by Karen Hughes
*
Indie dropped her sticks on the fire and watched the shaman lay out the medicine wheel. She sat behind Kai and closed her eyes, feeling the animals spiralling through her heart.
When she opened them she was in a tunnel, burrowing deep into the earth. It was not a tunnel of cold stone, like the one they had climbed into at Jabar’s house. No, this was a warm tunnel. She felt tiny roots brushing against her face, and breathed in a damp, earthy smell. When she dug deeper, she could feel the moist soil crumbling beneath her fingertips.
She dug down and down.
A spray of earth trickled into her eyes. There was a sucking sound as, without warning, the walls of the tunnel collapsed. She couldn’t breath. She couldn’t cry out. She was trapped in the dark – struggling, sinking, lost.
A bright light split the darkness, dissolving the world around her. The tunnel was gone. She was standing on a rock, high above an open canyon, which stretched on and on forever. There were trees, far below, but no life – or none that she could see.
A screech sounded in her ear. Beside her sat a large golden bird, its beak sharp, its eyes glittering. It screeched again, as if it were trying to speak to her.
Then she was looking down through the bird’s eyes, swooping and gliding, riding the wind.
A voice sounded in the air beside her.
No limits.
And she was free. Free of her mother’s fears, free of her father’s doubt. She was filled with such bliss she thought her heart might shatter. She had found perfect happiness – wings outstretched, flying towards the sun.
The sound of the shaman’s rattle brought her hurtling back to the tunnel, climbing up through the darkness, blinking in the soft light of the cave.
‘That powerful feeling is you,’ said Nima. She touched Indie on the top of her head, and then put her hand on her heart. Indie felt a rush of energy, buzzing inside her.
‘It was a sun eagle,’ said Nima. ‘You are very lucky. That is a powerful totem animal.’
‘How did you know?’ Indie was shaking. It was difficult to speak.
‘I was there with you.’
Kai sat by the fire, wrapped in the old purple cloak. He stared into the distance, saying nothing.
‘Well, boy,’ said the shaman. He was sitting beside Kai, prodding him with his stick. ‘What did you see?’
‘It was an owl,’ Kai said, looking puzzled. ‘I was in a forest. There were vines and creepers, and ferns bigger than any I’ve ever seen. And you know those trees, the tall ones with the smooth white bark and the feathery leaves? Well, right up in the crook was an owl and it was calling to me.’
His voice quickened, his face flushed. ‘I know birds can’t talk, but I could hear a voice.’
‘What did it say?’ asked the shaman.
‘Ki-somma,’ said Kai.
‘The bird of wisdom and magic,’ said the shaman. ‘All shamans hope to find an owl in their wanderings. You have done well.’
‘What about you?’ asked Indie, turning to Jabar. ‘What animal did you find?’
Jabar scowled. ‘This is all rubbish,’ he said. ‘I saw a tunnel, but it was dark and too narrow. I came to some sticky stuff that wrapped around me and tried to choke me, so I turned back.’
He glared at the others. ‘I wasn’t afraid.’
‘Not everyone finds their animal the first time,’ said the shaman. ‘But you will need it if you are to find the king.’
‘I’m not taking any more of your stupid journeys,’ said Jabar. ‘I don’t think they’re real anyway. I think you’re just trying to keep us here.’
He turned to Kai. ‘We’re wasting time. The old man doesn’t know where your father is.’
‘Wait.’ The shaman’s voice was soothing. He put his hand on Kai’s arm. ‘The boy from the village doesn’t understand. He is not a shaman. He does not have the gift. You have been to Undaba, the lower world. You have found your power animal. Now you must go to Madaba.’
‘Madaba?’ asked Kai.
‘The upper world. To seek your spirit guide.’
‘This is crazy,’ cried Jabar. ‘The emperor will be here with his army soon and nothing will stop my father marching on Ballyndor. We have to go!’
‘Take one last journey,’ the shaman said to Kai. ‘Then I will show you how to find your father.’
‘Why are you helping him?’ asked Jabar. ‘What do you want?’
