PoraBora

Chapter Nine

"Now what?" asked Hui.

"What do you mean?" asked Pe.

"The boy."

"What about him?"

"The one you brought back."

They were walking up the village, headed to their respective beds. He had skipped his. She worried it was to tell her how he felt, even though the boy and the beach were barely an evening behind them.

The bird was not. Pe held it in her hands, where it breathed but put up little else in terms of a fight. She wasn't going to eat it. She had it so that when the boy did get released, he would have to come and find her and pay her for what she did for him.

Not that she thought he had any shells.

Pe and Hui were careful as they stepped over rooftops to be quiet for those living inside. The sun had gone over the island, leaving lanterns in windows to fend for themselves. Their glow glared off the steel walls and made shadows of coral and carvings.

"And? What about him? If he hadn't screamed up the pier and torn down half the town's coral--"

"He got to three houses," said Hui.

"It's a small town." Pe stopped and turned to Hui, her shadow dropping onto him. "And that's three houses who aren't going to be sleeping with coral tonight."

"They'll be fine."

"Yeah? With whose blessing?"

"It's one night," said Hui. "They can pick more in the morning. But the koa will be taking Pora to Kahula as soon as the sun's up."

"Are you going with them?" Pe asked.

"I'm on break." The warriors got breaks. Two weeks of them at a time, every few months. Pe resented him for it. A fisher only had as many days to relax as they could afford. Pe, who couldn't afford very much, would be back on her boat for a three-month voyage about as soon as she could plan it. Hui, meanwhile, could swim with the kids from sunrise until sunset, riding waves, collecting coral, and chasing fish.

Well. She was one fish he wasn't going to catch.

Pe kept walking. "The kid did it to himself. They'll take him to some Navigator anyway, which was all I was going to do with him. I found him. I didn't raise him."

Still, she could hardly believe the boy had smashed so much. Every piece of coral had had to be pulled up from the reef and was selected for its perfect shape. There was no way Kukui would be able to find blade-fire as large as the one that had been destroyed. No doubt his fortunes would shrink as well.

"It was people's livelihood," Pe grumbled, kicking a shingle, which would surely cause someone inside to look up irritated. "What if Siyani has a performance but can't come up with enough courage?"

"She'll be fine," said Hui. "I was just in the water. There's plenty of black coral."

"Besides," said Pe. "I'm more worried about me."

"You?" asked Hui. "What's going to happen to you?"

"I've got his salting bird, for one. I should have left it on the beach, obviously. And I brought the kid, too."

"You're not going to get in trouble for that," said Hui. "I mean, the worst thing that'll happen is you'll be called on by the Navigator. They'll ask where you found him. You'll tell them you were just saving his life, and you had planned to bring him to them straight away. Easy."

"Ugh," said Pe. "I just wanted to take it easy when I got here. Go for a swim." Shallows only. "Plot my course. Eat pig. I don't want to babysit a stupid bird or go all the way to Kahule."