Part One: Skye
Agatha
Jaime
Agatha
Jaime
Agatha
Jaime
Jaime
Agatha
Agatha
Jaime
Jaime
Part Two: Scotia
Nathara
Agatha
Nathara
Jaime
Jaime
Nathara
Agatha
Jaime
Nathara
Agatha
Jaime
Agatha
Nathara
Agatha
Nathara
Jaime
Nathara
Jaime
Agatha
Jaime
Jaime
Agatha
Jaime
Agatha
Part Three: Norveg
Jaime
Agatha
Jaime
Jaime
Agatha
Epilogue
A Note About the Languages
Acknowledgments
About the Author
THE WIND IS ON MY NOSE AND MY EYES STING. I BROUGHT two cloaks today because I am clever. I pull them together with my hands. The tops of my fingers are numb but I don’t mind because it is my job and it is an important one.
I look at the sea. The waves are chopping up and down. Sometimes I follow a wave from as far away as I can see, all the way to where I am. I look at it and keep my eyes on it and try not to let it out of my eyes when it comes close and more close until it crashes. It is a hard thing to do and I am good at it.
When I was only young I wanted to go on the sea so much. I asked the Anglers and the Seals lots of times to take me on their boats but they wouldn’t. They shoved me away and called me a “good-for-nothing nuisance,” which is rude. I made the plan to do it myself and climbed up the wall when no one was looking and down the other side. It was a hard thing to do but easy for me because I’m good at climbing. The waves went on my legs and my face and I laughed because I liked it and it tasted like soup. Then a bigger wave came and I couldn’t hold on anymore and I fell. I could have drowned but one of the Hawks saw me and my arms splashing. “You stupid, stupid girl.” he said when he pulled me out. “You stupid, stupid girl.” I’m more clever now and I wouldn’t do it again.
After it happened I didn’t want to go on the boats anymore. I stayed inside the enclave and didn’t look at the sea until they gave me my dreuchd. I was very happy that day because they made me a Hawk, which is my duty and an important one. One day I will save someone from drowning too like when the Hawk saved me.
“You look cold.”
It is Lenox who says that, who is another Hawk. “Go into the turret and warm up. I lit a fire,” he says as well. His eyebrows go scrunchy when he talks. They are big ones and black.
“I don’t — want to,” I say and shake my head. I don’t like going in the turret because when I’m inside I’m not looking at the sea which is what I should be doing.
“Go on, little girl, it’s for your own good,” he says, and he pushes my back. I hate it when he calls me “little girl” because I am not a little girl. I am fifteen so he shouldn’t call me that. I do a big frown so he sees it.
When I am in the turret, I kick the fire because I don’t want to be there and bits of it fly up to the walls. It’s a small room in a circle. I should not have kicked the fire. Now it might go out, which would be bad. I scrape the bits with my shoe and add some more sticks to make it big again. Even though I didn’t want to come, it is nice to be hot and I move my fingers which is nice as well. I undo my first cloak and the other one underneath so I can reach the pocket on my top where Milkwort is. He is warm which is good because I was worried he would be cold. I put him next to the fire because he likes it there. In my trousers is some bread that I saved. I give some to him and keep some for later. He thanks me and eats it while looking at the fire.
“Don’t get too close,” I warn him.
Milkwort is my friend and a vole and a secret. No one knows about him. Except Maistreas Eilionoir. I don’t know how she found out. She is old and knows everything. When she found out she pulled me into her bothan and told me to get rid of him.
“You could be severely punished for this,” she said. She was holding on to my arm tight and it hurt a lot even though she is old and her hands are small.
“I know,” I said, and I tried to pull my arm away. People think that I’m stupid but I’m not stupid.
“Get rid of it. Before someone finds out who isn’t as forgiving as I am.” She let go of my arm and I rubbed it and then I left.
“All right, Aggie, my turn.”
The voice is a surprise to me. I must have been staring at the fire for longer than I thought. It is Flora who is there and it is her turn to come in. I am in panic because she may have seen Milkwort. My eyes look to where he was. He’s not there.
“I need to do up my cl-cloaks. Give me one — one moment, will you?”
“Of course.”
It is lucky that Flora turns away so I can search for Milkwort without her seeing. I want to call for him, but Flora will hear me if I do that, so I only do it in my head. Talking to animals is not dùth, which means you shouldn’t do it. He is nowhere by the fire and there is nothing for him to hide behind. He wouldn’t have run away. He would never leave me. Then I spot him in a gap between the stones in the wall. It was clever for him to go there. I hold out my hand. He jumps onto my arm and behind my neck and into the pocket again. That was close. I do up my cloaks the quickest possible.
“I’m done,” I say to Flora.
“Thanks,” she says, and she smiles and comes in and I go back onto the wall.
I like Flora because she is nice. She’s my friend. She is a girl like me but her hair is light brown and she is taller. When she was made a Hawk I helped by telling her all the things you have to do to be a good Hawk, like how to tell the difference between a dolphin and a deathfin and the best way to spear a spider crab and what the five chimes mean and how to ring them properly. I am good at helping.
