Blue Birds
Page 13
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.