Chapter 4 #3
“Who’s this? Who’s this?” the other peacocks repeated, turning to me. Their beady eyes were all fixed on my person. The peacocks quickly moved and now surrounded Harry and me, their spread tails forming an impenetrable barrier.
“Show it!” The lead peacock addressed me. “Show it!”
“We know you have it! Show us the feather!” another one of the birds chimed in.
“I don’t know what you mean,” I protested, but the first peacock pecked me on the hand.
“Show it! Show it!” he demanded.
“Feather! Feather! Feather!” the peacocks chanted in unison.
“They want you to show them some feather,” Harry hissed, quite nearly rolling his eyes.
Too late, I realized that the peacocks wanted to see the magical feather. Was there any harm in showing it to them? I needed the feather to capture the Firebird, that much was certain, and these birds could provide me with a clue.
The Firebird always comes back for its feather. I mumbled to myself the words I’d heard in Baba Yaga’s hut as I reached into my pocket.
“Wait, stop!” Harry yelled, but it was too late.
I took out the Firebird’s feather and held it up high above my head, where the peacocks couldn’t reach it.
I hadn’t looked at the feather since coming into Virginia through the hole in the bathhouse and was struck by how beautiful it was.
The fiery glow extended far beyond us, and everything, including the peacocks, was now surrounded by a golden light.
The feather was warm to the touch, but it didn’t burn my hand.
Instead, it felt truly magical, as if, as long as I was holding it, anything was possible.
“Here it is,” I announced, twisting it back and forth so that its luminous glow spread even farther.
“He’s got the feather! It’s the Firebird’s!” the lead peacock squawked.
“He’s magical, he’s magical, he’ll help us get the Firebird!” a smaller peacock, who looked feisty with a ruffled crest, screeched.
“No, no, let’s take the feather away from him. What’s the point of having him help us?” the white peacock suggested. “We don’t need this guy—we can do it ourselves.”
“He’s not going to give the feather to us, is he?”
The peacocks were too busy arguing to pay attention to me.
They spoke loudly, not caring whether I heard them, and I assumed they didn’t know I could understand what they were saying.
The flock had shifted slightly back, and now there was an opening in the circle formed by the peacocks’ tails.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Harry.
He had pressed his ears close to his head and had opened his mouth, as if to neigh, baring his teeth.
Still holding the feather up high, I backed up, hopped, and landed straight between Harry’s two humps.
I pressed my feet into the sides of his body, pulled at his mane, and we leaped into the air.
We lifted off, and the golden glow around us turned me and Harry into a sphere of light.
We acted as if we’d rehearsed this escape trick many times and had caught the peacocks completely off guard. Two of them tried to follow us, but they were too slow.
“Harry, this is really cool!” I yelled, stuffing the feather into my pocket. The peacocks, realizing they’d failed to capture us, cawed indignantly, flapping their wings in frustration.
“I know!” he agreed as we sped off to the other corner of the resort, the very same one where we’d taken off that morning. We didn’t lift up too high into the air and landed softly. This being our second landing, Harry must have learned how to maneuver more carefully.
I alighted and waited for Harry to brush off the debris before I started speaking.
“So, what was that all about?” I asked, opening my arms wide.
“I should be the one asking you the same thing. What are you doing with this feather? It looks downright dangerous.” Harry furrowed his brow, his expression fierce.
“It’s just something I found in the magical forest when I was at Baba Yaga’s hut. It’s supposed to help me capture the real Firebird.”
“Wait, what? You’re actually supposed to capture the Firebird? You know that’s never gonna happen, right?” Harry stomped his hoof.
“I have to, Harry. That’s why I’m here. I have to find the Firebird and bring it to the old witch, Baba Yaga, who lives in the magical forest. She told me to do it.”
“Why would you do something an old witch told you to do? My mother warned me never to listen to witches. They’re generally up to no good,” Harry countered.
“It’s because I don’t really have a choice. Just trust me on this. It all sort of happened to me. But why are the peacocks after you?”
“They’re just mean, Ivan. Just mean birds. They’re bullies.” A rueful smile crossed Harry’s face. “Listen, I think I need to take you to Lisa. I’m not sure I can help you, but she might.”
“Lisa? The one who brings you sugary treats?”
“Yes.” The expression on Harry’s face brightened. “That’s the one.”
“That’s great, Harry. I’m glad Lisa is nice to you.” I was genuinely happy for the little horse. At least he has one friend, I thought. “Let’s go meet her. Is she also magical, like you?”
“Magical? I’m not magical. And Lisa isn’t, either.”
“But you just flew!”
“I guess, but listen, when we meet her, please don’t tell her the other animals tease me. I don’t want her to worry, all right?”
“Of course not, Harry. So, where does Lisa live?”
“She stays on the other side of the main resort building.”
“Not in the stables?”
“Not in the stables, no. Here, let’s go, Ivan, I’ll take you to see her right now.”
We moved along the path, passing through the lush garden, then turning the corner and continuing toward the enormous resort building. Harry confidently led me to a small building located directly behind the large Fernwood Resort building that looked like the tsar’s palace.
“Are you sure this is the right place?” I asked as we approached. “It seems kind of small.”
“Small? Well, Lisa isn’t huge, either.”
I pictured a beautiful horse with a gorgeous mane. I wasn’t sure how exactly this creature we were about to meet would bring me closer to my goal, but my spirits were up.
At that moment, the door of the small building opened, and I saw a woman emerge.