STAR FESTIVAL SCHEDULE
Twelfth Month, 19th day – Star Festival Parade
Twelfth Month, 20th day – Field Day
Twelfth Month, 21th day – Group Talent Presentations
Twelfth Month, 22th day – Group Talent Presentations
Twelfth Month, 23th day – Individual Talent Presentations
Twelfth Month, 24th day – Individual Talent Presentations
Twelfth Month, 25th day – Graduation and the Flying-Up Ceremony
Identical rafts made of long bamboo reeds and tied together with thick ropes were supplied for each team. The rafts had a center mast secured with strong leather bindings. A rudder to guide the raft was located behind the center mast. The designated spot for the captain was directly in front of the center mast.
Team Purple’s raft was decorated with purple ropes, ribbons, and a purple flag sporting a giant glittering seashell.
Late on the night before the Raft Race, a person dressed in black, hair hidden under a cap, and wearing dark glasses crept along the pier of Tranquil Bay and stopped at the Team Purple raft. The person took a long, slender knife, sliced through the central leather bindings of the raft, and disappeared into the night.
~ ~ ~
Halo arrived at the pier dressed in her new purple swim suit, spotted her team, and ran to join them shortly before the attendant announced the rules of the race. She knew the team was worried because she’d missed both practice sessions. The first one the day she found Midas, and the second when she decided to explore Jet’s cave. She’d never been on a raft before, but she remembered water paddling from another time in her life, and maybe she could stand on the raft, pole it to deeper water, and paddle toward the goals. She was an excellent swimmer, too, despite the fact she hadn’t been swimming at all since arriving at White Feathers. Too bad she wasn’t good enough at water sports to use it as a talent.
She was pretty sure the entire WFA population of students, professors, shopkeepers, and housemothers were lined up to watch this last Field Day event. A big display of light works was scheduled for suns down.
The attendant announced, “Attention all teams. The raft race starts from this pier. Teams will proceed across Tranquil Bay to the floating dock. You must stay inside areas marked by the red and white buoys. Immediately behind the floating pier are Star Point markers separating Tranquil Bay from the Rogue Sea, which is a forbidden area. Do not go past the floating pier. Are there questions?”
No one spoke.
“Each raft is equipped with poles, oars, and life jackets. Each raft is adequate in length and width to support the number and weight of the team. You may begin when the attendant gives the signal. Good luck to you all.”
“Is that Annie?” Star whispered and pointed toward a team of four tanned, toned, athletic girls lined up in front of a bright-yellow raft.
“The flag says…” Amber squinted.
Opal finished the sentence, “Annie’s team.”
“Yeah, that’s her all right,” She shielded her eyes against the rising eastern sun and shrugged.
“Ooh, it’s the purple munchkins,” Annie yelled loud enough for everybody around them to hear and giggled.
“Don’t pay attention to them,” Halo muttered and turned her back to Annie’s team. The triplets straightened their shoulders and stood ready for the attendant’s instructions.
“Board your rafts,” the voice boomed across the water. Zadie dug her fingernails into her palms and turned away from Annie’s stare.
Halo hopped onto the raft first, took hold of Zadie’s shaky hand, and pulled her on board. The triplets hopped from the pier onto the raft in perfect step with each other, barely making a ripple in the water. She and Opal took one side, Amber and Star the other, with Zadie standing by the mast in front of the rudder.
“The object is to be first to retrieve your team’s flag from the floating pier separating the Dolphin Sea from the Rogue Sea, return to your starting place on this pier, and hand your flag to me. Feathers will be awarded to first, second, and third place winners. I remind you, no horseplay and no intentional bumping against other rafts. Are you ready?” the attendant’s voice boomed over the water.
“Ready,” yelled the contestants.
“On your mark. Get set. Go. And may the best team win!”
An armada of color blazed against the crystal blue bay as the rafts moved away from the dock toward the buoy-marked path. Team commands and spectator cheers bounced across the water as a patchwork of color-coded teams and rafts sped across the bay.
All four girls dug their poles into the sand and pushed, resulting in the raft rearing up and slapping back down against the water.
Zadie screamed, clutching the mast so tight her fingers were white.
“It’s all right, Zadie. Hold on,” Halo yelled above the noise of the other teams. “The raft will level out once we leave the dock.” She’d guessed Zadie was terrified of water and today’s actions confirmed it.
“One,” Amber counted, and four poles went into the water again.
“Two,” Opal called out, and they pushed down in unison.
“Three,” Star said as they leaned forward and pushed the pole backward.
“Four,” Halo called out. “Now, Zadie, you count, we’ll push.”
The raft settled and inched away from the pier. Counting gave Zadie something to do and kept her mind occupied.
As soon as they moved into deeper water, Star distributed the oars. Amber collected poles and clamped them into the locks around the mast. The crew rowed in unison as Zadie counted. Their raft moved slowly into deep water and nearer to the floating pier. She watched Zadie’s pale, fear-ridden face and watched her count, holding onto the rudder like a lifeline. She noted the life jackets were near enough to Zadie’s position for her to reach out and grab one if needed. Team members who were qualified swimmers did not need to wear the life jackets, and the triplets were qualified as were most of the members of the other raft teams. Halo and Zadie were not qualified swimmers although Halo had been an excellent swimmer in her first life.
