Chapter 18
The Capture
The three of us, Harry, Lisa, and I, decided to set out to capture the Firebird that very night. Too worried my friends would change their minds, I convinced them that waiting until the full moon wasn’t worth it.
Now that we were about to capture the creature, my stomach was in knots. The prospect of facing Baba Yaga so soon was terrifying. I would have loved to stay in Virginia, but admitting this now was out of the question.
I did my best to put on a brave face, though the tips of my fingers felt like icicles.
To warm my hands up, I reached into my pocket and fumbled for the Firebird’s feather but had to jerk my hand back when it nearly burned me. What was going on? Was the feather spontaneously changing its temperature? Did it mean Lisa was right and the Firebird, too, would be too volatile to handle?
I pushed this notion aside.
For the quest, Lisa brought a birdcage that she’d found in the cellar of the Fernwood Resort.
The cage was made of brass and had a lock on the side.
It was rusty in places and several bars were missing, but we decided to make do with it.
Lisa also gave me a canvas bag so I could cover the cage after the Firebird’s capture.
She’d made it out of two pillowcases, and I practiced using it, opening and throwing it on the empty cage.
Once we were satisfied with the speed, we decided we were ready.
Harry neighed, “And what if the bird is too hot? How will Ivan handle it?”
“Harry, that’s a great point,” Lisa gasped. “We should have thought of that.”
“It’s not a big deal,” I said. I wasn’t about to let something this insignificant stop our quest. “It won’t be hot the whole time.”
“But if it is, you won’t be able to hold the Firebird in your hands.” Lisa bit her lip. “Wait a second. I know what we can do.” She disappeared into her bedroom. Harry and I heard a rustling noise, and then Lisa emerged holding a pair of mittens.
“These should do the trick.” She handed them to me. “They used to be Quinn’s. Not even sure how I’ve managed to keep them all this time.”
“Thank you.”
I accepted them from Lisa and was about to stuff them in my pocket when Lisa asked, “Aren’t you going to try them on?”
“Sure.” I put the right one on. “It fits,” I announced, and immediately pulled it off, having already decided I would not wear the mittens when capturing the bird. Not if they had once belonged to Lisa’s ex-husband, the man who had quite nearly killed me.
“I’m glad we got that sorted out,” Lisa said. “I suppose we’re ready, then.”
The humpbacked horse gave me a look full of disdain, but I chose to ignore it.
“And what’s this?” I pointed at a large, burgundy-colored fruit that was sitting in the middle of the table.
“This is a pomegranate. We’re going to use its seeds to capture the bird,” Lisa said.
“I’ve never seen one before.” I touched the fruit’s rough skin.
“We just have to get the seeds out.” Lisa produced a knife and sliced the pomegranate in half. Inside, it was full of small, bright-red seeds. I pried one out and placed it into my mouth, where it burst with a glorious flavor that was sweet and tangy at the same time.
“This is so delicious,” I said. “A true fruit of paradise. No wonder the Firebird likes it.”
“I want to try one,” Harry said.
“Let me give you one,” Lisa replied and handed another pomegranate to Harry, who immediately bit into it. As he did so, seeds exploded, their juice spilling on the table. Harry ate the pomegranate whole, then licked the juice off the table.
“Thank you, Lisa,” he concluded, smacking his lips, “I think I’ve just discovered my new favorite treat.”
I smiled at the pony, expecting Lisa, too, to be touched, but she said solemnly, “Good.” I wondered if I’d ever see her smile again.
“A few fairy tales mentioned pomegranates and their magical powers. There was another recipe that mentioned mixing wheat with wine, but I figured that wheat these days isn’t really the same as it was in the past.”
“How so?” I furrowed my brow.
“Don’t get me started,” Harry neighed, for the first time that evening looking alert. “This is one of the reasons the pellets are so terrible. Because they mix all these genetically modified ingredients.”
“Oh, yes, to find natural food in America takes a lot of effort,” Lisa added.
“You mean there is such a thing as unnatural food?”
“Of course! Most things Americans eat have been processed. But, of course, you won’t have to worry about that for much longer.” Lisa narrowed her eyes.
“I suppose not.” I shrugged. “At least I hope we capture the bird quickly so I can be off.”
“Oh, Ivan,” Lisa cried out and ran into her bedroom.
“Lisa, wait.” Harry followed her, shutting the door behind them with his hoof. I sat down on the couch, clasping my head. Through the closed door, I could hear their voices, but I couldn’t tell what they were saying. A resolve had formed in my mind.
I will come back to Virginia.
A mere suggestion I’d made earlier had now formed into a determination.
If Lisa will have me, I will be back.
They emerged several minutes later, with Lisa pressing a tissue to her face.
“Now, where were we?” she said, avoiding eye contact with me.
“We were about to go get the Firebird with the pomegranate seeds,” I said. “Listen, I really need to bring the Firebird back to Baba Yaga. It’s a serious thing, and no one can break a promise they’ve made to the old hag. Baba Yaga is far scarier than anything else in the world.”
“But that’s why I’m so worried about you, Ivan! Don’t you get it?” Lisa said.
“Lisa, I thought we’d agreed.” Harry raised his eyebrows in warning.
“I just can’t take it anymore. Ivan’s life is in danger, and we’re not doing anything about it. We’re actually helping him, pushing him closer to disaster.”
“Oh, Lisa, I’ll be fine,” I chuckled. “You guys are overexaggerating. I got out of Baba Yaga’s hut the last time just fine. As long as I bring her the Firebird, she’ll be happy.”
“But your brothers, Ivan? What about them?”
