Flying the Coop by Lucinda Roy

Author:Lucinda Roy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tor Publishing Group

Ji-ji would tell Charra about Uncle Dreg’s Death Day sermon too. More likely, Charra and she would recite it together. Surely everyone fighting to Free seeds must’ve heard it by now and committed the Oziadhee wizard’s inspiring words to memory. Her sister had been right all along to believe that Toteppi from the Cradle had a special role to play. One day, as Lua-Dim’s lullaby and Uncle Dreg’s prophecy foretold, they would take to the sky like the blackbirds on the quilt.

Ji-ji recalled Man Cryday’s observation about the three birds that stayed put after something frightened away the rest of the flock. But she didn’t trust the tree witch anymore. She had lied to her about Charra. Who knew what else she’d lied about? She would ask Charra to explain what the quilt meant. Her sister had always been able to explain everything. Thinking about the quilt raised Ji-ji’s spirits. She wasn’t arriving empty-handed. Like Laughing Tree and Ink, she had a gift.

Dislodging the van from Mount Ararat wasn’t as bad as they’d feared, but that was almost entirely due to Laughing Tree, who’d never, according to Ink, encountered a strength challenge he couldn’t overcome. Before they pushed the van off the mound, they set out some tarp and piled their belongings onto it so the vehicle would be lighter. They pushed the van to within a few feet of the road, still keeping it partially hidden so they could reload it unseen.

As they piled things back into the van, Ink urged everyone to feel Tree’s biceps. Said they were “big as melons and deserved respect,” as if all of them had been disrespecting his biceps till then. Ink took credit for his friend’s superhuman strength, basking in reflected glory and telling anyone who’d listen that Tree got a great workout carting him around.

Marcus approached Ji-ji, who was standing a little way off from the others. “Kid makes it sound like he’s doing Tree a favor,” he complained.

“Maybe he is,” Ji-ji replied.

“Yeah. The kind of favor an owner does for an animule when it loads crap onto its back.… These bites’re killing me! How come I’m the only one got bitten?”

The derision in Marcus’ voice when he spoke about Ink upset Ji-ji. It reminded her of how Lotter used to talk about seeds on the planting who were classified as “Damaged.”

“That why Ink irritates you?” Ji-ji asked. “You think he’s taking advantage?”

Marcus shrugged. “Could be I don’t like seeing a strong Black man bowing and scraping to a little shrimp. As a friend of mine used to say, guilt is an indulgence. Makes you do dumb shit.”

“Tree cares for Ink. He loves him.”

“I love pizza. Doesn’t mean I want to cart around a hundred pizza pies on my back for the rest of my life.” Marcus seemed to recognize how callous he sounded. “Don’t listen to me,” he added. “These goddam mosquitoes are to blame.” Marcus’ arms hadn’t just been bitten, they’d been attacked. Dozens of painful bites from wrist to shoulder.

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