Chapter Four
The solace festival lasted two weeks. They surfed, fished, and swam with the village people. The dolphins were back every day. Hanna could see them watching, and as people danced on the beach, they would rise out of the water on their tails and skip across the ocean surface backwards. George got his chance at surfing on one of the calmer days and made his fellow crew members proud.
Hanna and Ray swam with the dolphins on a number of occasions and helped with the fish harvest as the need arose. They surprised George as they too had some experience surfing. However, the weather finally changed. The wind and swell finally dropped away from the west and the fish migrations move back off the coast as the summer solace finished for another year.
Hanna and his crew had become a tight little harmonic trio now and were quite good performers. Each night they were required to perform and Ray had become an excellent music coordinator. He would spend much of his time choreographing and planning the next show so as not to become too repetitious.
George just enjoyed himself, everything was a joke to him, and that is just the way he liked it. Sometimes Ray, taking things a little more seriously, got a little flustered at his improvisations but it was all in fun. There was nothing to be serious about and why not, thought Hanna, life was good. For the next six months, they lived a simple village life with no worries or cares and little responsibilities.
There was always something to do, go with the journeymen if they felt the need for adventure or help in the kitchen. Fishing was Hanna’s favourite past time. If he caught, only two fish then he had provided for himself, any more was a contribution to the community. He would average six. Sometimes, when he caught a big one, the blood would run in his veins. The thrill of the hunt would grip him and he would celebrate long into the evening, telling stories of how skilfully he had landed his prize. George would always call out.
‘Tell us about the one that got away.’
Ray would follow with.
‘How big did you say that was?’
On cue, villagers would, slowly, open their arms and then extend further to opened hands and everybody would laugh. (This was the village signal for a hug.)
George was king of the kids. Due to his clowning abilities, but he found that the children would give him no peace. Therefore, he would organise activities and projects to occupy them, his greatest achievement being the re invention of the wheel. A thin stick tied together at the ends to make a hoop. The children would run after them all day with another stick to guide it. George was the village celebrity.
Life was good.
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In the eight weeks after the summer solace, Kadina announced her pregnancy. Hanna was delighted and it came as no surprise. More celebrations took place as Hanna took pride in his accomplishment.
One fine winter day, they had travelled to the third bay south east of the village where Hanna had had a successful days fishing the day before. He found the fish guts he had buried from that catch to use as berley and as the tide was about one hour from full, he climbed out onto a ledge in the cliff above the turquoise water. He threw the berley into a gap in the rocks that the tide and waves would slowly retrieve. This would wash into a deep water gutter and attract the fish that would begin to feed at the top of the tide.
Kadina had climbed down another gap in the rocks further to the west and on to a little patch of sand. As the waves gently rolled in to cover the remaining sand, she splashed playfully about as Hanna stared after her. Admiring her soon to be swollen belly, he felt truly blessed to just be witness to such beauty.
She ran back to the rock face, removed her sarong, and placed it on a ledge above the water. She looked towards Hanna, yelled something that was lost in the distance, turned, and ran into the water. Kadina swam about twenty metres out and turned to swim along the coastline toward him. Hanna recalled the conversation where he had told her that swimming was good exercise for a pregnant woman. How they had laughed and made love when she told him she was going to give him the strongest son than the village had ever seen.
Hanna stood on the ledge overlooking the scene when he noticed a large dark shape in the water just east of where he stood. It was about fifteen metres from the shoreline, in the deep-water channel where Hanna had fed his berley trail. He immediately realised what was about to happen. His heart leapt into his throat as he tried to scream a warning and as he controlled his panic, he ran back and forth, looking for rocks to throw, trying to attract Kadina’s attention.
Nevertheless, it was to no avail, the object was now heading directly towards her. In his terror, he ran over the side of the cliff into the water. He dropped about three metres into knee deep water and landed with a thump. Although jarred from at landing, he did not slow down in his frantic attempt to beat the creature to his woman. He swam as he had never swum in his life and as he approached, he raised his head above to water to check his direction. He could see water slashing where Kadina had been.
He took three more strokes before he realised what he had seen and he stopped to look again. Now, there was no movement on the surface. He kicked his feet hard to raise himself out of the water. Still there was nothing.
Then he dove down into the cool, clear water, searching. But still, nothing! He continued to dive around towards the spot he had last seen her, but it to no avail. There must be something, he thought as he looked. In addition, as his brain registered that he was really looking for blood in the water; he blocked out the thought and renewed his search with a panicked vigour.
There was no way that he would accept the fact that he may never see her again. He swam and searched for hours, refusing to give up hope. Finally, he crawled from the water exhausted and climbed up onto the ledge again. There, he looked about the bay, hoping, wishing, but there was only the clear blue water.
Birds hung in the afternoon breeze. Waves lapped at the water’s edge. There was nothing to show that anything had changed other that the receding height of the afternoon tide. Everything was as it should be except, there, hanging from a small branch, was a red sarong waiting for it owner, the only proof to make Hanna’s mind snap back into reality and believe what had actually happened. It sat there and so did he. Tears formed in his bloodshot eyes, blurring his sight, stinging.
