A Whale of the Wild

The narration shifts to Vega’s perspective. The orcas have lost many babies, and Vega is distraught over Capella’s death because her little sister was meant to be with her always and share her hunting and wayfinding responsibilities. Greatmother tries to comfort Mother by saying that the infant’s death is not her fault but due to poisons in the water and changes in the sea. When Greatmother says that it is time to let Capella go, the thought of letting her sister lie in “a dark, cold passage where boats of all kinds will go roaring over her body” fills Vega with rage (53). Vega charges at Mother and moves Capella’s body onto her own back. She races away as her relatives cry out in shock and grief.

Vega intends to find a sunny, peaceful place to lay her sister. Without meaning to, she carries Capella to Deception Pass, where Aunt Andromeda and many of her cousins were captured. The place is usually treacherous, but the current is weak enough to allow passage now. She tells Capella the story of how, back when Mother was just a baby, their family was pursued by three boats and a helicopter. Knowing that the humans were after the pod’s younglings, Greatmother and the other mothers tried to lure the ships away from the uncles and the babies. Uncle Rigel saved Aunt Nova and Mother, but all of the other uncles were killed and the rest of the babies were taken. The place where the battle was fought is called Blood Cove. Vega tells Capella, “I will lay you beside the bones of the uncles who saved your mother. You will not be alone” (58).

Vega recalls the sleeplessness and rage against humans she experienced when Greatmother first told her the story of Blood Cove. She watched humans, thinking about how easily she could kill them. One day, she saw two large humans tending to three small ones. Even the wayfinders know little about humanity, but seeing the humans share food led Vega to think they have families, which lessened her desire for vengeance.

In the present, Vega sees a pregnant human with a small child. The mother and the orca gaze at one another across the water in silence. Vega wonders if the poisons humans put in the water harm human babies. Feeling changed, she lays Capella to rest among the bones of her valiant uncles. She resolves to “bear [her] fears as best [she] can” and to help her family (63).

The narration moves to Deneb’s perspective. He feels torn between his desire to follow his sister and his duty to stay and guard Mother. Uncle Rigel, the oldest male whale in the pod, tries to help the youngling understand that he can’t tell Vega what to do: “Wayfinders will never follow their brothers. They will go where their hearts and their memories tell them to go” (65). Instead, the brother’s duty is to offer the wayfinder his steadfast trust and support. Uncle Rigel asks Deneb to go after Vega and ask her to come home. Deneb is accustomed to following wayfinders all his life and has never ventured off by himself, but he accepts this mission. As Uncle Rigel’s voice fades in the distance, Deneb grows afraid that he might never find his way back if he goes any further. Summoning up his courage, he presses onward in search of his sister.

The youngling sees all sorts of creatures, including sea stars, sea slugs, and puffins, but no trace of Vega. Deneb nears the passage that leads to the territory of the Coldward Kinship of Salmon Eaters, who have a different language and culture from his own kinship. He feels certain that Vega wouldn’t go into Deception Pass because the place is filled with painful memories for their family and he imagines that Vega will want to lay Capella to rest “someplace safe and beautiful” (72). He recalls that his older sister taught him how to catch salmon near Tree Island in the Coldward territory and swims that direction.

Deneb swims around Tree Island, avoiding boats and calling Vega’s name. He finds an orca from the Seal-eating Kinship whose flukes are tangled in a line connected to a crab trap. The whale is barely able to reach the surface to breathe. Although Greatmother taught him to stay away from Seal-eaters, the youngling can’t bear to leave a fellow orca trapped because he thinks that is “the worst thing that could happen to anyone” (75).

While Deneb is looking for a stick he can use to pry the crab trap out from the rocks it’s wedged between, he sees an orange boat with two humans approach the Seal-eater. Deneb aspires to be a daring rescuer like Uncle Rigel. He tries to frighten away the humans by splashing them and nudging their boat. The humans cut the line trapping the Seal-eater and hurry away. Deneb revels in his success. The freed whale gives a whistle of thanks to Deneb and then swims away. The youngling decides to turn around because he doubts Vega would venture this far into Coldward territory.

The narrative shifts back to Vega’s point of view. As she leaves Deception Pass, she feels despondent and eerily alone. Although Vega dislikes fishing boats and their dangerous hooks, she is fond of the quiet longboats that always return to the region at the time of the Gathering. Grandmother’s stories claim that there was a time before humans poisoned the Salish Sea or caught orcas. The longboat riders hunted salmon in rivers and coves while the whales hunted salmon in the sea, and there was peace between humans and orcas. Vega muses longingly, “Why couldn’t I have been born then, when the sea was quieter and all its water tasted clean? When I would have had many sisters?” (84). Following Greatmother’s example, she greets the longboat riders like members of her family, and they respond in kind.

Vega enters Deception Pass, which is under a bridge. The current is strong, but she catches a glimpse of Deneb and a large whale on the other side. She calls out to them, filled with a “great longing for the sight and touch and sound of [her] family” (85). Suddenly, the sea shakes. Part of the bridge collapses, sealing one side of the passage.