chapter 54

HENRY

After the trivia game, which Henry won hands down, everyone drifted off to sleep. But Henry couldn’t. He wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t because he was in a new house. It wasn’t because he was without Brae, although he missed him something fierce. And it wasn’t because of the new breathing all around him, a chorus of inhale and exhale, inhale and exhale. That was music to his ears.

So was the lone voice he had heard earlier, coming from the kitchen.

—

Henry hummed the song now. If Zavion could be brave and sing, maybe he could too. He opened his mouth. Took a deep breath. As he held it, he listened again to the in and out, up and down, steady and powerful life all around him. He closed his mouth again. He didn’t want to ruin all that beautiful music.

—

He climbed up the ladder leaning against the house and pulled himself onto the low roof. The sky was clear and the moon was bright. He could see the whole block from where he sat, identical ranch houses with fenced-in backyards.

“What are you doing up there?”

Henry looked down to see Osprey staring at him, her eyes shining in the dark night.

“Just wanted to climb, I guess.”

“Can I climb too?” Osprey put her bare foot on the bottom rung of the ladder.

“Shoot. Hold on.” Henry inched his way to the edge of the roof and jumped down. “Okay, you go first and I’ll follow you.” Osprey’s legs moved slowly up the ladder. When she got to the top rung, Henry squeezed around her onto the roof and then grabbed her hands and guided her up. She had the leash wrapped around her wrist.

“You’re making me nervous,” said Henry. “Sit down, okay?”

“Why’d you come up here?” said Osprey. She squatted next to Henry.

“I dunno. I couldn’t go to sleep.”

“Me too.”

Henry lay back so his head was resting on the roof. Osprey lay down too. A cloud passed in front of the moon, darkening the sky for an instant, like a big eye blinking shut, and Osprey almost disappeared. Then the eye opened again and Osprey came back into view.

“I feel big up here,” said Osprey. She wiggled her head up onto Henry’s chest, right under his chin. Her hair was spongy and soft. “This is so much better than being inside. Don’t you think so, Henry?”

“Yup.”

Osprey pointed her finger into the sky and then jammed it into Henry’s rib. “Are you going home soon?”

“Owww—yeah, I guess.” Henry rubbed his side and Osprey grabbed his hand. He couldn’t believe it, but he was going to miss this kid. “I’ll send you a picture of Brae,” he said.

“Who’s Brae? An animal?”

“Yup.”

“A pig?”

“Nope.”

“A sheep?”

“Nope.”

“A cow?”

“Yup.”

“A cow?!”

“Yup. Part cow.”

“Part cow?!”

“Yup. And part dog.”

“A cow-dog?” said Osprey, her eyes getting wide.

“Yup.”

“I never heard of a cow-dog.”

“Oh, they’re very rare. You only find them in Vermont.”

Osprey clapped her hands. She unwrapped the leash from around her wrist. “You can put this on Brae, okay? It should go on a real dog. A real cow-dog.”

Henry took the leash. It was warm from being in Osprey’s hand. “Thank you, Falcon,” he said.

Falcon.

The PBS special!

Peregrine falcon!

And the red-breasted goose!

“You want to hear something?” said Henry.

“Yes,” said Osprey.

“In the Siberian tundra, the arctic fox is always hungry. They want to eat the red-breasted geese that live there.”

“Poor geese,” said Osprey.

“Yup. But the peregrine falcons take care of the geese. The falcons know how to fight the fox.”

“I like the falcons!”

“Me too. You want to hear something else?”

“Yes.”

“The geese take care of the falcons too. I just remembered that. The geese make a great loud alarm call that warns the falcons when the fox is approaching.”

“Oh! I like the geese!”

“Me too,” said Henry. “I like the way they work together. It’s kind of like…magic.”

“Like a magic!” said Osprey.

A magic.

Henry liked that.

“Zavion has a magic,” said Osprey.

“He does? What is it?”

“It’s a secret.”

A secret.

Henry knew about secrets.

But a secret that was a magic?

“Maybe my leash is a magic, Henry,” said Osprey.

“I bet it is,” said Henry. He gripped the leash. “I’ll take a picture of Brae wearing this and send it to you.”

And then he had a flash of an idea. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the tiny wooden car from the Salvation Army. He had almost forgotten he had it. “This is from Vermont,” he said. “It’s for you.”

And he knew, with certainty, that it was.

“And maybe this is a magic too!” squealed Osprey.

She took the little car and then leaned back again on Henry’s chest. She ran the car up and down his arm. “This is where you live,” she said, placing the car on Henry’s wrist. “And this is where I live,” she said, driving it along his arm to his shoulder.

“Not too far,” he said.

“Nope.”

Henry stared into the sky and the moon stared back at him, watched him as he looked down at Osprey, who closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around him. As he rested his chin on Osprey’s head, he felt that tugging feeling again. He imagined that the peregrine falcon and the red-breasted goose felt it tug between them too. It was a funny feeling. Funny, but good. A rooted kind of feeling, pulling him to the ground, even though he was up in the sky.