“My brothers are all right. And besides, we can’t stop now. Look, we’ve got everything ready.” I pointed at the bag, the pomegranate seeds, then produced the mittens and the feather out of my pockets. “Right?”
“Right,” Lisa and Harry sighed.
* * *
It was shortly after eleven when we left Lisa’s apartment to capture the Firebird.
The night was warm. Walking next to me through the garden, Lisa carried the container of pomegranate seeds, gripping it with both hands, her knuckles white from the pressure.
The canvas bag was slung over my shoulder, while the Firebird’s feather and the mittens were tucked in my pockets.
The little horse closed the procession, falling behind in a way that was so deliberate it was almost touching. I could hear the pony’s hooves on the gravel path every time Lisa and I fell into silence, as if Harry were conducting an experiment in proximity.
“When this is done, when I go back, what will you do?” I asked.
Lisa was quiet long enough that I wondered if I’d misjudged the moment.
“Get the retreat center running,” she said. “Finally. Work on the Seven Birches. That was always the plan.”
“And after that?”
“There’s a lot to get through first.”
“Lisa.”
She glanced at me sideways.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I’m trying to learn how to just be somewhere. Without always planning the exit.”
“Quinn taught you that?”
“I taught myself. Quinn was just the reason.” She shifted the container.
“I spent ten years making contingency plans. ‘If this goes wrong, I’ll do this. If he does that, I’ll do this.
’ I got so good at it that I forgot to just be in a place.
It’s kind of ironic, since I teach yoga and all.
And I never dared to dream big, because things could collapse quickly.
So I’m trying to do that now and to believe it can actually happen for me. ”
“I understand that,” I said. “I never dreamed big, either. Because of my nickname, you know. I just didn’t think I deserved anything better than what I had in front of me.”
“And now?”
“Now I want things that are too big,” I said simply. “I want to ask. Would you want me to come back? After?”
Lisa stopped walking. I also stopped and turned to face her. She nodded, but barely so. The garden path stretched behind us. Harry’s hooves had gone completely silent, which meant he was definitely eavesdropping.
Lisa was looking at me with an expression I’d come to think of as her almost face, the expression she wore when she was right at the edge of something and choosing whether to step forward or back. She stopped speaking and just stood there, then continued, “I need you to know something.”
She stopped speaking again, but I could tell how she was processing what she was about to say.
“You know you’re not speaking, right?” I told her, smiling gently. I had learned to wait with Lisa, that the sentences she abandoned were as important as the ones she finished.
“Oh, it’s just, I’m not good at this,” she said finally. “Saying things. Believing they’re safe to say.”
“I know.”
“I just—” She looked down at the pomegranate seeds.
“I didn’t expect you. That’s all. I want you to know that.
I didn’t expect you and now I can’t quite—” She pursed her lips.
I reached and carefully took the container of pomegranate seeds from her hands.
She let me take it, then looked at her own empty hands as if surprised to find them that way.
“You can say it,” I said quietly. “Whatever it is. It’s safe.”
Lisa looked up at me. In her eyes I read the decision, her resolve to proceed.
“Soon,” she said.
From behind us, Harry let out a long, theatrical sigh. Lisa pressed her hand briefly to her mouth, and then we heard them.
The peacocks.
Lisa had suggested we should capture the Firebird near the Aviary, that it would feel comfortable among its own. I had completely forgotten how dangerous the peacocks got in the vicinity of the Firebird’s feather. As soon as they saw us approach, the birds started squawking agitatedly.
“Hey, it’s ugly Harry. What are you doing here, Harry? Why did you come back?” the largest peacock cawed. I recognized him from the last time.
Harry tensed.
“He’s with his new friend,” another one noted, tilting its head and fixing its beady eyes on me.
“It’s the guy with the feather! The feather!
” The peacocks pushed closer, expertly cutting me off from Harry and Lisa.
“He’s got the feather.” One of the bunch leaped into the air and scratched my hand with its feet.
Until then, I’d never noticed how ugly a peacock’s feet were: They were in knots, with pointy talons.
“Get away from me!” I pushed, but that only emboldened them. I felt another talon on my skin, now on the other side. The squawking was getting louder and louder, with more peacocks assembling.
“Stand back!” I yelled, but the birds weren’t about to be deterred. Their beaks were pointing at me, and they were moving closer and closer. One of them, the youngest, pecked my hand, and I yelped in pain, jerking it back.
“The feather belongs to us! We need the feather. The Firebird! We can get the Firebird,” they chanted.
With their tails open, the peacocks surrounded me, blinding me as they flapped them in my face.
A sea of green and blue was all around me.
It was as if a thousand eyes were staring at me from every direction.
It would have been a beautiful sight were it not so dangerous.
“Stand back!” I yelled again. How had I miscalculated so badly? How did I forget about the treacherous nature of the peacocks and their interest in the feather? “Lisa, Harry, help!”
“Ivan, I’m right here.” I heard Lisa’s voice and felt her hand reach for mine, pulling me out of the peacocks’ grip. I followed her lead, and the next moment I was free. “Quick,” Lisa said. She and I mounted Harry and, with a grunt, he got into the air, pulling us out of the peacocks’ reach.
Harry struggled under our weight, but we were able to fly to safety. We landed in front of Lisa’s yoga studio just minutes later, with Harry almost tumbling to the ground.
“Are you okay, Ivan?” Lisa rushed to me. She was breathing heavily.
“I’m fine.” I nodded, wiping sweat off my forehead. “And you? Are you all right?” I examined her beautiful face, her forehead creased with worry.
It was as if I were seeing her for the first time.
“Oh, Lisa!”
“Ivan!” she exhaled, looking up at me, and I reached to embrace her.