Fliers

by Laura Mae

  The tent went dead silent; Sydona buried her face in her hands.

  “That’s why we do as they say,” Ian said to the ground.

  “I don’t mean to interrupt, Syd, but we better go,” Raoul said as he peeked out of the tent.

  They all gave each other one last big hug and a peck on the cheek, and Sydona snuck out of tent five. Hiding behind the rows of tents, she strategically made her way back to her own where Maverick sat in his usual position reading a different book.

  “Where you been?” He looked up at her over his rims.

  “I found my parents,” she grinned, really loving saying the words.

  “Oh, good for you.” He grinned back.

  Sydona slumped down on her cot, and Raoul joined her.

  “I have an idea.” Sydona messed with her fingernails.

  “Oh?” Raoul asked.

  “I need to get to that intercom,” she said seriously.

  “How are you going to do that? There are guards everywhere.” Raoul threw his hands up. Sydona smiled down at him with raised eyebrows.

  “No no no no… I’ll get caught!” Raoul said angrily.

  Sydona shook her head. “You’re fast, Raoul. Faster than any other fairies back home.”

  He blushed and sighed heavily. “What do you need me to do?”

  “Just keep track of the guards. See if they run on a schedule, when, and what time. And of course, find out where they make announcements from.”

  “Yeah, that doesn’t seem so bad. I’ll just have to stay hidden,” Raoul agreed with a surprised face.

  “Exactly. And then just come back to me and let me know what you find out. And take your time. I don’t need to know right away. Less chance of you getting caught if you study their behavior first.”

  “Hey!” A guard parted the entrance with a rifle and poked his head in. “This is your first warning. Don’t make me come in here again!” he barked, then left.

  Sydona panicked and looked for Raoul who disappeared from the bed.

  “Raoul!” she whispered and got on her knees to look lower. From the corner of her eye, she saw the flutter of a red wing. Raoul winked at her and she laughed. “Yeah, I’m not worried about you at all.”

  Getting up from the grass, she sat back on her bed and sighed. “We need to find a way to communicate without talking.”

  Maverick laughed under his breath.

  “What?” Sydona said shortly.

  “Nothing. I just admire your drive. I remember when I had that.”

  Sydona rolled her eyes and lay back down on her bed. She thought she had a pretty good idea, considering she had a secret weapon that no other flier had. Raoul and Sydona went through so much together, and she would trust him with her life just as he trusted her with his. She wondered what Silas and Giovonna were up to. She wanted to tell them her plan, and maybe they would have their own ideas. If she skipped the next meal, she could sneak to their tent in the crowd and be there when they got back.

  As the bell rang for the end of lunch, the time came for her to sneak away. Maverick gave her a discerning gaze over the rim of his glasses as she walked out, and she scoffed at his attitude. She slipped into the crowd with Raoul in her giant pocket and right into tent 56. The first thing she noticed was a book sitting on a makeshift cardboard table called War and Peace . Was it already there a couple days ago, or did they somehow smuggle it in? Either way, she thought it was an interesting book considering where they were.

  As she pondered the book, Silas entered the tent alone and jumped back at her presence. They exchanged a few darted looks and awkward smiles. Sydona sat on one cot while Silas sat on the other, and they waited for Giovonna. It wasn’t long before Giovonna entered the tent and squeezed Sydona so hard she let out a noise.

  “What are you doing here?” Giovonna whispered, and Raoul flew out of Sydona’s pocket. Her face lit up even brighter. “And Raoul is here, too? Just like old times.”

  “I missed you guys,” Sydona took Giovonna’s hands and swayed them back and forth. “Aaand I think I have a plan.”

  “Really?” Silas asked curiously with his arms folded.

  “Raoul is going to study the guards’ behaviors, schedule, if any, and where the intercom they use for announcements is. I think it could be the most effective way to get everyone together. If we could trick them and get into the building undetected, that might be enough to give everyone the confidence they’ve been missing.”

  They nodded, and Giovonna looked at Raoul. “You’re good with this?”

