Flight of the Golden Harpy (8 page)

Doubts cluttered her mind as she thought about her mother’s kidnapping and death. Have I been wrong all these years? Have I lived with a false childhood illusion about harpies, and everything I believed is a lie?” she questioned. “Can all Dorians be wrong about these creatures?

Her stomach was in knots, feeling like a loved one had died. Her fondness for the harpies had been replaced with suspicion. In the foyer, she sat down on one of the stair steps.

“Are you okay, Miss Kari?” Maria asked, polishing the dining room table.

Kari looked up. “Maria, did you know my mother?”

“No. I wish I could help you, but your father hired me after her death. I never met her, but I’ve seen pictures. She was very lovely,” Maria said with melancholy.

“Yes, she was.” Wanting to take her mind off the agonizing doubts, she changed the subject. “Did you see my new vehicle?”

“The whole town saw it.” Maria smiled. “It was unloaded from a harbor barge a month ago. It’s very lavish and such a rich red color. Are you going to take it for a drive?”

“Yes. When I get dressed, I’m going to Westend. See if the place has changed.”

Maria laughed. “It’s the same, a few more stores and houses, but it still a quiet little town that will bore you to tears.”

“I’m ready for some boredom.” Kari walked upstairs and dressed. She came back down to the awaiting terrain vehicle. With the push of the starter button, the shiny vehicle rose a foot off the ground and began to hover. Her schooling on Earth had taught her to operate all types of transportation equipment as well as learn intricate technology. She was taught about everything from weapons to communicators and was capable of using or fixing any of them. It had seemed like a waste of time and education because she intended to spend her life on Dora, a planet with limited technology.

She maneuvered the vehicle down the drive and stared at the vast green meadows dotted with a bright array of flowers. The grass seeds of the meadows had been imported from Earth because Dora had no grasses before man inhabited it. Along with the grass came the cattle and other domestic animals from Earth. Even the Irish wolfhounds resting on the large front porch were originally imported. She reflected on that first dog. She was very young, but still remembered the long trip to Terrance to get her new puppy. She smiled now, recalling the disappointment of a frozen fetus in a bag. “In a few months, you’ll have your puppy,” her father had explained. “If they sent a puppy on the spaceship, it would arrive as a big dog.”

Glancing at the meadow, she thought about the devoted dog, and a tear coursed down her cheek. He had died the same year she was sent to Earth. In the night a male red dragon had jumped the high electric fence and was attacking the cattle. The wolfhound sounded the alarm and fearlessly charged the elephant-size reptile. Her beloved pet was killed defending the herd. Her father broke down and wept as he carried the dog’s large body from the pasture. It was the only time she saw her father cry.

While she traveled through the estate, her mind was flooded with childhood memories. The meadows ended, as did the last view of the house. She turned onto the dirt highway surrounded by the jungle trees and drove east. After ten miles, she came to the weathered sign and road to Westend. Small wooden homes appeared before she arrived on Main Street. A modest grocery store and other meager shops stood in the heart of town. Maria was right. The little town hadn’t changed much over the years. She came to a yellow cottage and stopped. Moss-filled trees lined the front yard, and at their base were beds of flowers. A decrepit sign reading
DR. WHITE
hung between the peeled-paint posts. She got out of the vehicle and went to the front door on a well-shaded porch, and rang the old-fashioned bell. A grizzly silver-headed man appeared. “Hello, Doc,” she said when he opened the door.

“Who are you?” he asked gruffly.

“Kari Turner.”

He rubbed his beard. “Any relation to John?”

“I’m his daughter.”

“Thought you looked familiar,” he said. “I delivered you. That was a hell of a night. Well, what do you want? If you’re selling, I ain’t buying.”

“I’m not selling anything. I need your help.”

“Well, come in.” He scowled. “I got better things to do than stand in a doorway all day.” He walked in the modest living room, and Kari followed. “I’m fixing fresh lemonade. Want some? Can’t stand that crap that comes out of those confounded machines.” He ambled toward the kitchen in the back of the cottage.

“No, thank you.”

“Kari Turner,” he mumbled. “Now I remember. Never were sick much, but didn’t a mogel get hold of you?”

“Yes,” she said. “A golden harpy saved me and brought me home.”