Annie’s yellow raft suddenly cut in front of theirs.
“Only babies wear life jackets.” Annie laughed at Zadie who was eyeing the stash of purple life jackets attached to the center mast.
“Attention! Attention!” the foghorn voice boomed across the water. “Remember the rules. Straight to the pier. Retrieve your team flag from the floating pier. Do not leave the raft. Do not enter the Rogue Sea. Return to the starting pier. Hand your team flag to me. No rough play. Keep up the good work.”
Crews jockeyed for the lead position as the rafts approached the choppy water of the Rogue Sea. The Purple Team rowed along, counting and trying to wangle a spot on the outside nearest the floating pier. The triplets moved like they talked, together. If one spotted an opening, the other two followed without so much as a word or glance. She once again wondered if they communicated with some type of mental magic.
Opal pointed toward the floating pier with Annie’s yellow raft in the lead. The yellow crew steered toward an outside edge allowing barely enough room for Annie to lean forward, grab the yellow flag, and wave it high above her head. Her team reversed oars, dodging the incoming rafts, and headed toward the finish line.
Amber gave the signal to steer left, trying to fit into a space between two leading rafts. They scooted between them, changing course and trying to avoid the wide outside sweep, which would delay them and possibly put them in last place. They held tight to their oars in the wake of choppy water made worse by the rafts ahead of them.
A blue raft manned by five scrawny guys yelled as the two rafts came within inches of colliding. Zadie groaned, her face pale, and turned the rudder to avoid the oncoming raft. She raised her hand signaling the triplets to slow down, a few moments before emptying her stomach over the back of the raft. Halo stopped rowing long enough to kneel beside her friend. Opal took up the count, and her sisters helped steady the raft.
“She needs water to drink and a towel,” Halo yelled.
“There’s water in my backpack,” Star volunteered.
“Use some to wash her face,” Amber added.
“Don’t let her drink too much at one time,” Opal chimed in.
“I’m so sorry,” Zadie kept saying as they drifted behind the last of the rafts.
“Watch out!” Halo screamed, trying to keep Zadie stable. “Move!”
“Right, pull right!” Opal, Star, and Amber yelled in unison, plunging their oars into the water in a desperate attempt to turn the raft. Halo jerked her head up, dropping her oar into the water when she saw a person on a paddleboard speed in their direction. She dropped down, inched on all fours toward the center mast, and tried to grab a pole.
Annie’s team was first to make the turn and almost to the finish line. How could she be here on a fast paddleboard, on a collision course with their team?
The triplets moved as one, their oars straining to avoid the yellow menace heading for them. Annie laughed, launching toward them, holding a long oar with a shiny knife attached to the end.
“Your raft is falling apart. Well, how about that!” Annie yelled and rammed the purple raft with the edge of her pole. “Oops, I think something is wrong with your raft.” She jabbed again and laughed as the center of their raft separated and the rudder sank into the water.
“Too bad. I win. You lose. You should have been more cooperative. I know all your secrets.” Annie hissed the words, her eyes cold and steady against the glare of rising suns. She kicked the back of the Purple Team raft where Zadie sat terrified then crouched down on her board, its silent engine smoothly moving in the opposite direction and outside the surge of rafts nearing the floating pier.
The Purple Team was near the floating pier but, now in last place, there wasn’t another team close enough to hear them scream or see the small paddleboard racing against along outside the buoys. It moved quickly past the surge of oncoming rafts and used the same shortcut to return to Annie’s raft.
Zadie tumbled backward as the raft fell apart in the water. The triplets grabbed life jackets and toppled screaming into the bay. Halo tried to grab the mast or a lifejacket, but the impact knocked her off the raft and into the water.
She surfaced, gulping for air and searching for help. Amber was swimming toward the overturned raft, Star and Opal struggling along behind her. No sign of Zadie. She had to find Zadie. She was the only one on the team who knew Zadie couldn’t swim.
She pushed herself under the raft, hoping to see Zadie. They were in the bay. She should be able to see even though the water was deep here. She went as deep as she dared, swimming past familiar things on the sandy bottom, like rocks and seaweed, but no Zadie.
She swam until she thought her lungs would burst then surfaced again and gulped for air, diving deeper each time. She didn’t think her lungs could last much longer when something floating around the dark rocks a few feet beneath her caught her attention. She surfaced again, took a deep breath, dove straight for the rocks, and grasped a limp hand. Energy zapped through her the minute she realized it was Zadie, her long black hair streaming around her white, motionless face. She grabbed the shoulder straps of Zadie’s tank and kicked her way toward light and the surface. She prayed the straps would hold.
“Please don’t let them break,” she prayed. She kicked up, shoving Zadie headfirst out of the water into Amber’s outstretched arms.
She prayed and kept treading water. Zadie was limp and didn’t appear to be breathing.
“Hurry, hurry, I need help,” Amber’s voice rang out.
“We’re coming,” Star yelled as Opal swam, pushing a pole with a life jacket attached toward Zadie. The world moved in slow motion as she watched the girls swim toward her, their shouts somewhere in a faraway dream.
“Help, help me. Please hurry.” She prayed over and over to God and His angels. Her legs cramped, her arms were heavy, and her lungs about to explode. A lump of something sour swelled in her throat, and distant voices yelling were the last things she remembered before sinking into the blackness of the water.