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Hanna became a recluse and for all the effort his crew members made, they had trouble trying to break through to his private world of self-pity. He refused to interact with the villagers as they made him angry at their passive acceptance of Kadina’s death. It did not seem to bother them. In fact, they celebrated it as another festival, the ceremony of the forest spirits. They believed that her time had come and it was a great honour to be called upon at such an early age. They could not understand why Hanna was not happy for her.
He and his crew held a private ceremony in the bay where she had disappeared. That had been two long weeks ago. Now, he sat overlooking the ocean, the sun low on the horizon behind him.
‘How could it be,’ he asked himself.
‘How could this world, this life, this existence, be so cruel? Once so happy yet now…, so sad! Sad to the point of despair, lacking any will to continue.’
Overwhelmed with desperation, he stirred, restless, anxious, and angry. He hated it, he was helpless, empty, and he had never felt like this before. What could he do?
‘What? What?’ he yelled as he placed his hands over his face and bowed his head. He felt his hair in his hands. Again, he remembered her face, her hair; he could feel it, her hair. He pulled; he pulled hard and felt the pain. The pain! Tears emerged from the corner of his eyes and gently, so gently; they rolled down his cheeks. Warm, soft, tears creasing his face, comforting him in his hour of grief.
‘I won’t sob,’ he told himself. ‘Not again.’
Nevertheless, his breath became short, his chest constricted. The tears increased and again he moaned, but quietly this time. If he was to do this again, he was going to flow with it, take it to its limit, and rid it from his system forever so as to never allow it to happen again. He let his emotions run their course.
He sat on the edge of a cliff some eighty metres high mesmerised by the huge swells pounding the cliffs below. As he slowly gazed across the ocean surface, he noticed a number of large black objects in the heaving seas. Although they gave the impression of being small, he realised that they were dwarfed by the height of the massive cliffs.
‘They must be huge,’ he said to himself
‘Whales?’ He said, just as a number of the creatures broke the surface. Huge plums of watery spray emerged from their backs.
‘They are whales,’ he exclaimed aloud.
‘How could this be? All these similarities, it doesn’t make any sense. It’s just like Earth in so many ways. It’s just got to be home. But how was it possible? How did they get here?’
He stared after the pod of whales as they rose and fell on the large ocean swell. His mind cleared as he drank in the sweet purity of the air. He sat for about ten minutes without another thought as his mind blended with the majesty of the scene in front of him. He looked to the horizon, the sky was pure and clear. Then, as he focused, he saw it, land.
Distant, but he could just make it out, shadows highlighting the escarpment. He looked from left to right as he squint his eyes. Yes, there it was. No doubt about it, at about eleven o’clock south there was a rise on the horizon.
‘It could be a cloud’ he said aloud. But his heart was thumping and in his gut, he already knew.
He was out of here!
‘Explore’ His mind snapped. He jumped up excitedly, raising his hand to his brow, shading his eyes, searching.
‘Yes,’ he yelled. ‘That’s what I’ll do. We’ll build a boat and get away from here, away from these memories and reminders. A new adventure! I’ll explore this planet by boat. A new ship! Yes!’ he said.
‘Only this time an ocean going ship. Of wood and whatever else it takes to build, a project!’ He thought. He slapped his hand hard down onto his thigh. Then wheeled around excitedly and headed straight for the village. His pace picked up as he made a list in his mind. This was his new challenge, his new goal. Problems to solve, a ship to build, and a new land to explore.
‘Yes!’ he shouted as he skipped high, punching his fist into the air, and again slapping his thigh as he broke into a run.
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Ray and George were a little taken back by the sudden change in Hanna’s attitude. He tried to organise the village people to start the project and found that they had no interest in it all. He held a meeting with his crew, Warooka, Koonaida, Barunga and the elder Curramulka to discuss his plan. He explained his ideas and waited for a response. There was none offered. Hanna had to prompt them.
‘What do you think of this plan Warooka? He said
Warooka looked up at Hanna.
‘I do not see why you would want to leave here. There is no need to go.’
‘But we can explore and discover new lands. Maybe meet new people, Imagine a new culture that’s different from your own.’ Hanna enthused.
Barunga stirred in his seat. Hanna looked to him for comment. He stiffened uncomfortably and said.
‘No man has ever travelled the ocean, there is no need.’
‘I’m sorry Hanna York, but it still doesn’t explain why, when all our needs are met here,’ said. Koonaida.
Agreement was acknowledged around the villagers present. Hanna looked at Curramulka. The old man slowly looked around the group.
‘You are new here Hanna York and your ways seem strange and different to us. Every man is free to do as he may wish, but he must not interfere with another man’s will. We all work together to achieve this goal. Together, the tribe is strong. Together the tribe will survive. Together we live as friends,’
The villagers then, on cue, broke into song. Frustrated, Hanna stood up and paced. He composed himself and went to fetch some drinking water in the corner of the room. Returning, he sat down, then looked across at Ray and George. They both gave him a reassuring smile. Hanna’s frown remained in place. After the song was finished, there was short silence and Curramulka looked at him and spoke again.