The shaman blinked his empty eyes. ‘I want to see again.’
chapter 12
Madaba
Kai looked at Indie; she was still shaking. He watched Jabar stamp about the cave, taking out his anger on the rocks.
‘I will go,’ he said. ‘But by myself, and quickly.’
‘I will come with you,’ said the shaman. ‘I feel strength enough for one final journey. Nima, you must sit beside me. You must hold my hand. Whistle in your animals for me.’
Kai looked sharply at the girl. She sat beside the old man and held his hand. He seemed so frail, so weak. What had happened to make him like this? And why didn’t he whistle in his own animals?
‘Close you eyes,’ said Nima. She reached for the shaman’s skin drum and the rattle that rested beside the fire.
When he opened his eyes, Kai was standing on a rock at the top of the mountain with the shaman beside him. The old man flexed his fingers, gazing around. His white eyes had changed to blue and he was blinking.
‘Ah, the colours,’ he whispered. ‘I had forgotten the colours.’
It was very quiet. The air was still. A sea of white clouds drifted below them, hiding the mountain.
‘Is this Madaba?’ asked Kai.
‘Shh,’ said the shaman. He pointed to the sky. A small white boat was gliding towards them. It had no oars and no sail, and it floated through the clouds without a sound.
Kai could see a woman aboard. Her silver hair was streaked with gold, her cloak was grey, and she was smiling.
‘Grandma Helki,’ he said. He stared at the woman who had raised him as her own. He had watched her weaken and fade as Aunt Sofia's soldiers marched into the forest. He had been sitting outside her hut when she died.
The boat came to a stop at the rock and Grandma Helki stepped out. She reached for Kai’s outstretched hand; he felt her fingers, soft and warm against his palm.
‘My brave boy,’ she said, looking into his eyes. ‘I knew you would come.’
She turned to the shaman.
‘I know what you are doing, Shaman Yanti,’ she said. ‘But it will do you no good. You will change your mind in the end.’
The shaman shrugged. ‘You said that about your precious Sofia,’ he said. ‘She had already left for Ballyndor with her poisoned berries when you came to find me on the mountain. Do you remember? You didn’t think she would be so cruel. You didn’t count on Mugadi.’
‘I was wrong about Sofia.’ Grandma Helki shook her head. ‘I did not think she would listen to such a man.’
Kai watched her face change. For a moment it was old again, and full of sorrow.
The shaman smiled, but it was not a nice smile. ‘Mugadi is a strong and powerful person, much like Sofia. Sofia wanted to be a great queen; Mugadi promised her Moto and the mountains.’
‘And you encouraged her,’ said Grandma Helki. ‘You encouraged her in her twisted ideas and her terrible dreams, until it all went too far.’
‘Sofia made her own choices,’ said the shaman. ‘If the girl hadn’t come back from the island, waving her father's sword and claiming to be the Emerald Child, things would have been very different. Sofia would have sat on the throne of Ballyndor with the Emperor of Moto bowing before her.’
‘But why?’ asked Grandma Helki. ‘Why would you help her do that?’
The shaman bowed his head. ‘Because it was what she wanted.’
While Grandma Helki and the shaman spoke, Kai looked out at the clouds. He could see an owl with bright red feathers and a short black tail flying towards them. The owl swoope
d over him and flew in a circle around the rock, gold flashing beneath its wings and calling Whoo, whoo.
‘Ah,’ said Grandma Helki. ‘The bird of wisdom. It sees the truth. It witnesses everything.’
She beckoned to Kai. ‘You must trust the owl. You must listen to her song – she will tell you which path to follow.’
‘Enough woman,’ said the shaman. ‘You are not the guide I was hoping for. Go back to the green island or wherever it is you have come from. The boy does not need you.’
Grandma Helki looked at Kai. She held out both her hands. Kai wanted to run to her, to hug her: she had been both mother and father to him for so many years. But the king was waiting for him.
‘I can’t go with you,’ he said. ‘Not yet.’
‘Come now,’ said the shaman. ‘The red owl will protect you. Let us leave this place and find your father.’
