw today. This storm will not end until we can recover
it. Wish me wingspeed, my dear! I will return when I
can.”

The eagle flew
off once more. Just then, Kaya saw through the dusk and the rain
that a boat was passing the rocky point at one end of the beach,
heading toward Heron Island. She began to shout and yell with all
her might. The boat slowed, turned, and sped towards her. Not a
white boat, Kaya saw with relief, but a small, dark-coloured
speedboat.. A tall man stood at the helm, wearing a bright yellow
rain slicker.

The boat
pulled up on the beach, and the man leapt out. He quickly tied the
boat to a driftwood log. Then he hurried towards Kaya.

“
Is Josh with
you?” the man cried.

“
Yes, yes!”
Kaya answered breathlessly . “Oh help us! They are hurt and
…!”

“
I’m Josh’s
Dad. I’m Martin,” he said with an anxious smile. “You must be Kaya.
Where is he? Is he OK?”

She saw that
he looked like a grown-up version of Josh – short, curling,
light-brown hair, a dusting of freckles over the bridge of his
nose, and intense green eyes. But his face was much thinner and his
eyes seemed weary and sad.

“
There’re
over here,” she cried. She took him by the hand she ran with him up
the beach to the shelter.

When Josh’s
father saw his son, he slumped to his knees and threw his arms
around the boy’s shoulders, pressing him close.

“
Thank god,
thank god” the man stammered in a husky voice. “I was s- so
worried! But what’s happened to you? And who is - is that Mrs.
Kimpton from the thrift store?!” he said in amazement, seeing the
Duchess for the first time.

Kaya explained
about the fight with the criminals. Martin’s face grew dark as he
listened.

“
The
bastards! To harm a kid and an old woman – they deserve to be –“ he
stammered angrily.

He swallowed
and took a deep breath.

“
But at least
I found you.” He looked from Josh to Kaya. “When Josh didn’t turn
up for dinner, and then this storm whipped up, I got worried and
called the police. They told me they had found a red canoe floating
out here among these islands. I knew it was yours, Kaya. Josh has
told me a lot about you. So I feared the worst. I borrowed my
neighbor’s boat and set out to search myself. The police boat is
out looking for you too, and the coast guard probably.”

He paused,
musing. “Funny thing is – there was an eagle that kept landing on
the prow of my boat and then flying off in the direction of this
island. I’ve never seen anything like it. I swear I almost heard it
say, “
this way!
”
So strange - !“