Etwart, the search for his roots - VI and last

Etwart has a good life as the only pygmy Cypriot hippopotamus in the world-famous San Diego Zoo. But every day he wakes up with a hole in his heart.  He wants to know the story of his family and the deeds of his forehippos-- maybe even find some of his relatives. So with his friend junior zookeeper Katterly Meadows he sets out on a journey of discovery.

Read the whole story from I-VI in order.

Katterly Meadows lay awake in her bed, missing her family.
The light of the rising moon, nearly full, lit the curtains in her room. Kat got up for the tenth time that night and swept the curtains aside. A glowing summer face smiled down on her.
She and Etwart had been in Cyprus for a week. They'd researched hippo habitat and learned about the history of the island. They'd traveled from river beds to mountains and met a bunch of people. When she got back home, she would be able to say to all her friends that Cyprus was awesome-- that it really changed her.
But at the moment, she was hungry for a PB and J and a hug from her mom.
The Mountain Lady, who made tasty lemonade and scary prophecies, had told Kat, Etwart, and Ioli, their Cypriot guide, that Kat would be the one to unravel the mystery about Etwart's parents-- where they came from, and why they'd left Etwart as a baby in a basket on a beach in south Cyprus.
"She says, you are the key, Kat," Ioli said. "She says you have the gift of far sight and friendship of animals. She says you will be able to see Atlantis at the time of the next full moon. We must go to Aphrodite's Rock after midnight, and from there you will be able to see Atlantis. Only you. And you may be able to speak with Etwart's parents."
Atlantis. Too weird to think about. Problem was, she was too wired to sleep.
In the bathroom, Etwart shifted in the tub, and water splashed. Kat tiptoed to the door. "You awake, Et?"
"Dad and Mom," Etwart mumbled. He was talking in his sleep.
Kat lay down again. This time, she could feel herself sinking into the softness of the bed. As her eyelids grew heavy, this thought came: Whatever happens, I'm doing it for my friend Etwart, so it's going to be okay.
The next day, Marios the minibus driver took them west, to Paphos.
"We are in the southwest corner of Cyprus," Ioli explained. "Some think this is the most beautiful place on the island. So it is fitting that we are to see the home of the Greek goddess of beauty."
"Are the Greek gods real?" Etwart asked. "Has anyone ever seen them?"
"A long time ago, people thought they saw them," Ioli said. "Most Greeks are Christian now, and they believe in one god."
"But I almost feel as if I can see them," Kat said. "Look there!"
She pointed out the window of the bus.
"What?" asked Etwart.
"I don't know, something..." Kat said. "Maybe it was just the sun on the water. I thought I saw a face."
Ioli said, "This is what the Lady meant by far sight."
"My dad says I just have a vivid imagination," said Kat.
"That is one way of putting it," Ioli said, turning again towards the front of the bus. "But that is not all it means."
Aphrodite's Rock was a big promontory, sticking out into the dark sea. But there were smaller rocks everywhere.
"We wait till nightfall," Ioli said. "Have a swim now, and then we go to dinner. When the moon rises, Kat, we'll see what happens."
After dinner they returned, and they met an old man with a small motor boat. "He will take you out to  a place where you can stand on the rock. We'll be close by. Call if you see anything."
It was dead calm, and the wake of the boat made almost no noise. The moon was rising far, far out on the horizon, a lump of gold.
"You not scare," said the man, helping her onto an outcropping. And then he turned to Ioli and said something with a smile.
"He's a joker," said Ioli. "He said you look like Andromeda."
"Who's that?" asked Kat, who wasn't in the mood for jokes.
"The princess of Ethiopia. Her family was forced to tie her to a rock to be sacrificed to a sea-monster. But then the hero Perseus came and saved her, and killed the monster."
"I'll save her," said Etwart.
Kat laughed. It was just the thing to put her at ease. "I don't need saving," she said. "This is research."
The man pushed off from the barnacle-covered rock and the boat drifted away. After some grunting on Etwart's part, there was silence, and Kat concentrated on the moon, which was now up and much bigger and flatter than usual. She thought maybe she would have to see something in the moon, or in the light of it reflecting on the water. But in a few minutes, she realized it was going to be much simpler than that.
