Blue Birds

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Blue Birds Page 13

by Caroline Starr Rose


  Mr. Pratt takes the bread,

  pushes it through the iron bars.

  Manteo lifts his head.

  “Thank you, Alis.”

  This man

  saw no wrong

  in my befriending Kimi,

  this one

  who lives

  in the in-between—

  not of one world

  or the other.

  “You and your friend.

  I made sure you

  were always safe."

  “Thank you,” I whisper,

  trust he feels the gratitude

  these simple words convey.

  Mr. Pratt crosses his arms.

  “You’ve done what you came to do.”

  It’s clear he wants me gone.

  But there’s one thing I must know.

  I lean in close,

  rest my forehead on cool metal.

  “Why did you let me go to her?"

  His long black hair,

  pearls in his ears,

  all is familiar now.

  Manteo smiles faintly.

  “Never would I alter

  what is right."

  KIMI

  The boy looked

  for me.

  I linger until all have eaten.

  The fire pops,

  sends up sparks

  that are swallowed

  before they reach the sky.

  The boy came

  to speak of Alis.

  “Uncle.”

  The name binds us.

  He cannot turn

  his brother’s child away.

  “Kimi,” Mother scolds.

  “Leave our weroance alone.”

  I will not listen.

  The boy took

  great risk in coming.

  “Uncle.”

  I lift my chin,

  launch the word like an arrow.

  “Go.”

  He cannot

  refuse me

  now.

  KIMI

  Wanchese’s jaw tightens as he studies me.

  I reach for my pearls,

  now gone.

  “They were our friends once,” I say.

  “The English?

  Why do you

  speak of them again?”

  His words warn

  not to push further,

  but I do not heed them.

  “I want to know

  why things changed.”

  “You come to me

  as though you have permission.

  You forget I am weroance.”

  “You are Uncle.”

  This has never changed.

  Wanchese sighs,

  he thinks I haven’t learned my place.

  But I know exactly where I belong.

  Here. Near him.

  and with my dear friend, Alis.

  “They only give false friendship,”

  Wanchese says.

  “If Wingina had listened

  he would still be with us.

  It was too late

  when he saw as I did.

  The path to his death

  had already begun.”

  He leans closer.

  His necklace flashes

  in the firelight.

  “Never forget

  the English

  killed your father.”

  I cannot help but say it.

  “Not all of them

  must be our enemies.”

  He gazes at the fire, silent.

  It is only when I’m sure he’s finished

  that he speaks again.

  “Have you gone to the English?”

  “Uncle?”

  “Have you spoken with them?”

  How I want to tell of Alis,

  that she’s the friend I need.

  That even if she’s abandoned me,

  I will never leave her.

  But this truth is forbidden.

  “Wanchese.”

  Nuna’s father calls him.

  “Chogan is missing.”

  My uncle stands to go,

  but first turns back to me.

  “Have you betrayed my trust?”

  I cannot answer.

  Behind us, I hear whispers.

  It is Mother, her sisters.

  Wanchese’s eyes are cold, unfeeling.

  “Do not be reckless.

  This is not a game.”

  Alis

  Our friendship,

  it is right,

  Manteo said.

  I’ll hold to this smallest comfort.

  Someone understands.

  The sun nears the horizon.

  The village feels abandoned.

  No one is about.

  But there is someone

  coming from beyond the forge.

  George, lunging as if he’s new to land

  after months at sea.

  “Where have you been?” I ask him.

  Does he even hear me?

  His musket trails behind him,

  cuts a wavering line.

  “I went to her.

  I saw the girl.

  Told her I am sorry.”

  He stumbles to the ground.

  “Near their village.

  I wanted to get close enough

  to frighten them.”

  He makes an awful sound,

  as though he is in pain.

  “I’ve killed an Indian,” he says.

  KIMI

  I leave the fire’s circle,

  its ring of light emboldened

  now that dusk approaches.

  “Kimi,” Mother calls.

  “It’s time to eat.”

  She holds a bowl of fish in her hand.

  But my thoughts are elsewhere.

  The boy tried to tell me something,

  and now Chogan is missing.

  Already the men search the forest,

  where Chogan hunted.

  I remember the English boys

  circling ever closer to our village,

  their weapons always ready,

  how sometimes we’d see them

  from the shelter of the corn.

  I run to the fields

  before I know

  exactly what I’m doing.

  KIMI

  The third-planting corn’s bright tassels

  dance in the sun’s last golden rays.

  The air tinged with coolness

  speaks of harvest coming soon.

  Before I enter the fields,

  my feet stop moving

  over the packed earth.

  Everything about me

  stills.

  There a man lies,

  his arm twisted under him,

  a gaping wound on his back.

  Chogan.

  Alis

  “What did you say?”

  Dread wraps about me.

  His clothes are filthy.

  His eyes are far away.

  “I’ve killed an Indian.”

  “The girl?”

  I cannot help

  the anger in my voice.

  He shakes his head.

  “A man,” he whispers,

  leans his head on his knees.