Grandma Helki held up her hand. She looked at Kai. ‘Remember who you are,’ she said.
She sat in the boat, and it began to glide away. Kai saw the bracelets on her arms flashing silver in the sun. He heard her voice, strong and young, singing back to him over the clouds.
‘Well,’ said the shaman. ‘That’s over. Now we can visit your father.’
‘Mugadi said he was dead,’ said Kai. ‘We should have gone to the green island with Grandma Helki.’
‘Don’t be a fool, boy. She would not have taken you there. Only a shaman can come back from the land of the dead.’
‘But you told Jabar I was a shaman. You said I had the gift.’
‘It is always good to be mysterious,’ said the shaman. ‘It makes people respect you. But you are not a shaman. Not yet. Just because you have an animal guide doesn’t mean you can go waking up the dead.’
‘But you promised to take me to my father!’
‘Yes I did,’ said the shaman.
‘I have journeyed to the lower world and the upper world. I have found my power animal, and I already knew my spirit guide. I am ready. Take me there now.’
The shaman frowned, shaking his head. ‘Patience,’ he said.
The rocks trembled beneath Kai’s feet. Clouds swirled around him. He found that his eyes were closed and the pictures in his mind were fading into darkness.
Then he was back in the cave, lying beside the fire, slowly becoming aware of Indie’s hand on his arm, giving it an urgent shake. ‘Wake up, Kai,’ she said. ‘Please wake up.’
He sat up slowly. The cave walls were shimmering, as if they were made of water. Gradually they became solid again, and still. He shook his head and pressed his palms to his eyelids.
‘They took Jabar away,’ Indie said, wiping her nose with the back of her hand. ‘Nima and I hid inside, behind those rocks. But Jabar was so angry. He went out to the soldiers. I watched them drag him away; I couldn’t do anything.’
She clenched her fists, paced around the cave. ‘Mugadi laughed when he saw you. He walked over and kicked you. He was wearing snakeskin boots. He kicked you in the side and, when you didn’t move, he laughed even louder.’
Kai stared at her. He licked his lips. ‘Water,’ he whispered.
‘Nima,’ the shaman’s voice startled them both. ‘Bring the boy some water. He has made a long journey today. He has more important things to think about than Mugadi.’
‘What is more important than Mugadi?’ cried Indie. ‘He is riding into Ballyndor to kill everyone. We will have no home, no family …’
She saw her mother, bloody and beaten, dragged to the tower by her beautiful hair; she saw Dargan, cold and lifeless, hanging from the city wall. She ran out of the cave and into the snow, without looking back.
‘Such a difficult child,’ said the shaman, shaking his head. His eyes were white again, and he fumbled for his stick. ‘She can’t possibly be the Emerald Child of Ballyndor. I don’t know why anyone thought she was.'
‘Because she is,’ said Nima, following Indie from the cave.
The shaman climbed slowly to his feet. He shuffled to the tunnel at the back of the cave. ‘Come now, Kai. The veil is thin here. The medicine wheel will take you through the water to your father.’
‘Then, he’s not dead?’
‘He is not dead,’ said the shaman.
The old man took the wooden turtle, the tiger’s tooth, the feather and the claw and laid them in a circle next to the black pool. Lights sparkled in the water; a mist of gold rose from the surface.
‘Are you coming with me?’ asked Kai.
‘No,’ said the shaman.
‘I … but I want you to.’
The shaman poked the water with his stick. Small bubbles rose to the top. ‘Have you heard of the Disappearing Islands?’ he asked.
Kai nodded. ‘That’s where Aunty Mai and the wise women hid Indie away for all those years, while I stayed with Grandma Helki in the forest. I thought they had done some kind of spell to make the island disappear, but Brek told me later there are hundreds of islands like that all along the coast of Gort. You can’t see them unless you’re standing on them.’
‘Yes,’ said the shaman, rubbing his hands. ‘I have directed the medicine wheel to take you to the largest of these islands. The Kalika call it Paapoka – the Island of Dreams.’ He sighed. ‘I can’t go with you, boy. I am too old. I would not come back.’
‘Is my father there? On the island?’
