25
“She’s upset about what I said to her,” Edward says. “She’s gone to sulk. Perhaps she’s gone to the excavation site. She liked it there. But she didn’t take her pony. If she’s been walking she’s probably hurt. I’ve done this. This is my fault.”
“Stop it,” says Elsa. “Let’s just find her.”
They ride their ponies in separate directions, away from the campsite, shouting Alice’s name. Elsa follows the southern coast to Hanga Roa, hoping Alice will have at least kept along the path. She passes the fallen statues at Tongariki as the sun begins to fall, dimming the sea, the grass.
There is nowhere to hide on this island except the caves, and Alice has always hated the caves. She must be somewhere, waiting, exposed, hoping to be seen and called back. After all these years, it is as if Alice simply wants to be pinched, as though her life has been one long trance she is asking to be summoned from.
Alicewants them to come after her.
The full moon washes the landscape white, but Elsa doesn’t need it. How many times she has ridden this path to the village—alone, with Alice, with Biscuit Tin just days before. This land, its distances, have become a part of her.
“Allie!” she calls.
As the horse plods forward through the night, Elsa feels as though this one search is her entire life. This pursuit of Alice—it seems she has lived this instant for twenty-four years. So Alice must be all right, then; Alice will be found. That is always the ending.
Finally, on the cliff above the harbor at Vinapu, Elsa spots a figure—Biscuit Tin, arms slack at his side, staring at the sea.
“Poki!”Elsa shouts, leaping down from her pony, running to him. “Poki,have you seen Alice? Alice. Where is she?”
Slowly, the boy raises his arm and points toward the water. He does not turn to look at her.
“In the water? Alice is in the water?Vai? Poki! Vai! Alice!” She grabs the boy by the collar, shakes him wildly until she sees that he is crying. She releases her grip, lets his body settle.
“Poki,where is Alice?”
He points again, down to the water, to where the fleet was anchored, to where the supply boat stacked with crates was lashed to the jetty.
Elsa looks out at the ocean, and stumbles back.