  “I want my father.”

  Sobs shake his body.

  “I want him back again.”

  “What’s this?” Mrs. Archard says,

  walking past with young Tommy.

  “Someone help this
boy!"

  Soon we are surrounded.

  KIMI

  I run the well-worn path

  past the longhouses

  to Wanchese,

  fight for my breath,

  tears blur my sight.

  “Uncle!”

  Wanchese hurries to my side.

  “Chogan is dead.”

  KIMI

  All rush

  to the fields.

  I wipe my face,

  wait until they’ve gone.

  And run.

  KIMI

  Wanchese

  will keep

  striking,

  My legs burn,

  he will

  not stop,

  my chest screams,

  until the English

  are destroyed.

  Only once outside their palisade

  do I allow myself to rest.

  Alis

  Mr. Archard and Mr. Florrie

  lift George to a bench.

  Mrs. Archard holds a cup,

  insists he drink.

  Father shoves past the others,

  his shirttails flying,

  rushes to the middle of the crowd,

  his forehead lined

  with soot and sweat.

  “What has happened?” he demands.

  I step back from everyone.

  I do not want to know

  what George might say.

  I am finished

  with the fighting,

  the mistrust in the village.

  Yet how will it be different

  when we leave for Chesapeake?

  With other tribes

  it only seems

  division will remain.

  Our surroundings will be new,

  but our fears will be the same.

  KIMI

  I have trusted my montoac

  to protect her,

  but to keep her truly safe,

  I must tell the English

  to leave immediately,

  I must send her

  away.

  KIMI

  The ditch,

  the middle boundary,

  provides cover in the coming darkness,

  but I will not stay huddled there.

  I dart from one building

  to the next,

  pushing closer

  to the center

  of the village,

  crouch low

  behind a house,

  remove her ribbon

  from my skirts,

  knot it

  about my wrist.

  With this

  I’ll show her people

  I come peacefully,

  hope they’ll listen

  when I tell them

  it’s best for them to go

  now,

  quickly,

  before it is too late.

  KIMI

  All the people crowd about,

  surround a crying boy,

  the one from the forest.

  Desperate,

  I search for Alis.

  KIMI

  Rough fingers

  grasp

  my wrist!

  jerk

  my arm,

  spin me

  around.

  Alis

  “I’ve caught an Indian

  here in our village!”

  The dusk’s alive with voices

  “. . . others must be coming!”

  “. . . go find shelter!”

  people scatter from the square.

  Old Lump-and-Bump

  leads Kimi

  by the arm.

  KIMI

  Alis

  The man pulls.

  My feet do not behave.

  So many of them fleeing,

  open fear upon their faces.

  My knees

  cannot support me,

  then I see Alis.

  Kimi!

  She’s come to me.

  Please, God, keep her safe!

  I hold her gaze,

  will her

  not to worry,

  though I know

  in being here

  I risk

  everything.

  I am

  Wingina’s daughter,

  I am

  Roanoke.

  These things

  give me courage.

  Her shoulders back,

  my ribbon wound

  about her wrist,

  she is so brave.

  Father stands with George,

  his hand on George’s shoulder.

  “Come, Alis,” he says,

  his eyes burning, insisting,

  “this girl is nothing to you.”

  I will not live his lie again.

  This time

  I won’t betray her.

  From underneath my dress,

  I pull her strand of pearls

  from hiding,

  walk a thousand steps

  to reach her side.

  How could I ever think

  she had finished with me?

  I touch my hand

  to my head.

  Touch it to my chest.

  She reaches for me.

  Our fingers intertwine.

  I hold a fist

  to my breast.

  “Alis.”

  Sister of my heart.

  Alis

  We balance

  on that edge

  of time

  before

  all

  collapses.

  “Go,” Kimi whispers to me.

  “Go,” she shouts.

  Her voice rings out

  for all to hear.

  KIMI

  The word’s power

  fills the air around us.

  The English aren’t the only ones

  who can use their montoac.

  Wanchese is coming,

  I am certain of this.

  The only way

  to keep her safe

  is to make her go.

  Alis

  Go.

  The word’s

  permission.

  It is

  invitation,

  freedom.

  It’s protection

  from the danger

  Kimi faces here.

  I grip

  her hand.

  I didn’t know

  until this moment

  this word

  was what

  I waited for.

  Together,

  we flee.

  Alis

  Tumbling,

  the ditch catches us,

  then running,

  we pass through the p
alisade.

  We fly

  like blue birds

  to the forest’s embrace.

  Alis

  We duck

  under branches,

  weave

  between trees,

  travel

  farther from those

  calling

  my

  name.

  I race

  from their voices,

  venture deeper

  into the forest’s shelter,

  until

  I can go

  no

  more.

  KIMI

  My word was meant

  to keep her safe,

  to send her elsewhere.

  But she

  chose

  to go

  with

  me.

  Alis

  We rest for a moment,

  under the low-reaching branches of a tree.

  From my pocket,

  I take the blue bird I’ve carved for her.

 

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