  Raoul nodded with a smile but then turned his head quickly and shushed the group. He flew over to the entrance and poked his head out to see a guard walking down the aisles, listening for voices. He stuck out his hand as a stop sign and waited for him to walk past before putting his arm down.

  “We gotta find a way to talk without talking. And I feel paper is a limited supply.” Sydona flopped down on Giovonna’s bed. The group started thinking of ways they could effectively communicate when Silas spoke up.

  “I know sign language.”

  “What, really?” Sydona smirked.

  “I didn’t know that,” Giovonna said.

  “Well, there’s a lot you don’t know about me. For example, did you know I can juggle, snowboard; play guitar, trumpet, piano and violin; and I’m considered a doctor in four countries?”

  “No you’re not,” Sydona said smugly.

  “Alright, well the last one isn’t true, but I do know sign language. My brother is deaf... was deaf,” Silas corrected himself.

  Silence overcame the tent. She wondered how long it had been since he saw his brother.

  “What’s his name?” Sydona asked softly.

  “Raymond,” he answered with hesitance. He couldn’t look either one of them in the eyes, reeling over the guilt of leaving him behind.

  “What happened to him?” Giovonna asked.

  Sydona shook her head at Giovonna, signaling that it was not a good topic of discussion.

  “Do you think you could teach us?” Sydona chimed in, changing the subject.

  Silas’s smiled returned. “Of course.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  The three spent the rest of the afternoon following Silas’s hand motions and learning basic things like the alphabet and words they thought would be used the most. Raoul stood by the entrance and shushed them any time he heard a guard walking down the rows. Sydona quickly realized that the guards wouldn’t really on check on them if there wasn’t noise. This lax policy made her worry that they didn’t have a set schedule and would make things trickier for them. She supposed they didn’t really care as long as no one tried to escape or speak to one another.

  Once dinner was announced, Silas and Giovonna convinced Sydona to eat since she skipped lunch, but she mainly went for the possibility of sitting with her parents. They were all able to sit by each other in the crowded, quiet tent. Sydona sat between her parents, and Silas and Giovonna sat across from them. They decided not to show off any sign language in public to avoid getting caught. She imagined they might cut off fingers or something to prevent it from spreading just like they separated people who got caught talking. It surprised Sydona that they didn’t do more to prevent talking.

  As she sat across from Silas, she occasionally felt his feet messing with hers. He kept nudging her leg with his foot and looking up at her, waiting for a reaction. In response, Sydona would gently kick back and mouth ‘Stop’. He would silently laugh, causing her to suppress a laugh as well. The group, as well as strangers, stared at them during this playfulness. Her face turned red, and she stopped as she realized how many people were staring.

  She hated to admit to herself that the food was growing on her since it was the only steady meal that she had since she left her house. Occasionally, she would close her eyes as she guided the fork up to her mouth, picturing eating cake or a big stalk of broccoli. It helped a little bit but was ruined as soon as she had to open her eyes again.


  Once dinner ended, they shuffled back into the crowd and then the individual tents, and Sydona decided to go back to her own for practice. She gave everyone big hugs and pecked her mom and dad on their cheeks. Every time she hugged them, her heart felt three sizes bigger, and she had to fight with herself to let them go.

  She sighed with relief as she made it back to her tent and found it empty. Maybe she could get a little practice in with Raoul helping her remember certain words. Not long after, Maverick waltzed in and landed on his cot with a squeak, and Sydona dropped her hands into her lap.

  “What was that?” Maverick asked bluntly.

  “What?”

  “What were you doin’ with your hands?” Maverick pressed.

  “Nothing--just itching them.”

  “Was that sign language?” he asked with a bounce in his voice.

  Sydona immediately shushed him, afraid of a guard overhearing.

  “That’s incredible! Why have I never thought of that?” Maverick sat up and removed his glasses with a look of pure joy plastered across his face. It was by far the most emotion Sydona had yet to see from him, and it took her back a little bit.

  “Well, do you actually know it?” she asked.

  “No. Could you teach me?” he pleaded.

