The Girl Who Fell Out of the Sky

by Victoria Forester

  How many times had he heard Rory Ray or his other brothers say that to him? He didn’t know a number high enough.

  The fire in Jimmy Joe’s belly flamed up.

  He waited for just the right moment and sprang with the grace and stealth of a jungle cat, his hand outstretched, his body lean and reaching.

  The delicate pink Flier was not startled by Jimmy Joe’s sudden appearance. The purple wings fluttered against his fingertips, the delicacy of the tiny body flitting by the palm of his hand.

  From the ground below, Piper watched Jimmy Joe leap and saw him gliding through the air in the perfect trajectory to intercept the Fortune Flier. And then, when his hand was out, the Fortune Flier hovering not more than an inch above, Piper watched and waited for gravity to take Jimmy Joe and pull him down. But gravity did not do that. Gravity forgot all about Jimmy Joe.

  For two or perhaps three seconds, Jimmy Joe hovered in the sky. He was flying!

  Piper gasped at the sight.

  The little Fortune Flier paused to wonder at the boy. That was all the time Jimmy Joe required to close his hand around her.

  Jimmy Joe caught the last Fortune Flier.

  And then gravity remembered all about him.

  Jimmy Joe tumbled down, landing with a loud splash in the waters below. Rory Ray dove at him, lifting him up. Jimmy Joe raised his closed fist.

  “I caught it!” he shouted. “I caught a Fortune Flier.”

  After that every single person on Mother Mountain went bananas.

  CHAPTER

  33

  Jimmy Joe was hoisted upon shoulders. Chosen Ones opened their mouths and let out such cries of triumph, followed by cheering and wild clapping, that Mother Mountain shook. Musicians picked up their instruments and played heartily, and a wildly happy song sprang to the lips of all. To catch a Fortune Flier was an omen of good tiding, a sign of happy things to come. The older and wiser Chosen Ones rejoiced that they had lived to see the day. What good fortune!

  In all the excitement, Rory Ray got his hands on his brother and threw him up into the air and let out such a holler of “oorah” that if there hadn’t already been deafening noise from all around, the Chosen Ones would surely have crouched and shrunk away in fear.

  Jimmy Joe was careful to keep his hands cupped around the Fortune Flier and not hurt it, even as he was clapped and congratulated and celebrated. At last, he was the fastest, the strongest, and the smartest.

  “What shall you ask? What question do you need to know the answer to?” was asked over and over again.

  In the crush of it all, Piper and AnnA came to Jimmy Joe’s side, pulling him away. Rory Ray, seeing what they were about, ran interference, creating a path for them to pass through. In the gleeful shouting and uproarious excitement, Jimmy Joe slipped out. The Chosen Ones were so swept away by the magnitude of the moment that the absence of the source of it hardly mattered, and the music and singing turned to dancing, and then the storyteller came forth and relayed the stories of the last Fortune Fliers who had been caught and the fortunes that they had told all those years ago.

  While all this was happening and the morning became afternoon, AnnA quietly invited one, then two children, and then more, back to her sleeping place. “Come and see the Fortune Flier,” she said to coax them.

  Piper had instructed AnnA to select a handful of the best kids, meaning those with the most unique and developed talents. For while it was true that everyone born on Mother Mountain had a gift, not all gifts were equal. Selpeth was yet to do more than make his hair grow faster; Deirdra was born without a shadow, for which no one could think of a single practical use; and Raymal had toes and fingers that were all of equal length but did nothing else besides, which was a great disappointment to him and his family.

  AnnA did not invite these to join in the group but instead asked Asher, who could stop time for several seconds, and Kayla, who had the sleeping talent, and her sister Mayla, who had an icy breath. As well, there were Irma, who had the breath of life, and Crona, who could call water. Delia, who was a grower, came last, and like the others, arrived eagerly, unsuspecting of the true nature of the meeting.

  When the group was at last gathered and bursting with anticipation to see the Fortune Flier, AnnA quickly explained that Piper had invited two of her Outsider friends to join them. While this news was met with shock and concern, the children were able to temporarily put aside their prejudices lest they miss out on hearing what the Fortune Flier had to say.

