Kaya Stormchild

by Lael Whitehead

  “Despair not,” the voice echoed within her mind.

  Kaya looked about in confusion. She had forgotten that dolphins sometimes chose to communicate telepathically, particularly when strong emotion was involved.

  She saw that one of the larger dolphins had lingered behind the others. He had come right up to the edge of the canoe. She met his eyes, and for a moment she felt their gazes lock. A bolt of energy coursed through her, just for an instant. It seemed as if her insides had filled with a dazzling radiance. The colours of everything surrounding her glowed and swirled as if the world had turned to liquid, like a vast, melted rainbow. Her heart seemed to have stopped beating, and she didn’t blink or breathe.

  Then, just as suddenly as it had come, the flow of light ceased. The world returned to its normal shape and colour. Kaya dropped her eyes.

  “Thank you,” she murmured.

  She felt strangely light, as if all the anxiety of the past twenty-four hours had drained from her body.

  The silver head tossed, and a rippling laugh echoed outwards.

  “Farewell,” said the smiling voice, out loud this time. Then, with a graceful leap backwards and away from the canoe, the dolphin dipped beneath the sea and was gone.

  Tike scowled down at the water.

  “What a bunch of show-offs!” he snorted. “They think they’re the only ones that can do a backwards dive. I’ll bet they can’t turn a real somersault!”

  But Kaya wasn’t listening. She leaned on her paddle for a moment, savouring the strange, wonderful sensation she had just experienced. Then, giving herself a quick shake, she thrust her paddle into the sea and got the canoe going swiftly again. It wasn’t long before she was tying up at the dock in Campbell Harbour.

  Josh was there on the dock to greet them. Jim was with him.

  “I’ve been telling him about the men,” Josh said excitedly to Kaya as they walked up the stairs from the dock. “He says they stole from him.”

  “Well, I don’t have any proof, so I hesitate to say for sure,” said Jim, in his gruff, kind voice. “But a brand-new, expensive set of fishing tackle went missing day before yesterday, and I saw one of those characters examining it quite carefully when they were in to buy cigarettes first thing in the morning. The big guy got me talking, and I noticed the skinny one leave the store suddenly, which seemed odd. He had a big duffel coat on, all buttoned up tight even though the day was warm. I got a bad feeling at the time, but I was too busy to check the store until later.”

  “The coat!” said Josh. He and Kaya exchanged looks. “That must have been before he lost it!”

  “So if we could figure out where he went after he was here - ” said Kaya.

  They had reached the store.

  “Come on in,” said Jim. “We’d better call the RCMP.”

  Beth was there. She was much shorter than Jim, with a stocky build, bright red hair, and a turned-up, freckled nose.

  “Hey there, Kaya,” she smiled. “How did you like my lemon loaf?”

  “Delicious!” said Kaya.

  “So-so,” said Tike. “A little too sweet, I’d say.”

  “Tike liked it, too,” said Kaya quickly, with a frown at the otter. But Beth hadn’t understood him, of course. The woman bent down to pat the otter on the back of his head. This took Tike by surprise, but since he enjoyed being stroked by Kaya, he took a step towards Beth and leaned against her leg. He lifted his head so she could scratch him under the chin.

  Jim told Beth about the illegal hunters camping on Heron Island, and about how they fit the description of the thieves that had stolen their tackle box. Immediately, Beth hurried into the back of the store to phone the police. She returned a minute later.

  “Angela is on her way over to talk to you kids. She’s our local RCMP officer. She says she’s already had a call from Lyall Island. A guy there said he heard gunshots, then saw two men hauling a dolphin into their boat in a net. These must be the same guys. Maybe if she catches them we can get the tackle box back,” she grinned, giving Tike a final pat on the head.

  The RCMP office was just up the road, so it wasn’t long before the door swung open and two officers wearing blue uniforms walked in.

  “Hi there,” said the taller of the two, an athletic-looking woman with short, dark hair, and steady blue eyes.

  “I’m Angela, and this is Officer Raymond. I hear you’ve got a story to tell me.”

