The
following morning dawned bright and clear, and the birds woke to
their usual work with the rising of the sun’s first rays. As the
light struck the many, many trees of Wyomaho State Campus, in which
were many, many birds, the songs of tens of thousands of birds arose
in their sweet melodies.
As
I sat at my desk and listened, I wondered how I had ever been able to
sleep through this, and how anyone could. Well, heavy sleep was heavy
sleep, I supposed, and though I did not enjoy it now, I did enjoy the
chance to see the sun rise.
Or
I would have, if I had not now understood exactly what Ruth had
warned me about last night. Every song I could make out was a message
of “Come here and mate with me” or “step off my territory,”
only in much more lewd and explicit terms.
Had
I been as crude as most of my peers on campus I might have thought it
amusing. But I was a Person of God, which meant I had a responsibility to be modest. And to hear a vast congregation of God’s little creatures
behaving in such a manner was, shall we say, extremely disorienting.
It was exactly like what had happened when I had come to this campus
and discovered that there was a pervasive atmosphere of intemperate
bawdiness. As if I was the only person in the entire organization who
had any morals. HIghly isolating. And now there were ten thousand
more beings acting ungodly.
The
fact that every time I considered Ruth I thought about how I would
make a nest with her and boldly mark out my territory around her was
just worms on the cake. Icing. Icing on the cake. I did not
want
to eat worms, dammit. Maybe bugs but – no, not those either! What
was wrong with human food?
I
groaned, thumped my head on the desk, and then pushed myself away,
hoping that I could eventually learn how to tune these ruffians out.
I put a hand on Ruth’s shoulder and shook her. “Hark,” I
murmured. “Hear the gentle dawn chorus.”
Ruth’s
eyes opened. “Hmm? Oh, hey babe. G’morning.” She yawned.
“What’s up?”
“The
sun is up,” I said. “As are the birds.”
“One
of them is.” She winked.
“Can
it,” I said. “You told me birds don’t sing of sweet things,
right?”
“Yes…”
“Well
now,” I said through gritted teeth, “I can give you
confirmation.”
Ruth
grinned. “The ornithologists are going to have an absolute field
day with you. They will never let you go. They will shove one bird
after another in your face, demanding to know what it says.”
“We
are not
telling
them about me.”
“But,
scientific discovery! Can you keep such valuable information from the
scientific community? Would you hoard it, like precious gems that
stay in a chest and never see light?”
“I
am supposedly turning into a Mad Scientist,” I said. “Mad
Scientists keep everything cool to themselves until they’re
finished building their giant death robot or whatever, and then they
burn their notes and go on a rampage.”
“Oh,”
said Ruth, “but think of what you could do if you shared!” She
sat up. “You would win all the awards! Your name would be in every
scientific journal, even the ones having nothing to do with biology!
You would be invited to all the best parties! I could be your plus
one! Your arm candy! Your mistress!”
“I’d
need to get married to someone else for you to be my mistress,” I
said. “And I don’t see me marrying anyone but you, now do I?”
Ruth
gasped, and her face lit up. “Does this mean –”
I
harrumphed. “I didn’t mean to propose there. Let’s have an
actual courtship before we decide on anything, eh? After
we
are no longer roommates.”
“You
know,” said Ruth, “you are very odd. You willingly kiss me, you
insinuate a proposal, and yet you refuse to date me and you don’t
even share my bed. It’s like you’re doing a relationship
backwards. Next I expect you will tell me you enjoy my company.”
“Well,
I –” I paused, for I had just noticed that Ruth was in one of her
skimpier nightgowns. I looked away. She already looked good enough in
her running gear, I didn’t need to see any more of her than that.
Not something I wanted to consider. Very often.
Pity
that the birds felt otherwise about that subject.
“You
look sad,” said Ruth. “What is the matter?”
“The
birds,” I said. “And their crudity. I do not like to admit that
an entire ecosystem is prone to promiscuity and brutality, literally
the opposite of what is holy.” I crossed my arms, noticing at last
that they were covered in feathers up to the shoulders. “They are
all so petty and rude.”
“Alright,”
said Ruth. “You can talk to birds. Tell them to shut up then.”
I
opened the window. Sticking my head out, I shouted, “For
God’s sake, can’t you birdbrains talk about anything else?”
The
world fell silent.
Then
all at once, every bird in every tree and bush flew into the air. In
a flock that nearly blotted out the sun, shey spiraled up, and up,
and up, and then down – down towards the quad, down to right in
front of my window. A sea of birds stood there, peering at me, as if
waiting for me to say something.
