Zeus and Emily finally finished their boat at the end of April. The zinodes fabricated the stainless steel fittings and supplied the ropes, but Emily insisted that her and Zeus sewed the sails. Looking more like a patchwork quilt than sails, Zeus joked about using them as a new cover for the tatty old sofa on the terrace but Emily knew they’d work, she’d seen ships sailing up the River Niger with their patchwork sails. Twelve coats of varnish turned the boat’s oars and rail to a rich, glowing reddy-orange and, after much discussion, the hull was painted dark green. Emily carefully lettered Olive on the transom and she was finished!
At the crack of dawn on the 1st of May they push Olive out though the waves and headed off across the ocean. Their little boat was a bit wobbly at first but once they’d found their sea legs and balanced her by sitting in the right places, she was happy. Emily steered and Zeus tended the sails. With the wind coming from the side, Olive sailed beautifully, gurgling along leaving a trail of bubbles in her wake. By the time the sun came up they’d lost sight of land; there was nothing but unbroken horizon all around.
‘Just as I planned it,’ said Zeus proudly.
A school of flying fish took off from the bow, some of them gliding a good hundred metres before splashing back into the waves.
‘I didn’t order those,’ said Zeus, looking puzzled.
‘I did!’ said Emily.
The wind picked up, heeling the little boat over. She charged along playing in the waves; sending spray kicking up over the bow and back over Zeus and Emily. A strong gust tipped Olive on her ear, letting the water pour in over the gunnels. They eased sheets to bring her upright again and the sails flapped and flogged like mad things while they put a reef in the mainsail, then they sheeted back in and charged off again.
With a lot of wriggling and giggling they shuffled around and swapped positions. Zeus steered her down the waves, looking like the ancient mariner with his grey beard blowing in the fresh breeze while Emily manned the sheet, pulling it in to power up then easing it off in the gusts to stop Olive from tipping over. It was exhilarating being out in the middle of the ocean zooming down the waves in the little dinghy they’d built.
‘Land Ahoy!’ shouted Emily, spotting an island ahead with the faint blue outline of Mt. Ijju behind in the distance. She wondered where her beautiful friend from the desert was and what she was doing.
The Mirror dinghy was surprisingly fast and the distant land quickly grew out of the sea. By mid-morning they were hauling Olive up on the pebbly shore of the island. Tying the painter to a tree they headed off exploring.
‘I hope there’s no hostile natives,’ said Emily, then almost jumped out of her skin as a black blob shot by.
‘We have a stowaway,’ laughed Zeus.
Negrita was in heaven, the island was full of frogs, cute little green and gold frogs; bite sized like Mini-Mars bars. She pounced on them, gave them a quick roasting with her fiery breath and then gulped them down still wriggling. She chased ahead as they walked up through an ancient oak forest to the top of the island. Shafts of sunlight filtered through the canopy, painting the new leaves in delicate shades of green and dappling the forest floor with yellow spots.
Emily knew there was a lake on the island, she’d seen it from the moons, but it was much more beautiful than she’d imagined. The water was a pale milky green colour and reflected the tall trees that grew around its shores. In the middle, a couple of hundred metres from the shore was a little island.
‘Let’s swim to it,’ said Zeus, and dived in.
Emily raced after him through the cool water and arrived first. Frogs jumped everywhere as she scrambled ashore and clambered up the rocky islet. At the top a spring fountained out of the solid granite, sending silky water cascading down the rocks.
Delicious!
‘Good,’ said Zeus, looking at his handiwork. ‘It’s satisfying to turn a lump of space rock into a beautiful world.’
Lunch was calling. They swam ashore and walked back down the hill to Olive. They munched on chunky sandwiches filled with Parma ham and Parmesan cheese, and ate juicy red peppers whole. Emily drew pictures and wrote in her diary while Zeus skimmed stones and snoozed in the afternoon sun.
They were dragging their little boat back to the water when they remember their stowaway. It was nearly dark before she finally arrived; looking decidedly plump from all the frogs she’d eaten. Pushing Olive out into the waves, they sailed off into the night.
It was magic being at sea in the dark. Olive tossed and bucked in the little waves, sending sheets of spray flying over the bow. The stars shone brightly overhead and reflected back off the black water, which glowed green with phosphorescence as they sliced through it, leaving a trail of stars playing in their wake.
Zeus saw them first, glowing green shapes zooming towards the boat.
‘Bandits at two o’clock,’ he said as the torpedoes homed in on them.
At the last minute they ducked under the boat then jumped clear of the water on the other side, disappearing into the darkness.
Splash!
In a shower of green spray, they landed again and swam behind Olive.
‘Wow,’ said Emily. ‘Dolphins!’
‘They have friends,’ said Zeus as half a dozen more torpedoes sped towards Olive, leaving zigzag trails in the water.
The dolphins played around Olive, clicking and whistling and rubbing up under the boat, keeping Zeus and Emily company all the way back to the beach. The surf had come up during the day and Emily hooted as they surfed down a wave then screamed as they broached and capsized in the darkness. The waves pushed Olive ashore in a tangle of sails and ropes. They bailed her out and hauled her up the beach.
‘Let’s tidy up in the morning,’ said Zeus and they splashed back along the beach to Emily’s cottage. Half an hour later they were sat on the old sofa, drinking hot choccy and watching the crescent of Venus rising above the sea.
‘We did it!’ said Zeus. ‘We crossed the ocean in our little boat. What a wonderful day!’
Hissssss! snarled a waterlogged Negrita, blowing out smoke and sparks.