Kaya Stormchild by Lael Whitehead Read Free Book Online

the distant islands for
a couple of hours yet.
    Kaya was
anxious for Grandmother to return. She scanned the sky, her hand
raised to shield her eyes. Normally, the eagle was home by this
time at night, but there was no sign of her anywhere.
    At last, far
off towards the south, she caught sight of a dark blur, heading
towards her. It grew as it approached and Kaya heard a familiar
call: it was Grandmother, telling Kaya she was coming
home.
    With a
whirring of wings, the eagle came to land on the beach. Kaya ran to
sit down on the sand next to Grandmother, touching her nose to the
eagle’s beak in their accustomed greeting. She was eager to tell
Grandmother her news, but she could see that the old eagle was
weary from a long flight. They sat in silence for a
moment.
    “ I’m sorry I
have been away so long,” said Grandmother, once she had caught her
breath. “There was a Great Council on Channel Rock.”
    “ A Great
Council,” breathed Kaya, amazed. “But you told me last week there
hadn’t been one for almost thirty years!”
    “ That is
true,” said the eagle. “The Council only meets in times of crisis.
Twenty-nine years ago two huge boats collided here in the Strait.
One was carrying a full hold of that heavy dark liquid human people
call oil. Much of it emptied into the water.”
    Grandmother
made a clucking sound and shook her head angrily. “The sea was
thick and black and deadly. So many sea-folk and shore dwellers
killed. This time however,” she paused, hanging her majestic head,
“I’m afraid the crisis is something worse, much worse.”
    “ What’s
wrong?” Kaya asked anxiously.
    “ The Omrith’s
gone,” the eagle said, after a long pause. Her voice was full of
pain.
    Kaya leaned
closer. Grandmother was always strong and calm and wise. Kaya had
never seen her guardian afraid. But now she could see that
Grandmother was more than frightened. Someone or something posed a
terrible threat to all that Grandmother held dear.
    “ The Omrith?”
Kaya asked, her voice small and hesitant.
    The eagle
looked intently at the girl. Grandmother’s eyes were like tiny
black pools that led down into unimaginable depths. Lights shone in
them, like distant stars.
    “ Kaya,” she
spoke slowly, “you are young. But you are growing every day in
strength and wisdom. It is time you learned a little of the
Mysteries, the ancient ways of the Salish Sea.”
    Kaya gulped
and nodded solemnly for Grandmother to continue.
    “ As you know,
there are four Turnings in every year, along with the thirteen
moons. The Spring and Autumn Equinoxes mark two of the Turnings,
while the Summer and Winter Solstices mark the other two. There are
special rites that belong to each Turning, and at the centre of the
rites of the Summer Turning is the Omrith.”
    “ But if the
Omrith is missing,” interrupted Kaya. “how can the Summer Turning
happen?”
    The eagle
paused and gazed keenly out towards the sea.
    “ That is why
the Salish Sea folk are so concerned. There can be no Turning
without the Omrith, and if there is no Turning then disaster
threatens us all.”
    Grandmother
fell silent once more.
    “ But why?”
asked Kaya impatiently. “I don’t understand.”
    Grandmother
turned her gaze to the girl. Her voice changed, deepened, as if
reciting ancient lore memorized long ago.
    “ Without the
sacred rites of the Summer Turning, day will not yield to night.
The earth will not be allowed to sleep, or the sea to swell with
storm. The land will know no rest from ceaseless blooming and
ripening, until all its power is spent. Without rest, a mighty
darkness will come at last which will hold us for eons in its
shadow. The balance of the world will fail.”
    The eagle was
silent. Tike shivered and crawled into Kaya’s lap.
    “ Grandmother,” Kaya asked after a pause, “what is it, exactly
- the Omrith?”
    “ I cannot
describe it, for I myself have never seen it. It lives below the
waves, on the top of a vast hill that lies