He glanced at his watch. “All right, that’s enough wasted time. I want this camp clear, so I wouldn’t know we’ve been here. And I want it done in fifteen minutes or less. If you are still here then, you’ll wish you weren’t.”
Josh wasn’t much impressed by Brewster’s arguments about the ruperts. All the man had done was say how intelligence had developed on Earth. Why couldn’t it have developed for quite different reasons on Solferino? And Josh was pretty sure that beavers only ate plants, and they were one of Earth’s smartest animals. He also wanted to ask about the ship that he had seen, but only a total fool would mention it now. He had even less evidence for that than for the smart rupert. As they cleaned up the camp and the buildings folded themselves away, he hunted for the great leaf on which Dawn had done her drawings. There was no sign of it.
He gave up after two minutes, when he noticed that Brewster had his eye on him. He joined in the general mad scramble to clear the camp area, and twelve minutes later he was boarding the cargo aircar with the others.
He considered where to sit. He didn’t want to be anywhere near Brewster—nobody did, though Winnie Carlson had no choice. Brewster had summoned her to sit next to him, probably to tell her what a fool she was to let the camp get out of control. There would be no words of praise for bringing everyone safely through last night’s storm. That wasn’t Brewster’s style.
Josh was heading for the rear seat, until he noticed that Rick and Hag Lasker were already there. He was sure they were still out to get him, and just biding their time. This wasn’t likely to be their chosen time and place, but why take risks?
He settled for the third and middle row. Sig and Sapphire were already there. Josh sat down next to her, and was amazed when she said, “Thanks, Josh. For not telling how Ruby got lost. And I’m sorry for what I said about you and Topaz. That was really dumb, and I wouldn’t normally have said it. Topaz is big enough to look after herself.”
Josh looked doubtfully at Sig, but Sapphire went on, “It’s all right, Sig knows about my problem. It’s hard to keep secrets in a group like this, even when you’re not zonked out of your mind. I guess everybody knows, except Brewster. I hope he never finds out.”
“If he does, it won’t be from me or my brothers.” Sig jerked his head toward the rear of the aircar. “I told those two they’re dead if they ever even hint at it. The one to worry about is Winnie. She’s all right when Brewster’s not here, but once he shows up she turns into Jell-O. I bet if he asked her, she’d spill her guts to him about Ruby and everything. I don’t know why she doesn’t stand up to him. I mean, she works for Foodlines headquarters. She doesn’t have to take his crap.”
Sapphire shook her head. “It’s not that easy. She’s scared of him. So am I.”
There was a pause, then Sig said, “Yeah. Me, too. He’s so big. He could probably take on the lot of us, all at once—and beat us.”
The aircar was lifting off. Everyone was quiet until they were safely in the air and a few hundred feet up. Then Sapphire said, “It’s not just size. My dad was a real little guy, smaller and lighter than me.”
“So how come he beat you so bad?” Sig asked. “You’re pretty big, and you look strong. How come you couldn’t stop him hurting you?”
Josh stared. Did everybody know every last thing about everybody else? But the question didn’t seem to surprise Sapphire at all.
“I didn’t know the answer to that question then,” she said thoughtfully, “but I guess I do now. He was my dad, you see—I couldn’t hit him hard. When he was hitting Ruby, I pulled him away from her with everything I had; but when he went for me, I held back. And he didn’t hold back at all. You know the worst piece? If it happened all over again, I still don’t think I’d be able to hit hard. How can you hit somebody you love—even if they don’t seem to love you?” She rubbed her fingers along the left side of her jaw.
“It doesn’t show,” Sig said gently. “I didn’t notice ’til I was told.” And then, before she could ask, “It was Topaz. But Amy told me the same thing later. You guys really look out for each other.”
“Someone has to do it.” Sapphire produced a sound between a laugh and a sniffle. “And you’re no different. You watch out for Hag and Rick.”
There was a long pause, as though she was waiting and Sig was thinking something over. It occurred to Josh that, despite the people in front and behind, this was the most private moment since leaving Earth. No one else would hear what was being said above the sound of the engines.
“How much do you know about us?” Sig asked at last.
“Not much. I know the three of you ran away, and somehow your parents agreed that you could come out here instead of going back home. Were you beat up, like us? Or did your mother dump you, like Josh?”
The shock of that hit Josh so hard and so quick that he felt his stomach lurch. Was this what everyone thought about him and his mother? Aunt Stacy had said the same thing.
And the worst part—were they right?
“Nothing like that at all.” Sig bunched up his right fist and stared at it. “I was the one who wanted to hit somebody, you bet I did, but we weren’t treated badly. Just the opposite, most people would say. Do you know who my parents are?”
Josh and Sapphire looked at each other, and shook their heads.
“Well, I’ll tell you,” said Sig. “My parents are Dietrich Lasker and Emma Mascani.”
“That means nothing to me.” Sapphire turned to Josh, who shrugged and said, “Me neither.”
“Good.” But Sig scowled. “They never hit us, but they’re the reason, no matter what Brewster makes us do on Solferino, it’s better than being back on Earth. No one here has heard of my parents. When I was ten, I thought everybody on the planet knew them.”
“But who are they?” Josh was glad to be in a situation where ignorance was better than knowing something.
“Dietrich Lasker is the most famous baritone singer in the world. I’ve heard people, talking about him, say he is the best for a century. My mother, Emma Mascani, was a child prodigy as a pianist. She was giving public recitals when she was seven. She still plays, but nowadays she’s better known as a composer. She may be the world’s greatest composer.
“They have six children.” From Sig’s tone of voice, he might have been discussing total strangers. “Three boys, three girls. Split down the middle, you might say. And split down the middle in more ways than that. My sisters are like my mother and father. They have perfect pitch, and they can remember a piece of music, with full harmony, after hearing it once. And me and Rick and Hag—did you ever hear any of us sing?”
Sapphire and Josh shook their heads.
Sig laughed. “You’re lucky. Not one of us can carry a tune—not even close. It took years and years before my parents would admit it. They gave us lessons, and they even had medical tests done on us. They couldn’t understand how anyone who was asked for a C sharp minor chord couldn’t just sing the notes, one after another. They gave all of their children names from Wagner operas—I guess they thought we might sing in them one day, or at the very least worship the music the way they do.
“When they finally had to admit the truth, they didn’t know what to do with us boys. Their families and friends were all musicians. When my mother said, ‘Siegfried is not musical,’ I could see the misery on her face. Or one of Father’s friends would say, ‘This looks like a beautiful new piece. Alberich and Hagen, why don’t you sing the soprano and alto parts, and your father and I will sing tenor and bass?’ And Father would shake his head and say, ‘Alberich and Hagen do not sight-read,’ the way he might have said, ‘Alberich and Hagen strangled their baby-sitter when they were four years old.’ I think he would rather have been able to say that.