The Key and the Broken Wing
Page 15
Chapter Eight
As the boat drew toward the pier; a small fisher man threw the rope over to the attendant who tied it around the pulley. He opened the gate so that the other fishermen could carry small boxed crates of fish into the store room. Eight of them left the trawler to have their lunch and four more stepped onto the boat to clean it up ready for their next fishing trip. The smell of dead fish and raw eggs made Slinks throw up over the rails. The attendant patted him on the shoulder and handed him a sick bag.
"Thanks," he mumbled and threw up again, only this time in a brown paper bag.
"Err, Mate,"
"Mate, Me, the captain of this trawler," the man with green eyes and a bald head spoke.
"Captain, Can we get to Old Frithy Firth by your boat?" Daniel asked. Jezzabell clenched the plastic bag tight and squinted toward the bright sun.
"Oh, Miss, Do not look at the sun," said the captain.
"Can we travel with you," Daniel asked in a raised voice. The captain stepped back onto his boat; he whispered into the Fishermans ears like he was trying to tell a rude joke. The fisherman in the white jacket took his blue cap off and bowed down to them. His eyes glared at Jezzabell's plastic bag. She placed it under her arm, just as anyone would carry a folder and then the Captain stepped back onto the pier.
"You can come onto my fishing trawler, my very own Vickedge," he waved his cap at the plain white decks where the fishing nets were kept.
"Mind the crates," spoke other fishermen wearing a long green ponytail with eight rings on his index finger.
"You will have to help catch the fish," he said.
"Yes, you can take us to old Frithy," before Daniel finished his sentence the captain began to speak.
"The wind turbines make it dangerous for us to cross, there’s no harbour which means you will have to swim. You young lady, we can take you to Krimnel, a quiet town for people like you,"
Slinks ran up to them and passed the captain the brown paper bag.
"We will go into your Vickedge and catch your fish," Slinks mumbled.
"Last trip, no turning back," Jezzabell smiled at Daniel.
"Slinks have you finished shopping? We cannot come back here till Wednesday afternoon," Daniel said.
"Yes," he answered and jumped onto the white decks.
Jezzabell slid onto the wet deck, both of her shoes crinkled up at her toes and her heels flipped out of the shoe altogether. The fisherman who had been interested in the plastic bag managed to catch her which helped the plastic bag to fall onto the soggy nets.
"My bag," she said. The fisherman kicked the bag away from the nets; as he picked it up the wing flipped onto his muddy boots. He picked it up again and placed it back into her bag. Jezzabell snatched it away from his hand and sat down on the cold bench that overlooked the blue ocean.
"These boots will stop you from falling," the captain said and he brought a pair of strong leather boots over to her. Jezzabell got in them and tied the laces into a single bow.
"Thank you," she sneezed over the dead fish that were stuck in the nets. The fisherman gave her a yellow coat to put on and then he told her to go to her friends who were unreeling the anchor away from the sea bed.
"We are doing this for Jezzabell," Daniel turned the wooden screw round three times.
"That fisherman is after her,"
"Slinks he is just helping us, now help me!" Daniel spoke. The rusty anchor seemed to be very big for Vickedge, the seaweed stank of old food and the curved shape looked as though it had been attacked by a shark.
"One good ship, "Jezzabell sighed. She held onto Daniel hands, pressed her finger against the wood and both of them pushed the stiff screw round and round. It creaked and jerked at the force that all three of them were turning it at a steady pace. It jerked again and the rope twined itself against the wooden wheel. The anchor moved up, over the ledge and the other four fishermen held the battered end so it would not brush into their arms that were doing the heavy work.
"Two more turns, you can do it," the captain said. They turned the screw again and then Slinks let go, Jezzabell leaned on Daniel's back and gripped his light fingers that were loosening off the cold screw.
"We can do it! She said. The other two fishermen who were doing noting stood near Slinks. He put his hand back onto the other end of the wheel where the screw was and winked at Daniel.
"Pull," they cried. Within two pulls the anchor lied flat on the rectangular decks and the fishermen threw their hats up into the air. Vickedge the boat they were on, floated away from the pier.
The fisherman who became intrigued with Jezzabell’s bag decided to take a sneak peak as to what was in it. He untied the two knots that stopped him from putting his hand in it, unravelled a piece of white ribbon that held the bag together and then he leered at the contents.
