They’d left with the evening tide. Jaewon was huddled in the captain’s quarters nursing a cup of ginger tea and praying to the heavens that he wouldn’t get sick. Admiral Yi also gave Jaewon fresh diced ginger to swallow down every hour. It was an old sailors’ trick that the admiral swore would relieve all symptoms of seasickness. Kira knew she should check on her friend, but not yet. She was still too shaken up.
The bracing sea wind was clearing away the last vestiges of her nightmare, but still the fear clung to her. Her visions were not always clear anymore. She didn’t understand what they were supposed to mean. In retrospect, she should have known from her weird dreams that Fulang would break through the cave. But it was only afterward that she understood what they’d meant. It would do no good to be late interpreting another vision. She couldn’t afford another catastrophe. Now they were sailing to Jindo, where so much danger lay ahead of her. If only she knew what her dreams meant. But nothing made sense anymore. She wished she could see her friend Nara. Perhaps Nara’s visions could help her sort through her own. As she thought about her kumiho friend, it surprised her how close she had gotten to Nara in such a short time. Nara was the first true female friend that Kira had ever made. She missed the kumiho’s feminine strength. In many ways, Nara reminded her of her aunt, Queen Ja-young—both strong, beautiful women with a regal demeanor.
She stared up at the sky and wondered what was happening to her cousin and her little dokkaebi. Worry for them gnawed at her stomach. How frightened they must be. She prayed to the heavens that Fulang and the monks would not harm either of them. She prayed that she would be successful.
“I’m so sorry, Taejo. I’m coming for you,” she said to the night. “Gom, please take good care of him for me.”
Fortunately for Jaewon, the ocean was calm and he was able to sleep for most of the trip. By early evening, they were in sight of Modo Island.
Not far from shore, they lowered the wooden dinghy into the water, and Kira and Jaewon climbed down the side of the ship and dropped into the little boat. The crew passed them their bags, bedrolls, and most important, their full water bags. Kira and Jaewon each picked up an oar and began to row the boat to shore. It was low tide and they were able to make it to Modo quickly.
Once on land, Kira and Jaewon dragged the dinghy into the woods and away from sight. Although Admiral Yi had told them that Modo was uninhabited, Kira wanted to check it out herself to be sure. She left Jaewon setting up camp near where they’d landed and went off to explore the island. It took her less than an hour to survey the entire island. It was dense with tall trees and was quite hilly for such a small island. She spotted plenty of birds but held out no hope for any other game. What the island didn’t have were any streams or ponds. Kira could find no signs of running water anywhere.
The northwest side of the island, facing Jindo, was an explosion of color as glorious yellow rape flowers blossomed all along the hills. Kira made sure that they kept well behind the forest line. The admiral had warned them that the Yamato posted patrols along the shoreline of Jindo.
Her keen night vision gave her a clear sight of Jindo. Enemy patrols were stationed at several points along the coast, their lanterns winking in and out in the darkness. If the admiral didn’t create a diversion, it would be hard for her and Jaewon to escape the notice of the patrols. Having seen enough, she headed to their campsite, but Jaewon was not there. He’d set up the beginnings of a campfire but had not lit it. She wandered down to the beach, where she found him in the shallows. His shirtsleeves and pants were rolled up as he wrestled with an octopus.
“I’m impressed,” she said, clapping her hands together. “That’s not an easy feat.”
Jaewon smiled. “I live to serve, my lady.”
Gathering up a little cooking pot filled with clams and abalone, he beamed at her. “If it’s safe to have a fire, I can cook dinner tonight.”
“Yes, it’ll be fine. This island is so hilly and forested that they wouldn’t see anything from this side. But the admiral was right.” She sighed. “There’s no water source anywhere on the island. You’ll have to use our water to cook dinner. I’ll put out our bowls to catch rain, if we’re lucky, and let’s conserve our water until we get to Jindo.”
Jaewon agreed. He filled the metal pot he was carrying with seaweed and water from his water bag and returned to their camp. He tucked the pot into a corner of the fire.
That night, they enjoyed a seaweed stew filled with seafood.
“I’m surprised,” Kira said. “But that was delicious.”
“Why surprised?” Jaewon looked offended. “Seung is not the only one who can cook!”
“Yes, but some of the things you made were not so tasty,” she replied.
Jaewon grinned. “Well, I admit that I’m not so good with meat and rice. But I definitely know how to cook seafood,” he said. “My mother was originally from a little seashore town in Kaya. She is the reigning champion of seafood cuisine in all of Wagay.” His voice petered out as his smile faded.