by Bev Prescott
“Anything.”
“Please make sure that the pictures of my family hanging on the wall by the staircase get safely out of the house.”
“You bet.” Sally turned to Zoe. “Don’t let anything happen to you or my girl.” She hugged her too. “Now get going. We need to get to work like we did in ’47. There’s a whole lot to be saved.”
“Don’t you want to see your father before we go?” Zoe asked Alex. “We might not be able to come back this way.”
“I can’t.” Alex battled over whether to see him or not. She desperately tried to hang onto the feeling of numbness that had come over her earlier, which was better than the alternative. Her anxiety seemed to have gone quiet. “I’m afraid if see him right now, I might come apart.”
“Okay.” Zoe turned to Sally. “I’ll have my cell phone with me. Assuming the towers don’t go out, I’ll try to call. Or you call me.”
Alex took a last look at the camp. In the chaos and frenzy, she saw everything that had ever been good about it. Glasgow would never be the same without the camp, and neither would she or Daniel. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to end. For all the bad things that had happened, the camp was a magic place that she loved from the bottom of her heart. Zoe was right. She’d lost too much time staying away, time she couldn’t have back.
Alex turned to Sally. “Please tell my father I love him, and I’ll see him in a little while.”
Chapter 33
Alex pointed the boat in the direction of the island. Her heart broke when she thought about Dac. He’d yet to learn how to fly. With the fires closing in, his hours were numbered. She wept for him. Like Jake, he would die before he ever really learned to live.
The wind drew the fires further into the town. The fires also kicked up the winds. The lake churned into froth as the boat bounced toward the back side of the island.
Dac stood alone at the edge of the nest and cried. He flapped his wings wildly. A gust caught him and threw him back into the nest. He tumbled over, flailing.
“Where do think the parents have gone?” Alex asked.
“They may have decided to cut their losses and leave with Terry. The winds are bringing the fires closer.”
Alex looked toward shore. There were no more people coming and going from the camp. “James must’ve left with my father and Sally by now.”
“They’re going to be okay. How about you?”
“I don’t know how I feel.” Alex landed the boat on a small swath of sand on the island. “Are you sure it’s safe to climb the tree?”
“It isn’t,” Zoe said. “And as much as it hurts to leave Dac up there, things have changed for me.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t want to take the chance. I’m not going up there. The winds are too heavy.”
“I’m so relieved, but has being around me made you afraid?”
“No. It’s made me know exactly what I want, and I’m making the choice.” Zoe embraced her. “I don’t know what’s going to happen to your family’s camp or to Dac. I told you last night that I love you. When you didn’t respond, I figured I had to let you go. I can’t, not unless you tell me to my face that’s what you want. Life is precious and can be gone in an instant. I don’t want to have to live with doubt about whether I tried hard enough to get you to hear me.” Zoe took her hands. “I love you. I want to be around for you, however things turn out. If you’ll stay.”
Alex laid her head on Zoe’s shoulder. She felt like Dac. Not sure how to fly or brave enough to try as the world around her burned. She had Zoe. That made the difference. He was alone.
Dac cried.
Alex looked up and saw him standing on the edge of the nest. He flapped his wings wildly.
“Don’t give up, Dac,” Zoe yelled. “Trust your wings.”
He tumbled again and struggled to claw his way back to the edge of the nest. He spread his wings in the smoke-filled wind and screeched. He clearly wanted to live.
“Please, just let go. You can do it,” Alex said to herself as much as to him. “Step into the wind and fly.”
Zoe urged him on. “Come on, buddy, it’s all you. Don’t be afraid. Let go and fly.”
An eagle’s cry came from behind them. A dark speck emerged from the smoke. Terry. He circled the island and called to his brother.
Dac stood on the edge of the nest with his wings spread wide. Several gusts lifted him and slammed him back into the nest. Each time, he climbed back to the edge. He craned his head in the direction of his sibling, who continued calling to him. He spread his wings and stepped from the edge.
A gust lifted him high above the nest tree. He wavered and fell. Suddenly he flapped hard and gained altitude. He soared higher toward his brother. They circled around the island together and flew off into the distance.
Tears spilled from Alex’s eyes, taking the hurt, anger, and fear with them. “He did it. He just let go. That’s all he had to do to fly.”
Zoe hugged her. “We have to go. Embers are falling on the lake now.”
“Let’s go to the chestnut tree.” Alex turned the key in the ignition and backed the boat off the island. She glanced toward shore. One of the bunkhouses was on fire, and the camp was deserted. She wondered why, as her world came undone, it felt like the beginning. She looked at Zoe and turned her eyes away from the camp. She’d never see it again.
Alex sat huddled with Zoe under the safety of the chestnut tree. She could no longer see it, but she knew from the smoke and repeated sounds of explosions rocking the night that everything her family had created was burning to the ground.
“You’ve lost so much tonight,” Zoe said.
Alex breathed in deeply and let her breath out slowly. “Out west, there’s a tree called the jack pine. Do you know of it?”
“I do. Its cones won’t release seeds unless they’re exposed to extreme heat.”
“That’s the one. It takes a wildfire to destroy everything for the jack pine to survive.” Alex folded her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. “I always wondered whether I needed for my parents and the camp to finally be out of my life for good in order to be happy. Did moving on from Jake’s death require extinguishing everything that made me sad or afraid?”
“Do you know the answer now?” Zoe asked.
“I do. I won’t be happy simply because the bad memories are gone. The truth is, they’ll always be part of my life. My history can’t be erased. History never can be, no matter how hard we try to bury it. It is what it is. You and Dac taught me the answer to living happy and free in spite of my past. Now that my mother’s gone, I have only one wish for her. I’m hoping she’s in Heaven, finally free of her burdens, holding my brother in her arms.”
Zoe brushed the hair away from her eyes. “What did you learn?”
“To be brave enough to let go, step into the wind, and fly. It’s funny. I never imagined that I’d ever be able to forgive my father. Or James, for that matter. I still don’t know exactly what it means to forgive. But it does feel so much lighter to let it all go. To leave it behind, like Dac left the nest behind to live his life. That’s what I intend to do by staying in Glasgow.”
“You’re staying!” Zoe kissed her cheek.
“I love you, Zoe. And I love Maine. I always have and always will. What I learned from James tonight is that he was a victim of bullying too. I want to help my father rebuild the camp and change the course of it. I want to help kids learn a different way of living where there are no bullies. I want to teach them what Dac taught me. To be brave enough to embrace life no matter the circumstance or outcome.” Alex squeezed Zoe’s hand. “And I want a life with you.”
“Somewhere out there,” Zoe said, “our Dac has a smile in his heart almost as big as mine.” She cupped Alex’s face in her hands. “I will love you for the rest of my life.”
“I’m going to hold you to that. Will you fly with me?”
“Wherever the winds take us.”
&n
bsp; Author Bev Prescott
About the Author
Bev Prescott shares her life with her beautiful partner of 23 years and their clever calico cat, Lilliput. They live at the edge of a meadow in New England.
When Bev isn’t working as an environmental attorney, or writing stories about everyday lesbian heroines who make a difference, she’s picking berries or flowers from the meadow, hiking in the woods or playing on the water.
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