Free Racing the Dark by Alaya Dawn Johnson Page B

mother stared at each other when he shut the door. Somehow they would have to survive. Somehow.

     

3

    OHAKU'S JOURNEY BACK TO ESSEL was plagued with the most extraordinary bad luck, such that he finally saw the familiar spire of the Kulanui towering above the rest of the town a full three weeks after he had planned to arrive. Between unseasonable rains, unexpected schedule changes, and leaking boats, Kohaku had begun to wonder whether he would ever get home at all. Finally away from the hated ship, he waited in line beside the bustling docks for a street vendor who was selling sticks of rounded sweet potato dumplings. They were ten kaneka each now-fully double what they had sold for when he left a year ago. The dripping sugar that burned his tongue tasted of home, though, and he found he didn't mind the price very much at all. He downed five on the spot and then waited in line yet again so he could order ten more to bring home to his sister, Emea. Her frequent illnesses made it difficult for her to get out much. She probably hadn't had a chance to eat sweet potato dumplings since Kohaku had left for the outer islands. The thought made him lose his appetite-maybe he shouldn't have left her alone, no matter how forcefully she had insisted that he go.
    But still, he could hardly wait to see her again. The frustration he had felt at Lana's rejection of his incredibly generous offer had rankled him during his journey home, but now it seemed to dissipate with the thought of his sister. Really, what had he expected from someone raised on such an anachronistic backwater? Lana might be intelligent, but it took a particularly strong character to overcome such a crippling background. He had offered to rescue her, but she hadn't been smart enough to want rescuing. But Emea would have liked her, he thought unexpectedly, and felt a moment of pure regret for opportunities lost, different roads taken. He hurried down the familiar seashell-lined streets, completing what was usually an hour-long walk in forty minutes. He lived with his sister on the middle floor of a boarding house right at the foot of the great volcano, Nui'ahi. It was an awe-inspiring sight at dawn, with the bright orange sun coming up behind the smoking top.

    He took the stairs two at a time but slowed before he opened the door. Emea was sitting by the window, in the special seat he had built for her before he left. Some embroidery rested on her knee, but her hands were idle and she stared into space with an air of almost inexpressible sadness. At that moment, her golden hair seemed brighter than the sun itself. Once again, Kohaku found himself stunned by the beauty of the sister their mother had died giving birth to sixteen years before.
    She turned abruptly when his shadow fell on her. Her frown of surprise widened into a smile that seemed to cover her whole face, and she ran to him.
    "You're back early," she signed, using the language they had created together so that she could have some way of communicating.
    "There were some disasters on the island," Kohaku signed. "It was impossible to conduct any more research, so I decided to leave. I wanted to get back sooner ..." He paused and looked at her. "It's been such a long time," he said. "How have you been?"
    For the next twenty minutes, Emea's hands moved so quickly Kohaku had a hard time following what she was saying. She must have been starved for conversation. She could communicate a little with the landlady who sometimes kept her company, but the only person who really knew her language, since their father died three years before, was Kohaku. Emea had been deaf since a nearly fatal fever when she was five years old, and it hurt him to know how isolated she was from other human beings because she couldn't hear. Men would admire her in the streets when she took walks with him, but the looks on their faces when they realized she was deaf often made him want to keep her inside forever, just to protect her from that