Chapter 28
Liza followed the large man carrying Mary into the aft tower and down a
steep stairway to below deck. They went through a small wooden door, the two
pirates had to duck the doorway was so low, and into a spare but comfortable
looking room. A large row of windows lined the back wall, they looked out into
the fading sunset. In the middle of the room was a large table strewn with
papers. Off to one side was a simple chaise lounge and several sitting chairs.
One the other side of the room was a large bed surrounded by a canopy. That was
about it, it was clearly, she thought, a man’s room. No extra decorations, not
even pillows on the chaise. She felt oddly at home.
The large pirate laid Mary carefully on the chaise and stepped back. Liza
turned, aware someone else was entering the room. A small woman, slight and a
full head shorter than Liza, came in with a stack of white towels and a jug and
a bowl. She set all of it down at the foot of the chaise. She looked at Liza
and smiled and said something in French.
“I ‘m sorry, I- I don’t speak French.” Liza regretted not bothering to
keep up with her French studies in school. She had, instead, begged her
grandfather to let her study engine mechanics with the house chauffer.
The woman, who’s smooth faced made her look ageless smiled. “Is ok, I
speak a little English. I will help her. I will make a new bandage for her and
wash her with this… petyon? How do you say… water with flowers and trees in
it?”
“OK, yes please.”
“And if you have hunger, please tell me. I will bring you food.”
“Thank you, not now. May I watch?”
“Yes please!” the woman smiled and kneeled next to Mary.
“I am Liza.”
“Ah, I am Adelina, you may call me Adi.”
“Thank you Adi.”
Adi pulled open Mary’s shirt and then barked out something in French. The
two pirates behind them hesitated a moment so Adi said the same thing but
louder. The two quickly left the room.
“They are nice boys, but not to be here when I change the bandage. You
met my father, no?”
“That was, Henri is your father?”
“Yes.” Adi had Mary’s blouse open and was undoing the linen Liza had put
on earlier. It was wet with fresh blood. She expertly cleaned around the wound
with a fresh towel dipped in the water she poured from the jug into the bowl.
Then she wrapped new linen, also dipped in the water, around the wound.
“He is scary no?” Adi said with a laugh. ”Scary big man, but a mouton, as
we say, inside.”
“Adi, can I ask you, that is, do you know if we are meant to be
prisoners?”
“I am not sure, he probably means to. But if you are friendly, he will
not harm you.”
“Oh, in that case, I can assure you, we are very friendly.”
Adi stopped, and turned to Liza with a serious expression. “Yet you claim
to want to visit LeDyab. This is most serious Liza.” Adi said quietly.
“What can you tell me about them then? You must understand that we, my
Grandfather and I, did not seriously believe that anyone, or anything, lived in
the clouds. We are no more friends to Le Dyab than to Dragons or… or Fairies.”
Adi smiled. “It is a long story, but I will tell you some of it.” She sat
back for a moment. “Let us let your friend rest.” She got up and sat in the
chair across from the one Liza was sitting in.
“I’ll start at the beginning Liza. A Long time ago, in 1784, my ancestors
were brought over to this new world as slaves in the belly of a large ship, not
unlike this one right here. They were ripped from their homes by slavers. But
they fought hard when they landed. They were rbought to Haiti- cruel place,
very cruel. They fought hard against the French. Many years of fighting, at
least twenty years of fighting until at least they drove the French right out.
My ancestors were proud people Liza, proud.”
“But how-“ Adi put her hand up.
“So we defeated the French but we faced the new enemy then, each other,
ourselves! My great grandfather was a powerful man, much hatred from other men
against him. He was driven from Haiti into exile. He wander for years around
these islands, finally driven way down south into the deepest heart of Brazil.
A very dangerous place for a man of Africa to be since black men were still
enslaved there. But he had heard of marvelous wood in those jungles. You see,
Liza, he was searching for light wood from to which to build a house or a ship
he could float above the land and escape his enemies down below. And in the
jungle he found the wood. Tap your feet on the floor… hard!”
Liza stomped her foot, the wood beneath her was hard and did not yield,
however neither did it echo with a knocking sound. Instead her stomp sounded
muffled. She reached down and felt the wood, even hit it, it was unyielding and
hard.
“The natives of the river Amazone call it ‘Asas de madeira” That is what
the locals said. I guess in their language it something different. It is wood
lighter than Balsa wood yet as strong as iron wood.”
“And so your great grandfather built these ships?”
“Oh no, not these, not these exact ones. It has taken us many years to
perfect our skills at ship making. This ship here is hmmm, perhaps twenty years
old.”
“It seems so much older…”
“The look yes? I know, we are a sentimental people…”
“So your ancestors escaped Haiti by going into the clouds…”
“Yes or no. We still are in contact with people in Haiti and Cuba…”
“But surely we would have heard about these ships or seen them…”
“We do not come down in these, we have smaller balloons we land on
Navassa. We are careful.”
“Then, the Le Dyab? Are they also Haitian or African?”
“That is not for me to say. They are devils of a different sort
altogether Liza. Not to be trusted, not to be treated with any regard as human
people.”
Liza sat for a moment trying to soak in all of the information she has
just learned from Adi. Adi sat smiling. A thought crept into Liza’s mind.
“The ship is light but it still must weigh a lot.. how does it stay up? I
saw no burner, to heat the air…”
Adi’s smile faltered just a bit. “It is late Liza. All will become clear
when it needs to be clear. Rest now as it is night.”
Liza started to protest but Adi put a finger to her lip and then checked
Mary’s sleeping form. She then smiled again at Liza and left, closing the door
behind her. As the door closed Liza could clearly see one of the two large
pirates standing guard.
Liza slunk back down in the chair and sighed.
“Well Mary, we’ve gone and found ourselves an adventure alright…”
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