Girl. Boy. Sea. by Vick Chris

Author:Vick, Chris [Vick, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9781789541366
Publisher: Head of Zeus
Published: 2019-08-07T16:00:00+00:00

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‘And Lunja?’

‘She was free.’

‘But her mother was the true queen. Thiyya wasn’t really her mother. So Lunja was the rightful ruler.’

‘Yes, but it was enough that she was free. Maybe, in a different story, Lunja becomes the queen. But not in this story. It is enough that she had made a story to save her life.’

‘Aya, all these Sun Lords and kings and sultans,’ I said. ‘Stories within stories. It’s confusing. Are you making it up?’

Aya grinned. ‘Some, yes, why not? But most I remember. The stories are here, this is the book.’ She pointed at her head.

‘Are all the heroes in your stories girls?’ said Stephan, swigging rum.

‘They are in the ones I’ve heard,’ I said. ‘I love the stories. Aya, did you learn them from your uncle?’

She looked at Stephan, who sat watching her, and thought before answering.

‘Yes.’ Her voice was soft and low. ‘From Uncle. Mother too. She tells me, before I sleep. For many years.’

‘You didn’t have television, films?’ said Stephan.

‘I have seen films,’ she said.

‘Where?’

‘It is time to sleep,’ she said.

‘I do not want to sleep,’ Stephan said. ‘What is your story, Aya?’

‘I do not want to tell,’ she said, jutting her chin.

‘Why? You have a secret?’

‘What about you, Stephan?’ I said. ‘Aya saw you, before her boat left.’ I blurted it out before I could stop myself. But I was angry. I hated the way he treated her.

Stephan took a long drink, staring at Aya. And she looked back. She looked fierce and afraid at the same time.

‘Don’t worry,’ I said. ‘I won’t tell. When we’re rescued. But you’re no fisher boy, are you?’

He put the bottle on the ground. For a second I thought he was going to hit me. But he just sighed and slumped back.

‘My father was a fisherman,’ he said. He kept on staring at Aya, as if he was seeing her for the first time. I regretted what I’d said.

‘And you?’ I pushed.

‘I do many things. We must all eat. We do not all have a rich family and an easy road to follow, England boy. My father was a fisherman and talvez, it is possible, one day I will be a fisherman too, if I make money to buy a boat. But this job can kill, you know? You can die before you are old. You work hard for no catch and no catch is no money. You understand?’

‘Yes.’

‘No, you do not. And you? Do you tell us all?’

‘Sure. I’ve got nothing to hide.’

‘Then you are lucky. And?’

‘And what?’

‘Your life, what you are.’

‘Well, I… go to school. I’ve got good mates. A dog. Mum and Dad… I… I’m an ordinary boy. I guess.’

‘And what is that?’

‘I… I don’t know.’

And I thought my life maybe wasn’t that ordinary, no more than Stephan’s life, no more than Aya’s. It just seemed normal. Or had, once.

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