The Lion of Mars Read online

  Armand burst out laughing. “Those were golf clubs!”

  “What?”

  Amélie rolled her eyes. Honestly, she could seriously give Vera a run for her money when it came to attitude.

  “You hit a ball with them,” she said. “It’s a game.”

  Armand walked over to a corner and pulled out one of the golf clubs. Then he put a ball on the floor and gently hit it.

  “That’s what we were doing,” he said.

  Amélie seemed unimpressed. “Ping-Pong is much more fun.”

  “Why did you chase us?” I asked him.

  “Children should not be driving rovers,” Armand said dryly. “In fact, I tried contacting the American settlement using the old line, but we were blocked and couldn’t get a message through. I can’t imagine Commander Sai was happy to learn that you had taken a rover.”

  “You know Sai?” I asked.

  “Of course,” Armand said, pointing to a digi-pic taped to the wall. It was a picture of a party. There was a younger Sai, dressed like an Earth pirate. Next to him was a young version of Commander Laurent. She was in a similar getup. There were other familiar faces as well: Darby and Eliana, Salty Bill, and Phinneus. They were all wearing costumes.

  “That was a very famous Halloween party,” he told me. “Your Commander Sai and our Commander Laurent won for best costume,” he told me. “They were a pair of pirates.”

  I remembered the award in Sai’s box.

  Amélie grabbed my arm. “Come on,” she said. “I have a lot more to show you!”

  As we walked away, Armand called to me, “Welcome to the French settlement, Bell. Don’t drive any rovers.”

  * * *

  As the days passed, we became more comfortable. Everyone was so kind and tried to put us at ease. Also, our grown-ups were slowly getting better. The Finnish doctor was staying at our settlement and expected them to make a full recovery. Finally, the knot of worry that we had been carrying loosened.

  I remembered Meems telling me about an Earth practice called taking a vacation. People would go somewhere and do nothing except maybe eat or lie on the beach. Being in the French settlement felt like taking a vacation. While there was no beach, it was relaxing, and we did a lot of eating. My favorite dish was something called a crêpe, a thin pancake with chocolate sauce. It was the most perfect meal ever invented: breakfast and dessert rolled into one.

  The best part was simply being around other kids my age. Taavi and Wei visited every few days. Along with Amélie, we spent hours together playing Ping-Pong. Taavi said I was a natural. Maybe my gift was being good at playing Ping-Pong?

  Trey and another boy, Rémy, spent their time riding on a board with wheels—a “skateboard”—up and down the long corridors. To be fair, Trey spent a lot of that time falling off the skateboard, but he seemed pretty happy to be doing it.

  Flossy, naturally, was obsessed with how the French dressed. She and her new friends spent hours creating outfits and debating fashion.

  Then there was Albie. Sweet, kind Albie couldn’t seem to remember how to speak when he was anywhere near a French girl named Layla. She had long dark hair and a warm smile. I didn’t understand what it was about her that made Albie start stammering. It was as if his mouth forgot how to work.

  Amélie and I were watching a digi-reel with Layla in the recreation room when Albie walked in. He saw us and froze.

  “Bonjour, Albie,” Layla said.

  “Uh, uh, uh,” he said. “Hi.”

  “Would you like to join us?” she asked him. “We’re watching a digi-reel of a music concert on Earth.”

  A look of pure terror crossed his face.

  “Uh, no thanks!” he shouted, and practically ran out of the room.

  Layla turned to me, a quizzical look on her face. “Does he not like music?”

  “He loves music,” I told her.

  “Oh,” she said.

  “Albie can be a little shy, I guess.”

  “He seems very nice,” she mused.

  “He is,” I assured her. “Except for the snoring part.”

  * * *

  But despite all the kindness, Vera remained suspicious. Of the food. Of the people. Even the shampoo.

  “Is my hair supposed to be this shiny?” she asked me.

  Her hair looked soft and lovely. I didn’t understand what she was so upset about.

  “At least it’s clean,” I told her. “Can you pass me another madeleine?”

  She and I were having an afternoon snack in the kitchen. The cook had made something called madeleines, which were mini-cakes in the shape of an Earth shell. They were delicious.

  A man with dark curly hair and thick glasses walked over to our table.

  “Bonjour,” he said.

  “Bonjour,” I said, but Vera didn’t say anything.

  “I’m Gaspard,” he said. “Do you remember me, Vera?”

  I was expecting her to say something snarky, but instead she just stared at him.

  Then the man started singing in French. It sounded like a lullaby.

  Au clair de la lune

  Mon ami Pierrot

  Prête-moi ta plume

  Pour écrire un mot

  Vera’s eyes widened and her lips trembled. “Are you—are you my nanny?”

  “Oui,” he said, and smiled. “It’s very good to see you, Vera.”

  Vera leapt up, threw her arms around him, and started crying.

  He patted her back and smiled fondly. “It’s nice to see you haven’t changed.”

  * * *

  My favorite place here, too, was the algae farm. Like us, the French grew lots of algae, plus vegetables and fruit—tomatoes, green beans, strawberries, and lettuces. But they also grew Earth flowers in all sorts of colors.

