Liberty, carrying an unopened envelope in her hand, arrived at her mentorship meeting with Sister Nancy the Monday after taking her G.E.D.
exam.
“Is that the magic envelope?” the tall, blond lady asked.
“This is the one, the only, magic envelope.”
“I see you haven’t opened it...”
“Scared
to.”
“How
do
you think you did?”
“Awesome. I always ace tests. And they always think of a reason to flush my credit anyway.”
“But remember, they don’t know a thing about you, except what you did during those six hours. And even if they did, it wouldn’t make any difference.
Only your scores matter.”
“I was good. Except when the moron started beating on the vending machine in the break room. Can you believe I had to show a grown man how to use the coin return?”
“Yes, Liberty, I’d believe it,” Sister Nancy said, chuckling. “You didn’t give him a black eye or go to bed with him or anything like that, did you?”
“No, I kept it on the verbal level, using words he probably didn’t understand. But there were others in the room who got the gist of what I was saying and rolled with laughter!”
“Well, are you going to open it?”
“Guess I should...” Liberty tore open one end and pulled out the enclosed card. With eyes closed, she handed it to her mentor.
“This really is scary for you, isn’t it?”
“Uh
huh.”
“It says that you scored in the ninety-ninth percentile in all subjects, and have earned an Honors Certificate of General Educational Development.
Happy?”
Liberty let out the deep breath she was holding and opened her eyes.
“Happy!”
“Your dad will be proud.”
“I’m going to call him tonight. I want to tell him about my decision to join a security team.”
“How’s that report going? Any problems working with Shawn? I know you had some feelings for him once.”
“We haven’t had any problems at all. I think we’ve both accepted the inevitability of what happened — I mean what didn’t happen. We’re almost done with the report. Sister Ruth is going to critique it for us before we give it to Brother Fred.”
“Great!”
“You see... about Shawn... if I’d gotten close to him, I would have been back in the teacher role, if you know what I mean. I needed to get out of that role. I needed to forget that I knew anything about love. I needed to start all over again.”
“I think I understand. Has Jason given you that chance?”
“Yes. I think I’m falling in love with him. And... as strange as this sounds... I’m not sure I’ve ever been in love before.”
“Love has many manifestations. They are all equally valid to the person experiencing them. Please don’t put down your earlier years. You would not be who and where you are today without them. You would probably never have discovered Lyceum if you hadn’t gone out on the town that night a year and a half ago.”
“Gosh. I never thought of it that way. I guess you’re right. I’d still be hopping from school to school in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. What’s in the bag?”
“Snacks. Would you like mango or pineapple juice?”
“Um... I’m ready for a change. I’ll take pineapple this time.”
“So... G.E.D. Preparation is history...”
“Except for my graduation party next week!”
“Yes, I got my invitation this morning. And you’re adding Security Procedures and Ethics on Friday mornings. Any other classes that we need to talk about?”
“Sometimes I feel like something’s missing, but I don’t know what.”
“Math?”
“Navigation is plenty.”
“Science?”
“Maybe. I’ve got Computer Control Systems, but hearing Shawn talk about the labs almost makes me want to get familiar with them.”
“You can do that without taking a class, of course. And there is a General Science class if you can’t decide...”
“Yeah. Maybe I’ll poke around after Christmas and see what looks interesting. I just had my second training flight!”
“How did it go?”
“Great, like the first one. Erica had a hanger door mocked up with lasers, and I had to fly through it. It’s tricky flying at an altitude of two feet! Your own ground wash constantly buffets you around. After I went through without touching the lasers, she let me take it up to a thousand feet and really fly.”
“I hear you’re going to have some serious Technical Assistant shifts during Christmas...”
“Yeah! Brother Glen says we’re going to be working our fingers off, and he’s giving me several small jobs to handle by myself. I’m jazzed!”
“That’ll make you an Environmental Control Technician, and not just an assistant! I think our special Christmas schedules will be out in a couple of days. Can your dad visit?”
“He wants to, and was going to try to carve out a few days, but he’s working really hard on the Nuclear Disarmament Treaty, and he says there’s all kinds of games being played by everyone you could imagine. Maybe he’ll know tonight when I call him.”
“How’s
swimming?”
“Good. You know, with the clean air here, and the exercise I get, and since I’ve quit coffee and most other garbage, I think I’m healthier than I’ve ever been before. Oh, yeah, I had that Group B Virus Test that you suggested. I only had one, and they gave me some pills that would zap it.”
