The Flame of Olympus

by Kate O'Hearn

  ‘Fine, suit yourself,’ she said as she unfolded a deck chair and sat down to eat the fruit and vegetables that Pegasus had refused.

  As the morning passed, Emily did her best to clean and treat Pegasus’s many wounds. While working on his neck, her cellphone went off.

  ‘Hi Dad,’ she said, reading his name on the screen.

  ‘Hey Kiddo, you all right?’

  Emily looked at the cuts on her arms, then over to Pegasus. ‘Sure, everything’s fine. You wouldn’t believe what happened last night! There was this big crash on our roof—’

  Before Emily could say more, Pegasus nudged her and pounded the floor with his hoof. He shook his head and snorted. Emily looked at him and knew he didn’t want her to tell her dad about him.

  ‘What happened?’ her father repeated. ‘Emily, did something happen?’

  ‘Um, no Dad. It was just the garden shed. The wind blew it over. But there are no problems here at all apart from the power being out. What about you?’

  Her father sighed. ‘I’ve been held up a bit, so I’m going to be late getting home. I’m at Belleview Hospital at the moment, trying to do a report on this kid that fell out a window. Things have gone from weird to really, really weird.’

  Emily was looking at Pegasus. He was still staring at her intently, as though he was listening to her every word.

  ‘Em, you still there?’ her father called.

  ‘Sure, Dad,’ she answered quickly. ‘Sorry. What’s so weird about the kid?’

  ‘I can’t get into it right now. I’ll tell you when I get home later. Should be sometime before dinner. Just take it easy today.’

  ‘I will,’ she promised.

  After she hung up, Emily looked at the stallion. ‘You didn’t want me to tell my father about you, did you?’

  Pegasus shook his head and snorted. Again, Emily had the strange feeling he knew exactly what she meant.

  ‘I don’t understand. My dad’s a good man. He’s a police officer and would help you. He’d never hurt you or turn you in.’

  Pegasus shook his head and stomped his hoof.

  ‘I sure wish you could tell me what’s wrong.’ Emily sighed. ‘Well, if you don’t want my dad to know, I’ll do as you wish. But I need help. I can’t get that spear out of you on my own and your wing needs to be set properly. I’m not strong enough to do it all alone.’

  Pegasus moved his head closer to Emily and gently nuzzled her hand. She leaned against his thick neck as she tried to think.

  Finally someone else came to mind. Someone from her school who would be strong enough to pull out the spear. Someone who was always sketching pictures of winged horses on his textbooks. The trouble was he was the meanest boy in Emily’s class. He was probably the meanest boy in the whole school.

  Joel DeSilva had only joined Emily’s class a couple of months ago, but he’d already been in several fights. He never talked to anyone and didn’t have any friends. Most of the kids in her class were terrified of him and left him alone. Joel DeSilva was the last person in the world Emily wanted to talk to. But he was the only person she could think of.

  ‘Pegs, I think I know one boy you might let me ask,’ Emily said. ‘He’s from my school. His name is Joel. He’s a bit older than me, but really big and strong. And I know he already loves you because he’s always drawing your picture on all his books. The teachers yell at him about it, but he doesn’t care. He lives across the street from the school, so I could go ask him to come and help. Will you please let me do it?’

  The stallion considered her words. He neighed softly.

  ‘Thank you,’ Emily said, patting him. ‘If I leave now, I should be back very soon. With Joel’s help, we can get that spear out of your side and set your wing.’

  She pulled out her cellphone and stepped up to his side. ‘I’m going to take your picture. It might be easier then to convince Joel that you’re really here.’ Making sure she got his wing in the shot, she took the stallion’s picture.

  ‘Perfect. OK, I’m going now. You’ve got extra water for drinking, and there are still some carrots and beans left if you get hungry. I really shouldn’t be too long. But even if I am, please keep hidden in this shed. I don’t want anyone to see you and take you away from me.’

  Emily wondered if she should lock him in the shed. But then she thought better of it. If Pegasus were to get frightened, he might break down the door or even destroy the shed. Then there would be no place to hide him. Instead she left the door open and hoped the stallion would remain inside.

  ‘I’ll be back soon,’ she called as she turned on the flashlight and entered the stairwell.

