Dr. Leaf checked Midas once again for a heartbeat then reached for the scalpel. He didn’t look at the animals as they sat stilled in their nests, cages, and bins, watching him operate on the huge animal who had become a friend. He instructed the two robot assistants in terse sentences to place clean sheets on Midas, leaving his head, eyes, and the bite marks exposed.
He worked silently, his face grim, to save the life of this unlikely patient. “You may move the patient,” he instructed the robots then took off his gloves and the blood-soaked body apron and washed his hands again. The surgery was over.
The two robots wheeled Midas into the center of the animal ward, placed him on a padded table with fresh linens, covered him carefully, and left.
Dr. Leaf showered and sat in the solitude of his porch, watching the suns sink into the horizons. He heard the last chime of the bells announcing curfew and walked through the animal ward, covering cages, touching little creatures, and lifting the sheet to whisper something to Midas. He pushed the off button for the lights of The Leaf Cottage.
~ ~ ~
Halo and Jet followed the robot escorts up the steps of the administration building and into a room where Angel Vesta stood beside Koze’s limp form, now laid out on a table attached to various computerized machines. She felt a surge of heat when Angel Vesta turned to acknowledge them.
“I’m sorry.” Jet tapped his link.
She was sure Angel Vesta did not need the link to read his thoughts because he stopped tapping and nodded to whatever passed between them.
Halo was frightened and wondered what her punishment would be but was really terrified about what might happen to Jet. He had broken several rules and was responsible for the injury to his almost-human friend Koze who happened to be Angel Vesta’s assistant. The punishment would be severe for certain. She’d be punished, too. It didn’t matter so much about her; she didn’t have a talent anyway, but Zadie and Jet had talents and so did Amber, Opal, and Star. Maybe Angel Vesta wouldn’t be too hard on them. After all, angels were supposed to help people, weren’t they?
She waited with Jet outside Angel Vesta’s office. She’d forgotten how dirty she was and what a spectacle they made entering the area wearing the dirty purple tank, her hair a ball of fuzz, and her bare feet caked with mud. She remembered the day Asia brought her here, and she was dirty then, too. Angel Vesta probably thought she never took a bath.
Angel Vesta floated into the hall, the office door opened, and the robots ushered them inside. Once again, Halo sat on one of the rigid tree trunk chairs facing Angel Vesta behind her floating glass desk.
“Suns almost down and you are safe, blessed be.” The words sounded like a prayer, so Halo automatically bowed her head and thought Jet did, too. They faced a wall of windows framing the suns and watched as they melted into the waters, shooting streaks of gold across a starless sky.
Angel Vesta folded herself into a chair of cushions suspended by nothing but air, and addressed Halo. “Tell me about the raft accident.” Halo squirmed in the uncomfortable chair and began the story in a shaky voice. “Zadie fell off the raft when it started to fall apart.” She was afraid to mention Annie. “She can’t swim, you know? So, I tried to find her down in the water, but there’s so much stuff down there like weeds, rocks, shells, and fish. I couldn’t see her at first. Then I thought I recognized her hair, like it waved at me, all fanned out around her head. She has a lot of hair.” She glanced up to be sure Angel Vesta was listening.
“I grabbed her by the strap on her swim tank and pulled her up toward the surface. I’m glad the strap didn’t break. One of the triplets, I don’t know which one…they’re identical. Zadie can tell them apart, but I can’t. One of the girls grabbed Zadie as soon as we surfaced.”
She babbled, using her hands to talk, lost her train of thought, found it again, and continued the story. “I think I must have blacked out because I woke up on this beach I’d never seen before. I was really sick to my stomach and thirsty, too. And then, this big fish, with eyes that didn’t match, a blue one and a purple one, like Asia, popped up out of the water.”
Angel Vesta lifted an eyebrow at the mention of Asia’s name.
“I know it sounds crazy, but it’s the truth,” she insisted, realizing how impossible the idea of a big fish and isolated island must sound.
She acknowledged Angel Vesta nod for her to continue.
She described the creepy jungle, the gray-sand beach, and Gamy, the fish, bringing her wish berries to eat. She rambled on about live shells and starfish washing in with the morning tide, and how Midas found her on the beach.
