6. A Boat and a Boy

Summary

• Kya's father announces he is leaving for a few days to take care of business related to his military service disability. This is the first time he's ever shared his plans with Kya.
• Kya fears that her family will abandon her one by one. When her father leaves, she decides to make use of the family boat, despite fearing punishment if discovered.
• Being on the boat alone for the first time, Kya navigates complex channels and estuaries, taking her from their inland house to the sea.
• Kya encounters a deer family during her trip and learns a lesson on how to interact with wildlife without scaring them off.
• She encounters a boy around eleven years old who is out fishing. She becomes uneasy at his presence, remembering her mother's warnings about men.
• Kya gets lost on her way back home as a storm starts brewing and the gas in her boat runs low. She decides to seek help from the boy she encountered earlier. He recognizes her as Jodie Clark's sister and helps her navigate back to her home.
• Before he leaves, the boy introduces himself as Tate. Kya knows she'll need to refill the boat's gas and resolve to take care of it before her father returns.
• Meanwhile, Tate returns to his own family's house where he helps his father unload a day's shrimp catch. They talk about school and Scupper, his father, mentions Tate's deceased mother and sister and recites a favorite poem to him, which makes Tate think of Kya.