167
THE BLUE FEATHER
and I will take these horse riders with us and go exploring. It
should only take us about three hours to get to the island from
here.”
The horse riders came noisily galloping back to where Bardala
and Tital were standing waist deep in the surf. They all stopped,
and then dismounted, and came wading into the water. Only
Lena stayed on Mañzana, while the rest of the crew started
asking questions. Tital told them all that tomorrow they would
take two homemade sailboats over to the island. Once they
were there, they would set up a temporary camp and look for a
site for a permanent village. They had looked on the map for one
that might have a good harbor, combined with a reliable fresh
water supply. From the map, he explained, it looked like the
north side of the island might hold the best site. However, if that
side did not meet the needs of the Almayans, they would keep
looking until they found one that did. Jonathan and Viviana
swam with Brilloso for about twenty minutes, while Bardala and
Tital started teaching Kuó, Lena, and Ronú how to swim. Then
they all walked slowly back towards camp, happy that the
villagers were out of Mah Col’s deadly path.
Later that evening around a large campfire, Chief Trall
presented Ronú of the Tongan tribe to his people. He told them
in great detail the role the young chief-to-be played in the killing
of the deadly Gigantoraptors. Then he bestowed upon him an
emerald stone necklace, with two Gigantoraptor talons in the
center of it. Next, Trall presented Zorin of the Tongan tribe. He
told in a dramatic way the story of Zorin’s life. How a peaceful
tribe, like their own, was attacked by the Tarawans. He told
them about how Zorin saw his son killed by a spear during the
attack, while they were trying to defend the younger children of