  “May I see?” Kayla put her eyes to the cracks in Jimmy Joe’s hands to peep in.

  “Gather, gather—all will see,” AnnA said, urging them to come forward and sit close. “But first, Piper would speak with you.”

  “Asanti.” Piper placed her hands together and bowed.

  “Asanti,” they returned.

  “I’ve come with news.” Piper kept her voice even and looked into their eyes so that she could create a connection. She was aware that she must choose her words carefully so as not to startle them. “There are creatures that need your help. They’re in pain and they’re suffering, and if we don’t help them, bad things will happen.”

  Hanley nodded. “I have heard whisperings of this.”

  “Yes,” Mayla agreed. “My father says that it is an Outsider problem.”

  “We must not interfere in Outsider business.”

  “The Outsiders must look after themselves.”

  “But”—Piper raised her hand to stanch the flow of comments—“what if the Outsiders are not able to help themselves this time? What if only Chosen Ones can do this?”

  The Chosen Ones present did not know what to think about this. Piper shot a hopeful glance AnnA’s way, but AnnA raised her eyebrow, withholding judgment until the outcome was settled.

  “And what if you could use your talents, and by using them, you would help many people?”

  Hanley was the first to speak up again. “Which people? Chosen Ones or Outsiders?”

  “Well…” Piper hesitated, formulating her answer. “I guess you could say it would help the planet. I mean, mainly Outsiders will be affected by it.”

  “And Chosen Ones?”

  Piper nodded her head and shook it at the same time. “Not so much.”

  AnnA could see the children shift, shaking their heads and murmuring.

  “This is a matter for the elders to decide,” one of them said.

  “Yes,” Asher agreed. “What do the elders say? They are wise in all things.”

  Piper took a deep breath and saw that AnnA was biting her lip; this was going exactly as AnnA had predicted. “Sometimes elders know things, but sometimes they don’t,” Piper reasoned. “Sometimes you have to make decisions for yourself based on your own information.”

  Hanley’s mouth twisted up. “Why?”

  “Because … because”—Piper’s hands waved in the air as she conjured the answer—“information is power, and because it’s important to have all the facts. Because sometimes things change, but people don’t, and then we have to be the ones to be the change. D’ya know what I mean?”

  Blank expressions and silence.

  Piper scratched her head, pushing back a strand of hair that limply dangled against her cheek and fixing her gold lily pin in place. “I know y’all think that the Outsiders are violent and not worth anything,” Piper continued, “and I’m not gonna say they’re all good—’cause they’re not—but they’re not all bad, either. I just think that if we all got to know each other, everything would be better for everyone. I think you can learn stuff from them, and I know we can learn stuff from you.” Piper opened her hands and threaded her fingers together like puzzle pieces. “I think we all want the same things, and we’d be stronger and happier if we knew more about each other.” She took a deep breath and blew it out. “All I’m saying is that you should see for yourself and make up your own mind.”

  “But I like being with my own kind,” Kayla offered quietly. “I don’t want to get to know the
Outsiders. They might hurt me. I like it where I am now.”

  “Me too.”

  Heads bobbed up and down in agreement. Piper released her clasped hands and sighed. She didn’t blame the Chosen Ones; what reason did they have to doubt what their parents and elders had told them, and what purpose could there be to helping those whom they had been taught to hate? Even Jimmy Joe and Rory Ray wouldn’t give her the time of day at first and only recently would consider the possibility that she might not be so strange. In the battle between saving the world and opening people’s minds, opening their minds was by far the harder task.

  “What good ever came of the Outsiders?” Kayla whispered to her sister just loudly enough for Piper to hear. “They cannot do anything.”

  “But don’t you see?” Piper jumped in, pointing her finger at Kayla excitedly. “It was an Outsider who caught the Fortune Flier, not a Chosen One. Jimmy Joe has no ability, or at least not a special ability like y’all have, and yet he did it.”

  “That is true,” Mayla said slowly. “Even Hanley could not catch a Flier.”

  The creases on their brows softened.