  Emily was surprised by how many people there were on the stairs. Some, like her, had flashlights; others used lighters or candles. Everyone seemed in bright spirits. Neighbours who usually never spoke to each other laughed and chatted as they slowly descended or climbed the stairs.

  It took ages getting down to the ground. But as Emily stepped into the lobby, she realized that going down was a heck of a lot easier than climbing back up was going to be. She only hoped she could get Joel to come back with her.

  Once outside, Emily was struck again by the eerie silence of the city. There were people on the sidewalk, but very little traffic. All the shops and wholesalers were closed. It was like some strange holiday.

  Emily ignored the stares of the people she passed along the way. She’d forgotten to comb her hair or even wash her face. She knew she looked even worse than Pegasus.

  The journey seemed endless, but as she arrived at 21st Street and 2nd Avenue, she looked at the line of brownstones across from the school. Which one was Joel’s?

  She considered calling out his name in the hopes that someone would hear and tell her where he lived. But as she walked down the street, she saw a well-built boy sitting on the front stoop of one of the buildings. His wide shoulders were slumped and his head of wavy black hair was lowered. As she drew near, she was grateful to see it was Joel.

  Then the nerves started.

  Emily wasn’t sure how she should approach him. His expression was as threatening as the storm from the previous night. She took a deep breath and climbed the few steps to the stoop.

  ‘Hi Joel.’

  Joel looked her up and down.

  ‘I’m Emily Jacobs,’ she pressed on. ‘We both have the same home-room and math class.’

  Her comment received only a blank stare.

  ‘That was some storm last night, wasn’t it?’ she said with forced cheerfulness. ‘I saw the lightning hit the Empire and blow the top right off. It did more damage than King Kong!’

  Joel looked at her blankly. Finally he broke his silence. ‘Go away.’

  At that moment, seeing his angry, unwelcoming face, there was nothing on earth Emily would have rather done. But thoughts of the spear in Pegasus kept her feet locked on the spot.

  ‘Look, Joel, I know we’ve never talked before, but I really need your help—’

  His dark eyes flashed. ‘Are you deaf or just plain stupid? I said go away!’

  ‘I would love to, but I can’t,’ Emily said desperately. ‘Something happened last night and you’re the only person I can think of to help. Please, will you speak to me for a moment? Then if you still feel the same, I’ll go.’

  ‘What do you want?’ Joel demanded. ‘What’s so important that you had to come here and bother me? Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately? You’re a mess.’

  Emily’s own temper flared. The pain from her swollen eye and many scratches told her exactly what she looked like. But she also knew that Pegasus was her only priority. He needed her more than her pride did.

  ‘You really want to know what’s so important?’ she shot back. ‘Why I would come here and try to talk to you when I know for sure you hate the whole world? Pegasus, that’s why. He’s what’s so important!’

  Joel’s expression changed for the briefest of moments. In that instant, Emily saw a flicker of interest. But just as quick
ly, the veil of anger came crashing down again.

  ‘What about him?’ he challenged.

  Emily advanced on the bully. ‘I’ve seen the pictures you’ve sketched on your books. He’s all you ever draw.’

  ‘So?’ Joel demanded.

  Emily looked up to the sky, not knowing what to do. Did she dare risk telling him her secret? Did she really have a choice?

  ‘What if he were real?’ she started. ‘I mean, if he was, and he was hurt, would you want to help him?’

  Anger flashed again in Joel’s chocolate brown eyes. He stood quickly, looming over her. ‘What kind of dumb question is that? Are you making fun of me because I like Pegasus? If you are, I swear I’ll thump you!’

  ‘No I’m not making fun of you!’ Emily said, just as quick and just as angry. ‘Joel, listen to me. Please …’

  She reached into her pocket and fished out her cell. Opening it, she held up the photograph of the winged stallion.

  ‘You may not believe me but last night Pegasus, the real Pegasus, wings and all, was struck by lightning and crashed on my roof. He’s there right now and he’s badly hurt. I’ve done all I can, but one of his wings is broken and I don’t know how to set it. If you really care about him like I think you do, you’ll come with me and help him!’