  Her companion, a very young man, with short pale hair and a face that still bore traces of adolescent acne, stood awkwardly at her side. His cheeks flushed a little as he nodded towards the group by the front counter.

  After giving their story, Jim and Beth left to finish unpacking a shipment of groceries in the back of the store. Then it was Kaya’s and Josh’s turn to relate their adventure. Angela nodded as they spoke, listening carefully to every word, and asking questions now and then. Raymond took a pad of paper from his pocket and began writing notes. He seemed relieved to have something to do other than meet the speakers’ eyes. When Kaya and Josh came to the end of their tale, the officer turned to Kaya and said, in a conversational tone,

  “I know Josh and his Dad. They live here in Campbell Harbour. But I haven’t seen you about. Have you just moved here?”

  Kaya felt a wave of panic. She didn’t want the police officer to find out where she lived. She didn’t want to have to explain about Tangle Island, and Grandmother, and the nest. Josh came to the rescue.

  “Oh, she’s just visiting. She’s my - second cousin, or something. I can never get it straight.”

  Angela smiled. “Well, thanks a lot for your help. We are going to head out to Heron right now. If they haven’t moved all their booty yet, we’ll be able to catch them red-handed.”

  After they left, Kaya gave Josh a wry look.

  “You sure are good at lying!”

  Josh flushed, embarrassed. “I’d never lie to you, though, Kaya. I just didn’t want -”

  “I know. You were just protecting me. Thanks!”

  Jim returned from the back of the store, carrying a box of apples. Kaya recounted her interview with the RCMP.

  “They don’t need to ask us any more questions, so we’re going to run up to the Thrift Store for a while and see the Duchess.”

  Kaya gazed out anxiously towards the bay. “Oh, I hope they catch those awful - those horrible -” Her voice trembled and caught in her throat.

  “There are just not words to describe such people, are there?” said Jim gently. “They just don’t seem to care about anything but making money. They’re willing to step on anything that gets in their way. I wish I didn’t belong to the same species….”

  He paused, thoughtful, then said with a worried smile, “I hope the cops don’t run into trouble trying to arrest them, though. The new guy that’s here to help Angela for the summer looks like he’d be scared of his own shadow!”

  Chapter 5: The Chase

  A “Closed” sign hung in the window when Kaya, Josh and Tike arrived.

  “That’s strange,” said Kaya. “Sunday’s her busiest day. I hope she’s not sick.”

  They knocked at the door. The Duchess opened it, wearing a shiny, pale-green kimono.

  “Come in, children,” said the old woman, smiling. Her white hair was not tied back in its usual bun, but fell fine and gauzy around her shoulders. Her eyes seemed more lined than usual.

  “I’m afraid I slept rather badly last night, so it’s taking me a while to get the day started. Come on into the kitchen. There’s a fresh pot of tea. And some banana muffins I baked yesterday. Help yourselves while I get dressed.”

  They sat around her table, talking in quiet voices and sipping sweet, milky tea from the Duchess’s china teacups. After ten minutes or so, the old woman appeared, dressed in a blue, flowered skirt and white blouse. She wore pink lipstick and tiny, blue earrings, and her hair was pinned up neatly.

  “I felt the need of a little make-up this morning,” the Duchess laughed. “I frightened mysel
f when I looked in the mirror!”

  “Are you feeling sick?” asked Kaya. “Is that why you couldn’t sleep last night?”

  The Duchess poured herself a cup of tea.

  “No,” she said, rubbing her forehead as she stood gazing out her small kitchen window at the spring morning. “I wasn’t sick. But I was troubled. Very troubled. As if something were missing. And yet, I didn’t know what it was or where to look for it.”

  She looked at the two children sitting at the table, and at the otter curled up by Kaya’s chair. She sat down.

  “Never mind. Just bad dreams, probably. What is your news? Did you follow that fellow yesterday?”

  Josh and Kaya told the story once again, with Tike adding comments now and then. The Duchess listened attentively. When they had finished, she leaned back in her chair.

  “A big, unusual shell. It must have fallen out of that man’s pocket somewhere.”

