Wings of Boden (19 page)

“Girls,” Mom beckoned from above, drawing our
attention as she stood leaning against the railing of the redwood
balcony outside her bedroom. “It’s time to come in. It’s getting
late.”

It wasn’t late. With the sun just over the
treetops, I might have guessed about six or so, and dusk wasn’t
until around seven-thirty, but Mom’s paranoia seemed to convince
her it was later. No complaints from me, though, I could barely
lift my arm through the pain.

“We’ll be right in, Mom,” I called the
reassurance up to her.

Still talking about our best shots, we wiped
our feet on the door rug, and stepped onto the flagstone tiles of
the foyer as the bronze hawk gazed over us and out the upper
windows.

“Where should we put these?” Angie wanted to
know.

“I don’t know about you, but mine’s going to
my bedroom with me,” I replied while strolling across the floor. “I
might have to keep Vyn in line later.”

“Yeah, well, at least he’ll be with you.”

Sensing her mood, I stopped, turned. We stood
together by the hawk while I said, “I’m sure they’re not starting
already. They have training to do, preparations and stuff. Vyn
still has to get the light stuff ready. Don’t worry, sis, Jaydenn
can take care of himself.”

“Yeah,” she said on a sigh, gave a little eye
roll to herself. “I know. I’m being stupid. You and Vyn can keep me
company until I get so annoying you can’t take it.”

“That would never happen. C’mon, let’s go
change, my sundress is calling me.”

After we’d put the gear away in our bedrooms
and changed into our knee-length summer sundresses, we sauntered
barefoot into the kitchen for a much needed glass of tea. Dad stood
at the tall island table at the center of the room, piling up
stacks of every kind of fruit and vegetable known to angelkind.

“Hungry, Dad?” I asked, glancing at the table
as I stood watching, perplexed.

He didn’t look up, just grumbled and nodded,
continued stacking various fruits.

Okay then … Angie and I gathered up our
glasses and filled them full of ice and sweet tea, a few lemon
slices. With no room at the island table, with Dad’s food project,
we just stood and watched, sipping.

Angie asked, “Dad, don’t you have to wait for
the army before you feed them?”

Dad responded with a polite chuckle. Angie
and I exchanged looks. We could tell he had something on his mind.
Of course he did, I reminded myself. In all our playful
distractions, it seemed easy to forget. Still, we knew the team was
not there, so this amount of food was baffling. Maybe that’s how he
heals? Yeah, he’d mentioned that once, I think … Anyway.

Dad began placing the platters on a large
wooden tray.

“Do you need some help?” I asked.

“No, no, thanks girls.” He slid a glance my
way. “How many arrows did you lose?”

“Not a single one,” I replied, a little pride
seeping out.

“Good, good, keep practicing.” He lifted the
tray. “Tell your mother to join me in my den when you see her.”

“Okay,” said I … Dad turned and ambled off
through the foyer.

On the tall wood stools, Angie and I sat
sipping our tea, talking about the arrow adventures and different
shooting techniques we’d attempted. Some had worked, some had
failed, wounding many trees as the arrows whizzed by, chipping off
sprays of bark. Would we ever see the squirrels and chipmunks
again? I imagined them going back to their families, chattering
with tales of terror. Poor little guys.

Jaydenn was creeping up behind Angie,
motioning with a finger over his mouth for me to keep quiet … He
bent and snarled a sloppy kiss into her neck while she giggled,
tilting her head with a tickled smile. When Jaydenn straightened
back up, Angie spun around on her stool, batting her green emeralds
at him. She lifted a finger and curled it in a come-here motion. He
bowed to her and she placed her hands on his cheeks, pulled him
into a passionate kiss. Love, I knew. I felt a twinge of envy, yes,
but it warmed my heart to watch them so I smiled. But I couldn’t
stare so I excused myself over to the refrigerator on a search for
a snack.

Bathing in the refrigerator light, I wondered
about Vyn, until I felt my hair pulling aside and warm lips
touching the back of my bare neck. There he is. Love tingles under
my skin. I spun around, linked my arms around his neck, and covered
his luscious lips with mine. My Vyn, skipping my heart, while
prayers wandered through my thoughts,
Source, I love him so
much. Please let him know. Please help him tell me.

