Wild Song (7 page)

I swam like an Olympian. Further and further I swam. Sometimes I flipped round onto my back and kicked my feet. It gave me a rest, and I liked watching the Wild School island grow smaller and smaller. Then I turned and swam on … and on. I felt great. This felt way more exciting than filching wallets, but why did no one come to look for me? Why was there no rescue boat? Could it be my escape hadn’t been discovered? Was Aleksi so daft that he’d forgotten I was on his team? Like, how long does it take to wash strawberries?

I spun round and swam on, making for another island. The archipelago was littered with islands, and I saw a few dark dents break the endless blue. Hannu would have said they were all like Finland’s dark beautiful jewels, scattered far and wide. I batted thoughts of Hannu away. If Hannu knew I was missing, he’d send out a search party. Probably he’d dive into the sea and swim after me. But the other staff, they didn’t care. Probably they would be glad to see the back of me.

I kept swimming. When I felt my muscles ache I floated on my back and gazed up at the blue sky. I couldn’t believe how easy this was. Why didn’t everybody swim away? What about Scarface? Why didn’t he escape? I rolled back onto my front and swam on. And on. I wondered where Hannu had gone? It felt lonely out here. I was a drop in the ocean. But I kept going. I planned not to let up until I couldn’t see the Wild School island any more. I glanced back over my shoulder. The island was tiny now, but I could still see it. I wanted to put it behind me. Like Hannu and his scar.

For what felt like hours I swam on, but my arms didn’t zip through the water now and my legs didn’t kick back so strongly. At least the weather was okay. I watched the sun pass over me in the huge blue sky. Then I saw it slowly slip downwards. I had been swimming all afternoon and I could feel the beginnings of a pain across my chest.

Keep swimming, Niilo
, I spoke to myself. I panted hard.
Keep going
.

Every stroke now was a massive effort. My chest felt fit to burst and my arms and legs ached, heavy as lead. And worse than that, the fear was creeping back. It was like it had never gone away, just gone to sleep. Now it was waking up and saying – where the hell are you? Jesus, this is the sea. The
sea
!! Have you any idea what’s under you? Skeletons. Sharks. Killer whales. Are you mad? Monsters too. Are you totally insane? And what about the drowning nightmare? What about the waves that any
minute now are going to turn into hungry mouths and swallow you?

The fear started small and grew. It grew fast. It sucked my strength away until I could hardly take another stroke. I had to think of Hannu. If I didn’t, I’d drown. Or I really would go crazy. I imagined a story Hannu would tell, of how the people of Ahtola would scoop me up into their arms and guide me to safety through the waves. I imagined the wise old Vainamoinen, singing on his kantele and looking, looking, always looking, for a bride. I imagined the beautiful young Aino, pursued by the ancient Vainamoinen. I pictured her long hair flowing, her sandaled feet pounding down as she fled through the woods. I pictured her fleeing into the sea, and changing into a salmon, and leaving old Vainamoinen alone by the edge of the sea. Now she was the angel of the sea. She was looking after me.

That’s when I saw the seal. It lifted its sleek black head out of the water, hardly a stone’s throw away, and looked at me. I thought I was seeing things, like I had conjured my own magic. I thought I really had gone crazy – I was bringing Hannu’s stories to life.

But this creature didn’t vanish into thin air. It swam towards me. All the fear that was in me focused on this strange creature heading towards me, on its yellow eyes! I felt terrified, but weirdly calm at the same time. I forgot about sharks and monsters and skeletons. Even the exhaustion vanished. I heard a whimper in my throat. Then the
mysterious creature slipped under the water. I waited for it to brush against me, or come up behind me, or right in front of me. It was like some torture game. But then I saw the seal way ahead. It swivelled its head to look at me. And maybe I really was mad, but I got the feeling the seal wanted me to follow it. And the way it looked at me didn’t feel scary. And I could see, beyond the seal, a dark shape. There was another island ahead.