  “I don’t think it’s on Heron Island. Those guys have searched everywhere, it sounds like,” said Josh, wiping crumbs from his chin.

  They sat in silence, pondering for a moment.

  “Hey,” said Kaya. “Remember Spencer said something about a ‘little island’ where they stashed some of their ‘loot’? Maybe it fell out there.”

  “Humph!” grunted Tike. “There are about a hundred little islands around here. How are we going to know which one?”

  The Duchess translated Tike’s comment for Josh, then added, “Must be an island near Heron, I would imagine, since Heron appears to be their headquarters. If I were a bounty hunter I’d want to keep my operation fairly simple. Everything close by.”

  The Duchess stood up and went to her hall closet. She rummaged through stacks of papers piled on a shelf there for a few minutes.

  “Aha! Here it is!” she cried.

  Returning to the kitchen, she cleared away the teacups, then unfolded a large, yellowed paper and spread it out on the kitchen table. It was a detailed map of the Salish Sea, depicting even the smallest islands in the chain.

  “Now. Let’s see,” said the Duchess, leaning over the map. “Here is Heron Island, and there is the Scout Camp.”

  Kaya and Josh came to peer over her shoulder.

  “There are only two little islands close by. There, to the south west,” said Josh, pointing excitedly. “They look almost identical. Twin islands. It’s got to be one of them!”

  “They are called Edith Island and Bella Island,” said the Duchess, reading the map. “Hmm...Perhaps they were named for two sisters. But they are not very large. It shouldn’t be hard to search them. What do you think?”

  “Let’s go!” said Kaya and Josh at once.

  They both leaped to their feet and began to clear the dishes.

  “Wait, my dears,” said the Duchess. “We have to be careful. These men are dangerous. We don’t want to confront them ourselves. That’s a job for the police. We need to be discreet – to pretend we are just out for a nice family picnic. I’ll pack some food and my red checkered blanket and - and we’ll take along this old Frisbee and perhaps a butterfly net. If we bump into them, they will never guess what we are up to,” said the Duchess.

  She stood up and opened her cupboard. “Oh good. Here is an unopened box of crackers,” she said happily. “I have cheese and apples in the fridge. And we can take the rest of the muffins.”

  “I’ve got some trail mix in the canoe,” said Kaya, “and two full bottles of water.”

  The Duchess locked the front door of the shop and straightened the “Closed” sign. Then they set off for the dock.

  The four friends got into the canoe. Kaya sat in the stern, Josh in the prow, while the Duchess perched demurely on the seat in the middle, with Tike curled up at her feet. As Kaya pushed the canoe away from the dock and thrust her paddle deep into the water, she saw her elderly friend shudder suddenly.

  “Are you sure you are OK?” asked Kaya. “Not too uncomfortable?”

  “I’m perfectly comfortable, my dear. It’s just - such a strange sensation keeps coming over me. It’s as if the fabric of the world is unravelling. Or a hole opening up somewhere. It makes me dizzy. But not to worry. The feeling has already passed. Perhaps I’m just getting old.”

  She laughed a little, shrugging her shoulders.

  Kaya stared into the still, silvery-smooth water as she paddled. The sea was like glass. The sky overhead was perfectly blue, with just a hint of a breeze on the air. An ideal day for a paddle.

  However, she too had begun to feel a curious lightness in the pit of her stomach. It was as if she hadn’t eaten all day. Yet she remembered clearly her breakfast of bread and peanut butter on Tangle that morning, not to mention the muffin just now at the Thrift store. Kaya watched her hands as, stroke after stroke, they swung the paddle down into the water. She half expected to see her skin thinning somehow, growing transparent. But her fingers looked tanned and solid as they always did.

  What was wrong with everything? Were these strange sensations simply the result of all the excitement of the past few days?

  With the weight of the four of them in the canoe it took longer than the previous day to reach Heron. It was an hour before they had passed the island and were approaching Edith Island, the first of the twin islets to the southwest. The sun was high and hot, and Kaya felt the sweat trickle down her temples as she stopped to rest her paddle on the side of the canoe.

