Bridge of Dreams

Chapter 35

Lee settled the island a few steps away from the cottage he now called home, picked up the cloth-covered bundle that contained his new roommate, hurried off the island, and rushed to get inside.

But he still wasn’t quick enough.

“Lee?” Danyal called from the large screened patio that connected their cottages.

Sighing, Lee changed directions and joined Danyal on the patio. It was too chilly to sit outside for pleasure, so Danyal must have been waiting for him to return.

“We’re going to have to get a hook for that door.” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder to indicate the patio door and tried to ignore Danyal’s palpable curiosity. Then he sighed again, set the bundle on the table, and removed the cloth covering partway.

The lavender and white keet began a muttering scold—the same sound he’d been making since Nadia put the traveling cage on the island and left.

“Watch him, will you?” Lee said. “I have to get the other cage.”

“There’s more than one keet?” Danyal asked.

“No, but Jeb made him a big cage to live in. That one is a traveling cage so that, in warmer weather, he can come with me when I’m spending the day at the playground station. That will give him a chance to socialize.” He rolled his eyes—a wasted movement, since he was wearing the dark glasses and no one would see it.

He went back to the island, gathered up his pack and the big cage, and took those into his cottage. Then he returned to the patio. Since Danyal seemed interested in the bird, it was tempting to say the keet had been intended for the Shaman, but he could picture sitting down to dinner at his mother’s and having that little tidbit slip out during a conversation. And now that a stationary bridge linked their school to Aurora, Danyal was a frequent guest at Nadia’s home—and Sebastian’s—so it was bound to come up.

“I have his food, his dishes, his toys, and things for him to chew,” Lee said, knowing he sounded a little more sour than he felt. “And once he settles in to his new home, he’ll be able to play with his favorite toy.”

“What is that?” Danyal asked.

“People.”

Danyal laughed. “What is his name?”

“Haven’t come up with one. My mother doesn’t name the babies that are going to be given away, because she says the names should be chosen by the new families.”

“That makes sense. So you have no thoughts?”

“One.” Lee leaned close to the cage and said, “Featherhead.”

He regretted it as soon as his eardrums started vibrating. How could something that small be so loud?

When the keet went to the back of the cage and resumed muttering, Danyal said with a straight face, “I don’t think he likes that name.” He gave Lee a puzzled look. “If you didn’t want him, why did you take him?”

“My mother presented me with the cage and the keet and told me it was time for me to have one. My sister, along with Caitlin and Lynnea, agreed.” And a man who had lived with Landscapers his whole life didn’t argue when three of them said it was time. Especially when one of those Landscapers was a Guide of the Heart.

“Perhaps I can help you with the name,” Danyal said. “Maybe something more traditional to this part of the world?”

Lee studied the Shaman, who was also a Guide. “Thanks.”

“I was waiting for you because the Apothecary dropped these off.” Danyal picked up a small case from the woven table beside his chair.

Lee took the case and opened it.

“Try them,” Danyal said.

Slipping the dark glasses into his shirt pocket, he carefully removed the other glasses and put them on. Then he took the book Danyal held out and opened it to a random page.

“They work,” he said after a moment. “I can read again.”

“Good,” Danyal said, smiling.

Over the past few weeks, his eyesight had continued to improve, thanks to the more potent eyedrops the Apothecary had made. His eyes weren’t as good as they used to be, but he could see again. And now, after a visit to the eyeglass maker’s booth at the bazaar to have a special pair of glasses made, he could read again.

He removed the glasses and put them in their case.

“What are you going to do now?”

Lee listened to the muttering in the cage that sounded more unhappy now than bitchy. He sighed—but he also smiled because the keet was a living reminder of home and the people who loved him. “I’m going to figure out the best place for his big cage—and then I’m going to make him some toast.”