Cry of the Firebird

by T. M. Clark

  Mason put the flamingo down.

  ‘Come on, Minke,’ Quintin said, and he clicked his finger. ‘Come-come-come.’

  Minke ran to him and followed as he began walking towards the Cruiser. Her long legs were keeping up with him as she flapped her wings.

  Lily sat in the passenger seat, and when everybody had piled in, Quintin opened the back door for Minke.

  ‘Up, girl, up-up-up.’ Again, he clicked his fingers. But instead, she walked right up to him. He bent down and hugged her. She rubbed her neck and her head against his neck and his cheek, and made a small guttural sound in her throat. ‘I love you, too, you stupid bird. Now get in the car so you can go back to your family.’

  Minke jumped up into the back and stood inside, looking out the window and then over the back seat, giving little nuzzles to David, Maddy and Piet’s ears as they sat there.

  ‘I’ll see you at Kamfers Dam,’ Mason said.

  Quintin started the Cruiser and went to drive through the gate, but instead, he turned to Lily. ‘Isn’t it wonderful not to have to tell any security personnel where we are going or what we’re doing? We can simply drive in and out of our own house without a thought in the world.’

  ‘Pretty magical feeling. I don’t think you appreciate freedom until you lose it,’ Lily said.

  They drove to the dam, and Piet got out of the Cruiser and opened the farmer’s gates, as he had done so many months ago when Lily and Quintin had first seen the flamingos. They drove as close to the water as they could before stopping.

  ‘Everybody out,’ Quintin said.

  Piet opened the back doors. ‘Are you coming, Minke?’

  Minke had settled down at last on her mat. Seated with her legs splayed either side, she honked at him.

  Quintin went to the back and said, ‘Come on, Minke, there are relatives of yours that want to meet you.’ He clicked his fingers and immediately she got up, jumped out and ran to him.

  ‘I think she knows she’s saying goodbye,’ Lily said, taking a photo. ‘I’ve never seen her give you so many hugs in one day.’

  ‘It’s possible,’ Quentin said.

  David clicked his fingers, and Minke hugged him as well. Maddy had her turn, too, even Mason and Piet.

  Finally, it was Lily’s turn to crouch down. Without clicking her fingers, Minke ran to her, honking and making little sounds in her throat as she snuggled close, all the time caressing Lily with her head, banging it against hers and talking to her.

  ‘Time to walk to the others,’ Quentin said. He reached for Lily’s hand, and as she stood and began to walk, Minke walked between them and kept touching their hands with her head. They walked closer to the dam, and the noise of the other flamingos grew louder and louder.

  They could see the flamingos as they waded in the shallows. Thousands of birds chatted and fed. Some flew around; others glided gracefully back to the water. There was movement everywhere. The older flamingos were further back along the shoreline, but the younger creche was right at the edge of the water.

  Minke looked at her humans and then she looked at the birds which were like her. She seemed uncertain as to whether she should join the flamingos or stay with the humans.

  ‘Go, Minke,’ David said, ‘this is where I saved you from when you were little, so this is where you need to be, with your own kind.’

  Minke looked at him and then looked at Quintin. She went to Quintin for one last hug, then she walked with her strange gait, her wings flapping, towards the water and she joined the creche. She honked and talked to the other flamingos, and she swam around all the other fledglings, but because of her purple head, they could follow her clearly. She swam with the creche, and she mimicked them, quickly feeding in the water that was rich with nutrients as her instincts took over.

  A few of the fledglings the same size as her were practising flying and not quite making it. They tried again and again. She joined in with them, running on the water in the shallows and flapping her wings, and then suddenly she was airborne; she was flying.

  Maddy put her hand into Piet’s. ‘Do you think she’s going to be okay without us?’

  ‘A wise boy once told me that our imprint on her would be minimal when she went back with her kind, and I believe that he was correct. Look at her fly,’ Lily said.

  ‘She didn’t even knock into any of the others when she landed, not like those wild ones,’ Maddy said.

