They had been there for close to an hour when Sarah began to gently suggest that they might start for home.
“Let’s face it, girlfriend, you’re not really looking at the animals, anyway.”
“Er,” said Sallie, realizing that maybe she should have been a tad more subtle. She was fumbling for a good excuse to stay just a little bit longer when she heard a familiar low laugh.
It made her skin crawl.
But she turned towards it, because it was her laugh- the Horrible Woman. And there she was, dark gold hair shining in the sunlight, looking far more beautiful than Sallie would ever have imagined such a terrible person could be. She was standing next to an exhibit of slender white birds (egrets, a nerdy-sounding part of Sallie’s brain supplied) engaged in conversation with a young couple and their little girl. Sallie was willing to bet a million, trillion dollars that little girl had blue eyes. She felt sick.
“Could you just wait here a minute?” Sallie said, and then without waiting to hear an answer she marched over to the little group.
“Hi!” she said in her friendliest voice, fully aware that she was being rude by interrupting their talk. But people expected kids to be rude, didn’t they? The couple looked bemused, the Horrible Woman irritated. The little girl (Sallie was not great with ages, but she figured the kid was probably in kindergarten) dimpled.
“Hi!” she responded, clearly pleased with the attention. “Did you know that birds have hollow bones!”
“I did know that,” said Sallie, momentarily taken aback. She hadn’t planned on engaging the child, but realized it was probably not a bad idea. “But you’re very smart to know it, too!”
“I love birds!” the little girl continued. “My name is Elise! I’m four-and-a-half!”
“Wow, you’re very grown up,” Sallie slid her eyes over to the Horrible Woman, who continued to look annoyed at the interruption. It was probably too much to hope… “What’s your favorite bird?”
“Hummingbirds!” There! The Horrible Woman was wearing a bright blue jewel on a chain: it looked like a piece of cloudless summer sky, and Sallie thought she could see carvings on it and on the gold setting- carvings that looked like eyes! She couldn’t believe her luck! “I like them because they hover! And they hummmmmm!” Elise did a strange, rapid dance with her feet as she stretched her arms out and hummed. Sallie could only assume it was her version of hovering.
“That’s very good,” she said. How was she going to get that stupid amulet?
“They also move! Real! Quick!” Elsie continued, and darted between Sallie, her parents, and the Horrible Woman. Her parents laughed, and Sallie forced a smile.
“So, um,” Sallie wondered, if she grabbed the amulet- would she be fast enough to run? Probably not. “Do you like the menagerie?”
“Oh yes! Mommy said we can come back every day forever!”
“Not every day forever, sweetie,” Elise’s mother had dark, shining hair and almond-shaped eyes the color of coffee. Elise must have gotten her eyes from her Daddy- just like Zeb had. “Just every day until they leave town. If you’re good.”
“Oh?” Sallie felt her heart jump, but she tried to keep her voice casual. “When do they leave town?”
“We’ll be leaving next Sunday,” the Horrible Woman said in a dismissive tone. “A week from tomorrow.”
“Oh, um, do you work here?”
“In a manner of speaking, I do- I’m the owner.”
“Auntie Strega?” The Horrible Woman gave a tight smile.
“No, that’s just… a little joke. I’m Mrs. Canarina; this menagerie has been in my family for… many years. Some might say generations.”
Sallie felt a strange buzzing sensation in her head, but she ignored it and decided to take a gamble.
“Wow that’s- that’s pretty cool. So, um, if you work here, maybe you can answer my question?” The irritation flashed again.
“Perhaps. What’s your question?”
“You used to have a lemur here- he had a stripy tail. But now he’s gone, and… I was just wondering… where did he go?” The woman’s eyes (the exact same shade as the amulet) narrowed fractionally, but Sallie kept hers wide and didn’t break contact. Her mother had always told her that if you’re in a position where you have to lie, look the person in the eye while you do it. And then she’d told her not to bother trying it on her because she had special Mommy senses that alerted her to fabrications. Which was, at least in light of Sallie’s experiences, probably true. Mrs. Canarina glanced to the left before answering, which surprised Sallie exactly not one bit.
“He’s sick, and being treated by our vet. It doesn’t look very good, I’m afraid.”
“Oh no!” It didn’t take much for Sallie’s eyes to fill with tears- her adrenaline was singing almost as strongly as it had been when she’d rescued Zeb. Sick indeed! She gave a little sniffle for effect. “That’s so sad- he just… I don’t know why but he seemed so nice to me.”
“Don’t be sad, don’t be sad!” Elise was patting her arm. “Vets make animals better! He’ll be okay! And then I can see him when I come back because I didn’t see him today because I was looking at all the pretty birds!” Sallie looked down at the little girl, but not before she caught a little sneer from the Horrible Woman.
“Well perhaps he will get better,” Mrs. Canarina allowed, sounding not at all convinced. She gave another of her low laughs. “So many of our visiting children seem to form special bonds with our animals- that’s why I keep doing this, I suppose. To see the love and wonder on their little faces.”
Yeah, it has nothing to do with kidnapping their siblings, Sallie thought, trying not to gag. Instead she gave Mrs. Canarina a trembling smile.
“Gee I hope so!” She tried not to cringe. ‘Gee’? No one said ‘gee’! Well, except for Daddy, but only when he was being sarcastic. Fortunately no one seemed to think it strange, but she thought it might be best to end the conversation before she started saying things like ‘far out’ or ‘groovy’. “Well it was nice to meet all of you, but I guess I’d better get going now. Goodbye, Elise!”
“Goodbye! I’ll see you soon!”
Sallie wandered back over to Sarah, who was watching her with a bemused expression.
“People you know?”
“Not at all."
Yet another great addition to the story. I liked the snarky "Not at all" at the end. Really nice touch. I could almost hear her saying it in my mind.
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