I thought maybe I’d been swimming in a big circle and this island ahead was the Wild School island. But I looked over my shoulder and I could still see the Wild School … if that dark rock in the distance
was
the Wild School. But there were lots of distant rocks, lots of small islands. I wasn’t sure which one was the Wild School. I felt dizzy and I didn’t know what was happening.

I was in the sea, and I was following a black seal.

I was escaping.

I was exhausted.

I didn’t know where I was going, but I just kept swimming, pushing my arms forwards and pulling the sea back.

Sometimes the seal looked back, like he was checking I was still with him. I didn’t know too much about seals, but they weren’t scary like sharks, and the pictures of seals in books made them look cute. I didn’t even know if this creature was a seal. It could have been a dolphin, or a walrus. Maybe it was one of the creatures from Ahtola? Maybe it was a human with a seal skin on? Maybe I was dead and this was some kind of afterlife?

But the sea felt like water. The sky looked like sky. And I was panting hard. I didn’t feel dead. I don’t think I had ever felt so alive. I kept swimming … and the island ahead grew bigger. I could see trees now, and a small hill. I swam closer. The seal had reached the island. It rocked up onto a flat rock that jutted out from the island, used its flippers like hands to raise itself up, then turned to watch me.

I wasn’t scared of the seal now. I mean, not terrified. It was okay. It was helping me. Humans don’t care about me, but animals do. Hannu was right. Animals watch over us. I slowed down swimming to the island and looked carefully. I couldn’t see any signs of boats. There was no building behind the trees. No curl of smoke drifting into the sky. This was it, my own place. My own island. I kicked back my heels and swam the last bit, exhausted.

In those last few strokes I was panting like I’d run an ultra-marathon. I could make out trees, bushes, sandy beaches and sloping rocks. There was no sign of life. No boat. No summerhouse. I would rest here. I had to. I couldn’t go on. If the Wild School staff came searching for me, I’d see them coming and I would hide. I was ace at hiding. I could crouch down and not move, not make a sound. I could slip into shadowy places. I could climb into trees. Trees made great hiding places – people never looked up.

In the next stroke my toes scraped over stones. I yelled out in relief. I’d made it! I wasn’t going to drown. The people of Ahtola wouldn’t cart my soul off to Tuonela:
the land of the dead. By now I was on my feet, panting in agony – I thought my chest would snap in two. I waded to the shore, ploughing back armfuls of ocean, reached the beach and fell headlong onto the sand, crying out in pain and exhaustion. I dragged myself up the sand and slumped forward.

Behind me, I heard a loud splash. I was too weary to be scared but looked round to see the seal’s head rise from the water. It was watching me … then it slipped under the sea and vanished. My arms buckled under me and I collapsed onto the sand again. Every bone in my body was like jelly. Everything in me wanted to sleep for days, but this beach was too exposed. Even totally exhausted I had the wits to hide. So I dragged myself further up the beach on my belly and wriggled under a bush. I didn’t care that it scratched me. I hardly noticed. I slumped my head down and plunged into a black sleep.

I slept in fits, maybe for hours, maybe minutes, I don’t know. Feverish dreams haunted me. I could hear the drone of a giant wasp. Swarms of them coming closer. And men shouting. I could feel the ground under me move, like the sea. When I woke my throat was on fire with thirst and my mind jumpy with fear of being discovered. I had to find a better hiding place. And I had to find water. If it wasn’t such agony it would be funny – boy stages incredible escape from Wild School only to die of thirst!

I forced myself to get out from under the bush. Wobbling, scratched and groggy, I got to my feet and
headed away from the sea. It was a major effort to put one foot in front of the other, but I kept going, towards some trees, staggering like I was drunk. A gull screeched. I ducked. Then another bird swooped down. I shielded my head with my hands and yelled at them. That woke me up proper.

I hurried now, tramping over the heather, dodging dive-bombing sea birds and scanning the island for water. My senses were alert like a wolf. I had to drink. My mind spun. What time was it? The sun was rising. It could be three in the morning. I must have slept for hours under that bush. And what was the date? Suddenly it seemed important but I could hardly remember. The fifteenth of July, or the sixteenth? Something like that. My throat was parched. I sniffed the air, sure I could smell fresh water.

