The volcano erupted again, and Budi shrank back instinctively as massive chunks of rock were thrown into the air in all directions, sending up a cloud of fire and smoke that filled the sky. But there was nowhere else to run to now. Nothing to do but wait and hope that their friends were safe and that they would be reunited soon.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Melati
August 27, 1883
10:00 AM
Mount Rajabasa
Ketimbang was gone. Melati kept on saying it over and over to herself, but she couldn’t make sense of it. Her island, Krakatoa, had always been the threat, since it began emitting smoke and slowly falling apart, but Melati had never imagined that an island made up of three mountains—or perhaps, she now began to realize, a single volcano—could have such an effect on everything around it, especially when it was an island in the middle of the ocean.
The giant wave had smashed against the side of Mount Rajabasa, and that had slowed the wave down, but all along the coast Melati could see the same destruction that had been brought down upon Ketimbang—beaches stripped of sand and the familiar line of trees along the coastline gone. The one thought that kept her going was that Mount Rajabasa was taller than the wave and had withstood the battering of the churning, foaming water. Maybe, just maybe, Budi and the others had moved to higher ground, because there was no possibility that much of the jungle was still standing after the tsunami hit.
The humans, though, Johanna and her family, had been closer to Rajabasa. Had they taken shelter on the great mountain, or were they somewhere behind Melati now, lost in the ruins of their village? The thought churned inside her, spurring Melati on. She swooped and swerved in an attempt to avoid the larger rocks and stones that fell from the sky. A red-hot glowing rock hit the longest of her tail feathers as it fell, and Melati was knocked off course for a moment. She hissed as a sizzling pain flashed through her, and forced herself to fly on through the smoke and dust. She was only able to see where she was going because of the sheer size of the mountain in front of her and the fact that it seemed to be the only thing that the tsunami had left standing.
As she flew overhead, she could see a jagged, winding path on the mountainside below her, carved out from the hurried, trampling steps of the humans. She followed the path from above, hoping to spy someone she recognized, but it was deserted. It was only when she had almost reached the peak of the mountain that she saw them: hundreds of humans gathered together in the ash and smoke. They looked worse than Melati felt, many covered in mud and dust and ash. Their clothes hung from them in filthy rags. Some sat on the ground with their heads in their hands, some simply stared out into nothing, trying to make sense of what had happened to them and their home, just as Melati was.
In the middle of the humans’ makeshift camp was a small wooden house. It was barely larger than a shack, but it had a rickety raised porch at the front just like Johanna’s house in Ketimbang, and something drew Melati to it. She landed cautiously as she flew near, her chest heaving and heart racing at being so close to so many humans. But she had been through much worse in the last few hours and had survived. What more could she have to fear?
She approached the house and hopped between the humans who had set up camp outside. None of them gave her a second glance. They were all too preoccupied by their own concerns. Melati stepped up the three creaky, worn wooden steps that led up to the porch and tentatively gave a small cry, the one she had used to call Johanna before. She gazed up at the door, expectantly, hopefully, but nobody appeared. She called again, a little more loudly, and this time she caught the attention of some of the humans sitting close by. They watched her curiously, likely glad of a distraction from the horror around them.
Melati hopped back and forth from leg to leg, unsure whether to give up or call one more time, but something was telling her that Johanna was nearby. Melati couldn’t explain how she knew. It was a feeling deep inside her. She took a deep breath, trying not to cough and choke on the dust and ash she had inhaled, and sang at the top of her voice. The humans stopped whatever they were doing and stared at her now. Some watched with a small smile, others simply listened to her song with their eyes closed, feeling something other than fear for the first time that day.
Melati closed her own eyes and felt the song burst from her as it seemed to take on a life of its own, spreading through the camp, until the only sounds to be heard were the rumblings of Krakatoa in the distance and her song. She sang the final notes of the melody and opened her eyes once more, and there, standing on the porch in front of her, her hair filthy, her ribbon torn and her dress no better off, was Johanna.
