* * *
Oriane was using more English all the time, in particular teenage slang. She was invited often to Lisi’s to do homework together, and Oriane invited Lisi back. Wendy enjoyed hearing girlish laughter echo faintly through the door when she carried laundry to the nearby rooms. Sometimes they went out to shift and fly around—Lisi’s dad had explained that Lisi was permitted to play in her bird shape as long as she stayed in sight of her house, or that of her host. Alejo had agreed with that, and so the girls flew above the garden, chasing around, then they raced to the beach and back, or fluttered down to offer help to Alejo, who was overseeing the roofing. Oriane’s vocabulary had increased 200% within the past week.
Everything was good. Or, nearly good. There is always one worry, Wendy thought one morning as she sent the kids off to school. This was Sam, who continued to run out into the garden every day, once he got home. But each day he’d come right back in, his steps lagging, and Wendy would know that his mysterious garden friends were still gone.
Until that afternoon, Sam galloped back inside, his face happy, to tell Wendy, “Mom, they’re back!”
Later that night, when Wendy was alone with Alejo, she told him about that, adding, “I saw him send a quick look in the direction of Oriane’s room. I think he’s been secretly blaming her. Is that why he’s been so quiet at meals? You did tell him that she wasn’t the cause of the garden community going into hiding?”
“I told him,” Alejo assured her. “But he’s nine. Her arrival and their withdrawal happened around the same time. And he’s hitting the age when he comes to conclusions of his own. Which aren’t always right. I’m glad you saw that. I missed it. But now he knows it was wrong—and he never did say anything unkind.”
“No,” Wendy said slowly. “But he hasn’t told her about them, either. I promised him it’s his secret to tell.” She considered, as Alejo held her close. “I guess I want them to be brother and sister. Though I never had a brother. Or a sister! It has to take its time.”
“And even when they find their way to a relationship, they’re not going to share everything, or always agree,” Alejo said. “Or, so I saw in my buddies’ families, as I too was an only.”
Wendy relaxed against him. “I guess the thing to do is to let them find their way.”
The next morning was Saturday. Everyone slept late.
Wendy and Alejo took a leisurely shower together, then Wendy set about making waffles for the kids. Alejo told her he was going to go down to the house to see if he had enough base molding. The waffle maker was still warming up when he returned unexpectedly, and came to her in the kitchen. “I guess I shouldn’t leave the place unlocked. Some wiseacres broke in and messed around. It’s all superficial damage. But I’m going to have to go to the lumber yard. Tell the kids not to go to the house, okay?”
Wendy was aware that she would have been far more upset if she’d had to deal with vandalism on her own. No, it would have been worse with Bill, because he would have managed to find a way that it was her fault, and then there would be the stress of having contractors over, whom Bill would proceed to tell how to do their jobs.
Wendy nodded. Alejo kissed her, and then there was the sound of his keys jingling. No ranting, no swearing. He’d attend to the job without making it into a bigger problem than it was.
As she poured batter into the waffle maker, she wondered if she would ever stop thinking about Bill whenever Alejo did something decent, kind, good-natured. Maybe when the last of the stress had drained out of her, she could forget him.
Serving the kids cheered her up—their enthusiasm was so immediate. So uncomplicated. As they dug in, she said, “Don’t go into the house today, okay? Alejo needs to fix stuff on his own.” There! That wouldn’t get Sam worried about thieves and vandals.
Sam and Oriane both agreed. Alejo was still not back when they finished, so she set aside his waffles, to be warmed when he returned. As she chucked the dirty dishes into the dishwasher, she glanced at the back door, seeing both kids go out. One day, she hoped, they would go together. Oriane was the more affectionate, in a small way—tousling his head and calling him petit-gars, which he seemed to like. But otherwise his attitude was more acceptance, the way he accepted the presence of Lily and Eve. They were here, part of the household, and Godiva’s guests. He understood that much. But Wendy saw no signs that he felt that Oriane was part of the family.
Let it go, she reminded herself as she went about collecting towels from the hampers, and stripping beds for laundry day. Everybody liked sun-dried sheets, so she wanted to get them out on the line early.
She was just beginning to scrub the tiles inside the front door when Oriane returned, her face puckered in a puzzle. “In the US, ice cream is for free?”
Wendy straightened up from loading towels into the dryer and wiped hair back from her forehead. “What?”
“Ice cream? In a big truck? It is for free?”
“Why do you say that?” It was Wendy’s turn to be bewildered.
“I saw a woman I do not know. She is dressed very good—well? Good? Fine? She is dressed very fine, and she says, she has a question and I look ver-ry grown-up and responsible. Sam comes out of the garden, and he starts to say something, and this woman goes like this.” Oriane pointed a finger down and away. “At the beach, there is a big white car. No, a van. And it has on its side a big sign with ice cream, and it says FREE! And the woman says to Sam, ‘Look, the ice cream truck is here! But it’s only free to anyone under ten. Quick, before they give it all away!’ And so Sam runs down to this truck, but when he asks for ice cream, they open the back door, and wave him inside, and when he goes in, they shut the door and then drive away. Is that what you do here?”
“No,” Wendy said. “It is most certainly not!” Shock zipped through her.
Instinctively she reached along the mate bond for Alejo. His thought was there, warm, assured, but beneath it Wendy sensed the serpent’s great wings unfurling.I heard her. I’m on it.
TWENTY-THREE
SAM
Yesterday, all Sam could think about was: They were back!
They were back, and Squeak and Ratty both didn’t even know who “Oriane” was at first. But when Sam pointed to her window, Ratty signed very firmly, “Blue bird good.”
“You like Oriane?” Sam asked. “She didn’t make you go away?” Sam believed that Alejo meant what he’d said about Oriane not being to blame for them going away, but he was her father. And grownups could make mistakes, just like kids. Mom had said so many times. Believing something that turned out to be wrong wasnotthe same as telling a lie, like Pater did when he called Mom names.
Ratty waved his paws, which Sam had learned meant no. And Squeak signed “Door” and popped three times. That meant going far away.
