Page 5 (1/2)

"What’s their disease?" Root’s voice sounded clipped and professional

"It’s called Colony Collapse Disorder," I said "I checked it out on the Internet Nobody knows the cause, but there are plenty of theories"

"Most likely the cause is stress," Root said, "brought on by so humans created Pesticides, possibly" For the first ti of what ot a response froriculture They’ve had calls from all over the state They haven’t come up with a definitive answer yet But normally, if bees leave a hive, other insects and ani this honey"

"No bees, no cross-pollination" Dashay’s hands fleard "Iine what could happen to the food supply What will people eat?"

"Just deserts" Root’s eyes gleamed as she said it

I turned to ht: Root has made a pun?

Mãe didn’t respond Her eyes an to pile ht with her She said she was staying with a friend near Sarasota "Do you knohen he’s co back?" she asked my mother

"Not yet" Mãe shook her head, as if to clear it "He’s looking for a new home"

"I knew that much" Root pushed back her chair "What I need is a tio on hold indefinitely"

My mother said, "Neither can our lives" The passion in her voice surprised us, perhaps herself most of all

Chapter Three

I’ve nevertovaray Dashay said her days of the week stopped having colors when she was thirteen, soon after she began seeing sasa

I was staring at the survey chart that hung on the kitchen hen Mãe came in and threw her arms around me

"What’s this about?" My voice was lum," she said

"I think I’m homesick" The words caht with thereen spring s--and of life with ht me in the library every day, the world outside shut out by thick velvet drapes Now I felt those lessons had ended too soon

Mãe released s he did I can teach you about cooking and plants and horses About s that he doesn’t know And about kayaking"

If there’s any antidote for Sunday, it’s kayaking Even on that hot Florida day, there was a breeze on the river and a sense that tied since the Seminoles paddled the same waters

Mãe’s kayak was yellow andskills Then our boats glided out into a green and golden world

"I did so" Mãe’s voice floated across the eed water "I phoned Bennett"

It didn’t seem stupid to fisher cackled loudly fro to admire his fierce little face and punk haircut Punk--that’s a word I learned fro television at my friend Kathleen’s house Our house in Homosassa had no TV

"Anyway, I wanted to hear Bennett’s side of things," Mãe said "Dashay’s story doesn’t allas your intentions are good?"

She grinned "I guess I had that co nothing when your best friend’s heart is broken"

I was about to point out the fallacies in her reasoning when I heard Dashay’s voice in o Over our heads, the tips of the un to explore the area, so when Mãe was ready to turn back, I went on alone, toward Ozello, a village I’d never seen

Alongside the kayak, a large gray mass suddenly surfaced in the clouded water--a reen, crusted with plankton He came so close I could have touched him, but I didn’t Mãe had toldwith manatees "They prefer to be left alone," she said "Just as we do"

Two deep scars ran along the manatee’s back, probably s ran a refuge for injuredthem when they’d recovered I wondered if he’d coain, theover him Separation was a means of self-preservation, I supposed That’s why vale more with mortals, e had our own culture--our own values, our special tonics, even our own bars

I moved on, not sure whether I was on the Salt River or St Martin’s Ho-fed rivers run toward the coast, shaping the land like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle