Across the sky in every direction, Ninsa’s transformation and release was felt inside every egg. Like firecrackers, they began to burst.
* * *
Max had chosen a front-row seat to view the end of the world. It was a show he had no intention of missing. At the top of the Empire State Building, he had positioned his chair at just the right angle, his chilled soda in its cupholder. It was the perfect place to watch the impending explosions in the sky above and then the resulting effects on the city below.
“It’s a good day for it.”
Max couldn’t agree with himself more. “We’re in for quite a show.”
“This’ll be one for the history books!” Max indulged in a long suck on his soda and then smacked his lips together. “This is the one they’ll remember you for, Max.”
“You got that right.”
When the electricity went out, when the cell phones went down and the computers failed, people would be shocked, disoriented, maybe even a little bit angry. But that would soon pass, and it would turn to panic and then fighting and looting. Without power and working equipment, the hospitals would shut down. Without cars, people would be stranded. Without technology, the police would be helpless.
Ahhh, yes. Things would be just the way Max liked them: completely out of control.
Above him, Max watched the first bug explode, a flash of white light in the sky. If you hadn’t been looking for it and didn’t know what it meant, it would have been easy to miss. Seconds later, there was a domino effect, a cascading burst of popping white lights, spreading like a wave outward.
“This is it.” Max rubbed his hands together gleefully, giggling. “Here it comes!”
He waited.
And waited.
And waited some more.
To Max’s astonishment, the horns of the taxis on the New York streets did not grow silent; the lights in the buildings did not dim; there was neither silence nor pandemonium. In fact, nothing at all changed.
Slowly getting to his feet, his face a mask of confused disbelief, he leaned against the railing, pressing himself as close as he could get, as though the extra inches would suddenly show him the world picture he expected and needed to see.
Absolutely nothing had changed.
“But this can’t be!” Max looked up and down. “They exploded. I saw them explode.” Max threw up his hands. “This isn’t fair!”
A couple with a small child who also happened to be on the Empire State Building’s observation deck moved away to what they hoped was a safe distance from the strange boy who was talking to himself.
“This was supposed to be the end of the world,” Max wailed.
More people moved away. Security began to gather.
Max grabbed his hair, pulling on it. “I want destruction. It was the perfect plan. I did everything right. I WANT CHAOS!” Max lashed his fists against the metal bars petulantly.
“Young man, I’m going to have to ask you to stop doing that,” a beefy security guard said with a practiced calm and careful voice.
“Get away from me. You have no idea who you are dealing with. It was those kids—Piper and Conrad.” Max pointed to the security guard as though it were his fault, as though he were in league with Piper and Conrad and had aided and abetted them. “They’ve ruined my perfect plan.”
“It’s okay, kid. Plans change.” The security guard didn’t make any sudden moves but edged closer. “When you get to be my age, you’ll understand that things turn out the way they do for a reason. No point getting upset about it.”
As the security guard’s words hit Max, his eyes snapped into focus. He regarded the man, seeing him. “Plans change?”
“Sure they do. I tell my son that all the time. If it doesn’t work out, you just got to keep trying. And maybe if you don’t get what you want the first time around, it’s because there’s something better waiting for you.”
“Something better?”
The security guard could see that Max was calming down, and he relaxed his shoulders. “Sure. You’re young. You can do anything you want. You got a bright future ahead of you. Just keep trying.”
“Yes.” Max nodded, his chin getting firm. “That’s just what I’ll do. I underestimated them—that was my problem. But that’s okay, because challenges are fun, and I like fun.”
The security guard chuckled. “Heck, everyone likes fun.”
Max chuckled too, but his laugh was menacing and dangerous. “Want to see something fun?”
“Sure, kid.”
Spinning around, Max threw himself at the metal fence and, with two movements, reached the top.
“Hey! Hey!” The security guard was right behind him, but Max was out of reach.
“I already know what I’ll do next!” Max gave the security guard a Cheshire cat grin.
“Get down from there! You got the whole rest of your life in front of you.”
“Don’t I know it! And I’m going to enjoy every second of it too.” Max ripped open his jacket, revealing a harness around his waist. With a quick click, he snapped his carabiner onto a tether that had been sneakily hidden out of view.
“Stop! You’re gonna get yourself in trouble doing that. There are rules.” Now the security guard was reaching for his radio.
That was the thing about living forever: you never had to worry about consequences or rules. “The only rules I’m gonna follow”—Max grinned—“are the rules of having fun. I intend to have a lot of fun! And nobody, not you or Piper or Conrad, is going to stop me.”
Pushing off, Max rappelled down the Empire State Building. It wasn’t as good as watching the end of the world, but it was still pretty darn good.
* * *
In Xanthia, at the top of Mother Mountain, Elder Equilla looked up, feeling the emergence of the bugs from their shells.
Pursing her lips, she clasped her hands and looked out over the valley. Just like the Fortune Flier had said, this was the harbinger of great change. A new day was dawning.
Elder Equilla did not like it.
But she was ready to fight it. Placing her hand over her heart, she silently vowed to build another wall. This time, it would be stronger and safer; this time, no one would break through it. She would prepare her people for what was to come using all measures at her disposal to keep them away from the Outsiders. This she would do with every breath in her body.