  Quintin laughed. ‘I think that it’s a good thing that Mason had to come out here, too, and all our camping gear could be put in his bakkie. When Piet told me to pack the camping gear so we could continue to watch her for a day or so, or until that purple on her head wears off, I thought he was crazy, but now I can see his logic. Tonight, I’m going to hear Piet’s story about the flamingos when we have a campfire, and guess what Lily brought. Marshmallows.’

  ‘Yes!’ David and Maddy said together.

  Lily looked out at Minke, who had not made any signs of coming back to them. This was their first camping trip at the dam. Quintin had wanted to make another memory, and make sure that the kids could watch Minke for as long as they liked until the purple faded. She tried to enjoy it for his sake, but she knew that just like Minke, she too would forget the people around her.

  And while Minke flew off into the sunset, Lily would take a different path.

  * * *

  Even at night, the roosting flamingos made a constant, distinctive noise. The fire’s sparks flew up into the starlight above them. David lay with his head on Quintin’s thigh, using him like a pillow, and Maddy was leaning heavily onto Lily’s arm. Every now and again she would find she had slumped downwards, and quickly right herself again, fighting sleep, trying hard not to let the night end. Lily and Quintin sat side by side, holding hands. Piet and Mason sat on the opposite side of the fire.

  Quintin smiled. ‘So, Piet, have you made up your story for the flamingos?’

  ‘I have been thinking about it for a very long time,’ Piet said, throwing a stick into the flames and watching it catch alight. ‘The San language does not have a word for the flamingo. Their wings remind me of fire at sunset, so for my story, they will be known as the firebird.’

  ‘That’s lovely,’ Lily said.

  Piet smiled. ‘So it was that on the edge of the great Kalahari, where the sand does not move with the same veracity as the central Kalahari. Here there were thorn trees that provided shade, and bush that provided cover, and grasslands where many of the animals ate food in the summer. Here it was that there was a vlei so blue that many would think that the monkey trickster god himself had made it because when you saw it from a different angle, it looked green. Many of the animals would get confused.

  ‘This confusion was caused because inside the water was a special blue-green algae that blossomed, and it was the breeding ground for the many, many small shrimp who lived in the water. Humans would not bathe in this water because of the strange fishlike creatures. Together, these algae and the shrimp made the water bitter. The animals would not drink the water, even though it was so beautiful.

  ‘Then, one day, a big, thirsty white bird that had been flying across the Kalahari for many, many hours landed in the vlei, and immediately drank the water. The big bird drank and drank, trying to quench its thirst. The impala beside the water said to the bird, “Do you not know that that water is bitter? No one drinks it.”

  ‘The big white bird said, “If our God Kaggen had made something so beautiful, why would he make it so we could not drink the water?”

  ‘Then as the animals looked on, the bird started drinking the water again. As it did so, its beak began to change from straight to curved.

  ‘“Look at your beak, get out of the water, it is melting!” the kudu cried.

  ‘The bird shook its head. “Have you not tasted the sweet algae and the shrimp? My beak can filter them from the water; they are the best-tasting food that our God Kaggen has ever made.”

  ‘And as the bird drank more water and ate mor
e food, its feathers began to glow red, and orange and pink, and a few feathers near its tail turned black as if they had been burned in a fire.

  ‘“Look at your feathers,” said the mongoose, “surely now you are burning, you are on fire.”

  ‘“Get out of the water!” the other animals cried. “If you stay in there you will surely die.”

  ‘But the bird bathed in the water, and his legs and his neck grew longer as if they were both being stretched. “Look at this beautiful place that our God Kaggen made. I can drink this water, eat the food through my new beak, and even my boring white feathers have become beautiful. I think that this is the place I have been looking for all my life. I shall stay in this vlei, and I shall make my family here. You can all drink water somewhere else, but this water is good enough for me.”

  ‘“But look at yourself, now you look like a bird on fire,” said the eland. “Run away; he is on fire!”