‘Yes. He made it through my ice caves, but he didn’t get past the snow bridge. Now that was a pretty piece of magic.’ He smiled a toothless smile. ‘Do you remember what you must do to free him?’
‘Set out the medicine wheel, then pick a star fruit and throw it into the water.’
‘And do you remember the words you must say?’
‘Nikita nalaka. Spirits of the air, fire – ’
‘Not yet.’ The shaman held up his hand. There was a greedy, grasping look on his face. ‘The words are very powerful. You must only say them when you have the star fruit.’
‘And when I come back you’ll help us find the apiki flower?’
‘I will see what I can do,’ said the shaman. He sat beside the pool and chanted in a low voice. The water whirled into a spiral. Flecks of silver rose to the surface.
He gathered the totems and handed the pouch to Kai.
‘Step into the water, boy,’ he said.
chapter 13
The Disappearing Islands
Kai expected to step out onto land. Instead, he was standing in a whirl of mist. Sprays of golden light danced across his face.
‘You’re in a cloud,’ said a voice. ‘Isn’t it lovely?’
The mist parted and he saw he was standing in Grandma Helki’s little white boat. She sat quietly at the end, shaking her head. ‘Portals are risky,’ she said. ‘You never know where you’ll end up, especially at Okowa. He should have sent you by the snow bridge, it would have been much safer.’
‘There wasn’t time,’ said Kai. He peered through the cloud. Below he could see the island where Aunty Mai had hidden Indie. It rose out of the sea, shimmering for a moment in the sunlight, and then faded away to nothing. It was surrounded by a group of smaller islands, which swapped and changed position like pieces on a checkerboard. And there, much further from the shore, was the island the shaman had told him about. It was large and rocky, with tall trees standing in a clump at the centre, and fringed by a long sandy shore.
A sharp whoo, whoo filled the air and a big red owl flew down and sat on the edge of the boat. It blinked at him, its eyes wide.
‘Hello, Sisika,’ said Grandma Helki. The owl blinked again and bowed her head.
Grandma Helki turned to Kai. She looked very serious. ‘Sisika has chosen you,’ she said. ‘It is an honour. An animal guide offers much more than protection. You must let her come to you, touch you, be part of you. You must let her lead you down the spiral into your heart.’
Kai put his hand out, slowly. Sisika flew up and landed on his arm. She walked right up to his shoulder and rested her head against his cheek.
He could feel the soft brush of her feathers; smell the white flowers that grew in the forest, high in the paperbark trees.
‘You can step out of the boat now,’ said Grandma Helki.
Kai stared at her.
‘Don’t you want to find your father?’
‘Yes, but –’
‘Well, off you go then. You remember Chief Wicasa’s flying spell, don’t you?’
Kai stepped out of the boat and into the cloud. He felt his feet slip through the mist. And then he was falling, falling through the clear blue sky to the tiny island, far below.
‘Remember,’ Grandma Helki called after him, as the little boat faded from the sky. ‘Don’t stay out after dark, and don’t eat the star fruit.’
Kai landed on the highest branch of a huge yellow tree. He heard laughter and looked down. Swinging below him was a boy with red hair and sunburnt legs. The boy had hooked his feet over the branch, so he could trail his hands through the air.
He looked up at Kai. ‘Who are you?’ he asked.
Kai couldn't speak. He had never expected this. But in his mind, he saw how the young face would grow strong and serious, how the shoulders would broaden and the arms grow thick and mighty enough to wield a sword.
The boy grinned. ‘I don’t care who you are,’ he said. ‘What I really want to know is how fast you can climb down this tree.’
It was a challenge. The boy hung upside down, arms crossed, waiting.
Kai scrambled down the trunk, moving easily from branch to branch.
‘Hey,’ said the boy, flipping to the ground. ‘You’re good.’
‘Thanks,’ said Kai. He stared at the freckled skin, the brilliant green eyes. He couldn’t help it.
‘What are you looking at?’ The boy ran his hand through his hair and cocked his head to one side.
‘You look just like Indie,’ said Kai, without thinking.
‘Like who?’
