Faces of Courage by Susan K. Beatty

Author:Susan K. Beatty [Beatty, Susan K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Celebrate Lit Publishing
Published: 2021-05-10T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Three

The wind whipped their hair into a frenzy as they bounced along the dirt roads of Catalina’s interior in an open Hummer. The guide stopped every few minutes to explain the terrain, the history, and any animals they spotted. But none of this was conducive to confronting Frank.

Conditions had not been favorable since she’d talked to Seth two days ago. And tomorrow they headed home. Yesterday they had ogled schools of fish from a partially submerged boat fitted with windows and then skimmed across the water of the Catalina Channel in a high-speed inflatable boat to and from the tiny village of Two Harbors at the Isthmus.

Now Olivia held her rebellious hair away from her face as they bumped along the road in a Hummer.

“Buffalo!” Zoe’s squeal was loud even with the wind trying to drown her out.

“Actually, bison.” The guide pointed toward six or so large, shaggy animals peacefully grazing on the hill. “In 1924, approximately fourteen bison were brought to the island for the filming of a movie. They never actually appeared in the movie but were left here when the movie people went home. Now the Catalina Conservancy maintains care of the animals.”

Zoe and Dylan stared open-mouthed at the 1,800-pound mammals.

The guide continued. “Because this island is not their native home, these animals have had to adapt to a far different eco-system. They have necessarily become quite resilient. In 2016, bison became the national mammal of the United States. A fitting symbol of the American people, a resilient people.”

Now it was Olivia’s turn to stare. At least mentally. Maybe she could learn from these bison. Could she become resilient, adapting to her eco-system? The bison had to adapt to survive, because they had no choice. Did she have a choice? Maybe she could choose to adapt or get out. No. There had to be another way.

Frank sat next to the driver, chatting and rattling along with him all the way back to Avalon. Olivia felt the rattle in her bones even as she climbed down from the Hummer. Ah, terra firma. She was even happier to be on firm ground now than when they’d disembarked from their various boat trips. Either the land tour had been particularly jarring, or she’d gotten used to boats.

No doubt Seth’s revelation rattled her thoughts.

Dylan bounced up and down on the pavement. “That was so cool! What’s next?”

How could the kid be revved up after all of that? Olivia longed for the plush bed waiting for her in their hotel room.

Frank mimicked Dylan’s bounce. “I know. Let’s go tour the Casino. Then it’ll be dinnertime.”

Dylan’s quirked eyebrow seemed to doubt such a tour would be fun.

“That’s the big round building with all the flags, right?” Zoe at least sounded enthusiastic.

Olivia sided with Dylan. Not that she didn’t want to tour the famous Catalina Casino, but a nap was all the excitement she wanted right now.

“All right. All right. The Casino it is.” Frank clapped his hands with way too much glee.

So much for that nap.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.