Eva squeezed her father’s hand. “It all happened so fast, but I must have climbed down to escape the fire. I was scared and needed shelter. I wasn’t thinking—”
“She hid inside a parked car!” squealed Anita.
“She totally fell asleep!” added Myra.
Eva nodded. “I feel so terrible that my parents were worried, and that everyone was looking for me. I don’t know how to make up for that.”
Rosa shook her head and rubbed Eva’s arm. Her eyes went moist. “The house can be fixed and lost possessions can be replaced. In fact, Eva, your closet was completely destroyed so you get a new wardrobe out of this.” Rosa tried to laugh, but after a long night full of maternal terror it was difficult to even smile. “We’re just so glad you’re back with us, sweetheart. Nothing else matters.”
Reiko felt herself about to cry. It was unprofessional, she knew, but Eva and Hiroki had been friends for years. Eva was the closest thing to a daughter she had ever had. She patted Rosa’s back then leaned down to give Eva a hug.
“I’ll make sure Hiro knows you’re here. He’ll want to come see you.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Tanaka. That would be nice.”
Down the hall, another family was gathered around a recovering patient.
The Coast Guard had followed the rescue beacon on the lifeboat and had rescued ten sailors. They assumed that the fishing trawler itself was lost at the bottom of the Pacific. They delivered their new passengers to Alpine Hospital where they were treated for mild hypothermia and a few minor injuries. To a man, they swore that the
Alpine Angel
had gone down in the storm with Douglas Humphries still aboard.
Hours later, at dawn, rangers in the Hudson nature reserve were shocked to spot a fishing trawler grounded in Grays Harbor.
It was the
Alpine Angel
.
Douglas Humphries was the only person onboard the ship. His head was bleeding from a gash under his hair and he complained of a severe headache. He was also borderline hypothermic after his ordeal at sea. The rescue workers had extracted him from the ship and rushed him to the hospital.
Humphries reclined in a bed much like Eva’s, propped up on the same pile of pillows. Humphries’ eldest son Philip was on his honeymoon. Humphries had insisted that he was perfectly fine after his ordeal and that Philip must not interrupt his trip. Esther was asleep in a chair, still wearing the coat she hastily pulled on over her bathrobe before her driver transported her to the hospital.
Aidan sat at his father’s side, one side of his face black and blue from his run-in with Billy Rasmussen at the library. “You hit your head pretty hard, Dad. They think you have a concussion. After you’ve had time to rest—”
“Don’t patronize me, boy. Don’t you dare patronize me!” Humphries fidgeted nervously under his sheets and picked at the tubes running into his right forearm. He looked like a caged animal. “I came to as soon as the beast threw the ship onto the beach. I looked out the wheelhouse window and I
saw
it. Perched on the bow like a hawk, but it was no bird. It was green and snarling.”
“But how is it possible? I mean, it sounds like you’re describing—”
“A dragon, yes!” Humphries cried.
Esther stirred in her chair, her eyes fluttering open.
“Go back to sleep, Mom,” said Aidan with a sympathetic smile. He turned back to his father and spoke quietly. “I know you think that’s what you saw, but Dad, there’s just no way.”
Humphries latched onto Aidan’s shoulder and squeezed it. He squeezed so hard that Aidan winced from the pain. “There were marks on the ship. Marks that could not have been made by waves or rocks. Marks that could only be made by
claws
, Aidan. Marks that could only be made by
teeth
.”
“No one saw it but you, Dad.”
Humphries released Aidan’s shoulder and sneered. “If my own son won’t believe me, I’ll just have to find proof.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
In the week after the storm, a rising number of citizens claimed to have seen the tornado that never actually existed. Crews cleared the streets of the debris produced by heavy winds and lashing rain and life in the neighboring towns of Alpine and Hudson returned to normal.
No reports surfaced of a dragon sighting.
Hiroki ground up the black leaves from the dragon tree the morning after the storm. He filled several mason jars with the ashy granules and labeled each one with masking tape: a blue mark for Billy’s jar, a yellow mark for Eva’s jar and a green mark for his.
He risked one last trip to Billy’s trailer that afternoon to drop off the jar then said his goodbyes. Billy assured him they would all see each other soon, after things calmed down and they were certain they hadn’t been seen in their dragon forms. Hiroki wasn’t so sure, but he shook Billy’s hand anyway and said he hoped it was true.
He found it difficult to return to school. Listening to his teachers drone on about subjects that had no relevance to his recent experiences was painfully boring. His mind drifted into memory of his one glorious night in the clouds. He relived every twist and turn, every dive and roll. He transported himself back to the open sea and the violent storm and relived the rescue of the fishing trawler. They now knew that the only person on board the ship during the rescue was Douglas Humphries, but he had been unconscious during the entire rescue. It seemed that Hiroki and Billy had been incredibly lucky. No one had seen them.
Then why are we being so cautious? Why are we eating the leaves every day?
Hiroki wandered the halls of his high school like a ghost, haunted by his memories of the sky and unable to focus on anything else.
Most of the photos Hiroki developed in the darkroom that week were hastily taken – random shots of random objects. His photography teacher expressed some concern that Hiroki had lost interest. He asked Hiroki if something was distracting him, if something was wrong. Hiroki could barely muster the energy to insist he was fine. As he hunched over the chemical baths or hung up his uninspired prints on the drying lines, his mind drifted to the photos of the dragon tree that his grandfather had destroyed.
I’ve still got the digital photos, grandfather. You can’t burn those.
Every thought led back to the dragon tree.