Suddenly there it was by the trees, like a silver thread in the moss: a small stream. Maybe this was a mirage. It shimmered like it wasn’t real. Maybe thirst does this to you. Maybe swimming for kilometres does this. You want something so bad you imagine it.

I crept towards the stream, thinking with every trembling step how it would vanish before my crazy eyes. But it didn’t. I got closer. Bracken and gorse bushes grazed my legs. I passed a clump of birch trees. The stream was still there, gurgling, sparkling, welling up from the ground and spilling fresh water into a small pool.

I fell headlong into the pool and drank. I drank loudly,
like a dog, lapping up the water. It tasted fantastic. I drank and drank. I scooped up water and flung it into the air. I whooped. I yelled.

Then I heard something behind me.

I froze. I felt like a wild animal. The front half of me was sprawled in the pool. Someone was behind me, I was convinced. Like a soldier in a jungle I dragged myself backward, not making a sound – I didn’t want to be discovered with my face in a pool. Water dripped from my chin and I was scratched all over from the bushes that I had been lying in. I wanted to jump up, turn and run, but my body refused to move. Maybe whoever was behind me hadn’t seen me. I pushed down so I was right in the heather and bushes, camouflaged. I lay like that for ages, not breathing hardly, not moving, my heart thumping.

Then I heard this awful howl. It burst out of the silence and cut right through me. That was no human. The howl sounded so sad – I have never heard anything like it. I turned round and there it was, the black seal, dragging itself over the heather. It was coming straight for me.

Now I saw how huge it was. Maybe it wasn’t a seal.
Maybe I’d landed up on an island of monsters. Its haunting howl terrified me and I let out a strangled kind of cry – I couldn’t help it. The creature kept coming, dragging its huge body, rocking over the heather, wailing like a ghost. If this was a seal it was massive.

I scrambled to my feet. Whimpering, I bolted away like I’d been hit by lightning, turning and running over the heather, away from the creature. My legs felt like jelly – I had swum for hours – and I was exhausted, petrified. I was starving. So I don’t know where I found the energy. But I did. I fled. I had bare feet. They were cut. Thorns tore at my legs. I crashed through the bracken, not daring to look back in case the creature was right behind. I lunged for a tree and in a flash I scaled it, my heart a drum in my ribs. I was pretty sure the seal, or walrus or whatever it was, wouldn’t be able to climb a tree. Just to make sure, I climbed right to the top. I was like an acrobat. Or a monkey. The branches creaked. I clung on and peered down.

Through the green leaves I could make out the creature. It was now basking in the early morning sun, lounging on a rock near the sea. It seemed to have forgotten me, thank God! I drew a branch back for a better look. It was black all over, and sleek. It had a smooth round head and a fat long body. And it was thudding its tail thing up and down on the rock, making a dull slapping sound. The huge creature looked like the seals in my books, and things I had read in those books came to me in a flash, like – seals
are curious creatures. Seals will move towards humans, unlike many other wild animals.

Then I remembered Hannu’s stories, about the man with the seal skin, and about the human and the seal being buried together. I felt like I’d landed in a magical world and a cold shiver crept over my skin.

I stayed in the tree. The seal stayed on the rock. It had stopped thudding its tail and nodding its head. Maybe it was asleep? I was dizzy with hunger. Maybe none of this was happening? Maybe I was imagining everything? I slapped my face, and it didn’t hurt much. I scratched the back of my hand, wobbled a bit then grasped the branch.

I felt light-headed, scared I might fall out of the tree, then I would die and all this great effort would have been for nothing. I had to get out of the tree. It looked as if the creature was asleep … I had to eat something. Berries, even. I had seen some blueberries in the bushes, and I was suddenly gripped by this overwhelming need to devour loads of berries.

I slipped down the trunk of the tree. I was stealth itself! I jumped and landed without a sound on the carpet of pine needles. The blueberry bushes were clumped about near the seal. Great! I stood still as a statue and watched it. Its eyes were closed. It was slumped down over the bushes. Like a thief I approached the massive black creature until I was so close I could see its long silver whiskers. And folds in its leathery dark skin. And grey blotches under
the black. I saw the rise and fall of its huge breathing body. I could smell it, strong and animal.

