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April saw him draw away. “Yeah. We did. But she never liked it as much as I did. She was Danish and because the Danish settled this place you’d have thought she’d like it, but she missed her family back in Europe. And Dad was gone so much.”
    April was on the verge of asking him what had happened to his mother when a wild bird, brilliant with red and yellow plumage, swooped down from one of the trees with a raucous cry. One of its red tail feathers fluttered into the pool, where it floated and bobbed.
    “Look! It’s beautiful.”
    “Do you want it?”
    “Can you reach it?” It seemed out of his reach and was headed toward the frothy swirl at the foot of the falls. Once there, it would be sucked under and lost.
    Brandon grinned and stood. “If you want it, it’s yours.” He dove headfirst into the pool.
    “You’ll freeze,” she shouted with a laugh.
    He surfaced, swam confidently, and captured the feather. He ceremoniously placed it between his teeth and swam back to her, then pulled himself up onto the rock and, dripping wet, bowed with a flourish, presenting her with the feather prize.
    She stood and clapped. “You look like a pirate.”
    His grin dazzled her. “The feather’s magic. Make a wish and whatever you want is yours.”
    She took it, her mind spinning. There was too much to wish for. “I wish … I could fly just like the bird that lost this feather.”
    Mischief danced in his eyes. “You can. Have you ever been parasailing?”
    “Are you sure I can do this?” April stood on the back of a speedboat, nibbling nervouslyon her bottom lip and watching Brandon and two men from the Buccaneer. One was a driver for the boat, and the other was strapping her into a harness that was attached to a huge parachute. It lay in the sea like a flattened orange jellyfish, lines and ropes slack.
    “It’s a no-brainer,” Brandon assured her. “You’re going to love this.” He’d picked her up the next afternoon and driven her to the resort, where he’d paid the two men on duty to take her parasailing.
    “It’s not my brains I’m worried about,” she muttered. “It’s my body being smashed into the ocean and turning into shark bait.”
    The parasailing instructor laughed heartily. “You’ll do just fine, little lady. I haven’t lost a client yet.” She listened as he instructed her, feeling both apprehensive and excited. “Just hang on and let the boat do the work. You’ll have about fifteen minutes in the air, and then I’ll reel you in like a big fish.” He gestured to a mammoth reel mounted on the back of the boat that held a rope from her harness. The parachute, in turn, was tied to the metal frame of the harness. “Ready?” he asked.
    She lied, telling him, “Yes.” The driverpushed the throttle forward. As the boat gathered speed, she saw the parachute begin to fill and rise and felt her body lift gently off the deck. A thrill shot through her as she rose higher and higher, like a human kite adrift on the wind. Below, the boat looked toylike, the vivid blue ocean bright as sapphire. The noise of the boat’s engine faded too, and the sound of the wind filling the nylon parachute reminded her of a sheet flapping in a stiff breeze.
    She could see for miles and miles, islands surrounded by sugar-sand beaches, green rolling hills, and more ocean, vast and blue and stretching into infinity.
So this is how an eagle feels
, she thought.
This is what flying with wings would be like
. Joy bubbled up inside her, all fear and apprehension gone, blown away by the wind and melted by the warmth of the sun. The vastness of creation, the beauty of sea and sky overwhelmed her. She was flying, anchored to earth only by a long tether of nylon rope.
    “Hello, Mark,” she said against the wind. “Are you watching?”

7

    B randon became April’s constant companion. Whenever he wasn’t attending classes or working, he either went to her house or took her to do something. His father was working