“What
do you all want?”
A
little wren piped up. “To
please you, king of birds. What shall we sing of, if not mates and
territory?”
I
shook my head. “Okay,
first of all, I’m not a monarch. This is America, by thunder. We
don’t have monarchs. We have democracy.”
“Democracy?
What is that?”
I
paused, not sure if the simple answer would suffice for a bunch of
birdbrains.
“What’s
it saying?” said Ruth, coming up behind me.
“The
birds seem to desire a king,” I said.
“Oh!”
said Ruth. “What a foolish thing. This is America. Tell them they
should form a Congress. That’s properly American.”
The
wren chirped. “What
is the human saying?”
“She’s
saying get yourself organized,”
I
said. “Vote
on proposals. Be a Congress of birds.”
“Yes,
Prime Minister.”
I
shook my head and drew back into the room, slamming the window shut.
“It
always sounds so funny when you talk to birds,” said Ruth. “Caw
caw caw!”
“Laugh
it up, love.” I scratched at my face. I felt the telltale brush of
feathers beneath my fingers. Ah, nuts. I dashed to the mirror.
There
before me was a face encroached by cream-colored feathers at the
cheekbones and temples, with eyes that had turned completely black,
iris and sclera alike. Like they'd turned to shiny black marbles
or something. And my neck was covered in cream-colored feathers
speckled with grey. I turned and glared at Ruth. “Why didn’t you
tell me this had happened!”
Ruth,
for her part, looked disturbed. “Your…you didn’t look like that
before you stuck your head out the window. Not the eyes, not the
neck, nothing.”
“Shit,”
I said. “I’m going to look like Big Bird soon. I’m going to
turn into a pigeon by the end of the day. I’m going to catch bird
flu and die.”
“Thank
goodness we’re asking Artemis for a cure,” said Ruth. “Only…why
hasn’t the lab tried to come up with an antidote?”
“For
all I know,” I growled, “Professor Windsor hasn’t received a
recipe from Doctor Morrow yet.”
“You
mean,” said Ruth, “in the past few days, the Professor hasn’t
discussed the idea of a cure with you yet? They didn’t immediately
start looking into options?”
I
shook my head.
Ruth
threw the covers off, jumped out of bed, yanked clothing out of her
closet and began dressing furiously, without even asking me to look
away. “No classes for me today,” she said. “I’m hitting the
law library and then I’m going to see about filing a lawsuit.”
“Ruth
– ”
She
whirled around and planted a kiss right on my lips. I was too
startled to return the kiss, but stood there still processing the
situation. Ruth sighed. “I am sorry for doing that abruptly. For
all I knew, that was the last moment I would have had the chance to
kiss you before you transformed further.” She hung her head.
“Hey,”
I murmured, holding her right hand. With my left I tilted her chin up
so she could meet my eyes. “That wasn’t the last.” I kissed her hard on the lips.
She threw her arms around me and returned the favor, and we were at it for some time, not daring to let each other go, any more than a drowning sailor would let go of a life preserver.
…
“Alright,”
said Professor Windsor. We were standing in their office, a
windowless room in the center of the basement of the lab. On their
desk was an ancient desktop computer, and enough papers to cover most
of the rest of the surface. “I suppose you’re wondering why I’ve
called you to – oh goodness, your condition has been progressing
faster than I expected.”
As
indeed it had – this morning there had been clear skin on my face,
but shortly after I had berated a sparrow for dive-bombing me the
rest of my face had become feathered, and my mouth had turned into a
beak at last. A grey beak. Wonderful. Like it wasn’t already hard
enough to avoid standing out.
Conspicuous
appearance aside, the beak did not, for whatever reason, prevent me
from communicating in normal human speech. It was fine. It wasn’t
magic or anything. Crows could speak the human tongues. Nothing weird
about my ability to speak, at all.
I
crossed my arms, which had begun to grow long black flight feathers
just after I had admonished a scrub jay for stealing from a
chickadee. “You’re saying you expected this? You couldn’t have,
I don’t know, told me what would happen?”
“I
got distracted with everything related to Rook,” said the
Professor. “Sorry about that. I have my weaknesses.”
“Well
that’s all good for you,” I said. “As for me, everyone on
campus thinks I’m a furry. And the actual
furries
on campus are mad at me for wearing my 'costume' frivolously.”
I clacked my beak in frustration. “I oughta peck apart their nests.