  “But if an Outsider who does not have any ability can do great things, then…” It took much effort for Hanley to pull the pieces together in his head. “Then does that mean they are better than us?”

  “No,” Piper said. “That’s just it: no one is better.”

  The Chosen Ones in the room were puzzling over this quietly when Jimmy Joe jumped to his feet, his face popping. “The Fortune Flier is talking. I can hear it!”

  Piper ran to him, followed by the rest of the kids, who clustered as closely to Jimmy Joe as they could get, pushing their ears eagerly inward. Jimmy Joe opened his fingers and leaned down. The little bird hopped about his hands and chirped in a lyrical, singsong voice.

  “Gather, gather and listen well,” the Fortune Flier began.

  “Jimmy Joe Miller is plagued by fear,

  The voices of others ring in his ear.

  He doubts himself and wonders what to do,

  Passively watching others paddle his canoe.

  Jimmy Joe Miller! Jimmy Joe Miller!

  I could see right from the start

  There is great courage in his heart.

  He has a destiny, but he has a choice.

  It is in his power to use his voice

  To join and unite, to start the fight

  That will ignite the light in this dark night.

  There is a new world waiting to be made,

  But only if Jimmy Joe Miller isn’t afraid.

  Jimmy Joe Miller, Jimmy Joe Miller.

  What will become of Jimmy Joe Miller?

  The answer to that is up to Jimmy Joe Miller.”

  Finished with her song, the Fortune Flier fluffed her feathers. Jimmy Joe softly exhaled the breath he had been holding.

  “I do not understand,” AnnA said tentatively. “What do you think it means?”

  “Ask it a question,” Rory Ray demanded, nudging Jimmy Joe roughly. “Find out if you’ll play pro baseball.”

  “It means,” Jimmy Joe began, straightening up, “that we are destined, all of us, to work together and to stop the bugs.”

  Rory Ray snorted and rolled his eyes like he was dealing with an imbecile. “You think that’s what it means?”

  “Yes!” Jimmy Joe glared at Rory Ray. “That’s exactly what it means. I’m the one who caught the Fortune Flier, so I know. The Fortune Flier said that I know what is in my heart, and that is what it is in my heart. AnnA said the Fortune Fliers are never wrong.”

  A smile crested Piper’s lips.

  “And stop telling me what to do, Rory Ray,” Jimmy Joe hissed at his brother.

  Rory Ray held up his hands. “Okay, okay. Calm down.”

  Taking flight, the Fortune Flier zipped upward, first completing a full circle around the group and then darting out of the chamber and away.

  Hanley scratched his head. “So the Fortune Flier says that we are to go with you? If that is so, what happens now?”

  Piper stepped forward. “Now we bust the others out and get out of here!”

  “You mean leave Mother Mountain and go to the Outside?” Kayla’s face turned as white as a sheet.

  Mayla shook her head at the thought. “The Outsiders will murder us!”

  “It’s not what you’ve been told,” Piper said. “You must see for yourselves and make up your own minds. The Fortune Flier has predicted it.”

  “And the Fortune Flier is never wrong,” AnnA added pointedly.

  Piper tried to ignore the look of panicked horror on the faces of Hanley and Irma as she rushed them out of the chamber before they could change their minds.

  CHAPTER

  34

  As darkness settled into their chamber, the sounds of the festival wafted through the air, and with them came bright blue bugs that gave off a flickering light. Conrad paced back and forth in his nook, clawing at his collar. Across from him, he could see Kimber nervously touching the tips of her fingers together.

  Smitty was leaning out of his nook, squinting. All at once he put his fists over his eye sockets and pressed down. “It’s like I’m blind. I couldn’t stand to live like this.”

  “I’d sacrifice just about anything to get my running back.”

  “Same.”

  Ahmed punched at a vine. “I’d be nothing if I couldn’t start a thunderstorm.”