  The person in charge of the farm was named Jules, and she took great delight in showing me her experiments. Right now, she was growing something called a lemon tree. It didn’t look like much at the moment, but she said it would eventually smell delicious.

  Just being in the farm was comforting. It reminded me of Phinneus. I could hear his voice in the hum of the soft lights. See him in the green shoots of the hydroponic pots. I knew he would love it here. He would be curious, taking notes and asking questions.

  Tell me, he would say, what kind of fertilizer? Which seeds? How much light?

  One afternoon, I was wandering around the farm when I spotted Commander Laurent. She was cutting some purple flowers.

  She saw me and smiled. “Bonjour, Bell.”

  “What are you doing?” I asked her.

  “Well,” she said, sitting back on her heels, “this is called lavender. I’ll dry it, put it in fabric pouches, and stick them under my pillow. The scent of lavender is very good for sleep.”

  “Huh,” I said. “Does it help with snoring?”

  She laughed and shook her head. “I’m afraid not.”

  “Too bad,” I said.

  “Tell me,” she said. “How are you finding things here?”

  “Good,” I said. “I really like the food. And Ping-Pong!”

  “I’m glad to hear that,” she said.

  “Why do you grow flowers?” I asked.

  Her eyes crinkled. “What do you mean?”

  “Do you eat them or use them for medicine?”

  She shook her head, looking amused. “We grow them because they’re beautiful. Everyone needs joy.”

  I guess that was as good a reason as any.

  “I was very sorry to hear about Phinneus’s passing,” she told me.

  My head shot up. “You knew him?”

  “Oui,” she said. “We worked together on adapting the algae-growing process for Mars. He was a brilliant and gentle man, and I learned a lot from him.”

 
“I miss him,” I admitted.

  “Of course you do,” she said. “He was a wonderful person. It’s terribly hard to lose someone you love.”

  “How do I stop missing him?” I asked her.

  “By remembering him,” she said simply.

  I shook my head.

  “Tell me your favorite memories of Phinneus,” she urged.

  “He was a farmer on Earth. In a place called New California. Bunnies lived in his yard,” I said.

  “Go on,” she encouraged me.

  “His wife made good carrot cake. When I was little, he would carry me around the farm on his shoulders. He taught me how to plant seeds, and he kept cookies in a jar on his desk just for me.”

  “If you remember all these things, he’ll never really be gone,” she told me.

  I didn’t say anything.

  “Now, would you like to help me plant some herbs?”

  “Sure,” I said.

  As we walked to get supplies, I asked her, “Have you heard about the evil Earth plants called weeds?”

  * * *

  The teenagers got together and decided to throw a party. Mostly because they wanted to dance.

  “We want to try old Earth styles!” Flossy said.

  They invited kids from all the settlements and pushed the furniture against the walls of the recreation room. Music blared as the teens did all sorts of dances.

  They started doing the Charleston, swinging their arms and moving their legs back and forth. Then they did the moonwalk, gliding backward while they looked like they were stepping forward. (I didn’t understand what the moon had to do with it.) Finally, they tried vogueing, which was just posing with their hands in weird positions.

  Trey came over to me with Rémy. “Bell! Bell! You’ll never believe this!”

  “What?” I asked.

  “I found out what happened to the digi-cam outside,” Trey said. “The one that was broken.”

  Rémy gave a sheepish look. “Uh, yeah, sorry about that.”

  “It was you? How?”

  “A couple of us sort of borrowed a rover and drove to your settlement. I guess we weren’t paying attention, and we hit the pole. It was an accident,” he said with a wince.

  I shook my head.

  “What were you doing by our settlement?” I asked.

  “We were just curious,” Rémy said with a shrug.

  It was oddly reassuring to know we weren’t the only kids on Mars who got into trouble.

  After watching the teens do an Earth dance called break dancing, which involved spinning on the floor, Amélie turned to me.

  “I’m hungry,” she said. “Let’s get some of those cookies before they eat them all!”

  We were walking back from the kitchen, our pockets stuffed with cookies, when Amélie elbowed me. She pointed down the hall. There, in a darkened alcove, were Albie and Layla.

  And they were kissing!

  “Bisou bisou!” Amélie said, and made a kissy face.

  “Blech,” I said, and she nodded.

  It didn’t matter where we were from. We could all agree that teenagers were strange.

  After almost a month, our vacation at the French settlement was coming to an end.

  Commander Laurent said it was finally safe for us to return home. But I was a little conflicted.

  Part of me was excited. I missed so many things. My own bed. Meems’s laughter. Salty Bill’s cooking. I even missed Sai’s emergency drills. Most of all, I was eager to see with my own eyes that they were all healthy and well. I wanted to erase the last image of them I had in my mind: lying sick in bed and coughing.

  But another part of me was sad to leave the new things I had discovered at the French settlement. Tasty crêpes. Ping-Pong. Stinky babies. Most of all, my new friends, Wei and Taavi and Amélie. Would I be able to see them again?

  “Do you think we’ll get to come back?” I asked.

