“Since when?” asked Isla disbelievingly. “You hate getting your hair wet”.
“If you must know, Issy has been teaching me for a while now.” Iah said sadly.
Isla too felt suddenly emotional at the mention of Issy. “Alright.” she said. “We’ll row out of sight and you can swim to meet us”.
“OK.” said Iah.
“And you’ve got to remain unseen” said Isla.
“Got it” said Iah, already running towards the bushes.
“And be careful!” Isla shouted after her.
“I said I’ve got it Isla!” Iah shouted back.
Isla and Yanu then waited for the distraction to begin.
…
The plan worked! As soon as Iah let out a loud scream, all of the guards nearby rushed into the bushes. They probably thought that it was another surprise attack. Isla and Yanu were then able to get into one of the canoes on the shores and row out a good distance, without being seen. Now, they were waiting on Iah to meet them.
It had taken about ten minutes to get to that spot, and they had been waiting for about another ten minutes, with no sign of Iah. Just when Isla was about to jump overboard and swim back to shore in search of her, Iah’s head popped out from under the water, beside the canoe. Isla and Yanu quickly pulled her in.
“I guess I don’t spend all day just combing my hair after all.” said Iah, grinning broadly.
“I have to admit, I’m impressed” said Yanu. “That was a far distance to swim”.
“And we didn’t even see you coming” said Isla in surprise.
“That’s because I mostly swam under water and only came up for short breaths” Iah said proudly. “I would have gotten here sooner but I had to wait until the coast was clear; because some of the men stayed back on the beach to keep watch. I had to scream again for them to move.
“You did good sis” said Isla.
Iah grinned again. Then Yanu, Isla and Iah high-fived each other on their successful escape plan; and Yanu asked the big question. “So where do we go from here?”
Isla opened her eyes wide in shock. She had not thought about that. None of them had ever been to another island, and they had no idea which island the men were from.
“I don’t know” Isla finally said.
Chapter 15
Issy in Guam
Issy sat on the floor of a long, dark cave. She was using her fingers to mix around some brown mock in a clay bowl that someone had placed on the ground next to her while she was asleep. Issy had no idea what it was. All she knew was that it looked like mud and she was definitely not going to eat it; no matter how loudly her tummy was growling.
Issy was not sure how long she had been on this new island, because the cave was always so dark. From the little that she had seen, before she was thrown into the cave, Issy thought that the island looked very scary. There was not much greenery and flowers, like in Artinia. It was very rocky and bare. The people looked scary as well, with paint all over their faces and bodies, and animal bones around their necks. Or maybe they were human bones. Issy was not sure; and it made her even more frightened.
Issy had been crying ever since she arrived. She no longer felt very brave. All she wanted was to go home. But she could not see any way to escape; for a guard was always at the cave entrance. Issy hoped that someone form home would realize that she had been kidnapped and come and rescue her soon.
Just then, Issy heard voices just outside the cave. Soon after, she saw someone crawling inside, through the small opening. Her heart began to pound. Issy quickly picked up a small rock and threw it just as the person had gotten to their feet.
“Ouch” a male voice said.
“Don’t come any closer” said Issy, trying to sound brave. “My sister is a top slinger in the army and she taught me everything she knows”.
“I’m not here to hurt you” said the voice. “I just brought you some food”.
Issy heard her tummy growl again. “W- what kind of food?” she asked; for she was very hungry.
“Some fruits and nuts”. The voice answered.
Issy could not resist. Those were her favourites. “Well, alright” she said nervously.
The person walked slowly out of the shadows and, to Issy’s surprise, he was just a boy- maybe around Iah’s age. His face was painted like the others and he wore something that looked like a long skirt made of potato sacks, as well as a large hat made of colorful feathers. But even with his painted face and funny-looking clothes, Issy thought that he was very handsome.
The boy smiled kindly at Issy, and then placed two small clay bowls on the ground in front of her- one filled with grapes, mangoes and oranges, and the other with different kinds of nuts- along with a small clay jug of water.
Issy knelt down and began to wolf down the food. “Who are you?” she asked, with her mouth full.
“I am Prince Aguamir” the boy answered; and reached out to shake Issy’s hand.
Issy was shocked. She spat out the water that was in her mouth, and did not shake the Prince’s hand. “P-prince?” she said.
“Yes” said Prince Aguamir.
