'I shouldn't think so.'
Evanlyn spun slowly on the end of the rope as the team of Kikori above her gradually paid out line, allowing her to descend.
She was hanging in space, several metres clear of the cliff face. But a few metres below her, a large outcrop of rock bulged out, barring the way. As she turned back to face the cliff once more, the waiting Kikori let out a few more metres of rope until her feet touched the rock. Bracing her feet against it, she walked herself backwards down the cliff, using her legs and feet to keep her clear as the men above continued to lower her. Then she was past the outcrop and slowly spinning in space again as she descended.
'You're nearly here,' Alyss called from below. Evanlyn looked over her shoulder and could see the Courier waiting at the foot of the cliff, barely fifteen metres below her. She looked back up to where the rope now slid over the rock outcrop. Too much of that and the rope would fray and eventually break, she thought. But the rock was smooth and there wasn't far to go. She felt her feet touch solid ground, and Alyss's hand on her elbow to steady her. The rope went slack and she let out a huge sigh of relief. She hadn't realised she'd been holding her breath. Her legs were a little unsteady, a reaction to the fact that she had been dangling in space over an enormous drop, like a spider on a strand of web. Alyss hurried to help free her from the harness of rope that the Kikori had created to hold her safely while they lowered her down the cliff face.
'I'm glad that's over,' Evanlyn said.
Alyss nodded in heartfelt agreement. 'If there's one thing that terrifies me, it's heights.'
Evanlyn looked at her in surprise. 'But you volunteered to go first.'
'Only because I thought if I watched you go, I'd never have the nerve to follow. I spent most of the time with my eyes shut tight.'
They cast loose the last of the rope that had been tied around Evanlyn, and Alyss tugged hard on it four times – a prearranged signal to tell the Kikori above that Evanlyn was safely at the bottom of the cliff. The rope suddenly began a rapid ascent while the two girls took stock of their situation.
The cliffs were over two hundred and fifty metres high and they had made the descent in three stages, with the Kikori climbers choosing suitable staging points along the way. At each point, a climber had waited with Alyss and Evanlyn while the rest of the team descended, then the girls were lowered down the next stage. The kayak, tied in a narrow bundle, lay on the rocks beside them. One of the Kikori had made the final stage of the descent with it, guiding it past the obstruction of the rock outcrop and untying it at the bottom. He had then climbed swiftly back up, aided by his companions hauling in on the rope, to report that all was well.
A few metres away, the waters of Mizu-Umi Bakudai lapped gently against the shore. Evanlyn was relieved to see that the water was calm. The day had been sufficiently hair-raising, she thought, without the added complication of rough water for her initiation into the art of kayaking.
'I guess we'd better start getting the boat assembled,' she said. But before Alyss could reply, a small shower of pebbles rattled off the rock outcrop above them. They both covered their heads against any stray pebbles that might come down, then looked up as a pair of boots appeared over the edge of the rock. The Kikori who had made the descent called for his companions to stop lowering. He braced himself out from the rock and slipped a pad of sheepskin between the rope and the rock face. Obviously, he shared Evanlyn's earlier thought about the rope fraying. Then he signalled and the lowering recommenced. He dropped quickly to the rocks beside them, then looked up, grinning.
'You came down faster than we did, Eiko,' Evanlyn said.
He shrugged. 'Do this many times,' he told them.
The girls noticed that he had disdained to use the harness arrangement that had been devised for them. He had simply tied a loop at the end of the rope and placed one foot in it as the others lowered him. Alyss shuddered at the thought.
Eiko had their travel packs over his shoulder and he unslung them and set them on the ground beside the bundle of timber and oilskin. He gestured to it.
'You need help?'
Alyss shook her head. 'We should get used to assembling it ourselves.'
He nodded and stood back, watching as they quickly unrolled the bundle, arranged the frames and ribs, then fastened and braced the timbers so that the skeleton of the boat took shape.
As they began to stretch the oilskin cover over the frame, straining against the lacing to bring it tight, he made a clicking noise with his tongue and stopped them.
'Better this way!' he said. Removing the retaining pins, he slid one of the main frames sideways, relaxing the tension so that the ribs of the boat collapsed slightly.
'Tie now,' he said, accompanying the word with gestures. 'Then tighten ribs again.'