Asanti.
* * *
Even from the ground, it was possible to see a burst of light each time an egg cracked open. Conrad craned his neck and squinted his eyes, but he couldn’t see what had emerged.
“Smitty? Smitty, are you seeing this?”
Smitty was shaking his head. “You know I am. You aren’t going to believe this! You know what’s coming out of those eggs?”
Conrad waited for Smitty to tell him.
“They look like dragons. Baby dragons. But dragons all the same.” Smitty could barely trust his own eyes. “Does that make any sense?”
Conrad smiled. “It makes sense to me.”
* * *
In the end, saving the world as we know it was a quiet task accomplished on a normal day in a meadow, where one girl, not particularly beautiful or smart, but like most other girls in every way, managed to do something extraordinary.
Standing alone, but watched on all sides by kids from different places who had learned to work together, she threw up her arms and believed that she could fly—despite all evidence to the contrary and in spite of a voice inside her that said strongly and firmly “don’t.” She did it anyway.
CHAPTER
40
Things got crowded back in Lowland County; instead of eleven extraordinary kids at the McCloud farm, there were now almost twenty. Not only that, but the Miller kids started spending a lot of time there too. Word spreads fast in a place like Lowland County, and once Rory Ray and Jimmy Joe got to talking to other kids and telling them that there was nothing wrong with Piper McCloud’s head, they came to see for
themselves. Their parents wouldn’t believe a word of the rumors that were being spread around, but the kids were willing to take a look, and soon enough they started to stop by the McCloud farm and play for a while.
The Chosen Ones decided not to go back to Xanthia right away and instead stayed in Lowland County to learn more about the Outsiders. The Outsiders were nothing like what they had been told, and the more they learned, the more questions they had. No sooner were they good and settled at the farm than Joe McCloud’s old pickup truck rolled into the yard. The sight of her parents sent Piper into a fever of excitement.
“Ma! Pa!” Piper flung herself at the truck door, pulling it open and hugging her mother. “Are you okay, Ma?”
“Well, I’m not the first person on this planet to have a baby, and I won’t be the last.” Betty patted Piper’s back as she hugged and hugged her. “I think maybe I won’t go and have another baby after this one, though. There’s a time for everything, and my baby time is up.”
Baby Jane was sleeping in her car seat. Piper cooed and whispered over her and gently touched the top of her head. “She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Can I hold her, Ma? Can I bring her inside?”
“Don’t see why not.”
Joe came around and helped his wife out of the truck, and Piper took the car seat with baby Jane sleeping inside. Gathered on the porch were all the kids, half of whom Betty had never seen before.
“Well, it looks like we’ve got visitors,” Betty sighed. Being on a farm with these kids meant there was never a dull moment. “Let me get settled and put the kettle on, and then I’d better hear all about what’s been going on around here.”
For the rest of the day Piper gazed upon, cuddled, fed, and sang to her sister, Jane. Jane was a good baby. She didn’t scream or cry but instead looked around at the world with thoughtful and serious eyes. She liked looking at Piper, probably because Piper lit up like a lightbulb anytime she was close to her.
“I think she’s the best baby in the world,” Piper said that night as she watched Jane sleeping in her crib. “I don’t think there’s a better baby anywhere.”
“She looks pretty much like every other baby,” Betty mused, cocking her head to see her. “But, come to think of it, she looks just like you did at that age. The spitting image.”
Both Betty and Piper had the same thought at the same time, but neither of them dared give voice to it.
What would happen if Jane turned out to be a flier too? Piper thought about going through all the things she had been through to learn how to fly and find her place in the world as a flier. Flying was a lot of fun, but it was also a big responsibility; after all, from those to whom much is given, much is expected. Did she want that for her little sister? She was definitely going to be keeping a close eye on Jane from now on.
“Well,” Betty sighed, “Jane’s a good name. Sensible and plain.”
“Yes,” Piper agreed. “Jane’s a good name.”
CHAPTER
41
It was a clear, cool night that displayed the stars to their best advantage on the evening of the Lowland County Spring Dance. The Lindviks’ barn was decked out with paper lanterns and garlands of wildflowers wrapped around the posts, as well as a large candelabra with beeswax candles that cast a flickering glow over the rafters. A long table with a red-checkered tablecloth groaned with punch and dainty tarts and other goodies, while the Straitharn brothers, who had wrestled themselves into shirts and ties, were fiddling up a storm. Dottie Dutton had been coaxed into sitting at the piano, for she had a reputation for tickling the ivories, and she proudly wore her prom dress, which still fit her but stank of moth balls.
In the end, Betty had relented, since the dress Lily had made for Piper was ruined at Stonehenge, and took Piper down to Jameson’s store. The dress they found and that Piper loved wasn’t as fashionable as the one Lily had designed, but somehow it was just the perfect one for her. It was robin’s-egg blue with sparkly stones randomly encrusted about the full skirt and at the top of the neckline so that when the light hit them, they glowed. Lily had begged Piper to allow her to do her hair, but Piper declined the help—she wanted to look like herself, not like a fashion plate. She washed her hair with special lavender shampoo and brushed it until it shone. Gathering up the pieces at both sides, she fixed them on top of her head and tied them with a simple bow. The rest she let hang loose down her back, and it was so springy and clean that it flowed with each step she took.