He raised an eyebrow. “That harpy did more than save you from the eel. That little winged guy put licing moss on your wound. Drew the poison out. Without the moss, you’d be as good as dead by the time I got to your dad’s. That was quite a discovery in the field of medicine. I did a medical research paper on the properties of licing moss. I imagine that harpy has saved scores of lives over the years.”

“My father never told me about the moss,” she said.

“I’m not surprised.” Doc chuckled. “John don’t care for those critters, and he ain’t about to give one credit for anything.”

“He blames a harpy for my mother’s death.”

“Yes, that was a real tragedy. Losing his wife made John plenty bitter,” he said, pouring a glass of lemonade. “And your mom was a real looker, prettiest thing I’d ever seen. Say, you look a lot like her. So what’s your deal? Don’t look sick or hurt.”

“I’m having trouble sleeping.”

“Walking the floors, huh? You’re too young to have problems.”

“No, I fall asleep fine,” she said. “I just have vivid dreams, and they wake me up.”

Doc stared at her. “Can’t help you.”

“You must have something to help me sleep through the night.”

“I do, but I’m not giving a heavy sedative to a young, healthy woman. That’s what it’d take to stop a dream. You don’t need or want that kind of drug. Everyone has bad dreams occasionally. They’ll pass. Wish I could dream more often,” he said, walking toward the back door. “Let yourself out. I gotta get back to my garden. The rainy season will be here before you know it.”

Kari watched him stroll to the backyard. She walked through the small cottage, noticing a small bedroom converted into a hospital room. Old medical equipment surrounded a single bed. On the porch, she glanced up and down the street, her mind on the unsolved problem. What if Dad discovers the nature of my dreams? He would kill Shail. When she approached her vehicle, she saw a skinny young woman hurrying toward her.

“Kari!” the woman called. “I saw your vehicle at Doc’s and was waiting for you to come out. How are you, and how was Earth?”

Kari recognized her old schoolmate. “Hello, Carol. It’s nice to see you,” she fibbed. She remembered how Carol chattered endlessly about nothing and bored Kari to tears.

“Now, you must tell me everything about Earth,” Carol began, fluffing her bobbed hair. “I’m so jealous. I wish my parents had the credits to send me. They could have at least sent me to school in Hampton, but they want me to help them with a new store—clothing, of course. I was sick of the grocery store. You have to come in, and I’ll show you what we have in stock. What am I talking about? You just came from Earth. I bet your closets are full of the latest fashions. Oh, you must let me come over, so I can see them. It will help me with my orders, and…”

Kari listened politely, fighting the desire to flee, and Carol rambled on and on, asking questions, but not waiting for the answers. Kari realized the people of Westend had also remained the same. Carol paused slightly to catch her breath, allowing Kari to break in. “We must discuss all this sometime,” Kari said, “but I have to go.”

“You’re not sick, are you?” Carol asked. “I hope you’re not using Doc. He’s not altogether there, if you know what I mean, and so rude. I wouldn’t go to him if I were dying. You should go to Terrance. That’s where we all go. They have a great hospital. Paul went—”

Kari cut in. “I really have to go, Carol.”

“Let’s get together tomorrow night,” Carol said excitedly. “We’re having a cookout on the beach. Some of the other girls from school will be there. You could tell us all about Earth. I want you to meet my boyfriend, Jake. He and his buddies went hunting and fishing on the islands. They usually cook what they bring back. It’s so much fun. And I have just the guy for you. He’s single and real cute. Please say you’ll come.”

Kari sighed with the thought of an evening with Carol, but maybe the others would be fun. “It sounds great. What time?”

“Around six,” Carol said. “It’s the last dock after the harbor, right by the old shack. You remember the shack?”

“Yes, I know where it is,” Kari said, slinking into her vehicle. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She waved to Carol and drove down the main street. What in the world was I thinking? The quiet of the vehicle consoled her. She wondered if any of her old schoolmates also had harpy encounters. They were her age. Perhaps she could learn from those girls. If not, she would enjoy seeing the west coast again.

Kari left the town and drove west toward the estate. She brought the vehicle to a stop in front of an overgrown trail. It was the old logging road that ran parallel to the back of her home and passed the small lake. The hover vehicle idled as she stared with indecision. Of all the places on Dora, the lake held her most cherished memory and now her worst fears. She closed her eyes and envisioned the golden male’s deep blue eyes and cascading blond locks. “I have to go and confront this spell he has over me.”