“Okay, girls,” Mom said on a little giggle,
drawing my clouded gaze over Vyn’s shoulder to see her strolling in
with a smile. “Maybe you two should go somewhere other than the
kitchen with that sort of thing.” Her chipper tone surprised me a
bit. And the gentle look on her face seemed to approve, so who was
I to argue. Thanks, Mom, don’t mind if I do.

“Where’s your father?”

Leaning back into Vyn, I replied, “He went to
the den with a huge pile of food, and he wants you to join him.”
Vyn’s neck tasted so warm and sweet.

“Really,” Mom said, “that much food, huh? I’d
better go check on him … girls?”

“Hmm,” I hummed while examining Vyn’s face
with my lips.

“Okay then,” Mom said something like that
before I heard her walk off.

After a few minutes of love in the kitchen,
weakness in my knees led to thoughts of the comfortable living
room. Everyone else agreed. As we were making our way out, I
wheeled around, ran back to grab a bowl of melon cubes from the
refrigerator.

Vyn and I settled on the loveseat, Angie and
Jaydenn on the couch. Discussions and giggles went around. The
subject of our target practice came up and I asked Vyn if he’d like
to shoot my bow.

“No thanks, Elle. I’m
not
shooting a
pink bow. I’d never live that down.”

Angie snickered, placed her bare feet on the
edge of the coffee table and wiggled her toes. Jaydenn draped an
arm around her on the back of the couch. She leaned her head to
Jaydenn’s chest, tucked some hair behind her ear, and squeezed her
eyes with a tender smile, relishing Jaydenn’s presence. It’s such a
beautiful thing to see my sister in love.

Jaydenn scoffed his deep-toned opinion,
“That’s right, Vyn. I wouldn’t let you live that down. I’d have to
start calling you, cupcake. I’m sure we can find you a more
appropriate weapon, a spear maybe.”

The image of Vyn in his white lab coat with a
spear in hand, well, it was a delicious thought. While gazing into
the mental picture, my mind went to his work. I reached over and
grabbed a cantaloupe cube from the bowl on the end table. “So, Vyn,
what exactly are you going to be doing in your lab anyway? You
never did tell me. Like with those glass tube thingies, beakers,
right?” I popped the cube into my mouth, folded my legs up onto the
cushions.

Vyn sighed, gave me a sidelong glance. “I
tried to, I really did, but your eyes would go off somewhere else
when I talked. Probably off to the shoe store or something.”

“That’s not true”—it was true—“I listened to
you. Just wasn’t—” I reached up and played with his hair a bit.
“But, I’m interested,
now
.” I gave him a sheepish grin.

“Okay,” said Vyn. “I already told Phil.” His
eyes went to Jaydenn. “But I haven’t told you yet. Have I,
Jay?”

“No, you haven’t. As a matter of fact, yeah,
I’m all ears, brother.”

Jaydenn interrupted Angie’s snuggling as he
scooted to the edge of the couch, elbows on knees. Angie twisted
her face into some sort of adult pout, before she leaned and
snatched the Angel’s Closet catalog off the coffee table, set it on
her lap and began sharply flipping through it.

Vyn scooched to the edge of the loveseat,
somewhat excited. “Well, first, there’s an enzyme that generates
light in some animals. It’s called luciferase enzyme. For instance,
fireflies, and some sea creatures have it too. That’s what causes
the glow, the enzyme.”

That wasn’t so hard to understand, sort of
interesting, I guess.

“An enzyme called RNA polymerase finds the
DNA decoding the Luc gene within the cell’s genome. The Luc gene
recognizes the sequence of amino acids that make up the luciferase
enzyme.”

Um, okay. The shoe store wasn’t on my mind
yet, but the fruit bowl was looking good.

“… polymerase copies the Luc gene. This is
called transcription because the RNA polymerase is transcribing the
information contained in the Luc gene.”

The melon cubes called me so I reached over
and grabbed the bowl off the end table. With my legs folded beside
me on the cushions, I set the bowl on my lap. The green melons were
all right, honeydew. Orange was better, though, cantaloupe,
sweeter. I popped one in my mouth, flavors rolling around on my
tongue while I gazed at Vyn.

“… moves to cytoplasm …”

What made melon so good, enzymes maybe?