When she came down the stairs and Joe caught sight of her, he got tears in his eyes.
“You look beautiful,” Joe said.
Piper twirled for him and then hugged him tight.
Betty, who was holding baby Jane, sniffed loudly at such a display. “I don’t approve of all these goings-on,” she said. “Youngens going off to dances at night, it’s not right.”
Moments later, when Piper hugged her and baby Jane, Betty got misty eyed and quickly excused herself to change the baby’s diaper, fearing that calamity would surely strike if she didn’t.
Conrad had asked Piper to the dance.
Piper had said yes.
She hadn’t been expecting him to ask. She was so happy to be flying again and spending time with Jane that there was little room in her mind to think about such things. In fact, she’d forgotten all about the dance. She had been sitting on the porch swing, holding Jane in her arms and singing to her when Conrad had fumbled up, leaning against a post, then decided not to lean, then shifted back and forth, not sure what to do with his hands.
“I’ve been looking for you,” he said.
“Jane just smiled at me,” Piper said, not bothering to look up. “And Ma says I can’t fly with her, which makes absolutely no sense if you ask me.”
“Jimmy Joe asked AnnA to the dance,” Conrad interjected.
“I wasn’t going to fly high or fast, just a little ways off the ground. I don’t think it’s too dangerous,” Piper continued. “I think Jane would like it, don’t you?”
Conrad thought that flying with a newborn was problematic but didn’t think it wise to point that out. Instead he said, “The dance is this weekend. That’s three days away, or seventy-four hours and thirty-three minutes.”
Jane let out a gurgle, and, delighted by it, Piper started to sing to her again.
“Piper?”
“Um-hmmm.”
“I would be honored—” Conrad cleared his throat. “What I mean to say is, will you accompany me to the dance?”
The song died in Piper’s mouth, and she looked up at Conrad. He was flushed, and now that she was paying attention, she saw that he had carefully combed his hair and put on a crisp shirt that made his eyes look bluer then normal and his mouth more earnest.
“I know you said you wouldn’t go with me,” Conrad continued. “But I thought perhaps you might change your mind. I would like to take you to the dance, if you’d like to come with me.” The flush on his face deepened as he waited on Piper’s response. “Will you?”
Piper sat very still and thought about how she felt about going to the dance with Conrad. She was surprised to discover that she felt not jittery or uncomfortable but happy. To spend an evening with her best friend at a party seemed like the most natural thing in the world. She did not know how she felt about Conrad beyond that, other than that they were best friends, and that was okay too. She didn’t need to know that now; it wasn’t important. There would be time to figure that out later.
“I will go to the dance with you,” she said. “I’d like that.” And then she started to float.
* * *
On the night of the dance, Conrad wore a perfectly tailored blue suit with a dapper bow tie. He’d allotted many hours of the remaining seventy-four before the dance to practicing steps so that when they were on the dance floor, he twirled and whirled Piper until her skirts ballooned out like the petals of a flower in full bloom.
Piper also danced with Jimmy Joe when he wasn’t dancing with AnnA, and
with Rory Ray, who didn’t ask anyone to the dance because he said he was too busy getting ready to go off to basic training.
It was agreed by everyone that Lily Yakimoto was the most elegant of all in an ivory silk gown of her own design, beaded liberally with pearls. Millie Mae Miller took one look at Lily and sniffed loudly, commenting to those close by that it was shocking the way a child her age was rigged up in such a fashion. Millie Mae went on to say that she would not put anything past those youngens at the McCloud farm, and then made ominous predictions about how they were up to no good.
It was surprising to Millie Mae that the matrons closest to her were not particularly interested in what she had to say and made excuses to move away from her after that. They had been hearing different stories from their children lately about what was going on at the McCloud farm, and while they weren’t exactly sure what to believe, they were no longer blindly taking Millie Mae’s word for it.
During a refreshment break, Hanley, Mayla, Kayla, and Asher cornered Conrad and peppered him with endless questions about everything from Outsider clothing to Outsider food to the way the dance steps worked. Taking the opportunity to get some fresh air, Piper drifted outside to enjoy the stars. It was such a night, and the stars called to her. After the dance was over and she’d changed out of her dress, she would slip out and fly under those stars.
“The birds have been telling me that you’re flying again,” said a voice.
Piper turned at the sound to see Stark Raven emerge out of the trees at the side of the barn. She was wearing a party dress, of sorts. It was bright orange, and she’d complemented it with a purple hat, upon which perched a chipmunk. She was wearing long gloves and sparkling silver shoes. In her hand was a crystal glass containing a green liquid that bubbled and smoked. Toasting Piper with the glass, she took a long draw from it and then smacked her lips.
“It’s good to see you back up in the sky,” Stark Raven said. “It’s where you belong.”
The Girl Who Fell Out of the Sky Page 20