Despite the warnings, she turned the vehicle onto the ancient road. Not used for years, the road had huge ferns growing in the center. Kari adjusted the height of the terrain vehicle to the full capacity of four feet, clearing the foliage. The vehicle glided over fallen tree trunks, victims of great storms that came in the wet season. Large bushes and young trees encroached upon the narrow path. The jungle was reclaiming the man-made corridor. After several miles, she came to a massive uprooted tree. Resting on its side, the tree created an impassable obstacle, the tall limbs stretched upward.

Kari killed the vehicle engines. She got out and surveyed the tree. There was no way around it. She knew the lake had to be near. Traveling on foot, she would reach the lake but be on the opposite side from her childhood visits, and she’d be under the trisom trees. She closed the vehicle door and took a few steps into the dense forest, but stopped. Returning to the vehicle, she took the laser gun from the compartment. “For the wild animals,” she said, tucking the gun into her belt. She shuddered with a rush of anxiety, realizing the gun was needed against an abducting harpy.

Kari crept deep into the forest, stepping quietly as she moved between the shadows on the jungle floor. Small flying lizards leaped from branch to branch in front of her as she roused hidden insects. Pushing some blue ferns aside, she jumped back. Massive purple vines grew on the trees and encroached on the path. The vines looked harmless, but the carnivorous foliage could take down large prey. Detecting a victim, several tentacle branches rose from the ground and reached toward her. She sidestepped the vines and proceeded more cautiously. She passed some white-barked trees and stopped to observe a flock of brightly colored mockingbirds.

“Aren’t you guys cute?” she said.

“Aren’t you guys cute?” several mocked, holding trisom fruit.

Kari grinned and moved on, hearing the growing choirs of, “Aren’t you guys cute?” The birds would repeat this all day until they heard something else of interest. Seeing the fruit in the birds’ arms told her the grove and lake must be near. She passed several trisom saplings growing in low, wet soil, further evidence she was on the right trail.

Finally she saw the towering trees that bordered the edge of the lake. Although late in the season, a few branches still held the sweet yellow fruit. She walked beneath trisom trees and stared across the lake at the beach. Beyond the beach and under the blue ferns, the harpy had held her and treated her injury. “Oh, Shail, I don’t know if you’re dangerous,” she murmured, “but God, I miss you.” She glanced upward toward the empty branches, no animals. She sat down on a boulder in the shade of the swaying trees, and relished a strong breeze blowing across the water.

Time passed, and the late morning drifted into the afternoon. Kari found it hard to leave the place. Her spirit was renewed, and as Charlie had said, the jungle was healing. Glancing at the time, she rose, considering the long, hot hike ahead. Scattered fruit lay on the ground, and she picked up the undamaged ones, deciding Maria could make a tasty pie. Placing them in the front of her shirt, she reached for the last one.

Although she heard nothing, Kari suddenly sensed a presence behind her. She whirled around and saw a brown harpy several feet away. Started, she jumped, releasing the collected fruit. One of the yellow balls rolled to his feet. Kari now recognized the harpy as the same one who scared the grogins away on the road outside of Terrance. He had traveled several hundred miles, and this wasn’t a coincidental meeting. She jerked the laser gun from her belt and pointed it at him. “What do you want?”

Her weapon didn’t frighten him away, and the harpy stood quietly. Though scared, she couldn’t help admiring the tall, handsome creature. He flung his lengthy hair and made a sniffling sound with his nose, then stared across the lake toward the beach, the same beach where she met Shail.

“Are you going to take me?” Kari asked.

He slightly shook his head. His silent voice entered her mind, “You are his. Go to him.”

“I am not his,” Kari said out loud.

The harpy reached down, picking up the trisom fruit at his feet, and walked toward her. She saw the anguish in his green eyes and knew he wouldn’t harm her. She lowered the weapon and took the fruit from his extended hand.

“Shail needs you,” he relayed mentally.

Kari was mystified and totally perplexed by the harpy. She watched him raise his wings, and with one leap, he was airborne. He flew across the lake and vanished into the trees. She dropped the trisom fruit and staggered to the boulder, slowly sitting down. Her hands were shaking and her heart raced, as though she had stepped off a fast thrill ride, experiencing a mix of fear and joy. She dwelled on the harpy’s words, though they were few. If Shail needs me, why didn’t he come? She put her hand over her mouth, realizing her weapon was useless against a harpy. Like with Charlie, they instinctively knew she wouldn’t harm them. If Shail had come, would he have taken her?