“Midas found me, but Dr. Leaf was with him, too. I don’t know how they got there. We ran down the beach toward the cove, and Midas started barking, and there was Jet.” She smiled at him and realized he was reading her lips. “He said Koze was navigating the ABC and Gamy was communicating with him until Koze stopped working. We went back to the beach where he’d left Koze in the ABC.” She paused to take a breath, and rubbed her hands together. “I know it sounds like a crazy story. But it’s true.”
She started to tell Angel Vesta about the cave, too, but Jet touched her shoulder, indicating he wanted to tell his story.
“Let Halo finish the story first.”
“Well, Midas found the way into the cavern where the spotted berries grow. Dr. Leaf needs them since one of his plants was destroyed. The place is hidden between two rocks that appear to overlap, but they really don’t.” She used her hands to illustrate.
“It was barely wide enough for Midas to squeeze through, so Jet let some of the air out of the ABC to make a stretcher for Koze. We wrapped it around him so he wouldn’t get scratched or broken or anything and squeezed him through the passage. It’s dark and was scary when we got to the place where the spotted berries grow. Dr. Leaf was excited and pulled up some of the bushes and put them on the stretcher with Koze. Anyway, the place is muddy, and a river divides the berry grove from Jet’s cave.” She checked Jet’s face to see if she was telling the story correctly.
“Jet knew the place floods at high tide, and the river was already rising. We waded through the water, pulling Koze on the stretcher. Midas swam in front of us, pulling the airboat with his teeth. When we got to the opposite bank, Midas went crazy, barking, and knocked Jet out of the way. You see, a snake tried to bite Jet, but Midas jumped in front of him, and it bit Midas instead. Midas attacked the snake, even after it bit him. He kept shaking and biting until it was dead.” Tears streamed down her face. Her voice trembled when she described Midas. “Then he made this awful sound and fell down. His face was already swelling.” She was sobbing, and Jet attempted to comfort her by placing his hand over hers.
“Please, let me tell the rest,” he tapped.
“You don’t need the wrist link to talk to me,” Angel Vesta told him.
Halo took the tissue Angel Vesta offered and attempted to wipe the tears away.
She watched his expression, knowing they were communicating and wondered what they were saying. She knew when they finished because Jet slumped in his chair, his eyes downcast.
Angel Vesta glided out of her chair to the window. “Suns down. We will rest and begin a new day tomorrow. Beyond the Star Points, our world disappears.” She turned and smiled.
“Go now. Tomorrow is your Birth Day. I will see you then.” The doors swung open, and closed behind them as they left.
~ ~ ~
Zadie sat on the edge of her seat, waiting with her friends for their turn to speak to Angel Vesta. She cracked her knuckles until she felt Star grab her hands and hold them still. She wanted to tell their story, but were afraid of the consequences afterward. It seemed forever before a voice finally told her they could enter.
Zadie jumped up, smoothing nonexistent wrinkles in her skirt. Her friends stood together and followed her into Angel Vesta’s office.
“Please sit down.” Angel Vesta glided toward them.
“Ma’am, may we stand? This…this won’t take long,” Zadie stuttered, her back straight, eyes squinting. The sisters stood united beside her, holding their breath, eyes big as saucers.
“Yes. Proceed.” Angel Vesta floated behind her desk and sat on a cushion.
“It’s about my brother, Jet. He made my water drum from shells. He even made the stand for it and painted it, too. He also gave some shells to my friends to use for their gifts.” She took a deep breath. “He found them, the shells. They were in a cave. He found the cave by accident, fell into it, actually. It’s near a Star Point, but not past it, not where he goes inside, anyway.”
Zadie turned to face the sisters, waited for them to say something, and saw them nod their heads. “We didn’t ask where he found the shells.” She twisted the toe of her shoe in the thick mossy carpet.
“We took them anyway. We didn’t think he would dare go anywhere he wasn’t supposed to go. He obeys rules.” She brushed her hair away from her face, stopping an escaping tear with the motion. “He helped us. If he broke rules doing that, then we broke them, too. My gift is the music for the drum. Opal, Star, and Amber’s gifts are made from the shells, too.” She took a deep breath, her hands balled into tight fists behind her. She looked toward the sisters and waited for Angel Vesta to speak.
“The shells on Annie’s dress, did they come from the cave?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Zadie and the triplets answered as one.
“And, Zadie, you planned to accompany Annie on your drum today?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Thank you.” She glided from behind the desk, reappearing at the door like magic.
“Thank you for telling me about the shells. I will see you tomorrow at the Birth Day celebration. Good night.”
The doors opened behind her, an invitation the girls accepted quickly.