***
Billy spent the rest of his school suspension working at the timber site with William. The foreman had been quick to anger when Billy made his costly mistake on his first day of work, but he had been quick to forget the mistake when Billy proved to be highly capable and hardworking. He was impressed with the speed at which Billy worked, and with Billy’s strength. Despite being only fifteen-years-old, Billy was able to haul as much weight as any of the grown men on the site.
He ate Hiroki’s black powder every day and tried to hide his unnatural strength and speed and endurance – all the product of the dragon blood in his veins – but despite his best efforts he was still sticking out like a sore thumb.
Just a few more days and you’ll be off the site. Slow down and play it cool.
Billy’s father was every bit as impressed with Billy’s work. They ate lunch together every day, and although William never came right out and complimented his son, he demonstrated his approval by speaking to him the same way he spoke to Al: like an equal. The trio muscled down hoagies and chatted about the future. They quietly debated the prospect of starting their own submerged log salvage business. With the expertise of the older men and with Billy’s newfound work ethic, they thought they had a capable enough team to do big things.
Every time William slapped him on the back and playfully teased him about embarrassing the rest of the men, Billy was secretly thrilled. But he was also distracted by other thoughts.
It was only a matter of time before that coward Aidan and his rich father sent the men in blue to arrest him for turning Aidan’s face into a modern art masterpiece. He waited anxiously for a police car to roll out onto the hill, bubble lights flashing blue and red. But after a few days it became clear that Aidan wasn’t talking.
Billy finally relaxed and focused on his work.
The site foreman asked William how he felt about Billy staying with the lumber crew instead of returning to school. William was so impressed with his son’s transformation that he seriously considered the offer, but he ultimately decided that Billy needed to return to class if he was to have a real future. He asked the foreman not to extend the offer to Billy, and Billy soon left the site behind.
***
Eva’s parents kept her home for a full week to recover from her ordeal during the tornado. Rosa was deeply concerned that the doctors had missed an internal injury or a brain injury that Eva suffered that fateful night, and refused to let her leave the house. Eva pleaded with Salvadore to overrule her mother, but he was equally unshakable. With both parents watching her so closely, Eva was worried they would catch her eating a tablespoon of black ash every day. The task of sneaking that necessary spoonful was the only thing that saved her from utter boredom.
The top half of the house was still in ruins after Eva’s destructive change. Until the carpenters Salvadore hired could finish their restorative work, all five members of the Diaz family were forced to bunk together on the ground floor. The twins shared a yellow tent that matched the color of Eva’s dragon flesh. Salvadore and Rosa each claimed a living room couch. Eva was the only one who had a proper place to sleep. Her mother had ordered Salvadore to buy her a brand new queen size bed. He dragged the frame and mattress into the dining room, pushed their table out of the way, and turned the room into Eva’s temporary bedroom. Eva tried to protest the special treatment and insisted that her parents use the bed instead, but Salvadore wouldn’t listen.
“Your mother is right, Eva. You need a comfortable place to rest.”
Rosa showed up every afternoon with new clothes to replace Eva’s lost wardrobe. The daily deliveries brought her a small amount of relief from her boredom. But lying in bed day after day felt like serving a prison sentence.
At last, after a miserable week, Eva’s parents conferred and agreed that if there were still no signs of a hidden injury she was probably fully recovered. They informed Eva that she could go back to school the following day.
“What about track?” Eva asked, dreading the answer. “I have to start running again if I’m going to get ready for the Invitational.”
Rosa was ready to blurt out her disapproval, but Salvadore reached for his wife’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “If you feel up for it, we trust you. But please, Eva, take it slow.”
***
Taking it slow had never been more difficult.
Eva had been crawling up the walls while she was stuck in the house for a week.
Now that she had her running shoes on and felt the cold air ruffling her track uniform, all her pent up energy bubbled to the surface. As she ran through the forest course at Alpine High School, she pumped her arms and legs like she was pumping her wings again. Without even realizing how fast she was going, she pulled well ahead of her cross-country teammates.
As she rounded the final turn and bolted toward the finish line where she first saw Billy getting his face punched in, she finally noticed that she was running alone. Her coach was standing at the finish line, his stopwatch dangling from his wrist. He wasn’t expecting any of his runners to emerge from the woods so soon and was focused instead on his clipboard.
Eva forced herself to slow down, almost stumbling as she halved her speed. She looked back over her shoulder and saw her teammates approaching.
Come on, hurry up! I can only go so slow!
When the other girls finally caught up with Eva, she picked up her pace just enough to make it look like she was trying. Her coach finally looked up from his clipboard and raised his stopwatch as the other girls passed Eva by.
Eva walked the last fifty yards, clutching her side as if she was struggling with a cramp. Her teammates were all watching her, obviously suspicious of her incredible speed for most of the race and her inexplicable meltdown near the end. They whispered among themselves. Eva was in no hurry to join them and answer their inevitable questions.
Eva’s coach joined her at the finish line. “Don’t worry too much about today’s result. It takes time to come back from a layoff.”
Eva caught sight of an Alpine letterman jacket out of the corner of her eye. It was Aidan, leaning against the fence beyond the finish line and staring at her. One side of his face was still slightly bruised from his fight with Billy. He raised a hand to wave at Eva, a melancholy smile on his face.
“Eva, are you listening to me?” asked her coach.
“I am listening, sorry.”
“The Invitational is in a week. Not much time to get you back up to speed, but we’ll do what we can.”
“Thanks coach,” said Eva.
Eva looked again at the fence where Aidan had been standing. But Aidan was gone.