Anyway, I have some pointed questions for you. First of all –”
“You
want to know why I haven’t mentioned a cure for your condition.”
Professor Windsor sighed. “It has to do with why I dropped the ditz
act just now and why my lab is in the basement. I don’t want to
talk about this subject any place the moon or sun or sky could spy on
me.”
My
eye twitched.
“Because
my patron is Doctor Morrow,” said Professor Windsor. “And I’m
pretty sure the gods –”
“The
Olympians,” I said. “There’s only one god and he doesn’t get
up to earthly stuff directly.”
The
Professor sighed. “Alright, the Olympians
seem
to be on the hunt for whoever is doing weird things with birds. And
that’s definitely Doctor Morrow. I don’t want to lead the
Olympians to the guy who’s sponsoring my lab. How that relates to a
cure for you is that Doctor Morrow probably has one.”
“So
have him send one!”
“If
I do,” said Professor Windsor, “then Hephaestus will pick up on
the conversation through the cell signal.”
“Didn’t
peg him for some kind of totalitarian snoop,” I said. “Great.
Send him a damn letter. The Olympians can’t mess with the Postal
Service or they’ll get their asses handed to them.”
“But
Hermes could track the letter itself,” said the Professor. “No
need to open it if you know where it’s going.”
“Then
how the hell
do
you get your communications from him?”
“You
really want to know?” said the Professor. “Come on, I’ll show
you. Today’s the day for the next package to arrive. Always at
12:15 on the dot, it’s incredible.” They got up from their chair
and twirled around the desk, marching out the door without even
bothering to beckon me to follow. But follow I did, up the stairs
and – and there was Ruth at the top of the stairs, looking
stormy as she was about to come down. But the Professor brushed by her
without a word, leaving her spluttering indignantly.
“Hey
there,” I murmured, “good to see you as always. You here to serve
that lawsuit?”
“I’m
here to give the Professor a piece of my mind,” muttered Ruth. “Not
much more I can do. Laws in this state absolutely do not favor grad
assistants. I’d have to sue on the basis of pain and suffering, and I need to do
more research if I’m going that route.”
“Hey,”
called Professor Windsor from the doorway to the courtyard. “You
coming to see the airdrop or what?”
“Might
as well get this over with,” I muttered, and Ruth and I followed
the Professor out into the courtyard.
There
in the center stood Guy, looking up at the sky.
“You!”
I said.
“Yeah?”
said Guy, giving me a confused look. “I work here? I’ve been here
all morning. You kinda brushed by me when you came in. Hang on.” He
looked up at the sky again. Then he put his hands up. All of a
sudden, a large wooden box fell into his hands, and he moved downward
with the force to slow the box’s descent into a more gradual stop,
like a human spring.
“Capital!”
said Professor Windsor. “I enjoy seeing the boxes break open when
they hit the ground, but it’s probably better for the contents if
that doesn’t happen.”
As
Guy set the box down in the dirt, I saw him give the Professor a
blank look, something that, in this context, might appear a trifle
resentful. But in the next moment he had his usual innocent
expression. “Hey,” he said, “how are these packages getting to
us anyway?”
“Airdrop
by golden eagles,” said Professor Windsor.
“Doesn’t
Zeus have jurisdiction over eagles?” said Ruth.
The
Professor's face went blank. “Oh, I'm such a ditz I forgot! Silly me, how foolish. Anyway, now that you’ve seen it
let’s adjourn to the office, shall
we?”
Once
again they marched off without a single gesture towards us.
Back
in the office, the Professor sat down heavily in their chair and was
about to speak when the door opened behind us. I whirled around and
saw Guy standing in the doorway.
“Hey,”
said Guy, “um – I wasn’t sure if I was invited to this meeting
or not, so I thought I’d ask…”
I,
who had ditched him in the courtyard not twelve hours after Ruth had
told me to be the poor boy’s friend, did not dare to meet his eyes.
“Come
in,” said the Professor. “We’re speaking in confidence but
you’re not the one we’re keeping secrets and stuff from. You’re
working here anyway. Join the party.”
As
Guy sidled into the room, I noticed that Ruth wasn’t meeting Guy’s
eyes either. Fair enough.
“What
you just saw out there – and fielded, thank you, Guy – was the
good Doctor Morrow’s method of communicating with me. Sending him a
message back requires me to wait for an eagle to come down, and then
I can just tie a paper to its leg and send it off, and somehow the
message always gets to the Doctor. Easy-peasy.”