  “I’m learning from a friend of mine, from tent 56,” she said trying not to smile at his behavior.

  Maverick nodded and returned his bifocals.

  “Once I learn more, I can try to teach you. But you can’t do any of it in front of security, okay?” Sydona stuck her hand out.

  He shook her hand.

  “Lesson one. This is a handshake,” she teased.

  They all did their best to practice what little they knew from only an hour or so of lessons from Silas and worked up until the frogs in the stream were almost deafening. The night was much warmer than usual, allowing her to ditch the blanket and sleep peacefully while falling asleep to the sounds of nature.

  The next day was a trial run for Raoul to do security checks and see what he could find out by visiting the cabin. As soon as he woke up, he stretched, did some lunges, jumping jacks, and stretched his wings out as far as they would go. After a quick hug on her forearm, Raoul gave her a stiff salute and flew out of the hole in the tent. She bit her nails subconsciously as he headed out, nervous about what he would go through.

  The announcements rang out once again like clockwork. Going to meals wasn’t such a drag anymore because she knew she would see her parents and friends each time. Once breakfast ended, she parted ways with Ian and Evelyn and followed her friends back to tent 56.

  Silas reviewed the alphabet, and both girls did well remembering so he moved on to actual words. Such as ‘meeting’ ‘cabin’ ‘office’ ‘guards’ ‘tent’ then moved to ‘beautiful’ ‘stunning’ ‘charming’. Once Sydona got the hint on what he was doing, she blushed and made him stop. Raoul wasn’t their lookout this time, so they had to be careful about how much sound they made. If they did take a break to talk, they had to whisper extremely low, and every sound made them cease conversation immediately.

  They practiced for several hours, and the tent became hot. For some reason, Silas was growing on Sydona, and she didn’t want him to notice her sweating. She craved a hot shower with her waterfall shower head and favorite tropical body wash.

  Then, the bell for lunch rang. It surprised her to learn they were at it for almost a solid five hours. They waited until the crowd gathered in front of the tent, so Sydona could sneak out without notice. Lunch came and went, and Sydona decided it would be better to head back to her tent to practice. She considered herself lucky for not being caught after staying and whispering in their tent for so long.

  The five got ready to hug and return to their tents when Sydona heard a loud truck. Something about the loudness of this vehicle struck a familiar chord with her, and she searched for it curiously. The truck drove to the front of the main cabin, about thirty feet away from where she, Giovonna, and Silas stood. Both the girls’ eyes turned green at the sight of the man who slinked out of the vehicle. Harold. The folks going back to their tents were walking in between them and Harold, but all Sydona could see was his wrinkly, dirty face.

  Harold caught Sydona’s eye as he exited the truck. “What in the hell are you doin’ here?”

  Sydona narrowed her eyes at him, remembering the bounty hunters he sent after them.

  “Y’all are lucky I found them in time. Peter was in serious pain. And I noticed the arrow stickin’ out his shoulder. Willow’s. She bring you here?”

  Sydona stood her ground and pursed her lips at the mention of Willow.

  Harold chuckled as he tried to put things together. Sydona could see the wheels turning in his tiny head. “Lemme get this straight. Y’all injure and tie up my guys for trying to bring you here, but then, here you are… That just don’t make sense.”

  Sydona darted her eyes, surprised at his quick thinking. She justified it by not knowing them, and they could’ve killed her at any second.

  “N-Hey wait a minute,” Harold changed the subject as he looked over the group. “Are you--are you Evey’s daughter? Sonna bitch. That woulda been good money.” He stomped his foot.

  Sydona looked over at her mother with confusion. “Evey? And what are you talking about?”

  “She does speak!” Harold chuckled. “And what you mean, what am I talkin’ about? If I coulda guessed, I would say you dumber than me, and that’s sayin’ somethin’!”

  Silas challenged him by stepping forward, warning Harold with his sparkling green eyes.

  “And just who in the hell are you, bub?” Harold puffed his chest out and threatened him by putting his hand on the gun resting at his belt.