I edged around it, the plump dark blueberries calling to me like wallets in the market square used to call me. Nicking wallets felt like years ago, like another lifetime. I glanced down at the mighty creature and suddenly it opened one yellow eye, bared its teeth and then I really did scream.

The scream came out all husky and strangled. I bolted around the thing and ran for the sea. I forgot about food as I pelted over the bushes, the heather, the sand and over the flat rocks. Then I jumped into the sea. I swam a few strokes then stopped.

‘
Don’t worry, Niilo
.’ It was Hannu’s voice I heard calling to me. ‘
It’s watching over you
.’ That’s what he was saying. ‘
One day you’ll find your wild song,’
he said, ‘
then you’ll know where freedom is
.’ Where was he? He wasn’t here. There was no boat. His voice was in my head. ‘
It won’t hurt you
,’ he said, and I knew he meant the seal. The fear drained out of me.

I twisted round, but the creature wasn’t stirring. I swam back to the shore and pushed myself up onto a rock. The creature was still watching me, but it hadn’t bothered to move. I clung onto Hannu’s voice – ‘
Don’t worry, Niilo. Everything is going to work out fine
’ – and I didn’t feel terrified with his voice in my head. The seal rolled over on the heather. It was making itself comfortable, like it was making itself a bed. It lowered its black head down
and closed its eyes. Right now, all it seemed interested in was sleep.

And suddenly that seemed like the best idea in the world. I know it was light, but it was still the middle of the night. Tiredness washed over me like a wave. I yawned and slumped down in the bracken. I yawned again. I couldn’t keep my eyes open one second longer …

‘… it was once a huge kingdom, Niilo, the sea kingdom of Ahtola, but there are very few people of the sea left. Like wolves. Like bears. Like honey bees. Like dinosaurs. They disappear. But some are still with us. When we stand on the edge of our fear they come to us. When we need help, they help us. When it seems that we might die they come to save us. I believe that. Do you, Niilo? They know the wild song. They watch over us
.’

They watch over us
. My heart pounded hard. I rubbed my eyes and sat up. I heard a splashing noise. I was so tired, and confused that I couldn’t work out where I was. The dream fled. And where was Hannu? I called out his name and heard my voice echo back: ‘
Hannu! Hannu!
’ I heard the splash again and I blinked and saw the creature in the sea. All I could see was its black head, sticking up out of the water.

‘
A husband and wife perhaps, or twins … but it wasn’t, it was a man and a seal
.’

It was a man and a seal. A shiver ran over my skin. Hannu’s voice spoke in my head, as loud and clear as if he was sitting right next to me: ‘
There’s more to life than 
what we see. Much more, Niilo. Know why I think you’ve come to the Wild School? Because something’s missing. You’re looking for magic. You’ve lost your song. You want more out of life. Me too, Niilo. Me too
.’

I gulped in air, my heart kicking, my palms sweating. Maybe Hannu was right? Maybe the old stories were true? Something was missing. Everything
was
missing. I couldn’t peel my eyes away from the creature in the sea. Now the thing lifted its sleek black head and turned its head from side to side. Maybe none of this was real? Maybe I was dreaming the whole thing? I looked at my hands and I imagined Hannu’s clenched fist pounding into the soil. Maybe I was going mad?

I called for him again. ‘Hannu! Hannu!’ I could feel hot tears streaming down my face but I didn’t care. I’d never felt so lonely. I was the only person on this island and I felt like the last person in the world. I felt miserable.

‘
Know why you’ve come to the Wild School?
’ Well, I wasn’t on the Wild School. God knows where I was. Some rock with a clump of trees and a wild animal with yellow eyes and fangs instead of teeth that is way too interested in me. It’s planning me for its next meal. No one had bothered to search for me. They didn’t care. They didn’t send out the helicopters. Too expensive for the bad boy. They didn’t send out the lifeboats. They were probably having a party in the Wild School right now.

I lay down, pounded the ground with my fists, and howled.