‘We will help you in your quest Hanna York,’
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Over the following months, work slowly began on the project. The first job was to make tools to split logs and cut wood. Hanna had found a store of the crystal like rocks and using a hammer stone, they chipped flakes off the edge of the quartz to create crude but effective cutting tools.
They found a stand of trees that the surfboards were made from, the buoyant timber had a straight grain, and the trunks were long. He experimented and found that by using a series of wedges they could split a log into planking timbers approximately nine metres long by around forty millimetres thick. This was ample and a continuous length of planking would mean no joins in its length, giving the vessel extra strength.
This now determined he could finish the design of his boat. It was to be to be approximately seven to eight metres long, with a beam of two point one and a draft of point seven. They built a kiln to dry and season the timbers and then they manufactured a slipway. A heavier timber was chosen for the keel and after it had been carved from a large log, the men hauled it back to the slipway. They then shaped the ribbed frames, some from crooked tree limbs he had handpicked in order to give the ribs of his craft that extra strength from the trees natural grain.
The work was slow but gradually the boat progressed and Hanna was occupied enough to block out his recent past. The planking was over lapped as they were attached to the frame and then fixed into place with timber pegs. A wood tar (hemp fibre soaked in pine tar) was then applied to the hull as a caulking material.
This, Hanna knew, would be something that had to be tested later in the sea trials. A rudder was fitted and as a precaution, he had a second one made to take on the journey. Two of everything was his motto, as he may not have the resources to manufacture these things again. The mast was erected amid great ceremony and the sail was made of a patchwork of pigskin. Again, a smaller sail was made as a spare and it was to double as a roof, to cover the travellers from the sun and the rain.
As the project neared completion, Hanna could feel the pride of his achievement. This was a beautiful boat, stronger than he had originally envisaged and bigger. It would hold nine men comfortably, and had provision for eight to row. Hanna hadn’t spoken of a crew to any one as he thought that as the project developed, the interest would also increase and it did.
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The day finally arrived for the launch. Hanna had his crew and they had all been instructed as to how to row the craft once it was in the water. Hanna would be the helmsman; there was George, Ray, Warooka, Barunga, and Koonaida. Some of the younger men of the tribe, Kielpa, Unow and Yaninie had proved to be a great source of strength during construction and seemed enthusiastic enough to join the crew. Hanna allowed young Minlaton to come along as the mascot. He had watched the construction process from the very start. Looking over Hanna’s shoulder during the design stages, in fact, every day he would be standing by Hanna’s side, yet he never got in the way. He watched and sometimes he tried to help and Hanna had grown very fond of the lad. For some reason, Minlaton had never spoken a word in his life. Hanna enjoyed his silence of his company.
The moment had arrived and the village was out in force. Much to Hanna’s delight, the day had even begun with the banging of the drums. The procession meandered its way down to the beach and the people gathered around the boat and along the shoreline. They sang some songs and finally Hanna gave the signal. As arranged, Curramulka’s wife threw a container of wine over the bow.
‘I name this boat the Marion Kadina,’ she yelled. The crowd cheered, the blocks released, and a team of men pushed and pulled the craft down towards the water. Gravity took over and the men scurried out of the way, some stumbling and laughing as they fell over in the sand. Hanna’s heart leapt and his blood raced as the craft rocked violently, throwing him from side to side. He looked to see Minlaton as he stood on the ships stern, holding onto the tail of the keel, facing the oncoming water, eyes wide open, solid as a rock.
Then, as suddenly as it had started, it was over. There was a large splash and a wave of water heralded the entry of the Marion Kadina into it new home. A short silence was broken with the rapturous applause and the roar of the crowd. People ran into the water and swam about the craft as Hanna instructed his crew to prepare oars and rudder. Finally, they were powering past the headland and along the coast.
He yelled his signal to the port side crew to remove their oars, then he pulled hard on the rudder and the boat turned. His crew cheered and they continued on. They kept it up for about an hour and although Hanna was desperate to test the sail, the boat was leaking and as he had expected, there would be some fine tuning to do. They had accomplished their goal and he was well pleased. The craft was all and more than he had expected.
‘This is a story that would live in village history. A song will be composed to commemorate this momentous event. ‘Who would think that this thing would float, Hanna York, I truly thought it was folly.’ Curramulka confessed.
Over the next month the sea trials continued. Soon, Hanna was ready to leave. Now was the time to gather his team. He had the three young men, Kielpa, Unow and Yaninie, as his constant companions. He was sure that they would go. He called a meeting to discuss the matter.
To his surprise, George expressed a lack of enthusiasm for the venture and asked if he could stay. He was happy here and liked the village life.
‘Life good here,’ he explained. ‘And besides, you’re coming back?’
Ray was a little more enthusiastic as he was keen to put some distance between himself and his relationship with one of the village girls. Warooka and Koonaida had also agreed to go, but only on the condition that they would return in one month. Seven was a good number, he told them and the final preparations began.
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