Arrow by Samantha M. Clark

Author:Samantha M. Clark
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books
Published: 2021-06-22T00:00:00+00:00

18

THE PETALS ON THE ORCHIDS NEAR SHIMMER CAVE WITHERED, THEN DIED. THE EUGLOSSA BEES THAT NEEDED THE SCENT OF THE ORCHIDS LEFT TO FIND OTHERS. THEN THE NUTS ON THE LARGE BRAZIL NUT TREE THERE, WHICH NEEDED THE BEES FOR POLLINATION, STOPPED PRODUCING SEEDS.

As soon as the sun peeked above the horizon the next day, Arrow said goodbye to me and Curly, much to the monkey’s protests, and journeyed south back to the Burnt Circle. He was hidden behind a wide ficus near the clearing before the machiners were awake.

The glowing domes were gone now, but Arrow peered around, hoping to spy them. Soon his attention was pulled away as the humans woke and crawled out of the fabric huts they had erected the night before. They stretched, talked, and ate food from their boxes.

Wiser seemed to be the leader. She barked out orders that Mora and Fratos followed with a “Yes, Wiser.” They sorted through boxes, pulling out small items that I couldn’t identify from the blurry images I received from the butterflies. The task kept the humans busy, and they didn’t notice when the Kiskadee Man wandered into the trees.

He was cautious, watchful. He eyed the trees and bushes, glanced back often to look at his companions. Each time, he must’ve felt satisfied, because he stepped, stepped, stepped farther into the forest.

I sucked air into my leaves. He was heading right to where Arrow was hiding. I hoped the boy wouldn’t be caught.

The man’s hands were clasped around tiny clear tubes. He reached down and collected soil in one, then pulled a pen from a pocket on his chest and scratched on the tube like Petari had done in her notebook. After tucking the tube away, he collected leaves, then different leaves.

He had become so engrossed in his work, he did not notice Arrow as the boy skipped behind a closer trunk. I saw it, though, and fear raked through my roots.

But Arrow didn’t show himself, just observed as the man moved from plant to plant, inspecting the leaves, the bark, the moss.

Until the man reached out to pluck an oval leaf.

“Don’t touch that,” Arrow said, stepping out from his hiding place.

My roots froze. I had wanted more time to watch these humans, and yet here was Arrow risking his own life to save the man again. I hoped the Kiskadee Man knew the gift he was being given.

He jumped, then narrowed his eyes at Arrow.

Arrow was still a distance away, but he was in sight, not in shadow. The man had seen the boy; the faster pitter-patter of his heart let me know.

“Those leaves will hurt you,” Arrow said. “They’ve got hairs that’ll put poison into your hand. It’s very painful.”

The man nodded in appreciation. “I definitely don’t want that. Thank you.”

A noise from the Burnt Circle drew their attention, and the man glanced back, but the other machiners were still paying him no mind. He didn’t call for them. Instead he returned his gaze to Arrow.

“It’s you, isn’t it?” the Kiskadee Man said.

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