“So you’ve come to t-take me to the k-king?” Issy stuttered. She began to wonder if he had only brought the food to fatten her up before they cooked her. She had heard many stories about cannibals living on the other islands.
“Oh no” said Prince Aguamir quickly.
“But why would a Prince bring food for a captive?” Issy asked. “Don’t you have servants for that?”
“Yes, we do. But when I heard that the men had captured a small child, I wanted to come and see you for myself, and help in any way that I can.”
Normally, Issy would not allow anyone to call her a child. But after the mistake she made in getting herself kidnapped, she felt like a helpless child indeed.
“Well, if you want to help, you can ask your father to let me go home” said Issy.
Prince Aguamir shook his head sadly. “I wish I could” he said. “But my father is a stubborn man. I keep trying to stop him from raiding other islands, but he will not listen.”
“But why does he do it?” Issy asked angrily.
“He says that we need to raid other islands so that we can have food to eat. You see, here in Grem, we don’t have as much crops as in Artinia, for our soil is very dry and barren. Just last year, we suffered a terrible drought, and many of our people died of hunger.”
“But people are killed when they attack other islands” Said Issy.
“I know. That’s why I don’t like it” Prince Aguamir said.
“Why can’t they just ask for the food that they need?”
“I don’t think it’s that easy” said Prince Aguamir. “People are not always so giving.”
“So there’s no way at all that you can help me to get home?” asked Issy.
Prince Aguamir shook his head sadly. “No. I’m just a kid myself. No one would listen to me.”
“But you can try.” Said Issy; and her eyes began to fill with tears.
“Don’t worry little one” said Prince Aguamir. “When I am King, I’ll make everything better. I promise.”
“I can’t wait that long” said Issy. “I want to go home, now”.
“Oh, right. Well, we have to come up with a plan then”.
“Duh” said Issy, rolling her eyes.
Chapter 16
The Island of Bane
Isla, Iah and Yanu had no choice but to simply go wherever the canoe led them. Their plan was to hop from island to island until they found the one that Issy was on. Finally, after almost two days out on the sea, they were now approaching their first island.
“There must be guards everywhere!” Iah whined.
Until now, Iah had been surprisingly tough throughout the journey. She had not complained once; not even when it had gotten freezing cold in the night and they all had to share one blanket; nor when fishes and bugs had jumped on board. But right now, that it was soon time for action, Iah was terrified.
“Calm down Iah” said Isla. “You said you could handle this right?”
Iah nodded.
“OK. So I need you to be strong right now.” said Isla.
Isla then turned to Yanu. “Any ideas about how we can get to the island unseen?”
Yanu thought for a moment, and then said “I think we have to leave the canoe behind”.
“What?” asked Isla, puzzled.
“If we go too close with this Artinian canoe, the guards are going to notice us and shoot us down with arrows before we reach shore.” Yanu explained.
“Ohhh, I get it.” said Isla. “But they won’t really see us if we swim.”
“Precisely” said Yanu.
Iah was looking at the two of them as if they were crazy. “I’m not sure if you two noticed, but the canoe is our only means of transportation.” She said. “And all of our stuff is in it.”
“We have no other choice” said Isla.
“And we can always try to get another canoe from the island” Yanu added.
“But what about our stuff?” Iah whined again; “our food, and clothes and hair brushes, ribbons, and my tiara?”
“Brushes and ribbons?” asked Isla. “Who brings that stuff on a trip like this?”
“It’s no reason we can’t still look pretty” answered Iah.
Isla rolled her eyes. “We’ll just have to do without them,” she said “and maybe find some replacements on the island.”
Iah moaned and pouted.
“Let’s get ready to jump” said Isla, ignoring her sister.
Yanu and Isla got up immediately and made their way to the side of the canoe. Iah followed behind them, still pouting; then took off her tiara and placed it on the floor.
“After two…One…two” said Yanu.
All three of them jumped overboard. The sea was cold and a little rough. They battled against the waves and tried to keep under water as much as possible. After a couple of minutes, they reached the shore and were panting very heavily.
“I am never doing that again!” said Iah. “I’m so tired; I thought I was going to drown”.
“Shh. I think I hear something” Isla whispered.
They all turned and saw a group of men walking across the sand. They were armed with bows and arrows and looked very fierce.
“Let’s not cause attention to ourselves” Isla said.
The three of them ducked low in the water, and waited for the men to pass by. They only raised themselves back up when the men reached the other end of the beach. There was no one else around.
