She’d just set her list aside when she heard Cooper screaming for help outside. Dropping her notepad, she raced for the back door, yelling for her daughter. Hearing her voice in the vicinity of the beehives, a cold fear washed over her as she raced to find Cooper, praying that she wasn’t being attacked. But when she found her, there were no bees in sight. Just Cooper standing there with teary eyes.
“What is it?” Jewel asked breathlessly.
“The bees!”
“What about the bees?”
“They’re gone.”
“Gone?” Jewel frowned, her heart rate returning to normal. “Oh, they’re probably just gathering pollen.”
“No. I looked through the lavender. Not a single bee in sight. And the hives are empty. All of them. The bees are gone, Mom.” Cooper pointed over her shoulder. “And Grandpa’s headed over here. He’ll freak.”
“What is it?” Dad asked them with a puzzled expression. “Yelling? Who’s yelling?” He narrowed his eyes at them, as if trying to place who they were or why they were here.
“It’s nothing,” Jewel answered. “Cooper just got excited.”
He frowned. “Cooper?”
Jewel pointed to her daughter. “Cooper. Same name as you, Dad.”
As if he knew, Dad went straight for the hives, bending down to listen. “No buzzing.”
“Grandpa,” Cooper said gently. “I think the bees might be gone.”
“Gone?” He stood up straight. “Not all gone?”
“I was putting out fresh water trays and the hives sounded so quiet, so I looked in the lavender,” she spoke quickly. “And even in the pumpkin patch. You know how they like the blossoms, but—”
“Blossoms?” He looked over his shoulder.
“But they weren’t there, Grandpa. I can’t find a single bee.”
“Bees? Gone?” He looked panic-stricken now. “Where?”
“I don’t know—” Cooper’s voice cracked with emotion. “Where could they be?”
“Bees? Bees?” he called out as if he could bid them to come. “Bees?”
“Mom?” Cooper looked at Jewel with tear-filled eyes. “What should I do?”
“I have no idea.” Jewel was worried. Dad would probably have a complete meltdown. “Maybe they’ll come back.”
Cooper got out her phone. “I’m going to google it. Maybe I can find answers.” She located a website and began to read aloud a list of strange reasons bees might abandon a hive. None of them sounded particularly promising.
“Maybe they just got bored and wanted a field trip,” Jewel suggested, hoping to lighten the mood. Not that it helped. Tears were streaming down Cooper’s cheeks, and her dad was clearly in a state. Mumbling to himself, he slowly circled the hives, waving his arms and pathetically calling the bees as if he was calling a wayward dog to come home.
“It’ll be okay, Dad. The bees will be fine.” Jewel put a comforting hand on his shoulder, following him as he circled, trying to calm him and hoping his wobbly steps weren’t about to make him topple over. At the same time she felt seriously irritated atthe stupid bees. Why did they have to go off and leave like this? And why did anyone keep bees in the first place? She just didn’t get it. If the little buzzers never came back, she thought she’d probably be glad. Well, as long as Cooper and Dad got over it. At the moment, she wasn’t sure they could.
27
Jewel
Jewel was about to text Mom about this new emergency, to tell her to bring out Dad’s relax pills, when she saw her mother’s pale blue bathrobe flapping in the wind as she raced toward them.
“What’s going on?” she asked as she joined their odd assembly by the hives.
As Jewel explained about the missing bees, her phone began to chime. “It’s Miguel,” she finally said. “I better answer.”