  Silas stayed quiet but kept a smouldering look.

  “Is this your boyfriend or somethin’?” Harold asked and looked at Sydona for some sort of reaction. But all Sydona did was lift her chin up and glare at him with more anger, hoping it would be enough to get him to leave.

  “Well, isn’t this adorable! Did you meet him here? They must be way more lenient on y’all than I thought.” He laughed. The scene attracted a crowd of guards and fliers alike.

  “Well, this should teach ya where you stand here.” Harold wound up a clenched fist and socked Silas in his jaw, making him fall to the hard ground. Sydona refused to react because she knew that was all he wanted. As much as she wanted to take his gun and pull the trigger right between his ears, she settled with digging her fingernails into her palm. Harold gave a less than satisfied look once Silas hit the ground and saw no reaction from Sydona. Making a huffing noise and a sniff, he shook his hand, stretched it, and shook it again.

  “Harold! My good man, come inside, out of this heat!” Dr. Malik walked out onto the porch of the cabin wearing a white polo and black dress pants, oblivious to what just happened.

  Harold looked back to him with a grin and a nod, then turned back to Sydona quickly.

  “Oh, and by the way. I sent Meg and her group after y’all ‘cause her boy needs a heart transplant, and I told her how to find ya. Now, I dunno if he’ll live. But congratulations…” He stepped back, spread his arms out wide, and turned his body to look around the camp with a false pride. “I guess you won.”

  Harold then turned around to Dr. Malik and greeted him like an old friend.

  Was he serious? The hunters did mention someone named Nathan, but she had no idea it was a little boy. Her stomach did somersaults thinking of a boy in a hospital bed, looking for his mother. Maybe Harold wasn’t as bad of a guy as she originally thought. But did it truly justify hunting them for a bounty?

  Once the men left the scene, Sydona immediately joined Silas on the ground. Blood covered his scruffy face. She did her best to help wipe it off before they were jabbed in the back with guns. Wanting to comfort him in some way and thank him for standing up for her, she squeezed his hand as she helped him up. Silas understood as he squeezed back and glanced at her with a smile. The glance mad
e her feel warm inside, and she held his hand as long as she could. She wanted to follow them and help him with his hurt lip, but she knew it was probably in her best interest to go back to her own tent. Ian and Evelyn made their way to their tent as well with nothing but a reassuring smile from Sydona, but they seemed content with that.

  Back in her tent, she sat down and massaged her temples.

  “What’s wrong?” Maverick spoke so softly, he could barely be heard.

  “Nothing.” She shook her head.

  “Where’ve you been?” he said louder.

  “Ran into someone I knew.”

  “Who?”

  She stopped rubbing. “Some guy named Harold.”

  Maverick’s eyes widened. “Harold?”

  “Yeah, you know him?” She pulled the blanket up over her legs.

  “Know him? Of course. Everyone here knows him. He’s Dr. Malik’s best recruiter.”

  “Recruiter? That sounds almost respectable,” she said sarcastically.

  Maverick chuckled and shrugged his shoulders.

  Sydona lay down and tried to clean the blood off her hands, but it was already drying. As she messed with her hands, she noticed something underneath her metal bracelet. Moving it down slightly, she saw a perfect brown line circling her wrist. The electricity from the bracelet burned her skin, but it wasn’t scabbing or painful. It reminded her of a tattoo, smooth to the touch and permanent. The sound, the pain, and the feeling of electricity pulsing through her body unyieldingly flashed back into her head. Not wanting to dwell on the memory, she used the palms of her hands to pound the sides of her head over and over again. It was working and giving her a headache to focus on until Maverick interrupted.

  “Hey, hey, hey! What’s going on?” Maverick grabbed her hands to stop her.

  Sydona let him stop her and looked down at her lap with shame.

  “They did do something to you, didn’t they?” he whispered and looked her in the eyes.

  Tears flowed down her hot cheeks, but she quickly dried them, took a deep breath, and lifted her chin. Maverick stared at her with concern as he clasped her hand in his.