“Doesn’t
seem very secure,” said Ruth. “You’re absolutely certain that
your messages wouldn’t be intercepted by Zeus? Or that he wouldn’t
track the eagles?”’
“I
haven’t been hit by lightning yet,” said the Professor.
“Wait
a second,” said Guy. “Zeus? What do you mean?”
“Some
folks you don’t want to get mixed up with,” I said. “I only did
because I was asking Artemis for a cure –”
“Cure?”
said Guy. “Why would you want a cure? You look really cool. Can you
fly?”
I
winced.
“Cool
or not,” said Ruth, “We don’t know if this is condition is
safe, and more to the point, Esen does not wish to remain in this
state forever. If you want to try this whole thing then be my guest,
but my beloved had other plans for their life.”
Something
about that statement sounded like it was incorrect, but I couldn’t
put my finger on it. “As I was saying, I asked Artemis for a cure,
and she told me to go find Doctor Morrow for her.”
“Really,”
said Professor Windsor. “That’ll be interesting. Doctor Morrow
could just as easily give you a cure, without holding anything over
your head. Probably. I’d rather you deal with him than with the
Greek –”
“Olympians,”
I said. “The advantage of dealing with those guys is their habits
are well-documented in ancient sources. Morrow, I don’t know that
guy. So…if I wanted to pull a double-cross on anyone, I’d rather
do it on the person I can predict.”
Guy
and Ruth looked at me with concern.
“What?”
“Did
I stumble into some kind of secret-agent thing?” said Guy. “You’re
kinda creeping me out, dude.”
“And
you signed a magical contract,” said Ruth. “I didn’t put in any
fatal penalties for breaking it, but either it’s not actually
possible to violate the thing, or you’re going to really feel it
when you do. And I might just let you have it, because contract law
is kind of a big deal.” She crossed her arms.
I
looked away from the two. Having blown it in front of Guy twice and
touched a nerve with Ruth, I didn’t want to meet their eyes.
“The
disadvantage of working with Olympians,” said Professor Windsor,
“is that you might become a proxy for their own power struggles.
Part of why I put on an act when I’m visible to the sun, moon, or
sky. I don’t want to get involved in that crap again. Doctor Morrow
is a much more honest patron. And he is interested, as am I, in
helping people without holding anything over their heads. I suggest
you try to find him, ask him for a recipe for a cure, and bring it
here for me to fabricate, assuming he doesn’t have that capability
himself. Does that sound like a plan?”
“Sounds
like the start of a plan,” I said. “I can certainly try to find
this guy. In the meantime, while I’m stuck like this, I’m still
mad at you.”
“You
were exposed to the solution because you weren’t wearing your PPE
properly.”
“You
shoved an open flask into my hands!”
“I’m
not assigning all the blame to you here.”
“Good,”
said Ruth. “I ought to call OSHA in on this place. This insane. How
have you not been hit with a lawsuit for unsafe working conditions?”
“We
have,” said Professor Windsor. “Doctor Morrow seems to be good
for any amount of money anyone wants to sue for. Settling out of
court with him is so easy almost nobody has ever – ah, but that’s
a long story, and I get so easily distracted don’t I? Anyway, the
matter you are upset about is easily remedied if we get Doctor Morrow
to make a –”
“Why
can’t you do it!” shouted Ruth. “You have this entire science
lab and you can’t even devise an antidote to anything? What the
hell is the matter with you? How can you call yourself a Mad
Scientist?”
The
Professor sighed. “I honestly don’t know if I can.”
“Eh?”
“Mostly
what I do is replication studies of Doctor Morrow’s work,” said
the Professor. “Compared to some of the things he’s sent me…I
can hardly call this place Mad Science. I’ve hatched unique birds,
I’ve done a little genetic engineering of my own. So what? Mostly
I’m just doing what my patron tells me.”
“So
don’t,” said Guy.
“Hm?”
said the Professor.
“I
thought Mad Scientists were always fighting against each other,”
said Guy. “That’s how the stories work, right? They’re, like,
always trying to prove themselves bigger and badder than the other
guy. The opposite of a community of knowledge. So if you want to
actually do Mad Science, you have to get off your ass and, you know,
send this Morrow guy a manifesto. Say you’ll be bigger and badder
than him.”
“They’ll
see,” I muttered. “They’ll all see. Someday they’ll all call
me a genius.”
“Yeah,”
said Guy. “Like that.”