The sea is a gray color today with only a bit of white. It looks like broken rocks. When I am looking I have to do walking as well. Otherwise the blood will freeze inside you. That is what Lenox says.
It is one hundred and seventeen steps to walk along this part of the wall which I know because I counted them. I can walk it without looking at my feet which is good because it means I can look at the sea the whole time and don’t miss a single thing. When I reach the other side I turn and walk back and then back again the other way the whole day.
Behind me is the enclave. That is where we all live which is Clann-a-Tuath which is my clan. It is the best one. There are other clans but they are far away on the other parts of the island. I can’t even see them from the wall. That is because Skye is a big island. We are on the north part. Inside our enclave are lots of bothans made of stone which is where we sleep, and a big wall all the way around which means we can see everything that’s all around us. Some people might want to come into our enclave but they are not allowed which is why I have to do the looking on the wall to stop them if they try.
It is getting darker now. You have to look more hard when it is darker because it is not so easy. There is something there, on the sea. I saw it because I looked so well. It is far away and it is small but I think it will be a boat. I keep it in my eyes until it is a little bit closer and then I know that yes, it is a boat. I do not know who is in it. Maybe it is a Seal boat coming back. That would be good.
I walk to the turret and keep looking at the boat still. All of the turrets have a set of chimes outside them so we can do warning and send messa
ges with the sounds. I pick up the hammer and am going to hit the First once at the top which means I can see a boat and it is people but I can’t see who it is yet, but the sound comes out before my hammer hits the metal. It makes me jump because I am not expecting it and I am confused how it made a sound without me hitting it first. Then I know that the sound didn’t come from my chime. It came from a different chime, from one of the other turrets, and was hit by someone else. It is confusing in my head because I was expecting one sound and then I heard a different one so it is hard to remember what it was I heard. It could have been the Second but no, I think it was the Fourth. That is very not good. The Fourth is for danger and two hits at the top means it is a ship and it is going to attack. My heart is going fast. When you hear the Fourth the most important thing is that you have to act quickly. If you don’t then people could die because it is serious. I look in the turret but there is no one there and I can’t see anyone farther on the wall either. Who was it that hit the chime? I look back at the sea. The boat is coming in fast now and I am the only one who can stop it. I have to stop it. It is my duty and important and I have to protect my clan.
I run to the launcher and wind back the claw until it clicks. The arrow is already inside. It is a big one and a metal one. I’ve got the flint in my belt because we always have to have it. I take it out and try to light the moss on the arrow, but it won’t do it because it’s all wet from when it was raining. I shake my head and tear the moss off and throw it in the sea. I need something else. I look up and it makes me yell because I see how close the boat has gotten. Think, think, I need to think. Then I know what to do.
I kick off my boot and take off my sock quickly so quickly. I tie the sock to the end of the arrow with one knot and then two knots so it won’t come loose. It is a clever plan. The sock is hard to light because you have to hit the flint so fast. My hands are all shaking. I try to do it lots of times and then I do it. The fire goes all big because of the animal fat on the arrow. In my eye there is someone and it is Lenox on the wall far away. He is waving at me to go faster. He knows how fast I need to be because the boat is so close now. I slide the launcher over, making the middle of the boat line up with the tip of the arrow like I was taught.
“Agatha, no!” Lenox’s shout is an echo, but my finger has already pressed the trigger. Why did he tell me no?
The arrow goes up into the sky. The boat is more close now so I can see the people inside. That’s strange. I squint my eyes because what I see isn’t right. I can see their faces and it’s not right because I know them.
It means the boat is one of ours. I have done a terrible mistake.
THE BOAT LURCHES, MAKING MY STOMACH TWIST. I OPEN my mouth to retch, but all that comes out is a hollow whimper. I tighten my grip on the boat’s side. Sharp scabs of paint flake away beneath my fingers. I’m sure the other Anglers are giving me pitying looks behind my back. I’m trying. I’m really trying. I hope they know that.
I reach up with one hand and pull my hood over my face. The wind whips it straight back off again. Sleet lashes my cheeks and trickles down my neck.
“You look like you’ve been grabbed by a gannet,” Aileen says as she steps beside me.
“I feel like it too,” I reply in between heaves. If a gannet did try to take me right now, I would probably let it.
“Can I get you some water?” Even with rain spewing down and the boat being tossed from side to side, Aileen still manages to look graceful.
“I’m fine,” I say, shifting away from her. I’d rather she didn’t see me like this.
“On the plus side, you appear to be attracting more fish. We’ve caught loads since you started emptying your guts.” She’s trying to make me smile. I really don’t want to. “I’ve no idea why,” she continues. “It smells awful.”
The sides of my mouth betray me and start twitching upward.
“That is definitely a smile!” she says. “I knew I could break you.”
“It’s not,” I say, forcing my mouth into a knot.
“It gets better with time,” she says. “I promise.”
Although Aileen is roughly the same age as me, she was given her dreuchd about six months ago, so she’s already had six months’ practice. I’m sure she was great at it, even in her first week. She gives my hair a gentle ruffle, then leaves me to my misery. I watch as she slips back to her place and casts her line into the sea. She says something to the Angler next to her that makes him laugh. How does she do that? Make people laugh so easily? It’s one of the reasons everyone likes her so much, including me. The only good thing about being named an Angler is that I get to spend more time with her. She’s my best friend; she always has been.
