sea and the men who went around quietly in their sandals and Enrica who told us what we could do and not do.
But because of what I had been told I had grown up with my mind set upon finding Karana. It was a silent promise I had made to myself. This was why I went to the Mission Santa Barbara with Father Vicente and why I stayed there when I was homesick for the mountains. It was the only way I could ever hope to find Karana, who was the last of my kin, except for Mando.
I remembered Captain Nidever who had made a voyage to the Island of the Blue Dolphins and had seen Karana's footsteps in the sand and had seen her fleeing up the cliff. Perhaps he would tell me about his voyage and give me advice that I could use.
Chapter 4
T HE NEXT day I took Father Vicente's burro and went to see Captain Nidever. He lived in an adobe shack on a cliff not far to the south. From his house there was a steep trail down to the shore.
On this morning I found him there sitting in the sun. He was carving a ship out of a small piece of wood. He was making the ship inside a bottle, putting the pieces together with glue. I had never seen a ship with masts and sails on the inside of a bottle in my life before.
I waited until he paused and looked out at the sea. Then I asked him about my aunt, Karana.
"I never talked to her," he said, holding the bottle up to the sun and turning it first one way, then another. "She ran like a catamount over the rocks, up the cliff, and disappeared."
"But you saw her with your own eyes?"
"Saw her and her footsteps, too."
"It could not be a man that you saw?"
"Men don't look like women even on that island. No, I saw her and her footsteps. Plain as day."
I then asked him what I had come to ask. "How did you go, señor, when you went to the island? Did you go to the south of Santa Rosa or to the north?"
"To neither side. As you know there are two islands there, Santa Cruz on your left and Santa Rosa on your right. There is a channel, a narrow channel, between them. It is through this channel that you go."
He put the bottle on the blanket spread out before him and gave me a quizzical look. "You don't have any real idea in your head about sailing to Dolphin Island, do you?"
"Yes."
"In what?"
"A whaleboat. It floated ashore in the storm."
"How long is she?"
"About six strides long."
"About eighteen feet, then. They're seaworthy and tough, these whaleboats. Who's going with you?"
"My brother."
"How old is he?"
"Twelve." I stretched the truth only a little.
Captain Nidever picked up the bottle and said nothing for a long time.
"You and your brother," he said, "in an eighteen-footer. You've got more nerve than I have. There's a lot of water out yonder and heavy winds and rocks and reefs. What kind of a sail do you carry?"
"None."
"How do you get there?"
"We will row."
Captain Nidever snorted. "You know how far it is to Dolphin Island?"
I shook my head.
"Sixty miles if it's a foot. Have you ever rowed sixty miles through waves that sweep down from Alaska and a wind that seldom blows less than twenty-five knots?"
"No."
"Have you ever rowed six miles?"
"No."
Captain Nidever dabbed some glue on a splinter of wood and put it in the bottle using tweezers, holding his breath while he did so. Then he put the bottle down again and gave me a careful look.
"You're a strong girl," he said, "and your brother is strong too. But my advice is to stay home. You'll never make the island, what with heavy seas, fog and wind, no sails, and no experience."
I listened and was silent, but what Captain Nidever said did not change my mind. I got up and shook the sand from my skirt and thanked him for his advice.
"I'll be going out there one of these days," he said. "Got a deal with the Chumash, who live down the beach, for a couple of their big canoes. If it goes through I'll be leaving for the island sometime before summer's end. And this time I'll find your aunt. She's a regular mountain goat, the way she
But because of what I had been told I had grown up with my mind set upon finding Karana. It was a silent promise I had made to myself. This was why I went to the Mission Santa Barbara with Father Vicente and why I stayed there when I was homesick for the mountains. It was the only way I could ever hope to find Karana, who was the last of my kin, except for Mando.
I remembered Captain Nidever who had made a voyage to the Island of the Blue Dolphins and had seen Karana's footsteps in the sand and had seen her fleeing up the cliff. Perhaps he would tell me about his voyage and give me advice that I could use.
Chapter 4
T HE NEXT day I took Father Vicente's burro and went to see Captain Nidever. He lived in an adobe shack on a cliff not far to the south. From his house there was a steep trail down to the shore.
On this morning I found him there sitting in the sun. He was carving a ship out of a small piece of wood. He was making the ship inside a bottle, putting the pieces together with glue. I had never seen a ship with masts and sails on the inside of a bottle in my life before.
I waited until he paused and looked out at the sea. Then I asked him about my aunt, Karana.
"I never talked to her," he said, holding the bottle up to the sun and turning it first one way, then another. "She ran like a catamount over the rocks, up the cliff, and disappeared."
"But you saw her with your own eyes?"
"Saw her and her footsteps, too."
"It could not be a man that you saw?"
"Men don't look like women even on that island. No, I saw her and her footsteps. Plain as day."
I then asked him what I had come to ask. "How did you go, señor, when you went to the island? Did you go to the south of Santa Rosa or to the north?"
"To neither side. As you know there are two islands there, Santa Cruz on your left and Santa Rosa on your right. There is a channel, a narrow channel, between them. It is through this channel that you go."
He put the bottle on the blanket spread out before him and gave me a quizzical look. "You don't have any real idea in your head about sailing to Dolphin Island, do you?"
"Yes."
"In what?"
"A whaleboat. It floated ashore in the storm."
"How long is she?"
"About six strides long."
"About eighteen feet, then. They're seaworthy and tough, these whaleboats. Who's going with you?"
"My brother."
"How old is he?"
"Twelve." I stretched the truth only a little.
Captain Nidever picked up the bottle and said nothing for a long time.
"You and your brother," he said, "in an eighteen-footer. You've got more nerve than I have. There's a lot of water out yonder and heavy winds and rocks and reefs. What kind of a sail do you carry?"
"None."
"How do you get there?"
"We will row."
Captain Nidever snorted. "You know how far it is to Dolphin Island?"
I shook my head.
"Sixty miles if it's a foot. Have you ever rowed sixty miles through waves that sweep down from Alaska and a wind that seldom blows less than twenty-five knots?"
"No."
"Have you ever rowed six miles?"
"No."
Captain Nidever dabbed some glue on a splinter of wood and put it in the bottle using tweezers, holding his breath while he did so. Then he put the bottle down again and gave me a careful look.
"You're a strong girl," he said, "and your brother is strong too. But my advice is to stay home. You'll never make the island, what with heavy seas, fog and wind, no sails, and no experience."
I listened and was silent, but what Captain Nidever said did not change my mind. I got up and shook the sand from my skirt and thanked him for his advice.
"I'll be going out there one of these days," he said. "Got a deal with the Chumash, who live down the beach, for a couple of their big canoes. If it goes through I'll be leaving for the island sometime before summer's end. And this time I'll find your aunt. She's a regular mountain goat, the way she
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