The girl ran to Melati with a cry, and Melati jumped up at the same time and flew onto her hand. Johanna brought Melati close to her chest and sobbed so hard that her entire body shook. Melati leaned into Johanna, her own feathers trembling with exhaustion and relief, and rested her head against the girl, feeling that she was finally safe.
“Johanna, where are you?” her mother shrieked from inside the house. She appeared suddenly, paused as she saw her daughter and the small parakeet, then gave her daughter a hug, being careful not to smother Melati in her embrace.
Isaak appeared behind them, watching with dull eyes. Gone was the overexcited boy who liked to chase butterflies and get into mischief. He looked at Melati for a moment, then stared at the ground.
“We should stay inside,” Johanna’s mother said finally. “It is not safe out here.”
“But the others are out here,” Johanna protested. “What about them? Father is in charge of the village. He should help them.”
Johanna’s mother looked at the sea of faces looking back at her and nodded at her daughter.
“We will do all we can,” she called out. “For everyone. Shelter is the first thing we need, then we will search for fresh water. The Dutch authorities will send help soon; I am sure of it.”
Melati thought the other humans didn’t look so convinced, but she allowed Johanna to carry her inside. Just as they reached the doorway, the world around them seemed to explode. Johanna dropped to the floor, along with Isaak and her mother. Melati flew off to the side, narrowly avoiding being crushed. Outside, a giant mass of smoke and fire and rock erupted out in the ocean. Melati had thought that the other explosions had been loud, but this one sounded as though the world had been torn into pieces. Her ears throbbed with pain as she lost her hearing once more, but she could still feel the vibrations beneath her, rocking the very core of the mountain as the wooden house shook all around them.
Melati frantically tried to stand and fly away, terrified that Mount Rajabasa was about to explode as Krakatoa had. But slowly, the shaking subsided, and the earth lay still once more. Johanna moved stiffly, sitting up, her mouth opening and closing as though she was trying to talk. Melati couldn’t hear what she was saying, but she could see that she was distressed. A thin trickle of blood ran down the side of her face from each of her ears, and she had a gash on her forehead from where a wooden beam had fallen and hit her.
Melati hopped onto Johanna’s hand, to show the girl that she was there, that Johanna wasn’t alone. Johanna pulled Melati close and sobbed into her head, the tears dripping into Melati’s beak. Johanna’s mother held her hands over her own ears, then pulled Isaak and Johanna closer. Their father sat on the floor in the corner of the room, looking stunned. He shook his head back and forth, until Johanna’s mother took him by the shoulders, roughly shaking him, and he seemed to snap out of it. He hurried out of the house and stood on the steps. Melati flew after him and took in the scene of devastation in front of her.
Although she still couldn’t hear, she could feel that the rumbling and tremors had subsided. The air was still filled with falling ash and rock, but something seemed to have changed. The humans were slowly standing, brushing themselves off and searching for their loved ones, when Melati noticed a man pointing out to sea. The other humans joined him, and Melati flew over to see what he was gesturing at. Her
blood went cold at the thought of another tsunami heading their way.
But when she neared, her ears began to ring with a high-pitched whistle, and slowly her hearing returned. The humans were shouting and crying, huddling together as they looked out across the now-ruined Ketimbang and into the Sunda Strait.
At first, Melati wasn’t sure what they were looking at because she could see nothing but the huge cloud blooming above the ocean. But then the cloud started to clear and Melati strained her eyes to find the familiar peak Perboewatan. Except there was no peak. There was no mountain. Melati felt as if her heart had stopped as she heard what some of the humans were shouting:
“Krakatoa is gone! Krakatoa is gone!”
Melati’s heart froze.
With its final and biggest eruption, Krakatoa had blown itself to pieces.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Budi
August 27, 1883
Mount Rajabasa
Budi followed Raja farther up the mountainside, searching for any sign that the other animals from the jungle might have found their way up here, but before they could go any farther, another explosion filled the air, sending them all cowering to the ground.
