Deadly Sky (ePub), The by David Hill

head and looking sad. The others watched silently.
    ‘Our people had to stop fishing and build churches, stop planting crops and make a prison. Those who refused were whipped. Children who played near the church were punished.’ The dancers in white shrank into corners, hands over their heads, while the one in black strutted up and down, pointing and ordering.
    The drum beat more briskly again. ‘Slowly our people became well again,’ Alicia went on. ‘Some of the missionaries were friends. Years passed.’ The dancers were all on their feet again, moving gently, faces relaxed. ‘In other parts of the world, there were great wars. But Mangareva was full of peace. We were too far away for war. The pearls from our sea brought visitors. The beautiful black pearls and white pearls.’
    The drum faded. The dancers were almost still. Alicia said nothing for a moment, then her voicechanged. ‘But we were not too far away for the bomb.’
    Noah’s drumming changed, too: his hands beat jaggedly, roughly; the dancers’ movements turned tense and frightened. ‘The island of Mururoa was full of palm trees and rainbow reefs and gliding fish. Now the trees are burned. The coral has melted into the sea. The fish lie dead in the water. The bomb
burst!
’
    A crash on the drum. At the same moment, the dancers’ feet slammed on the floor. Everyone jumped. Several of the little kids cried out. Darryl’s back stiffened, and his skin prickled.
    ‘A burning light filled the sky. The sea boiled. Birds in the air were blinded by the fire of the bomb. They fell shrieking into the sea.’ Drum hammered; feet stamped. Darryl saw that some of the smaller kids were crying.
    A different voice spoke. Principal Kara was on his feet, moving towards the front of the classroom, talking quickly to the teenagers. A couple of them stared at the floor. Noah stood, looking uncertain. Alicia opened her mouth to speak.
    But the man shook his head. Good on you, thought Darryl.
    ‘I think we stop now,’ Principal Kara said, and smiled a principal’s smile. ‘We hope our friends from
la Nouvelle-Zélande
enjoy the presenting.
Merci
to our trade school pupils.’ He clapped; the other teachers and,after a second, the little kids joined in. Alicia looked as though she wanted to keep going, but after a moment she lowered her head.
    Yeah, she’ll make a politician, all right, Darryl decided. They love the sound of their own voices.
    He realised his mother was talking. She’d moved up to the front. ‘
Merci bien
. Thank you so much. That was wonderful. Thank you, Alicia and Noah and your friends. You are marvellous performers.
Vous êtes formidables!
’ Four of the teenagers gave proud smiles; the one in red gave a half-smile.
    ‘Thank you also to your lovely school.
Votre très bonne école
.’ The kids giggled. ‘This book’ – Mrs Davis held up the one she’d shown before – ‘is for you. And so is this.’ She reached into her bag again, produced another one:
Tales of the Maori
.
    Everyone clapped once more. Mrs Davis shook hands with Principal Kara, shook hands with the teachers, shook hands with the five teenagers, ending with a hug for Alicia, whose half-smile had grown into a three-quarters-smile. Darryl watched the two of them, the fair head and dark head pressed together for a moment. If Dad could see Mum now, he’d … he’d …
    In fact, he wasn’t sure what his father would think. But then, he wasn’t sure what
he
thought about what he’d seen in the past half-hour, either.

TWELVE
    The little – the littlest – kids sang them another song. This time, they all waved their arms to the music. Now they reminded Darryl of little ducks
flapping
.
    As they began leaving the classroom, he passed right by the one who had asked about his hair. Lannya. Before he knew he was doing it, Darryl dropped down onto one knee, and pointed to his head. She stared, then reached forward and patted his hair.
    ‘
Soyeux!
’ she squeaked. ‘
Si