  Emily’s hands were shaking too much to allow Joel to see the photograph on the small screen. He reached out and took hold of the cell.

  ‘He landed in my mother’s rose garden. That’s why I’m such a mess. Then when I tried to help him stand up again, his broken wing hit me in the face and gave me this black eye.’

  Suddenly the exhaustion of the long night caught hold of her and she sat down. ‘Please,’ she begged. ‘He’s in so much pain. I don’t know what to do for him.’

  Joel was still clutching the cell as he cautiously sat down beside her. ‘Go on, I’m listening.’

  ‘Pegasus is hurt. He’s hurt really bad,’ Emily explained, relieved at last that Joel was listening. ‘He’s also been in a terrible fight. He can’t tell me why or with whom. But he’s cut all over and there’s a big spear that’s still in him. I’m not strong enough to pull it out on my own. That’s why I thought of you.’

  ‘Why? Because I’m so big?’ Joel challenged, suddenly growing angry and defensive again. ‘Just a big dumb Italian?’

  Emily shook her head. ‘No, that’s not it at all. Listen to me. Pegasus is hurt! I came here because I thought you cared and wouldn’t want to see him captured.’

  Joel hesitated. There was now an expression of doubt rising on his face. ‘How do I know it’s not a trick? Or some kind of stupid joke?’

  Emily shook her head and stood again. ‘Look at me,’ she said wearily. ‘Do I look like I’m joking? Does this black eye look like make-up? You think I gave myself all these cuts from the rose bushes just so I could come here to cause trouble for you? This isn’t a trick, Joel, I swear on my mother’s soul. Pegasus needs our help!’

  Joel was silent for so long that Emily almost gave up.

  Starting to descend the stairs again, Emily looked up at him. ‘I can’t leave him alone too long. It’s a simple question. Are you coming or not?’

  Joel looked from Emily up to the doors of the brownstone, then back at Emily again.

  Finally he started to descend the stairs. ‘All right, I’m coming.’

  When he reached the pavement, he stood before her. ‘But if this is a joke, I don’t care if you are a girl. I swear I’ll knock your head off!’

  6

  Little was said between Emily and Joel as they made their way back to her corner-apartment building. When they arrived, Joel stopped before the lobby doors.

  ‘How high is it?’ he said, looking up.

  ‘Twenty storeys,’ Emily said. ‘I live on the top floor. Pegasus is on the roof above that.’

  ‘What? Twenty storeys?’ Joel complained. ‘You expect me to climb twenty flights of stairs?’

  ‘I told you, Pegasus is on the roof.’

  When Joel hesitated, Emily sighed. ‘Look, you’ve come all this way. Are you going to go back now just because you’ve got to climb a few stairs?’

  ‘Twenty flights aren’t a few stairs!’ he complained. ‘It’s a marathon!’

  Too tired to fight any more, Emily shook her head. ‘Fine, Joel, go home. I guess I was wrong when I thought you liked Pegasus. Just do me a favour, will you? Keep your mouth shut. You may not believe he’s here, but others might.’

  Emily said nothing more and pulled out her flashlight. She entered the lobby and walked towards the stairwell. As she pulled open the heavy metal stairwell door, she heard footsteps behind her. Looking back, she saw Joel.

  ‘It’s still going to be twenty flights,’ she warned.

  Joel shrugged. ‘I know. But I haven’t got anything better to do.’

  Climbing the first five flights was easy. Making it to ten was tiring. By the fifteenth floor, both Emily and Joel were out of breath and feeling nauseous. Taking a break, they both sat down on a stair.

  ‘I didn’t think it would be this hard,’ Emily panted. ‘I thought walking to school was enough exercise. But I’m really out of shape.’

  ‘Me too,’ Joel agreed between breaths. ‘I used to live in Connecticut and played school football. But it’s been too long.’

  In the dim light from the flashlight, Emily looked at him. ‘So you’re from Connecticut?’

  Joel shook his head. ‘I’m from Rome. You know, Italy. But when I was a kid my father got a job at the United Nations. So we moved to the United States and found a house in Connecticut. My parents commuted into the city every day for work.’