“Phew! That was close” said Yanu.
Iah, however, looked concerned. “Did you guys see what they were wearing?”
“Ahh…no” said Yanu, confused.
“They were wearing grass skirts” said Iah
“Now is not the time to think about fashion Iah” said Isla.
“It’s not about fashion Isla” said Iah. “We’re definitely going to stand out in these outfits.”
Isla looked down on the pants and shirts that the three of them were wearing. “You’re right Iah” she said. “What do we do?”
“Not to worry!” said Iah, cheering up. “I just need a bunch of tall grass, some turtle berries and two large coconuts”.
Iah applied the turtle berry juice to the grass, and stuck them together to make three skirts that looked exactly like the ones the men were wearing. She then used the coconut shells to make tops for herself and for Isla, and used the strings from their pants to hold them together. The three of them were in the bushes, dressed in their new clothes. They looked as if they would fit in nicely with the other islanders; except for the fact that Yanu refused to take off his pants from under the skirt; even though Iah kept telling him to.
“Absolutely not!” He said. “I don’t do skirts”.
“Well at least roll your pants up so that it doesn’t show” said Iah angrily.
Isla then came out from behind a tree, dressed in her new outfit; and Yanu could not stop staring at her. He put his hand over his heart and tripped over a rock. Isla’s cheeks became so red from blushing, that Iah thought that she was having an allergic reaction to the turtle berries.
Isla, Iah and Yanu then decided that they would go around and ask questions to find out if these were the people that had raided Artinia. If they were, then Issy had to be around here somewhere. The trio picked up their clothes and began to make their way into the island. That was a rather difficult task, because of the extremely thick bushes. In fact, the entire island appeared to be one great big forest. They had to carry huge sticks to clear a path before them. After walking for a very long time, they seemed to be getting nowhere, and there were scratches all over their bodies from the twigs and tree branches.
“What kind of Island is this?” Iah complained. “And where is everybody?”
Just then, they heard a loud noise like a trumpet coming from somewhere in the bushes close by.
“Wa- what was that?” said Iah, with her eyes open wide in fright.
“I don’t know” said Isla, frightened as well.
Then they heard some more loud noises, as if something really big was smashing through the bushes towards them. The three of them stood where they were, looking all around. There was nowhere to go. They could not run through these thick bushes.
Then suddenly, they saw a great big, terrifying creature push through the bushes in front of them. It was very tall and grey all over, with four big chunky legs. Its ears were huge and flappy, and it had two long, white teeth sticking out at either side of its mouth. It stood up in front of them, swinging around its extremely long nose and making the trumpet sound that they had heard earlier.
“WE’RE GOING TO DIE!” Iah screamed.
Isla just stood there with her m
outh opened wide.
“Quick! Duck down!” Yanu shouted.
Iah and Isla dashed to the ground and Yanu tried to cover them with his body. They were all expecting the grey monster to trample over them or eat them; but nothing happened. All went quiet. Isla nervously opened her eyes and peeked over Yanu’s shoulder.
“Look!” she said in surprise.
Yanu and Iah turned around slowly. The creature was now standing calmly before them and someone was on its back.
“Hello up there!” Isla called.
The person jumped down beside them. It was just a little boy, of about ten years old. He was very scrawny, with long braided hair and very dark skin, like the men they had seen earlier.
“But you’re just a child!” said Iah. “How did you ride this big beast?”
“Huh?” the boy said puzzled. “Everyone in Bane rides elephants. It’s the only way to get through these bushes. But you should already know that. You’re from here, aren’t you?”
Iah had completely forgotten that they were supposed to be trying to fit in with the islanders.
“Ohh.. Ahh… Of course we’re from here” she lied.
The boy scrunched as if he did not believe them.
“Are you sure?” he asked. “You don’t look like the other people in Bane.”
“Oh… that’s just because we have a skin disease”. Isla lied again.
The boy suddenly looked very interested. “What kind of skin disease?” He asked. “Is it gruesome?”
“Sure” said Isla. “Our skin swells up sometimes and releases icky puss and everything.”
“Cooooool” said the boy, smiling broadly and stepping closer towards them to get a better look at their skin. “I should take you to my mom then. She’s a healer”.
“Yeah, that’ll be great” said Isla. “Just let me talk to my friends first, ok?”
Isla huddled Iah and Yanu together. “Issy’s not here” Isla whispered.
“How do you know?” asked Iah.