"That is Private," Slinks said. He held the bottom end of the bag and pulled back only to help the broken wing fly into the Fishermans hands.
"Jezzabell it is time to say goodbye to your wing," the fisherman spoke.
Everyone stopped unwinding the long nets on the other side of the boat, the small engine chunnered and halted with a creak and then up from the cabin came the captain. His beard had grown yellow and a large pair of white wings rose from his back. The orange tears drooped away from his eyes and as soon as he wiped them off with a brown handkerchief more drops twinkled down onto his cheeks.
"They’re,” put his hands over his red cheeks.
"Butterflies," Daniel emerged from the control deck that lay above the cabin.
"I need it to repair my structure," Jezzabell turned to the captain who began to drink a glass of wine.
"When you throw it away," he wiped the last drops of tears. "Another wing will grow," the captain said. Jezzabell glared at the wine glass, she shook her head in disapproval and brushed a long strand of hair away from her left eye.
"The captain knows what is right and wrong," the fisherman who held her wing spoke gently. She edged away from the captain and leaned her face against Daniels' shoulder.
"We can do it together," Daniel held her hand.
"No! Daniel she has to do it herself, all young ladies have to leave their wings behind," the Captain butted in.
"He is asking for a punch in the face," Slinks murmured.
"I'll punch him first, so full of it like a,"
"Daniel, Slinks, I want to do it properly," Jezzabell interrupted them.
She took the wing off the Fisherman's hands, jumped onto the rim of the boat where the others would stand to throw the rope over the pier hooks. This thin edge held her two feet firm and her arms began to wave in the cool, calm wind. The ripples below her flowed quietly like a stream. All of the crew lined up behind her, they took their caps off to salute her and the two friends she had met stood beside her.
"You cannot throw the pearls away," Slinks said. She turned the wing upside down so that the pearls were sticking up; she rubbed her nails along the centre of the split and stepped closer towards the rim of the boat. As she tapped the pearls one by one, her feet hovered above the thick ropes.
"Help," Slinks said, he and Daniel began to float.
"Hold me," Jezzabell spoke to Daniel. Daniel could not reach her hand as she was to far up but he stepped onto his tip toes in mid air and held onto her waist. He too, flew up and let go, she grabbed his right hand and leaned it across the back of her neck, over her shoulder.
"Float away to the queen," she kissed the wing and let it float down onto the soft ripples of the sea. The pearls dropped off her wing and landed into her hands. She helped Dani
el back onto the rim and all three of them watched it float out into the huge sea.
As soon as the wing had floated half way across the ripples, away from the boat a bright shooting star fell in the centre to relieve a huge dust of green smoke. The wind blew the dust back into the white clouds which revealed a tiny yellow star. It hopped onto a gem at the far end of the circle and then moved onto another. The star went anti clockwise in a circle to collect each gem, its brightness faded into a shadowy figure. Its arms and head emerged and the long wings on its back fluttered toward them. The shadow pranced around the wing; it jumped up and down and carefully bent down on its knees to make its wings shine. Waves splashed against the shadow and it lay down to look at the person in the middle of the row.
"She looks like you," Daniel said.
"It’s your imagination," Jezzabell sighed. The shadow that lay in the centre of the wing drew further away from them and it appeared to look smaller and smaller.
Honk! Went the funnel and the crew went back to work.
All three of them stood watching the wing disappear into the sunset.
"What is she doing?" Slinks asked her.
"Resting in the middle of the sea," Daniel said.
"She is guiding it to the nearest butterfly base;” she scratched the back of her neck and yawned. “The processors will recycle it for new borns to practise with," she said.
Daniel looked puzzled.
"Practise to fly but they have wings of their own,"
"It takes time to grow and giving them wings to flutter with helps them to develop the glide technique," she said.
"Wow,” Slinks said. She laughed at his remark.
The wind began to drop and the nets unwound back up releasing tiny fish into a large wooden crate. By now Jezzabell had got bored of watching the distant shadow turn away from the boat and she jumped down onto the deck where the fisherman were carrying the crates into the captain’s cabin.
"Slinks," Daniel stepped down near the crowded boat that was filled with empty crates. Slinks stepped back.
"Slinks you will fall," Daniel said and Slinks slid down into an empty crate.
Two fishermen helped him out and he brushed the wet slime off his trousers.
"In sixty minutes we will reach Krimnel port," the captain shouted.