chapter 66

HENRY

Henry had done one thing before leaving for Vermont.

—

Diana greeted them at the door. Parrots were in cages everywhere—on tables, under tables, on chairs, on stairs, in hallways.

“Incredible, right?” Diana said.

“These are only a fraction of the birds that are missing.” A man walked into the room with another woman.

“Lee is my son,” said Diana. “And this is Dr. Burke. These are the boys I was telling you about. Zavion and Henry.”

“I still can’t believe you stowed away in our van,” said Lee, patting Zavion on the shoulder. “Outstanding work.” He shook Henry’s hand. “And you—” he said. “Outstanding work too.”

“Thank you,” said Henry.

“You sure you don’t want to stay and work with us?”

Henry hadn’t been sure. Not at all.

“Lee is right, you know,” said Dr. Burke. “In fact, these are only a fraction of a fraction of the pets that are missing.”

Dogs flashed through Henry’s mind.

Cats too.

One cat.

“I wish I could find them all,” he said. He gripped the handle of Tiger’s cage. “But what do I do with Tiger now?”

Henry opened the cage and sat at the kitchen table with Tiger on his shoulder and tried to answer all of Diana’s questions. He tried to tell the whole story. He was pretty sure he hadn’t left anything out. When he was finished, he listened to other parrots around him.

Words and bits of phrases.

Hello.

Who is it?

Come and get it!

It’s about time.

Hello. Where were you? Hello.

Come back.

Hello. Hello. Hello.

When he was done listening to the parrots speak, Henry realized he had one more thing to add to their stories. “My friend—his cat—he had a cat,” he said. “His name is Tiger too. He’s lost—the other Tiger. Please—find this Tiger’s family. I think they’re alive. And if they’re not—I know a little girl who would love to take Tiger home.”

—

While Henry slept in the truck, he dreamed of “This Little Light of Mine” sang by a chorus of birds.