She heard splashing-- two splashes, side by side, and not quite saw two dark forms making their way towards her. They were Etwart-sized, and when they came close enough, Kat heard an Etwart-like "mrrff."
"Can you see anything?" Ioli called from what seemed like a long way away.
Kat said nothing. She was fixed on the two dark forms, gliding towards her, now completely silent.
The bigger form came all the way up to the rock. "Get on," it whispered.
Kat's heart beat wildly, but she knelt. She was wearing her swimsuit under her shorts and t-shirt. She straddled the back of the form and felt wet hippo skin. Underneath her, four legs churned away.
"Where are we going?" Kat asked. "Are you Etwart's parents?"
No answer, just splashing, as the two hippos swam away from Aphrodite's rock. In no time she could not look over her shoulder and see the rock, only the lights of Paphos far away. She knew that Ioli, Etwart, and the man would be worried about her. But it didn't seem to matter somehow. The water was cool, the rhythm of the hippo paddling regular and soothing. She hugged the neck of the hippo she was riding, and waited.
Not long afterward, the hippos stopped swimming. She could see lights in the distance, a kind of mirror image of the lights in Paphos, a semi-circle of them, as if they were ringing a beach.
"Is that Atlantis?" asked Kat. "Or is it another island that we..." She stopped. Ioli had already told them there were no islands nearby the coast of Cyprus.
Kat heard a new splash now, and the groaning of wood against metal. It was a rowboat, coming towards her. Voices were saying something she couldn't understand. It wasn't Greek. It wasn't like any language she'd ever heard.
The hippos submerged. Kat's legs lost their grip on her carrier's side. In a second, she was underwater.
Kat kicked her way up to the surface, her mouth burning with salt. The voices and the rowboat were approaching. A light hung from a hook in the stern, an oil lamp held by a chain. There were three men in the boat. One had a tooth missing. They looked to her like pirates.
"Glump!" she cried. She had been trying to call for help, but a wave came and filled her open mouth. She went under again.
Now she knew that she was getting tired. Those men could easily fish her out of the water, put her in the boat, and take her to Atlantis. Or they could pass by, and her friends would never find her.
"Help!" she called now, her hand in the air. She figured that it would be better to be alive in Atlantis than drowned on the bottom of the Mediterranean.
The oars in the locks strained and whined, and the wake of the boat grew louder. Kat's legs felt like rubber. She couldn't tread water much longer.
In the moonlight, Kat saw the boat with the lantern. And then she went under again, and remembered nothing more.
"You okay, honey?" someone asked.
She was on a rocky beach, wrapped in towels. A light was shining in her face.
"Okay?" she said. "Is this Atlantis?"
"No," said a voice she recognized as Ioli's. "You're back in Paphos. You never left Cyprus. But you swam a long way, child. If you were my Louisa, I would have to punish you."
Kat said, "I didn't swim. I rode. I rode."
"What do you mean, road? There was a road out to where you almost drowned?"
"No, no." Kat shivered. She remembered it all, and would all her life, but she couldn't speak just at that moment. It would have to wait.
"Just lie back," said Etwart. "You've had a big night, Katterly."
"I saw them," Kat said. "Your folks, Et. I saw them."
"Of course you did, honey."
"No, I did. And I saw a boat. It was from Atlantis."
"You saw our boat," Ioli said. "We were lucky Etwart heard your cry. He has the best ears of anyone around here."

"But it was a rowboat, not a motor boat," Kat protested. "I heard the oars."
Ioli said, "Your father is right. You do have a vivid imagination."
Kat said, "Etwart, your parents are alive."
Etwart grunted. He breathed warm cabbage-breath on Kat's face. "Thank you, sweetheart," he whispered. "For being such a good friend."

Comments

[Textricula]

yay! It's Etwart!

[DF]

Good to hear from you, Tex. Hope it's going well at skool.

[Todd Granger]

David, just curious - are you serializing the already-written story of Etwart, or is this a work in progress?

It strikes me that I need to print these off for the girls to read.

Looking forward to the next installment....

[DF]

No, not already written, though planned and thought about quite a bit.

Funny that you should write two days after Kirk told me in person that he didn't "find the plot compelling."

I hope you do print this off for the girls. If they like it, there is more. I was going to shelve it for a while because I hadn't had much reaction either for or against. This is the end of the first part.