A Half Forgotten Song by Katherine Webb

Author:Katherine Webb
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2013-05-31T21:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

Dimity was sick on the boat on the way to Tangier.

“I thought your father was a fisherman?” said Élodie, standing on the deck of the steamer with the wind fluttering her hair around her and whipping the words away.

“But I’m not,” Dimity pointed out, doubling over the railing again as her stomach heaved. By then there was nothing left to come up, and she wiped a string of spittle from her chin. “I’ve never been on a boat before.”

“Can we get you something, Mitzy? A glass of water?” said Delphine.

“Ginger’s best, if they have it; or mint,” she croaked, her throat ragged and sore; so dizzy she daren’t let go of the railing. She looked around for Charles and saw him on a bench on the upper deck, sketching a pair of little boys who were playing with their model airplanes. She was half glad that he wasn’t watching her being sick, and half jealous of the boys. Celeste was almost as unhappy at sea as she was, but the Moroccan woman remained in her cabin, lying down with the room darkened. A kind of quiet, private dignity in distress that Dimity wished she could emulate, but when she went indoors she only felt worse, and her head started to pound as well, the blood throbbing through her temples as though it had doubled in volume. Her only hope was to watch the horizon, and remain on the leeward side of the deck. When Delphine returned from the galley with a sprig of mint, asking if she should boil it or what, Dimity snatched it from her and chewed the leaves raw, desperately hoping that the lurching in her gut would stop. At least the mint masked the foul taste in her mouth. Élodie watched her with distaste and a trace of sympathy.

“It’ll be worth it when we get there, honestly,” she said staunchly.

After a while, exhaustion sent Dimity inside, where she lay down on a bench beneath a window to sleep. She had no idea what time it was when Delphine shook her awake, her face alight with excitement.

“Come and see,” she said, pulling at Dimity’s hands until she rose, shakily, to her feet. Delphine led her back out onto the deck, where Charles, Celeste, and Élodie were already at the rail. The light was dazzling, and Dimity shut her eyes instinctively. Such light, so strong through her eyelids that they glowed redder than a fire. When she could open them, it was all-consuming, and she flinched. “Look! We’re here. Morocco!” Delphine said, nudging her closer to the rail. Finally able to see, Dimity gasped.

The city of Tangier rose up from the water’s edge all around the arched harbor, almost too bright to look at; clustered white houses like jumbled building blocks, with palm trees and fragile-looking towers rising up from the mêlée. Here and there, a vibrant slew of pink flowers tumbled over a wall or from a balcony. Above the sparkling turquoise water, the city seemed to glow.

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