Dewi huddled close to Budi, and Budi couldn’t tell who was trembling more, Dewi or him. The ground beneath them shook and trembled with such ferocity that Budi was sure it was about to crack beneath them and swallow them up. Krakatoa had been dormant for centuries—who knew what lay beneath the mountain they had come to for sanctuary? Maybe the entire world was going to break into pieces, mountain by mountain, until there was nothing left?
He glanced over at Raja, who looked more terrified than Budi had ever seen him. His fur was raised, his claws out, ready to fight for his life. But what was there to fight when the threat was something you couldn’t see? Couldn’t touch.
Budi called out to Raja, trying to reassure him that they would be all right, but when he did, his voice sounded strange in his ears, muted and echoing. Budi tried to speak again, and he realized that he was hearing his voice inside his head, not out loud. He stood, despite the shaking earth, and looked out to the ocean.
Huge chunks of rock rained down from the sky above what used to be Krakatoa. The dark clouds were filled with lightning, but the glow of the fires seemed to have died down to just above the surface of the sea. Down the mountainside, the tide had reared up again, not as high as it had done with the tsunami, but still, it engulfed Ketimbang and sloshed against Rajabasa so that the mountain seemed to be an island of its own.
Dewi came to stand beside him and seemed to be talking, although Budi couldn’t understand a word of it.
“I can’t hear you!” Budi shouted out.
Dewi’s mouth moved and she said something in reply, shaking her head and pointing to her ears.
Budi did the same, until they both realized that neither of them could hear a thing. Then Dewi jumped up and down excitedly and pointed down the mountain. There, where the humans had made their camp, was a small green-and-yellow bird, flapping to and fro, with no apparent destination.
Dewi called out to her, and Budi did the same, but she could hear them no more than they could hear each other. Budi ran back to Raja, gently nudging him, then tried to gesture with his horns that they had found Melati.
Raja shook his head and held his paws over his ears. Budi sighed, then shoved the tiger’s backside with his nose in an attempt to get him to stand up and follow them. They made their way cautiously down the mountainside, stopping when they neared the edge of the humans’ camp.
Dewi continued on, though, and when Budi called her back, he found that he could finally hear again.
“Stay with us,” Budi called. “We need to keep our distance from the humans. Animals and humans don’t mix.”
“She will be fine, won’t you, Dewi?” Raja spoke from beside him.
Dewi nodded, then hurried on toward Melati, waving her small paws to get Melati’s attention. Finally, Melati spotted her friend, and Dewi gestured up the hill to where Budi and Raja were standing. The parakeet hastily flew to them, landing on the ground at Budi’s feet with a terrible cry.
“My island,” she sobbed. “It’s destroyed. There is nothing left! What will I do now? Where will I go?”
Budi opened his mouth to comfort her, but he found that he had no answer. None of them had a home any longer. The island was gone, the jungle was gone, the village was gone. All wiped away by the volcano and the tsunamis that had followed.
“You will stay with us,” Raja said to Melati, his voice quiet but filled with a new determination that Budi had worried might have been lost forever. “We will make a new home, here on this mountainside, where all will be welcome.”
Melati glanced up at Raja and nodded gratefully.
“Melati!” Dewi called out, running up the hill behind them as she finally caught up. “Something is wrong; the humans are running.”
“Johanna!” Melati squawked.
Budi frowned and chased after Melati as she flew toward the humans. “Come on, Raja!” he called.
But no sooner had they reached the humans than they began racing in the opposite direction as a crowd lurched at them, desperately attempting to escape someone or something behind them.
At first, hope flared in his stomach as Budi thought that it might be the animals arriving. A herd of elephants, accompanied by tigers and leopards and rhinos, would certainly be enough to terrify any human. But he could smell none of his herd on the wind, and he surely would have heard the trample of their feet as they came.
