The Code War (62 page)

'Holy melting pots. So when I wore that
tabard in Gambia as though I was representing the United Nations,
it was half-true.' She was laughing.

'You could put it that way. But there
was anoth…'

'You know,' interrupted Nancy, 'I've had
quite an odd feeling and it's been growing stronger since I arrived
on the Landing Field. But I feel as if everything about me is
important and valuable. And wanted. I feel so wanted.'

'That's what Paradise is all about.'

'It's amazing. I feel so alive.'

Jabez was wondering how he could get
back to his subject. Nancy unwittingly helped him out.

'So did I have any other famous
ancestors?' she asked, watching a tumble of butterflies chase each
other nearby.

'I'm glad you asked that question.'

'Oh goody. What are you going to tell me
now?'

'Well we traced your maternal line way
back before Mya Ling. A long way back. Ruth did all of the
research, by the way. It's her thing.'

'I like Ruth so much. Her jewellery is
amazing.'

'Yes, she designs it all herself.
She has it made by an artisan in the Mines of Kurkatorra. That's
where the liquid sapphires come from. Anyway, she traced your line
back and when she got to a thousand years BC she found your great
great grandmother many times removed was my sister.'

'Oh, very interesting. What does
it mean?' Nancy paused at a rose bush to smell one of its flowers,
inhaling deeply. Bumble bees shopped busily for nectar inside the
petals. They gathered golden ripe pollen and stuffed it into their
legbags like shoplifters. She pulled a head of roses towards her
and grazed her nose against it.

'It means that you and I, we're
family.'

Nancy's
hand jerked up from the rose stem, knocking against the
petals. Several of them went flying into the air as the stem swung
away and back again. She turned and looked at Jabez
closely.

'Family?'

'Yes. Family.' At last he had her
full attention.

'So what I was thinking was..'
Jabez looked at the bees, trying to find the right words. 'I was
reflecting that you didn't really have much in the way of family
when you were growing up. But I've been watching over you. I've
been watching over you as though you were my little sister. I know
you were an only child, without any siblings. So I was thinking,
well, since you're descended from my own sister, only many times
removed, that, well, it might be good if you weren't many times
removed and that I could be, well, what I am, really. I mean I
could be your brother. If you'd like me to, that is.'

'My brother,' whispered Nancy. She
stared into Jabez's eyes, seeing him in a different light from
before, almost as though she was looking at someone new.

'My brother,' she repeated.

'If you'd like.'
Jabez knew he sounded nervous.

'I've always wanted a brother.'
And Nancy's eyes became misty and turned into pools and then
torrents as tears streamed down her face and fell onto her 6-point
star and soaked into her V-neck top. She threw herself at Jabez and
wrapped her arms and legs around him. She hugged him around the
neck crying, 'Jabez. My brother. My brother. Jabez. I've found
you.'

Then while sobbing into his
collar
she thought about the brothers of
Brother and how she had nearly built her life around them while all
the time a real brother was watching over her, caring about her. At
last she unhooked herself from Jabez's wet neck and stood down.
They went on walking, hand in hand.

'Next month is December,' Jabez
continued, 'and I was thinking, now that we're reunited as a
family, perhaps you'd like to celebrate Hanukkah with me and then
Christmas on the 25th.'

'Hanukkah and Christmas? We can do
both?' Her star bobbed around on her chest as she span towards
him.

'Of course,' Jabez replied.

'Well, I'll check my diary and see if
I'm available. But pencil me in for now.'

Then Nancy whooped and leapt in the air
for pure joy and jumped up and hung onto the branch of a tree and
swung her legs wildly while Jabez watched and laughed in surprise
at her sudden girliness.

When she jumped down
s
he had a spring in her step and swished
her hips as they continued to walk.

Jabez placed his arm around
Nancy's shoulders and gave her a squeeze. His sleeve snagged
unexpectedly as it passed behind her and he looked down at her
back.

Just above her shoulder blades, a
few inches each side of her spine he could see a pair of bony
swellings, maybe a half inch long, poking upwards. There
were
no feathers on them of course. It
was far too early for that. But there was no doubting what they
were.

Nancy rested her head on his
shoulder.

'Jabez, my brother. You're a darling.
Did you know that? A darling.'

'Thank you, Nancy,' he murmured.
'You're an angel.'

###

Thank you for reading The Code War. I
really enjoyed writing it for you. If you liked it, would you
consider going to your favourite bookseller website and leaving a
favourable comment? I read everything that's written.

Also check out my blog at
thejshot.com

Thank you.

Ciaran