  Ahmed’s words struck Conrad. Piper had said almost the same thing when they had been on the roof of the house. Conrad remembered the look on her face: fragile and helpless. Just like he was feeling right now. A sense of shame and regret crept into his heart. He had wanted to protect Piper, but in the name of concern and caring, he actually hadn’t been a very good friend. Regardless of what happened, Conrad wanted to be a good friend to Piper most of all, he decided. He hoped he would be given a second chance. As the minutes slowly dripped past, it seemed as though that was less and less likely.

  “The cavalry has arrived,” Rory Ray shouted, cutting a figure in the middle of the group. “Oorah!” He raised his fist.

  Leaning dangerously out of their nooks, the kids were met with the sight of Piper, Jimmy Joe, and Rory Ray looking up at them. They were joined by AnnA and an assorted group of Chosen Ones. While Piper and the other Outsiders looked defiant and full of fight, the Chosen Ones appeared frightened and tentative, not sure what they were doing.

  “We are going to get you out of here!” Piper announced confidently, then lowered her voice and turned to AnnA. “How do you tell the vine to bring them down?”

  AnnA said, “Delia is a grower. She would know.”

  Delia seemed startled to find so many eyes suddenly upon her. She had a riotous mass of jet-black hair threaded with flowers, which she tugged at nervously. “The v-vine,” she stuttered, “only answers to Elder Equilla. It will not listen to me.”

  “Can you try to reason with it?” Piper led Delia to the vine, and she began stroking it.

  “I will do what I can,” Delia said, but her voice lacked confidence.

  “What about these collars?” Conrad called down. “If you could get the collars off, we can do the rest.”

  “The collars are sealed by Elder Mustanza,” AnnA explained. “Only he can release them.”

  “I could blow them off!” Rory Ray offered.

  “True,” Piper agreed, “but then they wouldn’t have heads, and I think they might miss them.”

  Rory Ray shrugged off such a small detail.

  “Who has a metal gift?” Piper posed to the group. “Can we cut them or slice them off?”

  A great cheer rose from the plateau outside, and the sound reverberated throughout the chamber. “Piper,” Smitty called down. “The sun has set. Elder Equilla will be on her way.”

  “The vine will not listen to me,” Delia whimpered. “I have asked it and asked it, but it is very stubborn.”

  “There has to be a way,” Piper insisted. “Who else has a talent
that will release them?”

  The Chosen Ones looked about helplessly.

  “What’s your ability, again?” Piper asked quickly, pointing to a stocky boy with gray eyes.

  “I am Crona. I call water.”

  Piper didn’t completely understand what that was but didn’t see any help in it with the current situation, and so she pointed to the girl next to her.

  “I am Kayla, and I have the sleeping talent.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Kayla can place anyone into a deep sleep,” AnnA explained.

  Piper snapped her fingers. “Couldn’t you put the vine to sleep?”

  The solution was so simple it startled the group into a momentary stunned silence.

  “I can ask it to sleep,” Kayla admitted.

  “Great! Do it! Hurry.” Piper directed Kayla to the closest tendril. “Now we have to find a way to get them down.”

  Without waiting for further directions, Hanley stretched his legs up and rose into the air, coming to the crevice where Lily was waiting. The vine was already growing sleepy, curling its leaves in on themselves.

  “I can bring you down,” Hanley whispered to Lily so as not to wake the vine. Lily arranged her dress in preparation for the journey.

  “Mind my hair,” she instructed Hanley primly. Hanley scooped Lily up and gently brought her to the ground, going back for Daisy.

  As soon as Lily’s feet touched down, Piper closely examined the metal collar around her neck. Lily stretched her neck out and allowed Piper to poke and prod it. “How did they get this thing on you?”

  “An elder just clipped it on.” Lily snapped her fingers. “Fast. Just like that.”

  “I can’t see very well,” Smitty called out from above, “but someone’s definitely heading our way.”

  “Why don’t I jump Lily back to your home?” AnnA offered.

  “Good idea!” Piper agreed.

  A moment after AnnA took Lily’s hands, they disappeared into thin air. Hanley placed Conrad’s feet on the ground and went back for Daisy. Things were happening fast now and Conrad was anxious to get them moving even faster. “AnnA won’t have enough time to jump all of us out. We’ll have to get out on foot. Who knows the best way to the tunnel?”