Another Kind Of Hurricane Part 27

"I put something in there too," said Henry. "See the corner of my football s.h.i.+rt?"

"Almost had to tackle him to get it," said Ms. Cyn.

"And I almost had to tackle her back. You have enough of my stuff," said Henry. "My jeans, my marble-shoot, what else do you want?"

Henry was right. Zavion couldnt imagine wearing any other jeans.

"This ones mine," Ms. Cyn said. She pointed to a square of cloth that had a bird right in the center of it. It looked familiar.

"The banner!" Zavion suddenly remembered seeing it the first day he was here. The banner with the boy sitting under the tree and the book turning into a bird. The grat.i.tude banner. It felt like a long time ago. "The banner is yours?"

Ms. Cyn nodded. "Its the only thing I brought from New Orleans," she said. "Its the only thing I was able to take from my house. Skeet made it for me."

Zavion looked up on the wall. The banner was there, but with a small square missing.

- Zavion pulled the scarf tighter around his neck. It was colder up north.

chapter 66.

HENRY.

Henry had done one thing before leaving for Vermont.

- Diana greeted them at the door. Parrots were in cages everywhere-on tables, under tables, on chairs, on stairs, in hallways.

"Incredible, right?" Diana said.

"These are only a fraction of the birds that are missing." A man walked into the room with another woman.

"Lee is my son," said Diana. "And this is Dr. Burke. These are the boys I was telling you about. Zavion and Henry."

"I still cant believe you stowed away in our van," said Lee, patting Zavion on the shoulder. "Outstanding work." He shook Henrys hand. "And you-" he said. "Outstanding work too."

"Thank you," said Henry.

"You sure you dont want to stay and work with us?"

Henry hadnt been sure. Not at all.

"Lee is right, you know," said Dr. Burke. "In fact, these are only a fraction of a fraction of the pets that are missing."

Dogs flashed through Henrys mind.

Cats too.

One cat.

"I wish I could find them all," he said. He gripped the handle of Tigers cage. "But what do I do with Tiger now?"

Henry opened the cage and sat at the kitchen table with Tiger on his shoulder and tried to answer all of Dianas questions. He tried to tell the whole story. He was pretty sure he hadnt left anything out. When he was finished, he listened to other parrots around him.

Words and bits of phrases.

h.e.l.lo.

Who is it?

Come and get it!

Its about time.

h.e.l.lo. Where were you? h.e.l.lo.

Come back.

h.e.l.lo. h.e.l.lo. h.e.l.lo.

When he was done listening to the parrots speak, Henry realized he had one more thing to add to their stories. "My friend-his cat-he had a cat," he said. "His name is Tiger too. Hes lost-the other Tiger. Please-find this Tigers family. I think theyre alive. And if theyre not-I know a little girl who would love to take Tiger home."

- While Henry slept in the truck, he dreamed of "This Little Light of Mine" sang by a chorus of birds.

chapter 67.

ZAVION.

Zavion must have fallen asleep again. As he stretched his arms over his head, he saw the edges of the hills in focus now. In the climbing light of the sun, he could see they were taller here.

"Are we almost there?" he whispered to Jake.

"Yup-" Henrys eyes werent even open.

"Morning, boys," said Jake.

"Is it morning already?" Papas gravelly voice came from behind Zavion.

The truck stopped at a T in the road. The sun rose up fast and a yellow glow seeped into the air. Jake put on his right blinker. "Henrys exactly right. Were almost there," he said. "Look." As they made the turn, a mountain appeared out of nowhere like the sky had birthed it just at that moment.

Zavions heart pounded with excitement.

chapter 68.

HENRY.

Henrys heart pounded with fear.

chapter 69.

ZAVION.

"Thats it, isnt it?" asked Zavion.

"Yup. Mount Mansfield," said Henry.

The mountain peak stretched across the golden horizon, long like Zavions new scarf.

"Its such a long mountain range. I didnt expect that."

"The story goes," said Henry, "that it used to have a taller peak, more like a normal old mountain, straight up and down, and Native Americans would climb it to find a private place to wait when they knew they were about to die."

"You know the legend?" said Jake.

"You told it to me, Jake," said Henry.

Jake laughed. "Right."

"Like, a hundred times."

"Okay, okay-"

"So one day," said Henry, "a chief tried to make the journey to the top. He was hurt, though, and couldnt really climb, and he died before he reached the summit. G.o.d carved his profile into the mountain. Thats why Mansfield looks like a face."

A face- "Grandmother Mountain has a face carved into it too," Zavion said. He looked back at Papa. "We decided it did, anyway, didnt we?" Papa nodded.

"What is Grandmother Mountain?" asked Henry.

"Ive heard of Grandfather Mountain," said Jake.

"Theyre near each other," said Papa. "Grandfather is part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and Grandmother is across the valley. Pioneers thought they saw the face of an old man in one of the cliffs of Grandfather, and so they changed its Cherokee name, Tanawha, to Grandfather."

"My mama told the story that Grandmother Mountain was a wanderer," continued Zavion. "She never could settle, and moved from valley to valley, from river to stream, until she got lost one day, and she was scared. But in the morning, she saw a face come into focus as the sun came up, and she fell in love. It was Grandfather Mountain. And so she put down her roots and stayed forever.

"My mama was born near Grandmother Mountain," finished Zavion. "And when Papa painted the mural of it in my room, he painted the face of a woman in its highest cliff."

"An old grandma?" said Henry.

"No," said Zavion. "He painted my mamas face."

The truck was quiet after that. Zavion studied Mount Mansfield. It did look like the face of a man. The long face of a man staring up into the sky. Zavion traced the trail lines on the map from the base to the different summit points, traced the veins of the mans face. To the chin. To the nose. To the forehead. Up the winding line of one, then back down and up the line of another.

The truck mimicked his hand as it, too, wound up and down the dirt road, taking them into a new country.

chapter 70.