Putting Up Roots

Chapter Twenty-One

Sig emerged from the lander as Grisel was going down in a red blaze of glory. “Two more days,” he announced, “and Winnie says she’ll be here with a team of observers. She says everything went great Sol-side, and she gave Sapphire and Josh the credit for saving everyone. Now it’s up to us to decide what we want.”

The whole group had congregated outside. The evenings were growing cool, but no one was willing to miss the daily appearance of the ruperts. Gussie and family slept during the day, and were not about to change that. Sunset was the best time for meetings.

The ruperts had also made it clear to Dawn that they would not travel by lander. As a result, the camp had become the base of operations. At first there had been some misgivings. It took the colder evenings to make the warmth of the Avernus Fissure more of a blessing than a threat.

Tonight, however, as though to make the point that Solferino’s weather could be every bit as fickle as Earth’s, the air was balmy and pleasant and gave no hint of approaching winter. Everyone was sitting in a circle, with Sapphire holding court in the middle. In the three weeks since Brewster’s death the small burns inflicted on her face and hands by the disintegrating windshield had disappeared, but she still had a cast on her arm. She was forced to rely on others to help her. It gave secret and special satisfaction to Topaz and her sisters to know that for the first time ever, Big Sister depended on them to look after her.

Sig walked across to sit at Sapphire’s side. “So what do we tell Winnie when she gets here? It’s going to be our call.”

He was talking to everyone, but nobody answered. Although Sapphire was at the center, the people around her had split into separate groups. Rick and Hag were sitting on the ground and devising their latest masterpiece, a meal made entirely from ingredients collected on Solferino. Amy and Ruby had volunteered to be taste testers, and were looking on dubiously at the preparation process. Ruby finally said, “Look, if it’s gross, I won’t do it. You can eat it yourselves.”

“If it’s gross,” Hag said. “I won’t want it.”

“Rick and Amy will. They’ll eat anything.”

Amethyst swiped at her sister. Rick scowled, but he didn’t deny it.

On the opposite side of the circle, Topaz was talking to Dawn while Josh watched and worried. Suppose the other Karpov sisters decided to go back to Earth? Then Topaz would surely leave, too; but Dawn wanted to stay with Gussie; and Topaz was far better than Josh or anyone else at talking to Dawn. And Josh had to stay with his cousin. But he wanted to be with Topaz, too.

Dawn suddenly turned away from Topaz. “G-ss-ee coming,” she said, with no doubt in her voice.

Everyone stopped what they were doing. Josh looked around, and saw nothing. “Where?”

But Dawn was again taking no notice of anything. She was carefully inscribing something in a bare patch of red soil. When she was finished, she picked up a handful of the powdery grit that she had scraped away and examined it closely.

“Earth,” she said. “Right?”

“That’s earth all right,” said Topaz. “In your hand. And it’s red. You know that word, too.”

Dawn gave her a puzzled look. “Earth!” she said again, with great emphasis. She pointed down.

Topaz gasped. “Look, Josh. Everybody!”

In the dirt, Dawn had carefully written five letters: E—A—R—T—H.

“She’s writing, and spelling.” Topaz looked around in triumph. “I told you she would, if we only gave her a decent chance! Dawn, you’re wonderful.”

But Dawn still looked puzzled. “Earth?” she said again. Now she lifted her hand, and allowed the dusty red soil to trickle out onto the ground.

Sig and Sapphire looked not at Dawn, but at each other. “I think she’s right,” Sapphire said.

“So I guess that settles it.” Sig surveyed the scene around them, from the purple sward at their feet to the distant hills that caught the last gleam of sunlight. “We stay.”

A hundred yards away, over the brow of the hill, Gussie and three of her family were slowly approaching. They had an addition, a tiny baby rupert still too small to walk. Gussie waved a greeting. Ruby, Rick and Hag waved back.

“You’re quite right, Dawn,” Topaz said softly. She bent down and picked up a handful of red dirt. She took Josh’s hand, held it, and allowed the soil to sift into his open palm. “This is Earth.”