  ‘The bird looked at his reflection in the water and indeed he did see a bird who looked to be on fire. But the look did not scare him. He had a long neck so that he could reach the water, he had long legs so that he could stand with only his feet in the blue water if he wanted to, and he had a curved beak that he could now filter the food in the vlei with. He was not scared of the bird in the reflection.

  ‘“I am now a firebird, and after much travelling over long distances, I know this is where I belong. I have found a home all of my own. My long days of wandering across the Kalahari are over.”

  ‘The animals left the firebird in the vlei, and soon they migrated to new feeding grounds, away from where the water was green. The firebird looked at his reflection in the water often. He saw himself for what he truly was. He was different from what he had been, there were many changes about him, but he was content. He had almost everything that he needed in his life, right there in the vlei.

  ‘A giant flock of birds, like he used to be, flew over. They did not recognise him.

  ‘“We are so weary; we have flown far across the Kalahari. We are hungry and thirsty. Is that vlei any good for us to rest, firebird? May we share your roost?” they asked.

  ‘“Come and join me, my friends, you are welcome. Come down here, rest on my beautiful water, shelter in the shallows here in this vlei where you are safe. You can eat the shrimp and quench your thirst. There is enough space to share this paradise with everyone.”

  ‘The whole flock settled into the water, and soon, they all looked exactly like the firebird. They had curved beaks, white, pink, red and black feathers and long legs so that they could stand in the blue water, and feed with their long necks.

  ‘The firebird was happy. Now he had everything he wanted in life; all his needs had been met. He had a place to shelter from the predators, food to eat, water to drink, and he had a family to share it all with.

  ‘The whole flock celebrated together by dancing and head-bobbing and head-wagging. They lifted their feathers erect as they danced, and made loud honking sounds in celebration that they too could share the beautiful place they now called home with the firebird.’

  A tear splashed down from Lily’s face, and she wiped at it with a tissue. ‘That was beautiful.’

  ‘You are quite a storyteller,’ Quintin said.

  ‘Is that us in the story?’ David asked. ‘Our people, we had to come far and change, but we found a new home?’

  Piet nodded. ‘The San always tell one story with another, and until Quintin challenged me to tell a story about the flamingos, I did not have a way to express my feelings. Then I started their story. Now their story will be like the footprints in the Kalahari, there for everyone to see.’

  CHAPTER

  44

  Wiener Musikverein, Vienna, Austria, 2012

  The fresh white snow on the ground made the old city of Vienna look clean. Lily climbed out of their luxury limousine for the last of the four charity concerts that they would be attending before flying home to Kimberley.

  Quintin was standing there waiting for her, his hand outstretched. Taking her left hand in his, he made sure that she didn’t slip on the small patch of ice before the red carpet started outside the Wiener Musikverein. Lights flashed as photographers took their pictures in the hopes of one of them getting a good enough shot to put in the papers around the world for the last of the charity concerts that Quintin held.

  Lily should’ve been used to the lights and the microphones being pushed towards her face when she attended a charity event like those held here with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. There was still a dinner to attend after the show, and that was where most of the money that they raised at the event came from.

  ‘Smile, Lily,’ Quintin said softly as he squeezed her fingers.

  She plastered what she hoped was a radiant smile on her face. She wanted to scream at everyone in her immediate space to get away from her. Didn’t they realise there were more important things going on in the world? She had wanted to back out of the last event, but Quintin had reminded her that despite everything, the money they would raise tonight was also important, and they needed to attend; for now, the show must go on.

  She lifted her head and faced the crowd as best she could, even if she was crying inside. The old building was lit up with huge spotlights, and somebody had decorated it with what seemed to be a blanket of beautiful lights that danced across the front, making the grand entrance look even more impressive than usual. There was a huge Christmas tree to the left—decorated with thick ropes of tinsel, and thousands upon thousands of fairy lights twinkled on the new snow that sat on its outspread branches.

  ‘I wish the children could see that tree,’ Lily said.

  Quintin looked at the tree and then took his mobile phone from his pocket. ‘Come,’ he said as they turned around and he took a quick selfie of them outside with the tree in the background and the Wiener Musikverein behind them.