“… produce a string of amino acids that make
up the luciferase enzyme, it’s called translation. The ribosome is
translating information into a …”

Bare feet on the edge of the coffee table,
legs tented up, Angie was flipping through the catalog on her lap,
marking pages by folding corners. She angled a sister-grin at me.
My mouth was full of melon but I attempted to give her a smile,
though it probably looked like a bunched up,
mouth-stuffed-full-of-fruit smile. She giggled, licked a finger,
and flipped another page. Whatever. This fruit is heaven. I picked
through the bowl for another cube. A strawberry! Hidden under
there, hiding from me in all its bright red glory, sorry little
juicy friend, you’re mine.

Vyn was still talking, “… must bend and fold
into a specific three dimensional …”

How long had it been since I wore those fancy
shoes? I looked at my bare feet, wiggled my toes. It was time for a
pedicure. Pink polish, maybe apricot, yeah … Ooh, apricots,
yummy
. Do we have any apricots, hmm?

“… to produce thousands of luciferase enzymes
at once. The new enzymes seek out and bind to a chemical called
…”

Jeans were comfortable, not as comfortable as
silk, but much warmer and more durable. I missed my pretty clothes,
though. I reached down and touched the edge of my dress, caressing
the fabric between my fingers. Until I realized what strawberry
juice might do to it, so I pulled my hand back, checked for a dress
stain. What do I wipe my hands on? I looked around. Nothing. So I
put my fingers in my mouth and cleaned them off with my tongue.

“… action of so many enzymes results in a
light that is bright enough to see, possibly enough to give us the
ability to fly at night. I’m working on the accelerating the
process to produce an injectable genetic mixture and create
bioluminescence for all of angelkind.”

Chewing up a sweet berry, I realized Vyn had
stopped talking, so I looked at him.

Vyn turned to me. “So, what do you think,
Ellie?”

I swallowed. “Um, that was great, sweetie.” I
wiped my mouth. “Very, um, interesting.”

Saved by Jaydenn, “That was interesting. I
have no idea what you just said, but sounds like you know your
stuff.”

Angie gave me a chewing, mocking face, stuck
her tongue out at me and made me giggle.

“Is there any fruit left, Ellie?” she
asked.

“Oh, yeah. Sorry.” I lifted off the loveseat
and handed her the bowl.

As I lowered back down, my gaze went out the
wall of windows to see the light fading, dusk setting in through
the pine trees. Reality dawning.

With a half-eaten apricot in my left hand, I
used my right on the knob of the den door. Locked. Odd. In my
curiosity, I leaned my ear to the door. But maybe they
were—absolute
eew
. At the slightest hint of that, I’d go
away fast.

“She’s doing good,” Dad’s voice. “She’s
happy, but it’s not time yet. It’s not safe.”

Were they talking about me?

“But she’s our daughter, Phil,” said Mom.
“Don’t you think she should have a say?”

Yes, Mom, I should. I gave her a smile at the
door.

“No, not yet,” Dad replied. “Listen, I saved
her once. I might not be so lucky if it happens again.”

At the sounds grinding wood, I figured he
must be turning the wall back around.

Dad added with a raised voice, “Don’t you
remember? It almost killed me.”

“Don’t say that, of course I remember.” Mom
paused. “Penelope is wonderful, and I don’t regret us taking her in
as our daughter. You know, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen
her too. Don’t you think Ellie and Angie would like to meet Penny?
They would just adore her.”

The spring squeak of Dad’s chair, he must’ve
sat. Their conversation began to run through my mind: Penelope? Who
the flap was Penny? Did they have another family? That concept
pulled at every nerve in my body, sent a bit of anger to bubble
inside.

Even as I pressed my ear a little harder to
the door, a tap on my shoulder startled a squeaky yelp from me,
sent the apricot to the floor. I turned to see Angie beaming a grin
on a “gotcha” face. We had this little scare game. And yes, my
racing pulse proved that she got me. But this wasn’t the time for
play.

“Angie, we need to talk, now,”

She looked confused. “Okay? Mom and Dad
aren’t—” A gross look squinched her face.

“No, no. I wish.”

“Eew, Ellie.”

“Just listen. Wait. Let’s go over there.” I
led her to the bronze hawk. We stood face-to-face. “Have you ever
heard of anyone named, Penelope, or Penny?”

“What? No, not that I know of.”

“Okay, okay, listen.” I tucked some hair
behind my ear. “Dad was saying that he saved this girl, Penny, and
she’s their daughter. Our sister. We have another sister.”

Her eyebrows winged up. “What are you saying,
Ellie? You must’ve misunderstood.”