Pirate's Tail

Chapter Fifteen

There was no further sign of the mermaid in the mangrove camp. Ace had slept easily, and the group was quick to leave the swamp in the morning. Ta-bril forced Ace to guide them back to the village as a test. It was meant to use his tracking skills, which he pretended to use, but he didn't tell them he'd been born with a strong sense of direction. Ace figured his sense of direction couldn't be too far off the mark. After all, it was a small island.

His skills were spot-on, and in no time the small group emerged from the palm forest and into the village. Ka-me left, and Ace made an attempt to say goodbye to Ta-bril, but he was denied.

"We're not done yet," Ta-bril explained. "Ka-me's getting something. You have one more lesson to learn, then your trial will begin."

He followed Ta-bril to the outskirts of the village to where the natives kept their boats. Ka-me returned with a coconut rattle slung over his shoulder and a bag, which he gave to Ta-bril. It looked like it was the same rattle he used when the shark had attacked him on the beach. Ta-bril led them to a medium-sized canoe with a stack of wooden poles and floats next to it. Ace and Ka-me dragged the dugout canoe away from the rest of the boats and returned to grab the pieces next to it. The pieces next to the canoe turned out to be the boat's outriggers. They dragged the pieces of the outrigger over and went about attaching the outriggers to the dugout canoe.

"The outriggers provide the Farobi canoes with some extra stability on the water. It's important to have on the open ocean," Ka-me explained.

"Can you sail it?" Ace asked. His only real experience on the water was in sailing vessels.

"We could and we do, but today we won't. We must teach you this last thing, then you'll start your trial. If you're successful, you'll become part of the Farobi people."

The outriggers were finally secured on the boat, and Ace pushed the brown canoe into the clear lake. The siblings climbed into the boat. Ta-bril sat in the front and Ka-me sat in the back; Ace was meant to sit between them. Ace grabbed his paddle and climbed into the outrigger canoe, between the two siblings. Ace put his paddle into the water nearest to the outlet of the lake and pulled, hoping that the paddle would send the canoe in that direction. The other two paddled as well, but the boat just went straight.

"Try the other side, Ace," Ka-me said.

Ace felt foolish, but he listened to the advice given to him. The canoe turned this time. They went through the inlet and past the pirate village on either side. It took a while to get accustomed to the paddling, but before they had fully entered the ocean, Ace felt like he had it down.

The canoe moved gracefully through the lake and into the Oraonic Ocean. No one spoke as the group fell into a rhythm of paddling as they journeyed on, hearing only the sounds of their paddles cutting into the water and the slap of the water against the canoe. Ace had no clue where they were going, but he didn't worry; it was up to Ka-me to get them there. Ka-me sat in the back, which was the position that steered the boat. All Ace had to do was to keep paddling. The morning was still early, and the ocean was flat once again. They moved through the shallow blue-green waters and over the reef that surrounded the Farobi Island, and soon the canoe entered the open sea.

The crew of the outrigger canoe paddled onward, away from the islands. They paddled most of the morning in silence. Ace's arms began to burn, but it was refreshing to be out on the open ocean again.

The open ocean had a different look to it than the waters surrounding the islands. Where the shallow water surrounding the islands had a blue-green look to it, the open ocean was a pure, deep blue that couldn't be seen anywhere else in the world. It was clear, but Ace was unable to see the bottom; it was far too deep. The blue seemed to stretch forever. The only thing interrupting its vast expanse was the gentle waves and the glassy currents Ace saw spreading along the top of the ocean.