Page 83 of Circle of Days
Pia went on: “I could take it while everyone’s asleep, sail it downstream, leave it somewhere, and be back before dawn. When they realize it’s missing, and you’re missing too, they’ll assume you sailed away.”
“And Troon will start looking for me wherever you leave the boat.”
“Exactly.”
“Clever girl! I’ll come back here when everyone’s asleep, to let you know I’m on my way. And then I’ll trust you to do your part.” She kissed Pia. “Thank you.”
Pia said: “I’ll be waiting for you.”
In fact she fell asleep. When Mo shook her awake, she thought it must be morning. She suffered a sudden panic, thinking she had slept through the night and let her friend down. Then everything became clear.
Stam was asleep and snoring. Yana was wide-awake, but she kept silent.
Pia got up quietly and went outside with Mo. There was a moon to relieve the darkness. When they were out of earshot of the house, Pia said: “I’m sorry. I fell asleep.”
“It’s all right,” said Mo. “You’re awake now. Are you still willing to lay a false trail for me?”
Pia had not thought very hard when she offered to help Mo. Now that the scheme was about to go ahead, she felt she had been rash. What if someone happened to be awake, and saw her taking the boat? How could she explain her actions? She tried to think how to tell Mo she had changed her mind. She stopped and turned to her.
Mo said: “Thank you so much for this.” The moonlight glinted off tears in her eyes. “I’ll never forget it.” She hugged Pia hard.
Pia realized with dismay that she could not back out now.
They parted company, Mo heading up the sloping field toward the wood, Pia going down to the riverside.
She walked along the bank, looking around fearfully, but no one was about. In the days before the drought, the river had sometimes spread its waters wide, so everyone lived farther up, where the river never reached.
Nonetheless, she heard an alert dog bark as she passed one house, which gave her a heart-stopping moment of alarm; but no one appeared, and she imagined sleeping people turning over, realizing the dog had stopped barking, and going back to sleep.
At last she saw the boat.
It was upside down on the bank and tied to a rock.
She looked around in the moonlight. Nothing moved. There were a few houses in sight, none within earshot.
She untied the rope and turned the boat upright. It was surprisingly light. Underneath she found a paddle and a large wooden bowl. She wondered what the bowl was for.
She pulled the canoe across the dried mud and into the water. It made little noise. She was not used to boats and she clambered inside awkwardly, losing her balance and dropping to her knees, grabbing the sides to avoid a fall.
She snatched up the paddle and tried to steer the boat into midstream. It took her several strokes to get the hang of paddling, but once she knew what she was doing, she began to control the boat better.
She looked back. No one was watching.
She noticed water pooling in the bottom of the boat, and realized what the bowl was for. She bailed out until most of it was gone, but it started to seep back right away. She realized that bailing had to be a constant process. On the upside, she was sailing with the current, so she used the paddle only to keep the boat in midstream and clear of obstacles.
How far should she go? She had to be back before dawn. Stam slept heavily all night, but he did not linger in bed in the morning.
It was quiet, the water was calm, and the moonlight was dim. She worried that she might go to sleep. She splashed cool river water on her face to keep awake.
The farmland on her left narrowed: the wood was closer to the water here. Eventually there was no farmland, and the vegetation grew all the way to the water’s edge. Anywhere here, Mo might have felt she was free of the farming folk, and safe to go on land. But Pia sailed on, wanting to make Troon waste as much time as possible following this false trail.
But soon she began to worry about the walk back. She was not sure how long she had been on the water. She noticed that themoon had set, and she feared she might have fallen into a light doze for an unknown length of time.
She thought of beaching the boat, then had a better idea. She paddled to the north shore, dropped the paddle in the boat, got out, then pushed the boat back into midstream. It would float along, perhaps just for a few moments, perhaps for a long while, making Troon waste even more time.
By starlight she watched the boat drift out of sight, then turned and headed back along the riverside.
It seemed a long time before she found herself back in farmland. She kept looking over her shoulder, fearing she might see the first light of dawn in the night sky. She began to feel tired, and occasionally stumbled over a stone.