  Emily was surprised. Joel didn’t have any trace of an accent. She’d have never guessed he was foreign. For as long as he’d been in her class, she’d never known anything about him. Just that he was a troublemaker. ‘So then you moved into the city and now live in those brownstones?’

  ‘Not exactly …’ he started. He paused. Suddenly his mood changed. He stood up abruptly. ‘I don’t want to talk about it any more,’ he said. ‘Are we going up or what?’

  Without waiting for her, he charged forward into the darkness of the stairwell.

  The final five flights were climbed in silence. When they reached the top, Emily drew the keys to the roof door from her pocket and stepped up beside him.

  ‘He knows you are coming, but I don’t think he’s too happy about it. So take it easy on him. You can get as mad at me as you like. But I don’t want you yelling at him. You got it?’

  ‘I didn’t yell at you,’ Joel challenged.

  ‘Well, whatever you call it,’ Emily responded as she inserted the key and turned the lock. ‘I don’t want you doing it to Pegasus. He’s hurt and in pain. You’re going to be nice to him or I swear I’ll push you off the roof.’

  Joel looked shocked by the sudden change in her. ‘If he’s really here, I promise I won’t do anything wrong.’

  ‘Oh, he’s here all right.’

  Emily shoved open the door and stepped out on to the tarmac roof. ‘He’s in that shed over there. ‘You still here, Pegs?’ she called out.

  A soft nicker came from the shed. Joel’s expression changed from doubt to absolute wonder.

  ‘Remember,’ Emily held up a warning finger, ‘be nice or you’d better learn to fly real fast!’

  She drew Joel towards the shed.

  ‘Did you miss me?’ she asked as Pegasus came forward to greet her. She stepped up to his head and started to stroke his smooth white face. A sharp intake of breath was all Emily heard from Joel. She turned back, and saw his disbelieving expression.

  ‘Pegasus, I would like you to meet Joel.’ She beckoned Joel forward. ‘Joel, this is Pegasus.’

  Joel entered the shed and stood before the stallion a full minute before he was able to move or speak. Finally he shook his head and raised a hand tentatively to reach out and stroke Pegasus’s head.

  ‘I can’t believe it. Pegasus is real! And he’s
really here!’ Joel’s eyes were beaming.

  Emily watched his thick armour of anger melting away.

  ‘He sure is. But he’s also very hurt.’ She led him to the broken wing. ‘This needs to be set, but I don’t know how.’

  She then directed him around to the other side. ‘Pegs?’ she said, speaking softly. ‘Would you lift your good wing so I can show Joel the spear? He’s going to help me get it out of you.’

  Without hesitation, the stallion lifted his wing to reveal several centimetres of broken spear sticking out of his side. ‘Oh my Lord,’ Joel cried as he inspected it. ‘Who did this to him?’

  Emily shrugged. ‘I don’t know. All I do know is he needs our help before someone finds him and takes him away.’

  As she spoke Emily started to frown. It seemed that a lot of the deeper cuts and scratches were much smaller than they had been earlier. Further inspection revealed that the lightning burn had also shrunk and was less angry. As for the thorn scratches, they were all gone.

  ‘You’re healing so fast,’ Emily gasped. She looked at Joel. ‘This morning, these cuts were much deeper. You see all these scratches on me? They were ten times worse on him. But all the thorn marks are gone.’

  ‘I’m not surprised.’ Joel continued to inspect the stallion’s side. ‘Pegasus is an Olympian. He’s immortal. Of course he would heal quickly.’

  ‘What’s being Olympian got to do with it?’ Emily asked. ‘He’s still a living being, just like you and me. And we sure don’t heal this quickly!’

  ‘Yes, he’s a living being,’ Joel explained. ‘But he’s also very different from us. If you’d asked me before, I wouldn’t have thought he could be hurt at all.’

  ‘If I’d asked you before, you’d have bitten my head off.’

  Joel frowned and shot back, ‘I would not!’

  Emily dropped the subject before it started another argument. Joel had a very short fuse and was easily provoked. ‘Well, Olympian or not, that spear has got to come out. I’m not even sure how to set his wing.’

  Joel stroked the smooth white feathers of the stallion’s good wing. ‘In movies, all they ever do is pull the person’s broken leg or arm to set it. Then they put a splint on it.’