Island of the Sequined Love Nun

back, he emptied the clip into the sky.
    The canoe slipped through the channel into the open ocean. Out on the horizon, a small cloud appeared and dropped a mercurial lightning bolt into the sea, followed a few seconds later by Kimi's thunder.

57 – West with the Bat
    The Sorcerer stood on the beach over the supine body of Yamata. The spear was still sticking out of the guard's skull like a gruesome note spindle waiting for a canceled receipt from the Reaper.
    "How did this happen?" the Sorcerer asked.
    Malink looked at his feet. The Sorcerer seemed more surprised than angry. A day had passed since Sarapul had killed Stripe, and Malink had waited in fear for the time when the Sorcerer would come looking for him. The other guards had torn the village apart looking for Tuck, and Malink had confessed that the pilot had left the island in an old canoe, but he had claimed ignorance of the whereabouts of the guard. Sarapul had been right. They should have pushed the body out to the edge of the reef for the sharks to eat. Actually, that had been Sarapul's second suggestion for the disposal of the body.
    "It look like accident," Malink said. "Maybe he running and fall on his spear."
    "I want the man who did this, Malink," the Sorcerer said.
    "He is dead."
    "The Filipino did this?"
    Malink nodded. The other guards had found Kimi's body in the village, where the Shark People had been preparing it for burial.
    "I don't think so. The Filipino took four bullets in the back. Whoever did this was very strong. Now you must tell me the truth or Vincent will be angry."
    Malink was not afraid of Vincent's wrath. He only now realized that all the wrath his people had ever felt from Vincent had come by way of the Sorcerer and the Sky Priestess. He was afraid of the Sky Priestess.
    "The American do this before he leave in the canoe. The guard shoot the girl-man and the American kill the guard."
    "Why didn't you tell me about this before?"
    "I am afraid Vincent will be angry."
    "Where did they get a canoe? None of the Shark People know how to build a canoe."
    "It was the girl-man. He know how. He build with Sarapul."
    The Sorcerer balled his fists. "And Sarapul is gone too."
    Malink nodded. "He sail away."
    "Do you know where they were going?"
    Malink shook his head. "No. Sarapul is banished. We no talk with him."
    "Where's the guard's weapon?"
    Malink shrugged.
    The Sorcerer turned his back and began walking up the beach. "Have your people bury this man, Malink. Don't let the other guards see him. And be ready. The Sky Priestess will visit you soon."
    Sarapul crawled out from some nearby ferns and stood at Malink's side, watching the Sorcerer walk away. "We should have eaten this guy," he said, kicking Yamata's body.
    "This is very bad," Malink said.
    "He killed my friend." Sarapul kicked the body again.
    "The Sky Priestess will be very angry." Malink was, once again, feeling the weight of his position.
    The old cannibal shrugged. "Can I have my spear back?"

    Tuck knew that there was a way to use the hands of a watch in conjunction with the movement of the sun to determine direction, but since he wore a digital watch, it wouldn't have done him any good even if he knew the method, which he didn't. He guessed that Guam lay to the west, so he steered for the setting sun, spent the night guessing, and corrected his course to put the sun behind them at sunrise.
    He did know how to sail. It was required knowledge for a kid growing up in a wealthy family near San Diego, but celestial navigation was a complete mystery. Sepie was no help at all. Even if she knew anything, she hadn't said a word since Kimi had been shot. Tuck forced her to drink the water from a couple of green coconuts, but other than that, she had lain in the bow motionless for twenty-four hours.
    He was now looking at his second sunset at sea. He corrected his course and realized that they must have been traveling north most of the day. How far, he couldn't guess. He steered southwest until the sun lay on the water like a glowing platter, hoping to correct some of the damage.
    He really wished that Sepie would come around. He needed some sleep, and he needed some relief from his own thoughts. Thoughts of the Sky Priestess, of the Sorcerer, and of his dead friend Kimi. Despite the navigator's surly manner, he had been a good kid. Tuck, who had been brought up in relative luxury, couldn't imagine having endured the life that Kimi had lived. And the navigator had never given