When the Wind Blows - James Patterson [62]
“You think grown-ups are full of it, don’t you?” I said.
Max shrugged. “Whatever. I’m going to play with Pip, okay? May I? Is that allowed? Or do I have to stay inside—now that you have what you want from me.”
“No, Max. Go play.”
She bolted from the room. She was angry. Was it with me, or something I’d said? Whatever it was, she was starting to cry. Max was able to cry, and that was stunning to me. I imagined an eagle soaring over the land that man was so obviously wasting, and being able to cry about it. Or a mother robin crying over an injured chick she couldn’t help.
I found Kit out on the deck where I’d left him earlier. When he saw me, he hung up his cell phone.
“What happened in there? She looked like she was crying.”
“Well, she didn’t tell me where she lives,” I said softly. “But what I learned from examining her completely knocks me out. Kit, she’s medical history. However it happened.”
“Tell me,” he said. His eyes became intense, probing. I am the police.
“I don’t know where to start exactly. I think she’s a human being who was born to fly. Max is definitely human. She’s got a human brain, emotions, but the rest of her is an amalgam of human and avian pieces and parts. The human parts seem to dominate. And this “school” she’s talked about, whatever it is, has scientists attached to it.”
Kit looked grim. “How do you know for sure?”
“She’s accustomed to being examined. Max knows a lot of medical terms. I don’t know how or why. She told me that she’s oviparous. She’s an egg layer.”
There was a silence between us, broken only by the sounds of Max and Pip playing across the yard.
“Are you saying she’s actually some kind of cross between a human and a bird? Is that possible?” Kit muttered.
“No. I don’t think it is. Except for one small and very convincing detail…”
Kit finished my sentence. “We’re looking at it,” he said. “My God.”
We watched as Max scooped Pip up into her arms.
There was the sound of beating wings, and then she was airborne. She was flying above the treetops with Pip, who didn’t seem to mind in the least.
Chapter 64
DISCRETION was absolutely critical. Nothing could go wrong from this moment on. The serious mistakes of the past day were already being rectified. Damage control was being done.
The important “visitors” had began to arrive in the greater Denver area as inconspicuously as possible. Painstaking thought and planning had gone into every facet of their individual journeys, but especially into keeping their presence here a secret, not only from the world at large, but from their business associates, even from their families.
Each of them knew what was at stake. Each understood that this was a profound moment, and that they were privileged to be a part of it, even by their high standards of privilege. And each knew the tremendous personal risks if they were caught. There would be convincing denials, but ultimately, they would be left out to hang.
Two of the principals came as a married couple, which was the simplest, and the best possible disguise. The largest group comprised four German males who claimed to be enthusiastic freshwater fishermen bound for fly-fishing along the Continental Divide.
Two travelers came from a major corporation in Tokyo. If anybody asked, they were here to see the Colorado Shakespeare Festival. They were staying at the Boulder Victoria Historic Inn, and taking roll after roll of photos like stereotypical tourists. Another man represented one of the largest and most important corporations in France. According to his story, he was there to visit the Chautauqua Music Fest and also the Niwot Ragtime Festival. The visitors had agreed to stay in small, surrounding towns, with names like Lafayette, Nederland, Louisville, Longmont, Blackhawk.
The married couple, who were from London, camped out, “roughed it” American-style, in a tent at Rocky Mountain National Park, about fifty miles to the northwest of Boulder. An important CEO