“Is it another tsunami?” Raja yelled out.
Budi looked out to the ocean. The waves were high and the surface rough, but there didn’t seem to be another giant wave approaching. He would not forget the terrible sound of it for the rest of his life.
He didn’t have to go too much farther to discover what had everyone so alarmed. He could feel it. Just like the tsunami, but even faster, and more furious and deadly, came a wave of heat and gas so fierce that as it reached the humans who lagged behind, they fell to the ground, screaming in agony.
“Run!” Budi yelled, grabbing Dewi in his mouth and throwing her up onto his back. As thick as his hide was, the heat burned at his skin with a pain he had never felt before. It was hotter than fire, hotter perhaps than the very sun itself.
He raced on, desperate to escape, but there was no way to flee from the air that surrounded them. No refuge or sanctuary to hide from the scalding heat. Budi fell to the ground as the wave of steam and gas overtook them, and held his breath, waiting for it all to be over.
Budi slowly opened his eyes. His entire body hurt, and his skin was blistered and red from where he had been burned by the cloud of gas. His friends lay on the ground all around him, alongside humans. Slowly, they coughed and moved, many crying out in agony from their burns. Budi was lucky, his skin was thick and rough, but the humans’ skin was thin, and many of them had horrific burns.
“Budi,” Dewi called out weakly. “Help!”
Budi stumbled over to Dewi, but the pangolin had sheltered beneath a craggy rock and seemed to be unhurt. “Melati!” Dewi cried.
Melati lay on the ground, her feathers scattered around her, no longer green and yellow but blackened by the smoke and ash. “Melati,” Budi whispered. “Can you hear me?”
The little parakeet remained motionless for a moment, then moved. She sat up and nodded. “I flew as high as I could,” she explained, “to escape the heat, but then it was so hot and I couldn’t fly any longer.”
“It’s all right,” Budi told her. “You are alive; that’s all that matters.”
He glanced around anxiously for Raja. The tiger gingerly made his way over to them, his fur blackened and missing in places. He sat beside them, and they stared at the scene around them in shock. The humans tended the wounded, fetching supplies and ripping up their own clothes to wrap around their burns. Budi marveled at their tenacity, their strength to keep going despite being bombarded with terror a
fter terror.
He watched in both grief and awe for what felt like hours, as the humans helped those who could be helped and covered up those who were gone. What had they done to deserve such a fate? Budi wondered. When would it all end?
Raja stood suddenly, breaking the silence, his head whipping to the side. Despite his injuries, he raced to the top of the mountain. Budi followed, afraid that the tiger was about to do something rash, but as he reached the peak of the hill, he saw them: a stream of animals making their way up the path on the other side of the mountain. They were all there—monkeys, elephants, rhinos, and many, many more. Leading them all were the tigers, with Surya looking weary but standing proudly at the front.
“Raja!” she roared when she caught sight of them. “We found you!”
The tigers ran to greet their king, and as they arrived one by one, they greeted each other in turn with a nod of the head. When Raja met Surya, though, he rubbed his head against hers and let out a loud sigh of relief. His family was safe.
Budi knew how he felt. He rushed to greet the animals, even glad to see the monkeys, laughing as they acted out their journey and told stories of how they had been the ones to find the way. Surya growled at them for that, and they ran off, scattering into the trees to no doubt claim the best ones for themselves. Some things, Budi thought, never changed.
“So,” Budi said to Raja. “What now?”
Raja looked around at the animals, all waiting to hear what he’d say as the leader they so desperately needed.
“We make a new home,” Raja announced. “Together.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Melati
October 1883
Mount Rajabasa
The sun rose in the sky, peeping its head above the distant horizon, its rays red and hazy as they had been ever since Krakatoa erupted. The sunsets were the same—smudges of reds and oranges, almost as though the fires of the island continued to burn, no longer contained within three mountains, but free. It would be beautiful, Melati thought, if it hadn’t been caused by such a devastating event.
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