The Orchard of Hope (17 page)

“That’s amazing,” Nicholas said as
he came out of the daze of good feeling.

“One day you’ll be amazing, too,”
Megan assured him. “But for now you need to eat dinner and get some
rest. Tomorrow will be another long day.”

He was grateful for the healing,
but he also knew she was right. There would be many long days
ahead.

Chapter

11

Memories of Beauty

They had moved away from the crowd
blocking the road, traveled down a side street and into an alley.
There was no one else around. Roland glanced both ways down the
street and then began making strange cawing and tweeting noises
into the air.

“What are you
doing?
”
Kelsey
asked, but before Roland could answer, about half a dozen birds
landed in the alley with them. After cawing back and forth a few
times, all the birds flew off except for two: a golden eagle and a
peregrine falcon.

“Pick me! Pick
me!
”
the eagle
called out and
Kelsey
deciphered her speech without effort.

“Yes! Pick
her!
”
Kelsey
cried out.
“
I
can understand her!
”

At this remark,
the bird started speaking rapidly and Kelsey could no longer
comprehend anything it was saying. Kelsey thought she heard the
bird saying,
“
My marshmallows have not been laundered in a very long time
and my spaghetti needs folding.
”

“The falcon is
faster,
”
Roland
said,
“
and what
we need at the moment
is speed.
”

“This guy says
he
’
s faster,
”
Maggie said, pointing to the
falcon after listening to the bird lecture her on the superiority
of both his horizontal and diving velocities. The golden eagle
clawed at the ground in a disgusted manner a few times and then
took off.

“He told you he
was faster?
”
Kelsey asked. She didn
’
t understand anything the bird
was saying.

“More like
bragged about it,
”
Maggie whispered so that the bird couldn
’
t hear her.

“Now, Kelsey,
”
Roland said loudly to get her
attention,
“
It
’
s time to tell the bird what we
need and send him on his way. Speed is of the
essence.
”

“If we’re in such a hurry, then
maybe you should just tell the bird what we need,” Kelsey
replied.

“Kelsey, if we
rush into everything, we’ll never find time for you to learn. Your
lessons are equally important, as these will impact the long-term
success of our mission.” Roland didn’t wait for an answer. He cawed
the message slowly so that Kelsey could follow the sounds in his
voice.
“
Birds
are very musical. So, it
’
s important that you raise and
lower the pitch in your voice properly when speaking with them. The
same sounds can have very different meanings depending upon the
pitch,
”
he
explained.

Kelsey turned to the falcon and
tried to imitate the noises that Roland had just made. The bird
repeated the message, and Kelsey smiled with
satisfaction.

“Bring your
mother a new
trash heap and some glitter
fins
. Don
’
t
forget to steam your hands,
”
Maggie translated.

“How do you do
that?
”
Kelsey
asked.
“
We
’
ve had one lesson. Just
one!
”

“I
don’
t know,
”
Maggie said with a
shrug.
“
But I
’
ve always been a
talker.
”

“Nevertheless,
”
Roland said, interrupting,
“
That is exactly what you said.
Now listen more carefully to the pitch and not just the
sounds.
”
He
repeated his message, and Kelsey tried again to imitate it. The
bird cawed back.

“He said that
he understands the fox, but that you speak bird with such a strong
giraffe accent that it
’
s difficult to understand you,
”
Maggie said
, and the bird nodded in staunch
agreement.

“I do
not
speak
with a giraffe accent!
”
Kelsey exclaimed defensively.

“Actually, I
think maybe you do,
”
Maggie said. She didn
’
t know what a giraffe accent
sounded like, but it seemed an appropriate description of
Kelsey
’
s speech.
“
But it
’
s OK. I think your second try
was closer.
”

“We
don’
t have much more
time for this lesson,
”
Kelsey said with embarrassment in her voice.
“
If he understands
what we need, then he should be on his way.
”

“I
agree,
”
Roland
replied. He repeated the correct message
to be sure that the bird understood, and then the bird flew
off back in the direction of the castle. Kelsey was certain she
could hear it laughing at her as it took off, but this
wasn
’
t the time
to be upset about it.
“
And now we’ll take Maggie shopping for the ingredients to
build a stellar flame,
”
Roland announced as he started walking back
towards the city entrance. Kelsey was glad for the distraction and
relayed the message to Maggie.

