A Map of the Sky

by Claire Wong

  It was a short bus ride back, which Maddie said would not be cheating now that she had completed her walk.

  “Will you get a bus back to where you used to live?” Kit asked, turning round in his seat to talk to her.

  “I think it might be time to start over somewhere new,” she said. “There are lots of memories in my old home. Some are happy and some are sad. I’m going to look for a fresh start – a new house and a new job.”

  Kit had hoped that the end of the pilgrimage might have marked the end of Maddie’s sadness at the past. All her anger had evaporated, but it was a shame, he thought, that the memory of what had happened was not yet fully washed away. He was certain that in all the stories of quests and journeys he had ever read, the endings had been more satisfying than this. But Maddie just gave a contented sigh, remarked that her legs ached from the walk, and looked out of the bus window at the hedgerows and dry stone walls racing past them.

  By the time they returned to Askfeld, the sun was starting to sink behind the fields in the west, casting a golden glow over the cliff tops.

  “What’s that?” Kit asked, as they crossed a field to take a short cut into the guest house garden. A table had been set up on the grass. As they drew nearer, they could see Nick setting out plates on it.

  “Hello!” he called. “Here’s the victorious travellers returned! Come and have something to eat.”

  Sean came striding out of the house. “Keep your voice down!” he chided Nick.

  “Sorry, totally forgot. I’m going to have to get used to this.”

  There were chairs set up around the garden. One of them was Beth’s chair from her room, and she was sitting in it with a blanket over her knees and a small bundle in her arms.

  “They’re back,” said Juliet. She ran over to Beth, and Kit followed.

  “Hello, you two,” said Beth. “There’s someone here I’d like you to meet. This is Amelia Hope.”

  “That’s a beautiful name,” said Juliet, craning forward to see a small sleeping face and a pair of fidgeting arms escaping the yellow blanket wrapped around them.

  “It’s a girl!” Kit said in surprise and undisguised disappointment. “I thought it was going to be a boy.”

  Beth laughed. “I know you did. I hope you don’t feel too let down.”

  “Can we still show her all the places on the map to have adventures?”

  “As soon as she’s old enough.”

  Kit thought about this. Maybe it was not a complete disaster. “Didn’t you say that Sean doesn’t know how to skim stones?” he asked.

  “That’s right, I don’t think he does.”

  “Then I’ll have to teach her,” Kit concluded. And with that, it was settled. Amelia would need an older brother to share some of her adventures and games.

  “That would be a lovely thing, Kit. Thank you.”

  “And can I show the map to my dad when he gets here?”

  “Of course. Do you know when he is coming?”

  “In eleven days. I’ve” – Kit checked that Juliet had moved out of earshot – “I’ve got a feeling he isn’t exactly looking forward to it. I didn’t used to think he worried about anything. But maybe if we go collecting fossils together that will help.”

  Maddie was talking to Kit’s mother, and it did not surprise him at all that Catherine was asking the pilgrim lots of questions about her professional qualifications and career plan.

  “I was thinking I might look at support work with people who have learning disabilities.” Maddie said this tentatively, as if trying the words out loud for the first time.

  Sean brought a plate of food over to Beth, and took Amelia so that his wife could have her hands free to eat something.

  “You were right,” Kit said to Beth, “about the quest. Though I can’t quite figure out if it’s over yet.”

  Beth just smiled at him. She had been right about so many things. He spotted Bert standing away from the others, looking out to sea through his binoculars.

  “What have you seen?” he asked, following the line of sight.

  “I’m not quite sure yet,” Bert said, with an urgency in his voice. “There’s something out there and I don’t think it’s a gull.”

  A dark silhouette with wide wings was soaring in on the sea breeze. It skimmed low over the waves and then wheeled up higher, coming in towards the cliffs some way south of them.

  “It can’t be!” Bert breathed and Kit felt his stomach jump in excitement.

  “Is it?” he asked. Bert stared in silence and Kit did not dare speak for fear of breaking the possibility that hung in that pause. The birdwatcher handed the binoculars to him. Kit moved them about, trying to find the right spot to focus on. It was white with black wings. Kit thought he could see markings around its face, like a haughty eyebrow that knew exactly how majestic it was. He lowered the binoculars and looked to Bert for confirmation.

  “A black-browed albatross,” the birdwatcher croaked, and there were tears running down his face. Kit turned back to the others.

  “It’s an albatross!” he shouted, waving and pointing. Some of them came to look, but did not understand what was making the old man weep and the young boy jump up and down in excitement.

  The albatross swooped in its flight, wheeling close enough for them to see where the wind ruffled the tips of its feathers. It turned sharply so that the sunlight caught on the underside of its wings as it flew home to its roost.

  “Aren’t you going to take a picture, to show the people you work with?” Kit asked.

  Bert looked surprised. “Oh, yes, I suppose that’s a good idea. I was so absorbed there, just watching it. Almost forgot!”

  He pointed the camera and pressed a button. The tiny click it made told Kit that his work here was done, for Bert at least. He left the birdwatcher gazing at the orange-flecked sky.

  “I’ve got something new to add to your map,” he said as he rejoined Beth and the others. “Or I suppose it’s Amelia’s map now, isn’t it?”

  The quest, he realized, was never complete, because it was not just one quest. It was a whole pattern of adventures playing out at the same time, and there was always more to discover.

  A MAP OF THE SKY

  Reading Group Questions

  1. Do you think Kit’s love of hero stories and adventures has a positive or negative influence on his life?

  2. Was Catherine right to move the family to Askfeld that summer?

  3. Did you trust Kit’s perspective on the story as it unfolded? Were there moments when you disagreed with his take on events?

  4. Hope and disappointment are experienced by most characters over the course of the novel. Which character do you think has the hardest time with these themes?

  5. At one point, Maddie talks about the North Sea as if it were a person. What kind of personality do you think the book’s setting has?

  6. What do you think will happen to Bert, Maddie, and the Garsdales next?