Page 75 of The Sea Witch
Luna approached, bearing a backstaff and compass. “Shall we, Mr. Priestley?”
He exhaled.Thishe knew. Navigation. Charting and mapping. At least when it came to his official duties, he could find his way.
Shortly after seven bells, the wind gusting across the deck kept the worst of the day’s heat at bay, and Ben turned into the breeze, letting the sweat on his brow dry.
A shout went up from the crow’s nest.
The crew member quickly climbed down the mainmast and hurried to Alys, standing on the quarterdeck with her second-in-command and Polly, the first mate. Ben followed the lookout, curious to know what she’d seen.
“I spotted something flying toward us,” the woman said. “It’s no gull or some other seabird.”
“A familiar?” Alys asked her second-in-command. Stasia only shrugged in bafflement.
“Off the starboard bow,” the lookout added.
Following the lookout’s pointing finger, Ben peered at the spot in the sky. Sure enough, the bird seemed to be on a direct course for theSea Witch.
Alys pulled out a spyglass. “A bird of prey. Black-and-white feathers, hooked beak, a scissor tail.”
She handed the spyglass to Polly. “A kite of some kind,” the first mate said. “Exhausted, too, by the way it’s flying.”
A minute later, the kite circled the ship, crying out as if in distress. Many members of the crew gathered closely as it landed on the quarterdeck railing before collapsing to the planks.
Alys rushed forward, gathering the kite carefully in her hands. She spoke in soft coos as the bird made feeble, weak sounds. Ben had never seen such an extraordinary sight, both a wild raptor permitting anyone to touch it and Alys’s tender care of the animal.
“Water, and a cloth,” she called over her shoulder. “Meat, cut into small pieces. And a blanket. On the double.”
After a few moments, someone appeared with everything Alys had demanded. Gently, Alys wrapped the kite in the blanket, and dribbled water into its beak. With even more care, she fed the animal pieces of meat, one at a time, seemingly uncaring about the kite’s sharp beak plucking the food from her fingers.
“Easy now, girl,” she crooned softly. “You made it. You’re safe.”
Patiently, solicitously, Alys tended to the bird. More crew members gathered around, murmuring comments and suggestions, until Stasia barked that they needed to see to their duties, or else she’d make them pick oakum. They scattered, leaving Alys, the quartermaster, Ben, Polly, and Luna.
The kite seemed to gradually recover its strength, reviving enough to shake off the blanket and perch on Alys’s arm. It ruffled its feathers before settling down.
“What’s your name, lovely?” Alys said.
To Ben’s shock, the bird responded with a cry.
“Hello, Anwuli,” Alys said, her voice still low and careful. “You’ve come a very long way to find us. I’m Captain Tanner.”
The kite cried out several times, and the women all nodded, as if they understood it. Ben glanced at them in bafflement.
“Yes, yes, I see,” Alys said pensively, her brow furrowed. “When?”
Anwuli made another noise.
Alys turned to Luna. “How long will it take us to get there?”
The navigator pursed her lips in thought. “A day, day and a half, if we push with a few spells.”
“What do you think?” Alys asked the quartermaster.
“A different mission from what we typically do,” came the reply.
“We’ll put it to the crew,” Alys said.
“They will seek to know what their captain wants.”