The girls quickly grasped the idea. They stretched the oilskin tight over the partially collapsed boat, lacing it firmly in place, then straightened the frame, levering it into its original position, so that any remaining slack in the skin of the boat was now tensioned out.
'Good thinking,' Alyss said appreciatively. 'That makes it much easier.'
'Yes. I was afraid I was going to break a fingernail,' Evanlyn added.
Alyss looked up at her sharply, about to make a disparaging remark, when she realised the princess was joking. Feeling a little foolish, she bent her head to the task of fastening the last of the laces. When the last knot was tied, they stepped back and surveyed their handiwork.
'Excellent,' said Alyss.
Evanlyn nodded. 'You'd almost swear it was a boat.'
This time, Alyss didn't react. She had a feeling that Evanlyn's jokes were intended to conceal her nervousness about venturing across the lake in this seemingly frail craft. Alyss could understand that. But she also knew that the kayak was far more robust and seaworthy than it looked.
The two double-ended paddles had been tied in the original bundle and she picked them up and carried them the few metres to the water's edge. When she returned, she saw that Eiko had been busy, blowing up the two pigskin air-bladders that served as buoyancy chambers in case the boat was swamped in heavy weather. They pushed them into the bow and stern of the kayak, wedging them in place between the stringers, then stowed their travel packs into the space between the two seats, fastening an oilskin cover over them to keep them dry.
'Right,' said Alyss. 'Grab an end and let's go.'
The girls stooped to pick up the boat but Eiko waved them back. He lifted it easily onto his hip, balancing it there, and smiled at them.
'Eiko,' Evanlyn said, 'we told you. We have to -'
'Yes, yes!' he said, waving his free hand disdainfully. 'You have to do yourselves. You can do tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. I do today.'
Alyss and Evanlyn exchanged a look. Then Alyss shrugged.
'Why not?' she said. 'After all, we can do it tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow.' She bowed and swept one hand towards the edge of the lake. 'Eiko, my friend, after you.'
Grinning, the Kikori strode towards the lake, the two girls following. He set the kayak down in the shallow water at the lake's edge, leaving it half in and half out of the water. The two girls looked out over the wide expanse of water. From the clifftop, they had been able to see the far shore, a long, long way away. From water level, there was no sign of it. They might have been at the edge of an ocean.
'It's certainly a big lake,' Evanlyn said quietly. She looked up at Eiko. 'Eiko, what does "Mizu-Umi Bakudai" mean?'
The stockily built timber worker frowned uncertainly. 'It means "Mizu-Umi Bakudai",' he said. Evanlyn made an impatient gesture.
'Yes. Yes. Obviously. But what do those words mean?'
Alyss coughed and Evanlyn turned to her. The Courier was repressing a smile. 'They mean "Big Lake",' she said.
Eiko nodded cheerfully and Evanlyn felt her cheeks colouring. 'Oh, of course. Logical, I suppose.'
'The Nihon-Jan have a penchant for literal place names, I've noticed,' Alyss told her. Then, briskly, she dusted her hands off and stooped to the kayak, shoving it fully into the shallow water. 'Let's check the boat for leaks.'
The water was only a few centimetres deep at the shore but the bank shelved steeply so that, after two or three metres, it was half a metre deep. From there, it rapidly became deeper and the sand and stone bottom, easily visible close in, became lost from sight. Alyss waded in, reacting to the shock of the icy water.
'Ow! That's cold! Make sure you don't tip us over, Evanlyn.'
'Make sure yourself,' Evanlyn replied crisply. But secretly, she knew that if anyone were going to tip the boat, it would be her. She went to step into the water to help, but Alyss waved her back.
'Eiko can help me. He's heavier.' She turned to the Kikori and gestured to the boat. 'Push it down as far as you can, please, Eiko.'
He nodded his understanding and waded in beside her. Reaching down, he braced his hands against the gunwale ribs and leaned his weight onto the boat. The hull sank deeper into the water under his weight and Alyss leaned in, searching up and down its length for any sign of water coming in. But the tight oilskin created an excellent water-tight barrier and there was no sign of a leak.
'That's great,' Alyss said, straightening. She beckoned to Evanlyn. 'Okay, grab your paddle and come and get aboard. Take the front seat. That way I can keep an eye on you.'