17.
They kept on driving East through Japan, passing cities and crossing rivers. Nola caught the scent of the sea regularly amongst the smell of wood and rain.
« I know what I forgot. »
« Something important ? »
« My sunglasses. »
« You can buy some at our next stop. Cash only, I don't want to leave a trail. »
« Nobody in Starling City knows I'm with you, and I don't see the captain of the ship telling about us. »
« He will tell anyone who pays him enough. »
« Yes, but who will think of asking him ? »
By noon, they had crossed to another island, left the highway to take smaller country roads winding between hills of impossible green. They stopped one last time in a small restaurant that didn't look like it had seen many tourists before and in a vacant lot Oliver gave Nola a lesson in left-side driving.
He let her drive to a small cove protected by two small dikes. There were a few fishing boats and one seaplane.
« So, now, air or sea ? »
« I hate boats. »
« We spent two weeks locked on a freighter and now you're telling me ? I was looking forward to flying in your jet. »
Oliver took a crate and loaded it in the plane. Nola took her pack and followed him.
« The pilot will join us soon ? »
« No need. »
« You fly too ? Is there anything you can't do ? »
« Keep you away from me. »
« I happen to have a mind of my own. »
They finished loading the plane, left the car where it was and took off. Oliver was flying low, and Nola assumed it was to avoid being picked up by radars.
The light was dimming behind the clouds when Nola spotted an island dead ahead, and it looked like something born of a nightmare. High peaks of dark grey that resembled sharp teeth, forests that looked hostile, and the sea all around foaming and crashing on the breakers and the shores. For the first time since their departure, she felt very unsure about being here.
Oliver landed smoothly in a small bay. He jumped in the water and tied up the plane to a pole. The grey smell of the sea was now mixed with the green of the forest that lied ahead. Nola jumped after him and together they pulled the plane to the shore and carried the crates to the edge of the woods. The night had fallen rapidly, and the rain had finally stopped.
« We're staying here for the night. »
Nola was tired, wet and cold. She wasn't very happy about sleeping outdoors, but she supposed he didn't have a tent they could pitch. They built a small fire, ate the leftovers from their lunch and prepared for the night.
Nola was walking back to the plane to get her cane when she looked up and was amazed. The clouds had been pushed away and the sky was so clear she could see the stars like never before. She walked up the beach to a place where she couldn't see the plane or the fire and lied down. The pebbles were very uncomfortable but the show was so astonishing she didn't care. The Milky Way was traversing the sky and every star shone like a beacon. She heard some noise and Oliver sat down beside her. He too looked up. Nola's whisper was hard to hear over the sound of the waves.
« It's extraordinary. I've never seen anything like that. »
« No light pollution. There is nothing in a two hundred miles radius. »
« There was a time I knew the names of the major stars and constellations. But I forgot most of them. Did you ever stop to watch the stars ? »
« Not enough »
*****
Shado and him were lying in the grass in the clearing near the remains of the plane. He had learned the western constellations with his father and he traced them for her between the stars. She was laughing and telling him he was all wrong. She proceeded to show him how the Chinese saw them. And they exchanged their first kiss.
*****
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