  ‘Quintin Cornelius Winters!’ one of the reporters on the outside of the barrier called. ‘Are you taking your family’s Christmas photo?’

  ‘Making a memory,’ Quintin called back.

  Lily looked at her husband. While he was wrapped in a beautiful soft wool coat, underneath was his clothing for the upcoming concert. He wore his signature leather pants that she never got tired of. Quintin still did things his way, and she loved him for that.

  ‘Let’s get in out of the cold,’ he said after they’d spent another fifteen minutes or so milling around, smiling for the photographers.

  ‘Fabulous idea,’ Lily said. Her feet and calves were feeling the strain of wearing the stiletto heels. She thought of her sensible work flats sitting in the hallway at Hacienda El Paradiso. They walked through the front door and were immediately surrounded by people greeting them. Many of them she knew, but some of them she didn’t—she should have. She stuck close to Quintin so that he could fill in names for her. Everybody seemed to be from the music world, and they were all there for a common cause—Quintin’s charity concerts. A man walked towards them, and recognising him, she smiled.

  ‘You always look stunning in your conductor’s suit, Andries,’ she said as she hugged her sister’s husband fondly.

  ‘Thank you, Lily,’ he said. ‘We’ve got a surprise for you tonight, too.’

  ‘Surprise!’ Piet said beside her.

  The kids rushed her from behind and swamped her in hugs.

  ‘Oh goodness, David, you look so debonair in that suit, and look at you, Diamond, that dress is so pretty.’ She lifted Diamond in her arms and put her other arm around David, pulling him into a tight hug. ‘I’m so happy to see you guys. Piet, oh my goodness, look at you; you’re wearing a suit.’

  ‘I am, for Quintin and you, and I got on a plane and used my passport.’ Piet touched his heart then touched Lily’s shoulder, and tears threatened in her eyes.

  ‘Happy tears?’ Piet asked.

  Lily nodded.

  Bessie and Lincoln were also there, and Bessie had never looked so radiant.

  �
��Oh goodness, you came.’

  ‘I could not let Piet look after Diamond, that is my job when you and Quintin are not around, so Quintin said we could all come and see him play. Mywee, I never imagined a place like this, ever.’ Bessie was looking everywhere, her hand covering her mouth.

  Lily embraced Bessie. ‘You will get to see even more, too, I’m sure.’

  ‘The whole family is here,’ Andries said with an edge of excitement to his voice.

  ‘How?’ She turned and there was Rose, her sister, and her children, and her father, too. ‘Rose.’ She clasped her sister tightly. ‘Thank you.’ Her niece and nephew gave her hugs, and she could see them also embracing Quintin. Her dad enfolded her in his arms.

  ‘We all flew in this morning as a surprise. Well, Quintin was in on it, but he swore me to secrecy,’ Rose said.

  ‘And we arranged for you all to sit together right in the front,’ Quintin said as he reclaimed her hand.

  Lily smiled. ‘Thank you.’

  Quintin bent his head and kissed her, and hugged the kids close between the two of them.

  ‘I can’t wait for the world to hear Quintin’s new concerto,’ Andries said. ‘It beats every composition he’s done to date. There’s such passion, depth and sadness—and so much love in it. Have you heard it?’

  ‘In bits and pieces,’ she admitted. ‘It’s been a difficult time for us lately.’

  Andries put his hand on her arm. ‘I’m sorry. Hey, any news of your flamingo coming back again? What was her name? Micky?’

  ‘Minke. And no. It’s wild now. Besides, we don’t want her pining for us. We wouldn’t recognise her now anyway; she would have all her pink feathers and be an adult,’ Lily said.

  ‘But if she’s been brought up with you, wouldn’t she want to stay?’ Andries asked.

  ‘Flamingos, even when they’re hand-reared, are flock birds, and no amount of imprinting can keep them with you. They go back to the wild—as they should,’ David said.

  ‘That explains the tone of the concerto,’ Andries said.