The
Professor grinned. “Ah ha. I wonder if I have two
promising
young candidates for that profession.”
Guy
crossed his arms. “I prefer to do actual
science.
This version is lonely and it kinda sounds like every generation has
to re-invent the wheel.”
“We
can make it bigger!” said Professor Windsor, half-rising from their
seat and thumping the table with their palms. “We can make it
better! Bolder! Why, I’ll – Ahem.” They sat back down and
smoothed their lab coat. “Got a bit carried away there. Yes, Guy, I
see what you mean. Anyway. I daresay that if I declare rebellion
against my master, and thus vanquishing him, gain all of his Science
Powers, or at least his wealth, then perhaps I would be a better
candidate to cure Rani than my master. In which case, Rani, I need
you to seek out Doctor Morrow so that I can target his lab with a
discreet little WHOOMPHthermobaric bomb.”
Guy,
Ruth and I all exchanged worried glances.
“Okay,”
I said, “I’m not going to be an accessory to murder. I already had to yell at Artemis for suggesting such a thing. If you’re
going to vanquish this guy I want you neutralize
him,
not slaughter him. Or else I’m not going to help you. Understood?”
The
Professor looked disappointed. “Oh, fine, have it your way. I’ll
have to devise something more complicated and careful. Anyway! There
you go, Rani, that’s how you’ll fulfill your deal with Artemis.
Let me be your arsenal.”
“If
we do this,” said Ruth, “will you pay your grad assistants more
than chicken feed?”
“Seems
appropriate for Rani!” said the Professor. They guffawed, and
slapped their knee.
Nobody
else laughed.
“Ahem,”
said the Professor. “Yes, if I can get my hands on Doctor Morrow’s
source of wealth I believe that matter will be very simple.”
“Fine,”
growled Ruth. Then she appeared to realize something. “Wait a damn
second. Doctor Morrow?”
“No,”
said the Professor, looking confused. “My name is Professor
Windsor.”
Ruth
glared at them before continuing. “This Doctor Morrow. Where
exactly
does
he live?”
“On
an island –”
“Oh
my God,
you can’t be serious.”
“ –
off
the coast of Lake Superior.”
“Eh?”
“Ile
Parisienne, if I recall correctly.”
Ruth
looked confused. “Are you absolutely certain that you are
pronouncing his name correctly?”
“Absolutely,
I see his signature all the time on his correspondence. What are you
getting at?”
“Nothing,”
said Ruth. “It’s a long story. I take it you’ve never been to
his house. Have you seen any pictures of it?”
“No…”
“Esen
and I will, soon enough.”
“You’re
going with – ah. Yes, that makes perfect sense considering your
behavior.” The Professor glanced at Guy. “I do need at least one
grad assistant to stay here and help me, though.”
Guy
shrugged. “I’m not one for travel.”
“Capital,”
said the Professor. “Now, I will need to run some medical tests on
Esen, and if you wish to have this journey sponsored by the
university it will take a few days to get the paperwork in order. As
long as you can avoid addressing any birds, Esen, I think your
condition will not develop as fast as it has done thus far. Now! If I
have answered your questions, I must get back to my work.” They
gestured to the desktop computer. “I have hundreds of emails to
attend to from birdwatching groups, asking about the exotic birdsongs
coming from this campus. They think I might have had something to do
with it.”
Ruth
and I exchanged glances.
“How
about that,” said Ruth.
“The
birds did sound a little odd today,” said Guy.
“Don’t
know how it could have happened,” I said. And we three left without
another word.
…
That
night, after I made the evening prayer, I made my way out of the
dormitory and to the clearing where I had met Artemis before. I sat
down in the grass, looked up at the waning moon, and said, “Alright,
moony loon, I’ve got some information for you.”
There
was a rustle and a crackling sound, and a bear stepped out of the
bush.
I
scooted backward frantically. “Whoa
there buddy, I didn’t ask for you! Back off! Trying to have a
meeting here!”
The
bear reared up on its hind legs, a massive shadow looming over me in
the darkness. Like Rook only much more likely to eat me. I got to my
feet and stepped backward, not taking my eyes off the beast.
And
then I heard a young woman’s laughter coming from its head. I
smacked my forehead. “You.”
The
bear began to shrink, and then it resolved into the shape of a young
woman. “Me. Whom you specifically called.”
“You
could have been more courteous with your arrival!”
Artemis
laughed again. “After all the disrespect you have put me through?