  She’d become aware during the past ten minutes or so of a faint humming or throbbing sound in the distance. Like the beat of a far-off drum, or the pulse of a heartbeat not her own. The Duchess sat rigid in front of her, evidently listening too.

  “Ouch!” said Tike, rubbing his ears. “What’s that noise? I don’t like it!”

  From the prow Josh called. “That sound is really annoying, isn’t it? Kind of grates on your nerves. Makes you all jittery.”

  “It’s some kind of drum, I think,” said Kaya. “But that doesn’t make sense. Who’d be drumming? Nobody lives out here.”

  No one laughed. A deep uneasiness had settled into each of them, though the little island, like a bright green jewel floating on the quiet sea, looked serene and inviting.

  “I don’t see their boat anywhere,” said Josh. “According to this map, this is the only beach. Those guys aren’t here. That’s a relief, at least.”

  They tied up in the small, pebbly cove. The throbbing sound was still faint, but persistent, never missing a beat. As soon as he was out of the canoe, Tike dived into the water as if to escape the noise. Josh took a long drink from Kaya’s water bottle, then passed it to the Duchess.

  “Shall we break up?” he asked. “Kaya, you and the Duchess search the south end. I’ll take the north. Tike can look in all the caves along the beach. Let’s meet back here in an hour.”

  They agreed. The island was tiny. Once Kaya and the Duchess had climbed the hill up from the beach they could see the ocean only a few hundred yards away on the other side. A narrow path, not more than a well-worn deer track, led towards the south end of the island. They followed this, walking slowly and peering carefully at the rocks and undergrowth to either side of the trail.

  After a quarter of an hour, the Duchess sat on a stump at the side of the trail to rest. Kaya stretched out on her back on a flat stone nearby. She felt hollowed out, like a cave. Crossing her arms beneath her head, she gazed up through the dappled alder branches to the blue sky beyond. The distant drumming seemed to keep time with the shifting of the leaves in the breeze.

  “When I was a girl in England,” began the Duchess, pressing her fingers to her temples, “my family would spend summers at a little cottage down in Cornwall, on the southern coast. That’s where I first discovered I had the Speech. I used to go and sit on a spit of rocky headland that jutted out into the sea.

  Thousands of sea birds of all kinds would stop there, to fish, or just to rest and preen their feathers in the summer sun. I remember trying to sit very still, so that they would forget I was there. At ti
mes they came very close. I found I could understand their conversations with one another. At least partly. And the more I listened the more I understood.”

  Kaya sat up. She gazed intently at the old woman.

  “I didn’t realize until many years later that I could be understood in return. If I had, I might have asked some questions. I remember one particular day as if it were yesterday. It was about this time of year. We had gone down to spend the weekend at the cottage. I got up early and walked down to the headland before breakfast. I wanted to be alone for a while. I overheard an old gull talking to a fledging. He spoke of some event that was going to occur very soon, an event of great importance, which the young bird was going to witness for the first time. The elder gull explained that, scattered over the surface of the earth were points of power, axes around which nature’s force turned. One such axis was just off the coast of Cornwall, near the headland I was sitting on. The event - the Turning, I think he called it - would take place there, and soon. I was so fascinated. I tried to keep absolutely still so as not to frighten the birds. But some noisy village children wandered onto the headland to hunt for crabs. The birds flew away.”

  The Duchess leaned back, smiling a little.

  “Strange. I remember such a sensation of excited agitation, almost of dizziness, gripping me, as I listened to the words of the old gull. A sensation similar to what I am feeling right now. Only then I wasn’t afraid.”

  Kaya stood up and gazed out through the trees towards the glistening ocean.

  “It’s not just the Salish Sea, then,” said Kaya softly. “There are Turnings everywhere, at the heart of each place. Grandmother didn’t tell me that.”

  “What did you say, Kaya? Do you know what the gulls were talking about?” asked the Duchess, leaning forward eagerly.

  Kaya turned to her friend. She studied the lined face of the elderly woman.

  “I think I can trust you,” she began. “I think - I know you’ll understand.”

  “About Grandmother?” asked the Duchess, her blue eyes twinkling.

  Kaya stared in surprise.