  It was late, and we were all in bed. The room was quiet for the moment because Albie was still awake.

  “I don’t know,” Trey said. “I hope so.”

  Albie was more confident. “I’m sure Sai will be okay with it. After all, look at what they’ve done for us!”

  I felt a little better.

  And then Albie started snoring.

  “Psst! Bell!” Trey whispered. “You awake?”

  “Yep,” I said. “Who can sleep with Albie’s snoring?”

  “Maybe when we get home, we can switch rooms again?”

  “Socksy!” I said.

  He laughed. “Now I know why Vera and Flossy were so happy to have me in their room.”

  * * *

  On the morning of our departure, all the kids came to see us off. There were presents and lots of tears, mostly from the teenagers.

  My friends brought me treats. Wei gave me a bag of eggs, which Salty Bill would love. Taavi gave me a small plastic cat.

  “It looks just like Leo!” I said.

  “It is him!” He beamed. “I made it myself!”

  Amélie handed me a bag with dramatic flair.

  “My present is the best!” she announced.

  “It’s a Ping-Pong paddle!” I exclaimed. Then my face fell. “But I don’t have a Ping-Pong table.”

  “Exactly,” Amélie said with a sly wink. “This way, you’ll have to come back here to play with us.”

  I almost started crying.

  But before I could, Commander Laurent walked up to me with a shy look and handed me a bouquet of daisies.

  “Thanks!” I told her.

  She leaned down and whispered in my ear, “Actually, they’re for Commander Sai.”

  “Commander Sai?”

  “He’ll understand what they mean,” she told me. “It’s an old Earth custom.”

  “I’ll give them to him,” I promised her.

  Then it was time to board the train home. Albie was the last to get on. As we pulled away from the dock, I looked back and saw Layla.

  She was wearing Albie’s ball cap.

  * * *

  Armand drove us back to our settlement on the French train.

  Sai was waiting on the dark platform with a glow stick when we arrived. His face was thinner, but he seemed rested—like he’d finally had a good night’s sleep. I’d never realized how tired he always looked. Which made sense, I guessed. After all, he was in charge. It wasn’t like he could take a vacation.

  “Here they are, Sai. Safe and sound,” Armand said with a smile.

  “Thank you,” Sai told him.

  Then we were rushing through the door and down the corridor. I smelled a scent that’s impossible to describe.

  It smelled like home.

  “They’re here!” someone shouted—maybe Salty Bill?—and we were surrounded by hugs.

  “Meems!” I cried, hugging her tight.

  “Oh, Bell,” she said. “I think you’ve grown!”

  I thought of everything I’d experienced in the French settlement. Maybe I had grown a little.

  My eyes carefully cataloged them one by one. Meems’s eyes were bright, and her cheeks were rosy. Salty Bill had shaved his beard, and he looked years younger. Eliana and Darby were their old selves.

  “Where did you get those flowers?” Meems asked.

  “Oh,” I said. “Commander Laurent gave them to me to give to Sai.”

  Meems raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

  “Here you go,” I told Sai, handing him the flowers.

  His hands shook a little as he took them. “Well,” he muttered, and looked down fast.

  * * *

  That evening, Salty Bill made a big welcome-home dinner with all our favorite foods. I looked around the table at everyone’s smiling faces.

  “We’re very g
lad you children are home,” Darby said. “This place hasn’t been the same without you.”

  “Did you know they have a baby in the French settlement?” Flossy said. “He’s so cute!”

  “Except when he cries,” I said.

  “I met my nanny,” Vera said. “Gaspard said I was a very good baby.”

  “And there was a big dance party, and everyone came!” Flossy explained. “We danced all night and stayed up until morning and then had breakfast!”

  The grown-ups looked at each other.

  “Who’s ‘everyone’?” Sai asked.

  “All the kids from the other settlements,” Flossy said, and ticked them off on her fingers. “Mischa, Tatiana, Lok, Layla, Kerttu…”

  “I see,” Sai said, and frowned.

  “Why did you all lie to us?” Vera asked in her usual blunt way.

  Sai raised an eyebrow. “Lie?”

  “About the other countries being dangerous! They’re not dangerous! They’re fun.”

  Sai stood up stiffly. “Excuse me. I need to go check on the weather.”

  After he’d left the room, Vera shook her head. “Really,” she muttered. “If we lied half as much as grown-ups do, we’d be in time-out forever.”

  * * *

  Our home looked better than it ever had, and not just because I’d missed it. The rescue team had been busy. In addition to nursing our grown-ups back to health, they’d repaired things. Everywhere I looked, there were improvements.

  They’d fixed the light timer. They’d installed a new kind of battery charger so we didn’t have to ration power and could have hot showers. Salty Bill’s cabinets were full of interesting ingredients they’d donated—different spices and flours and bars of chocolate. They’d even planted new vegetables and fruits in the algae farm.

  The biggest difference was in Sai’s workshop. His shelves were practically overflowing with supplies—most of which I’d never seen before.

  “What’s this?” I asked Sai, picking up a rubber blob-shaped thing. It was tacky and squishy at the same time.