Pathfinder Read Free Page B

hair with his hand. “I always wondered if our fishermen didn’t sail far enough south. They were brave men but they panicked when they saw the mainland was gone and turned back. If they had kept going though, maybe they would have found one of those cities. I don’t know, but we need to find out now. Somehow we must. Those cities might be our only hope. Who knows what land is left in the world?”
    He opens the old atlas that is lying on the table and studies it. “I’ve searched and searched for other options,” he murmurs, “but all the high lands are too far from here. We’d never reach them. Our fishing boats could never survive such a distance on the open ocean.”
    But Mara is only half-listening, her mind filled with a picture of a beautiful city, towering safe and high above the ocean, far up into the sky. At the same time a shiver of dread runs through her at the thought of leaving Wing to live in such a place. It’s unimaginable. She doesn’t want to think of it. Dazed, she tries to collect her thoughts.
    Tain puts a steadying hand on her shoulder. He knows her so well she doesn’t have to explain what she is feeling.
    â€œYour granny was a very special person,” he tells her now, as he has so often before. “She was a real leader in this community when the world changed and we had tofight to survive. It was her vision and courage that helped these islands shape their own future in a world where people had lost heart and were ready to give up hope. I remember I almost did.” A smile deepens the lines on his face. “But she wouldn’t. She just would not let us all give up.” Now Tain’s voice trembles and his eyes burn with emotion in a way that Mara has never seen before. “She had a kind of greatness in her, Mary did. And you are her mirror image, girl. Her living image! You’ll make a new future in the world, I know you will—because you’ve got that same strength and courage.”
    â€œWhy didn’t you marry her?” Mara whispers. The words are out of her mouth before she can stop them.
    Her grandpa, Granny Mary’s husband, died before she was born, so it’s hard to feel loyalty to someone she never knew; whereas Tain has always been close to her and has felt so much like a grandfather.
    A sudden great gust hits the cottage. An almighty wind howls across the island. Doors shudder and shutters bang. Outside on the hills the blades of the windmills begin to thrash. Mara and Tain jump up and run outside to secure the shutters before they shatter the windows.
    Storm clouds are already back on the horizon. Mara could cry with frustration. She can’t believe her short burst of freedom is nearly gone. She hasn’t even had time to visit her friends.
    Tain has disappeared inside and returns quickly, clasping a small, highly polished wooden box that is covered in exquisite engravings. He places it in Mara’s hands.
    â€œFor me?” Mara exclaims. She fingers the beautiful patterns of the box, then opens it to find a small mirror on the underside of the lid and tiny compartments in the base.
    Tain nods. He is famed all over the island for his woodengravings, but nowadays there is rarely any spare wood. All the island’s trees have long been cut down. “I made it for your granny’s sixteenth birthday. I was keeping it for yours but, well, you should have it now. A box for all your jewels.”
    Mara laughs because he knows she doesn’t have any. She hugs him tight. “I’ve never owned anything so beautiful.”
    And suddenly she wonders—does he mean he made it for Granny and never gave it to her? And if not, why not? Somehow, she cannot ask.
    Instead she looks in the little mirror that is set in the box and blinks in surprise. The fresh air has whipped color into her winter-pale cheeks and her eyes are brighter than she has seen them in months. Her hair is alive with