The Silver Ship and the Sea by Brenda Cooper Page A

in the middle. A single red dot showed Rage Mountain on the southern coast. The perpetual steam where the mountain’s fiery lava met the ocean had been captured as a tiny white cloud. Islandia sported the same colors as Jini, although Islandia was long and thin with edges along one side that looked like teeth. Blaze was represented by a long thin slash of red, as if a giant’s knife had cut through the ocean and the blood of Fremont welled out.
    No one stood outside the wagon, and a bright golden cloth covered the trading table. I waited in front and considered knocking on the door, when Akashi came around from the back of the wagon. As he saw us, his smile warmed his eyes, making me smileback without thinking. This close, I could see the wrinkles around his mouth and on the backs of his hands. “Good morning, Chelo, Joseph.” His face grew more serious. “I’m terribly sorry for the loss of your parents.”
    “Thank you.” I felt a little nervous. Akashi seemed to have so much energy and power, so much influence over the roamers, and yet he always treated us kindly. And he had been a friend of Steven’s. What he thought about me and Joseph mattered. “Thank you. We miss them very much. We’re looking for Liam.”
    “My son asked me to watch for you. Go on in.” His word, “son,” touched my heart with pride and longing. Therese had treated me like a daughter in some ways, but she had never called me one.
    We climbed up three wooden steps and pushed open the gold-painted door. Inside, past a small kitchen, the central core of the wagon was a comfortable-looking rectangular room with cabinets lining the top of the walls and soft bench seats that must double as beds along both long sides.
    Liam sat on the far bench, his hair falling gently against his face, his braid covering his heart. He looked up and a wide smile lightened his face. “I see you found me .” He held a fat wooden flute between his knees, and was tying a bright feather that could only have come from a dragonbird onto the flute with a long thin sinew. He tugged the knot tight and held the flute out to me. “I made it for you.”
    Surprise stunned me into silence. I sat down opposite Liam and took the flute in shaking hands, running my fingers along its smooth surface. I’d never had such a fine instrument of my own. It felt lighter than it looked, and yet also solid and comforting in my hand. Just holding it brought pleasure.
    Liam watched my face, and his grin widened, pleased by my reaction. “Go on, play it.”
    I brought the flute to my mouth and blew. A single low, soft note floated through the air, sad and haunting. My fingers fumbled at the holes along the top as I worked out how to change notes. The flute had at least a full octave range.
    Liam glowed with pride. “I’ll help you more later.” He reached into the cabinet above his head and produced a wooden drum with a red-and-gold-painted leather head just two hand spans across, and twice as tall. “And this is for you, Joseph.”
    Joseph tapped on the drum. Even with Joseph’s soft touch, the small wagon filled with a deep, full beat. Loose items rattled on the shelves.
    I smiled at Liam. He gazed back at me, his eyes hopeful. My cheeks burned and I dropped my eyes. “Thank you. It’s beautiful. Both are beautiful.” I held the flute on my lap, fingering the bright feather. It was as long as my hand, less than half as long as the flute, and thinner than my little finger. The deep green shaft faded to black at the base. “But I don’t have anything for you.” There was no tradition of us trading gifts, and in fact, we did not know Liam well, not really. The roamers usually only spent a few days in town, twice a year. It seemed like an extravagant gesture on his part, like an offering of some part of himself.
    “Akashi suggested it. After the earthquake, in those few days we were wondering how you all fared here. He said you are my family more than he is.”
    I looked up at