Kaya Stormchild Read Free Page B

come back tomorrow after
school?”
    “ Sure,”
grinned Kaya. “But don’t drop your oar this time. I can’t come and
save you every day, you know!”
    Josh smiled
sheepishly. “I’ll try not to.”
    With a wave,
he set off in his rowboat. The sea was calm, and he made quick
progress toward Campbell Harbour. Kaya watched him until he was a
small dot on the grey surface of the water. The she turned back up
the beach, calling out to Tike to come and help her build a fire
for supper.
     
     

 

     

Chapter 2:
The Duchess
     
    The days
passed. Spring brightened into early summer. Wisps of bright gold
broom burst into bloom on the edges of Tangle Island. The giant
maple unfurled large, luxurious leaves, which dappled the light
entering the nest through the skylight.
    Kaya and Josh
met often to go exploring. She showed him all her favorite haunts
on the smaller, unpopulated islets nearby. Sometimes Josh rowed to
Moon Cove in his rowboat, other times Kaya would paddle over in the
canoe and pick him up after school at the dock in town. The dock
was located right next to J & B’s General Store, where she
traded fish.
    “ Grandmother,” Kaya called out one afternoon, “I think I’ll go
to town today.”
    The eagle was
resting high on her perch, a bare cedar bough next to the nest in
the maple tree. With a slow, graceful movement, she lifted into the
air and circled slowly down to the beach where Kaya was loading the
canoe.
    “ Have you got
the two fish I caught this morning?” asked Grandmother.
    “ They’re
right here. Jim at the store is going to be amazed. They‘re such
big ones!” Kaya hesitated a moment, then added, “Jim said he was
going to lend me some books. He said I could come and pick them up
any time.”
    Josh had been
showing Kaya how to read. Ever since her first trip to town two
years earlier, when she first saw the newspapers and magazines
stacked in Jim’s store, she had been curious to know what all those
lines and squiggles stood for. Josh had been amazed when she’d
asked him to help her learn.
    “ What d’you
want to know how to read for? I hate reading! They make us read so
much boring stuff for school. It’s much more fun having
adventures.”
    But Kaya
persisted. After awhile Josh started to enjoy his role as teacher.
Kaya seemed to know so much more than him about everything, and was
so brave and capable, that it felt good to be able to explain
something to her for a change.
    “ Grandmother,” Kaya said reassuringly, “I won’t be long,
OK?”
    The eagle
studied Kaya intently for a long moment, her white head cocked to
one side. Her small, black eyes were keen and bright.
    “ How is your
learning coming, child?” she asked finally.
    “ Fast!” said
Kaya. “I can already read a whole bunch of words. I can’t wait
until I can read a real book. Jim says there are all kinds of
wonderful stories in books, and each one is like a whole new world
to explore.”
    Grandmother
nodded her head slowly. “I am glad the boy can show you how.” Her
voice was very quiet, almost sad. “One day, Kaya Stormchild, you
may wish to take your place among your own kind. You will need to
know the stories of your people.”
    Kaya started
at these words. She shook her head vigorously, then said, frowning,
“ You’re my
people, Grandmother - you and Kelpie and Tike and all the others.
I’ll never leave you, even if I can read! I don‘t want to live
anywhere else than Tangle Island. Ever!”
    The old eagle
smiled. She bent to pluck with her beak a stray lock of Kaya’s hair
and tuck it behind the girl’s shoulder.
    “ Go ahead,
then. Go get your books. It is a fine, cloudless day. Take Tike
with you. You haven’t offered to take him to town since the storm,
and I know he’s eager to see the place for himself.”
    Kaya put her
fingers to her lips and whistled. A moment later, the little otter
came scurrying along the rocks towards her. He had a partially
eaten crab, still in the shell,