The bird returned and gave chirping noises that made Mekos smile. “Kaley is at the house and Papá is going to take a nap. He seems to be very tired.”
Mekos and Aradella looked at each other, then burst into laughter.
3
As they approached the house, they saw Kaley sitting at the big table in the open area. She was eating from a plate of food that looked like it could feed a dozen people.
“Don’t tell her so much that she’ll guess the truth,” Mekos said.
“Lie, then cover it with more lies?”
“Exactly.”
“That’s what I’ve been doing my whole life,” she said.
“Hello,” Kaley said when she saw them. “I don’t know why I’m so hungry but I could clear a Thanksgiving table by myself. I guess it’s all the hiking Tanek and I have been doing.”
“I’m sure that’s it,” Mekos said.
Kaley looked at Aradella. “Sorry. I’m forgetting my manners. There’s a lot of food here. I’ll get plates and you two can—” When she stood up, she saw that Mekos was holding a big white bundle that was moving. “What’s that?”
“A gift for you.” He lifted the cover—which wasn’t easy considering that it was trying to get out by clawing him to death. “We saw it and I knew you’d like it, and...” He paused for drama. “We thought maybe you’d tell us one of your Earth stories. I told Aradella how great they are.”
“How nice of you.” Kaley put her empty plate on the counter so the big table was clear. “Let’s have a look.”
Mekos, with Aradella behind him, put the animal on the table but kept a firm hand on its back.
Kaley lifted the padding to the lizard’s face. “How pretty you are,” she said.
Aradella gasped when Kaley reached out and touched the lizard’s nose.
But Kaley was smiling. “Come on, let me see all of you.” While she untied the padding, the lizard was very still. When it was free, it leaped onto Kaley.
“No!” Aradella yelled, but Mekos just smiled.
The lizard hugged Kaley like it was a human infant.
“His name is Borel and today he ate something that tasted very, very good and he wants more of it. He’s set himself a quest to find it.” She looked at them in question.
“No idea what that is.” Mekos and Aradella shrugged, looking innocent.
Kaley sat down, holding the big lizard to her. “What kind of story do you want to hear?”
Mekos and Aradella sat down across from her and he looked at the princess.
“An old woman kills a girl then takes her youth and beauty,” Aradella said.
Kaley was stroking the lizard who looked so content it was falling asleep. “That’s the basis for many fairy tales. There’s usually a beautiful, but evil, queen who will do anything to keep her beauty. Often, she has a stepdaughter, probably a princess, who is more beautiful than she is. The queen believes that if she, well... takes the girl’s heart, she’ll get the girl’s beauty. Is that what you mean?”
“Maybe it’s not just a princess but a beautiful girl every year,” Mekos said.
“That’s a popular variation.”
“Could she make a kind of youth cream from the sacrifice?” Aradella asked.
Kaley shifted the lizard on her shoulder. “Whatever he ate, he’s dreaming of it. Do you know what it was?”
“No!” Mekos and Aradella said in unison.