You continue to forget that you are talking to a –”
“To
an Olympian,” I said. “Anyway, like I said, I got some info. I
wouldn’t call it a break in the case, but it is a lead.”
“Oh?”
Artemis put her hands behind her back and bent down to stare at me
intently. “Do go on.”
“Well,
you said there was bird trouble all over the country, right?”
Artemis
nodded.
“And
my lab, the Morrow Lab, has been doing a bunch of weird bird
experiments.”
“So
I gathered. Have you managed to locate Doctor Morrow within? Lure him
out? Neutralize him in some way?”
I
shook my head. “He’s not anywhere near Wyomaho State University,”
I said. “He’s on an island in Lake Superior.”
Artemis
looked puzzled. “And yet he directs the Morrow Lab?”
“It
sounds like he’s got his own lab on the island. Which makes sense,
he’s a Mad Scientist and all. He uses the Morrow Lab to confirm his
findings and stuff. Ruth and I are going to go look for him, and then
–”
“And
then you will lure him outside at night, where I can slay him in a
moment. Excellent.”
“No!”
I said. “Stop talking about slaying people, dammit!”
“I
am a hunter,” said Artemis. “Slaying creatures is what I do.”
“Luring
a guy out with bait and then zapping him is trapping, not hunting. If
you want to be a hunted you have to search and chase. I’m doing the
searching. I’m the hunter in this situation. Not you. Professor
Windsor is sending me to neutralize the guy – that doesn’t mean
kill him, don’t give me that look – and then maybe the Professor
will be able to cure my condition, or maybe Doctor Morrow can if I’m
lucky, I don’t know. The point is I’m not going to help you kill
anyone, and if you keep talking like that you can do all your hunting
on your own.”
Artemis
looked peeved. “And why, little bird, are you seeking a cure when I
have already made a deal with you for one?”
“Because
if there’s a cure for my condition I want to find the documentation
and publish it in all the journals. Just in case what happened to me
happens to someone else. And you,
miss
high-and-mighty, have only promised to help me.
I’m thinking bigger than that.”
Artemis
stood upright. “You think of more people than yourself.You are...better than the heroes I knew of old. And yet, I fear you will come to the same end as them." She blinked. “I didn’t mean that as a threat,
I’m just saying they all had got brought down by character flaws. I
can see you leaping into self-sacrifice pretty easily. Or seeking to
usurp the gods out of a sense of justice, which will get you killed
in short order. You did just attempt to claim the title of hunter
from me.”
I
crossed my arms. “I don’t have to usurp anything. We’re all
equal under God. If you can’t do your job I’ll do it.”
Artemis
laughed. “We are not
equal,
mortal! The gods reign above you!”
“I
didn’t vote for you,” I said. “Nobody voted for you. This is
America, by golly. We pick our leaders. Who picked you?”
“Well,
um –”
“That’s
what I thought. Keep in mind, miss, that you have been specifically
commanded by your father to follow
American legal precedent.
So
don’t you ever go pretending to be my legal superior when nobody
voted for you. Get it?”
Artemis
looked disgusted. “This awful land full of mortals who don’t know
their place. Why did my father send us here?”
“I
wonder that myself,” I said. “A land of equality is a terrible
place for arrogant spirits to pretend they have divine authority. But
it sounded like you were making a rhetorical question. What’s the
answer? What is Zeus’ game? What orders did he give?”
Thunder
rumbled from a clear sky.
Artemis
glared down at me. “I would not be asking those questions without a
roof over your head, mortal.”
“Playing
his cards close to the chest, eh?” I shook my head. “Not very
good leadership, unless the goal is something that really needs to be
kept secret. Um –”
Thunder
rumbled again.
“I
would stop talking if I were you,” said Artemis. “Now, you have
given me a decent lead, and you have come to me with a plan already
in mind. That is good work. For that I will spare this Doctor
Morrow’s life, provided you can talk him out of whatever he’s
doing to scare the birds. You get going on your work, and I will get
going on mine.” She grew taller and resumed the shape of a bear.
Then she fell to all fours and lumbered away through the bushes.
I
made my way back to the main campus, climbing up hills and running
down them, nearly taking flight as the long feathers on my arms
caught the air. Ah. I’d done some Bird Talking tonight, in a manner
of speaking, hadn’t I. So much for avoiding transformation.
As
I made my way into the dorm, and into my dorm room, I looked at
Ruth’s sleeping form and sighed. No kissing her goodnight now. Not
for a while. Maybe not ever.
To
the end, she said. Kisses or none. But what would the end be?