Waves strike the side of the boat in a repetitive thud-slap, thud-slap, thud-slap. I look down and immediately regret it. All that deep, dark water. My mind starts rattling through the possibilities of what could be lurking just beneath the surface: giant squid, killer rays, deathfins. . . . I scrunch my eyes closed. I’m safe in the boat. I’m safe in the boat. I have to keep telling myself that. As long as I don’t think about what’s in the water, I’m fine.
It takes a long time for the weather to improve, the clouds eventually turning from fierce gray to dirty white. As the waves mellow, so too does my seasickness, and I race to try and catch up on all my tasks. As the newest member of the crew, I’ve been given all the jobs that no one else wants, like untangling the ropes and threading the bait. I work in silence, sitting on my own with my head low.
To make matters worse, we’re out east today, which means the Isle of Raasay is directly in front of us: a mountainous strip in between Skye and mainland Scotia. I refuse to look at it. It’s where the girl lives, the one who is going to ruin everything. I don’t want to think about her right now.
Just before dusk, we start heading back. It’s been a long day, but all of my despair melts away at the sight of the enclave. Its walls rise up before us like a welcome beacon. Flecks from the crashing waves make the ancient stones shine.
Home.
My whole body aches to be inside, to be surrounded by the familiar faces of my clan, to feel the spongy earth beneath my feet. To feel safe. From somewhere on the wall, the Second chimes twice to announce our arrival.
“Why have they put her on center post?” says the caiptean. I follow his gaze and spot Agatha, one of the Hawks, staring down at us from beside the turret. “And what the hell is she doing now?”
I can just about make out Agatha’s arms, pumping at the launcher. She hops about a bit, then ties something to the arrow and sets it on fire.
“She’s going to shoot at us. That bloody idiot is going to shoot at us,” says the caiptean.
A thunderous twang rings out as the arrow arches high above us. The aim is poor, so the caiptean doesn’t bother altering the boat’s direction. Instead, he looks up and shouts a string of curses at Agatha. I keep my eyes on the arrow. It tears through the sky like a falling star, its path unstable. A rogue wind catches it, altering its course at the last moment, curving it directly in line with us.
I open my mouth to shout a warning —
Too late.
It rips through the sails before anyone can react, instantly setting them ablaze. The flames lick across the deck and curl up the mast. I yelp, tripping over my long legs in my haste to stand up. The heat is intense, tightening my skin and drying out my eyes. One of the Anglers upturns a bucket of water in an attempt to douse the flames, either not realizing or not caring that it also contains the shrimp-bait. The creatures spill toward me and flit about pathetically, until the fire engulfs them with a series of harsh pops. The smell of scorched fish burns my nostrils.
“Abandon the boat!” yells the caiptean.
What? No. The water is too deep.
People leap overboard in all directions.
I hover at the boat’s edge, staring at the water, my legs frozen. I can’t do it. I can’t.
Someone pushes me from behind. I try to resist, bu
t my knees give way and I tumble into the water.
The coldness hits me like an avalanche of stone. I’ve fallen in deep. I spin around in circles, but I can’t find the surface. My limbs flail in all directions. To my right, a hazy orange smudge pierces the darkness. The blaze from the boat. I kick toward it. Something brushes against my leg. Panic grips my lungs and digs in its nails. I turn. There’s nothing there. I turn back, but I can no longer see the boat, no longer know which way is up. I twist my whole body from one side to the other, expecting something to burst out of the darkness at any moment. I’m trapped in the water and I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.
Rough hands find me and yank me upward. Then a new coolness washes over me as my head breaks the surface. I suck in quick mouthfuls of salty air. Above me, flakes of ash rain down from the boat’s corpse.
“Where’s Jaime? Protect the boy!” people are shouting.
“I’ve got him,” says a voice in my ear. Whoever it is starts towing me toward the wall.
“I’m fine,” I say, coughing up seawater. Now that I can see the enclave, I’d rather get there myself. I’m not the best swimmer in the world, but I’m more than capable of swimming a few hundred yards. I also don’t want the other Anglers to see me being helped; they already think I’m hopeless. I try to shrug off my rescuer, but he won’t let go.
I scan the water for Aileen. I can’t see her anywhere. Burning remains fall from the wreckage, sizzling black as they hit the water. When we reach the wall, the caiptean insists that I be pulled over first and that I’m taken straight to the sickboth.
“Where’s Aileen?” I ask, but no one replies.
“It’s vital he doesn’t fall ill,” someone says as I’m hustled across the enclave. “The Ceremony is in less than two weeks.” As if I need reminding. Half a dozen people usher me into the sickboth and swamp me in blankets. Once inside, the Herbists fuss around me, drying my hair, feeding me soup.
“Did Aileen make it back okay?” I ask again, raising my voice a little this time.
“She’s fine, everyone’s fine,” says one of the Herbists, placing a sweaty hand on my forehead. “Our main priority right now is you, young man.”
The Good Hawk Page 1