Island's End Read Online Free PDF Page B

all. I will go shellfish collecting. Now.”
    At the sound of my voice, Tawai bounds into the hut. “Can I come with you, Uido? I want to fish.”
    Ashu’s form darkens the entrance. He sticks his head in only for a moment to say, “I will go to the beach as well.”
    I hurry out into the sunshine and run across the clearing to invite Natalang along too. It is late enough that she is awake. She brings a new basket she has woven out of bamboo—strong enough to hold any clams or mussels we gather at the shore.
    As we walk down to the beach, Ashu surprises me by being unusually polite to Natalang.
    “This is a beautiful basket,” he says to her, running his long fingers across it. “Very well made.”
    For a moment I think he is being sarcastic, but Natalang blushes at his compliment. She walks between me and Ashu and although she links arms with me, she speaks only to him. Tawai skips along beside us.
    The short path to the beach feels as long as a day’s walk. All the while, I wonder whether my prediction of the strangers’ arrival will come true and how Ashu will treat me if it does not.
    We are nearly at the beach when my nose catches a faintly bitter smell—like smoke though not the scent of burning wood. I run to the edge of the jungle and see the strangers’ boat jutting above the waves like a gigantic shark fin.
    “Look,” I cry. “I was right.”
    I dash toward the tall grass where Tawai and I took cover the first time we saw the strangers. Danna is already crouched there, his eyes on the strangers.
    Danna looks relieved to see me. “I took the watch today,” he says as we all huddle behind the grassy clump. “I knew you would be right, Uido.”
    “Do not call the tribe yet, Danna,” I say. I am curious to see why the strangers have come back and I do not want them to be frightened into leaving too soon.
    The strangers’ boat stops just beyond the edge of our reef and the same three men lower their canoe over the side. We watch them climb in and row carefully past the coral, toward the beach.
    I feel Tawai move closer to me, his breath fearful and excited on my shoulder.
    “Should I not alert the village now, Uido?” Danna fidgets.
    “Why are you asking her?” Ashu hisses. “Since when did the tribe start taking orders from girls?”
    The men row closer. The tall man seems to be the leader. He jumps into the surf before the others and works hard to pull their canoe up the beach while the other two push it out of reach of the waves.
    “Nice fat bodies,” Natalang whispers to me. “But too much hair on the face.”
    The men unload their canoe, piling coconuts and bananas on the ground.
    “Why do they bring us gifts after we chased them away?” I say uneasily. “They are not our friends.”
    “Look at that yellow hill of bananas!” Natalang rolls the tip of her tongue across her lips. “I wonder how they taste.”
    Ashu grins at her. “Come, Natalang,” he says. “I am not afraid of these strangers.”
    “No,” I tell them. “Wait. We should call the rest of the tribe here to decide what to do.”
    “I am your older brother and the son of the chief hunter,” Ashu says. “I am not taking orders from you.” He stands up and holds his hand out to Natalang.
    Natalang lets Ashu pull her to her feet. “You are so brave, Ashu,” she says.
    I want to say, “Natalang, you are my friend. You know Ashu is often mean to me!” But choking with disbelief, I watch Natalang hold hands with Ashu and run toward the mound of bananas, her breasts bouncing.
    “Wait for me,” Tawai says. I lunge out to stop Tawai but he races away over the white sand, the pink soles of his feet flying. As I leap up and chase after my little brother, I hear Danna call out, ‟ Olaye, olaye, odo-lay, odo-lay! Come, everyone! The strangers are here again!”
    Two of the men turn back and start running toward their canoe, away from Ashu and Natalang, who are headed toward the bananas. But the leader seems