“Oh, goody!
”
Maggie exclaimed as she clasped
her hands together. Then she asked,
“
Is there a particular color you
have in mind? Maybe more than one color? A
rainbow?
”

“We want it to
look like the other flame,
”
Roland said, and Kelsey repeated his statement
to Maggie, who nodded that she understood.

It took them about three hours to
travel back to the explosives store, locate and purchase the proper
ingredients, and then return to the alley. Maggie looked very
scientific as she carefully measured powders and mixed them
together in an almost ritualistic fashion. She counted the number
of times she stirred and was careful to stir in the correct
direction each time.

“How do you
know which direction to mix the powders?
”
Kelsey asked with interest. It
was like watching a sculptor or painter create something
stunning.

“Practice,
”
Maggie replied without breaking her concentration or
looking up.

“Does it really
matter in which direction you stir the
ingredients?
”

“Absolutely.
These are combustibles. I
’
m not making a cake
here.
”

“It
’
s a good thing, too. Your cakes
are terrible,
”
said a voice that sounded like Nicholas’. Kelsey stood up
abruptly and looked around, but there was no sign of the
boy.

“Nicholas?
”
Kelsey asked. She turned to look at Roland.
“
Is he
here?
”

“Of course
he
’
s not
here,
”
Maggie
said, still without looking
up.
“
His voice sounds
detached.
”

“She
’
s right,
”
said Roland.

“Then what did
I hear?
”
Kelsey
asked.

“His
voice,
”
Roland
replied.
“
He
’
s impressing himself on our
location, but he
’
s not actually here. It
’
s sort of like an out-of-body
experience.
”

“So, how does
this work? What are we going to do and why is he
here
?
”
Kelsey
asked.

Roland explained the plan, and
Kelsey relayed it to Maggie to make sure that everyone understood
their roles. It would take all three of them – Kelsey, Maggie and
the virtual Nicholas – doing their parts to make it all
work.

“I
’
m almost done,
”
Maggie said with a smile. She
stood back and tossed a few grains of power into the mixture and it
ignited with a flash. At first, the flame burned very large and
bright.

“That
doesn
’
t look
right,
”
Kelsey
said with disapproval in her voice. She could smell something sour
coming from it and thought that the unpleasant scent might deter
the people from following it.

“Give it a
minute,
”
Maggie
said.

“It still
smells horrible,
”
Kelsey said after a few seconds had gone
by.

“It
hasn
’
t been a
minute yet,
”
Maggie replied with a little impatience in her tone. Kelsey
waited and tapped her foot while she covered her nose with one
hand.
“
There!
”
Maggie exclaimed as the flame settled and the odor
dissipated only to be replaced by another.

“What is
that
smell?
”
Kelsey said with a hint of
distaste in her tone.

“Roses,
”
Maggie replied.
“
I thought it could help draw the
people.
”

“You added a
scent to the decoy that
’
s supposed to look and feel and
smell
like the other
flame
?
”

“Yes. To make
it better,
”
Maggie said offhandedly.

Kelsey was about to continue
arguing when Nicholas interrupted her.

“I
’
m sure it
’
s fine. Kelsey, think about it
as a signature on an artist
’
s work. Maggie just had to add
something of herself. I don
’
t think it will hurt the
mission, and we don
’
t have long. We can argue protocol later,
”
he said.

“I
agree,
”
Roland
interjected.
“
It
’
s time to put our plan into
motion.
”

The group began
walking toward the main road again, and the flame floated in the
air alongside them as they moved along. Somehow Nicholas was
carrying the flame and transporting it, even though he
wasn
’
t actually
there. There were a few unsteady moments when it appeared as if the
flame was stumbling, but the flame never touched the ground and
never went out.