Kaley turned to her grandfather. “How’s Grandma?”
“Busy. She’s setting up a school to teach midwifery. She figures that the whole island is going to be delivering babies at the same time, so they better be prepared.”
Kaley gave Tanek a dreamy sort of look. Aradella looked at Mekos with the same expression.
“Sounds like a good plan.” Bree’s voice was wistful.
“I’ve been meaning to ask. What is this?” Frank had pulled a sprig of a plant out of his pocket. It was small and red, the leaves firm.
Aradella looked at it. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen this before. Not even a picture of it.”
“Do you have a name for it?” Bree asked. “Maybe it’s in a spell.”
“It’s called Solium.” Frank held it up. “This is why the Bellis ship landed near us in Kansas. It grows there. We have no known use for it on Earth. Rita made us tea, but it tasted awful.”
They hadn’t noticed that Qip had come back into the room. “It doesn’t work on your bodies.” His voice was quiet, almostreverent. When Frank handed him the cutting, Qip’s eyes grew brighter. “Do you have much of this?”
“I have a few bales of it in the back of the chopper. My son and I grew quite a lot of it.”
Qip looked like he might faint. He sat down. “May I have this?”
“Sure,” Frank said. “Would you tell us what it is?”
“To us, it is truly magic. It makes a person forget troubles and pain and all things bad. You become filled with love and wisdom and knowledge.” He touched it gently with his fingertips. “Or it lets you know nothing, whichever you prefer.” His head came up. “All things good are what it does to us.”
“Sounds like LSD,” Kaley said. “Or grass. Or whatever the doctor gives you after surgery.”
No one laughed. They just stared at the plant in Qip’s hand.
“It’s useful to know that,” Frank said.
“Very,” Tanek said in agreement.
24
Nearly everyone was gone.
Mekos and Aradella were stretched out on the grass in Qip’s garden. They were a foot apart and enjoying the sunshine.
They were also enjoying the silence, the peace. Yesterday had been pure chaos.
Reena was the first to contact them and demand that Bree return to her. “I have no time to trudge through these books.”
Bree had been reluctant to leave Qip’s house. It was very pleasant there—and she and Aradella had years of catching up to do. But Reena said that Bree was needed on another island. She still hesitated, but then Reena very pointedly said that Bree was “desperately” needed. That word shot through her. She was packed and ready to go in about four minutes.
By that time, Sojee had contacted Tanek, saying his help was needed on Pithan. The first rosy glow of men and women living together was fading and there were problems.
Kaley said to her grandfather, “You don’t need me?”
“Not really. Stay there and enjoy yourself,” Sojee said. “Did I tell you that I visited the Lair? I had no idea there are so many Lelys there.Wedon’t know what to do with them. I sure wish we knew someone who wasn’tafraidof them.”
Kaley mumbled about “dad jokes” then she packed faster than Bree did.
No one asked Frank, but they assumed he’d fly them back to Pithan. He gave a longing look at Darr and Qip. As a fellow engineer, Frank wanted to know more about how Qip had made a living creature. “I’ll leave the Solium with you,” he told Qip. “Use it to buy anything you need. Maybe I can help on the next one.”
They knew he meant building more creatures like Darr, and Qip smiled at the offer.
There was a great flurry of activity, then they got in the helicopter and took off. On the ground were Qip and Darr, Mekos and Aradella. Ian stood on Darr’s shoulder. Qip had welded a little handle to Darr’s ear so Ian could hold on easier.