“Neat! It’s not required for much, but I thought it would give you a little extra... peace of mind.”
They both sat in silence for a minute, snacking on crackers and gazing out the window at a light mist that was falling.
“Have you seen the new evaluation group?” Sister Nancy asked.
“Yeah. It’s big, and there are two teenagers in it. It’s hard to believe it was only half a year ago that I was in one, and sweating like an idiot because I had been mean to Sarah!”
They both laughed about Liberty’s old mistake.
“And now she and I are friends, and I’m flying helicopters, and I just graduated, and I’m about to get some Tech assignments of my own, and I’ll be on a security team in February... and I’ve got you.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. You’re like the mom I never had.”
Sister Nancy was silent for a moment, absorbing the implications of what Liberty had just said. “That’s a great honor, Liberty. Thank you for telling me. Does that mean I get to spank you when you’re bad?”
“No! A note on my computer account will do.”
They both laughed again.
After Navigation class on Wednesday, as was her habit, Liberty wandered out to the Small Animal Barn to help Jason with his charges. She took with her, as was also her habit, samples of her baking from that morning. It had become hard to distinguish them from those made by Brenda and the other experienced bakers.
“What’s in the box?” he inquired as he handed a head of lettuce to the hungry giant tortoise in the pen before them.
“Apple turnovers. Where are the other two?”
“Hibernating under those cardboard boxes over there. Sam usually stays
out the longest, but he’ll probably be joining them by New Year’s.”
They sat down on a bench together near the ewe pen, shared a leisurely kiss, and then Liberty opened her pastry box.
“Yum! Those look good!”
She handed him one, and they shared the pleasures of the palate together in silence. A few moments later an ewe walked over to the side of the pen near them and bleated.
“Hi, Penny! It’s good to see you. Are you enjoying the break in the weather?”
“She was running around the pasture this morning,” Jason said.
“Delicious turnover! Thank you. We’d better feed the llamas before they see us sitting here and decide to spit at us.”
Liberty giggled and followed Jason to the llama pen. They each grabbed a chunk of hay and entered the pen. Jason stroked and talked to each animal as it wandered in from the pasture. Soon all five were munching the tasty alfalfa.
“What’s left to do?” Liberty asked.
Jason was just about to answer when he noticed something unusual. One of the llamas had stopped eating and was hanging her head down almost to the ground.
“What’s the matter, Juanita? I’ve never seen you look like this before. Her color’s off, isn’t it, Lib?”
“Yes. She’s rapidly turning blue.”
The llama suddenly made some coughing, gasping sounds, and proceeded to lose her lunch, and possibly several previous meals, out of both ends.
“Oh, God. If this is what I think it is, she won’t be standing for long. You’d better give me a hand...”
Before Liberty could respond, Juanita was falling sideways. Jason was able to break her fall and settle her onto the soft floor of the pen.
“Get Brother Mohammed! Tell him to be ready for emergency abdominal surgery! If he’s not on campus, get whatever doctor is!”
Liberty ran out of the pen and into the little office in the corner of the barn. Jason’s heart was racing, but he knew his mind needed to stay calm.
He continued to examine the semi-conscious animal. Yes, as he had suspected, he could feel the throbbing, painful lump in the llama’s abdomen.
He could tell she was in great pain, and part of him wanted to cry. In a few moments, Liberty was back beside him.
“He’s on his way. What can I do?”
Jason forced himself to think. “Get the other llamas out of here, give them some hay in the corral. Then we need to clean up this mess and get ready for surgery. I think she has a blocked intestine, and it will soon kill her if we can’t fix it. God, I’m glad Brother Mohammed’s here!”
By the time Liberty had all the other llamas out, who were in the middle of their meal and were not at all impressed with the idea, the veterinarian had arrived. While he examined Juanita and talked with Jason, Liberty scooped up the foul-smelling puddles with a shovel and carried them out to the compost pile. By the time she returned with fresh shavings, Brother Mohammed was getting ready to anesthetize his patient. Jason dashed back into the pen with clean sheets and began spreading them around and under the unconscious animal.
“Liberty,” the vet said in his thick, middle-eastern accent, “please operate the sterile field generator.” It wasn’t a question. He began shaving the animal’s belly in preparation for opening her.
Liberty had a vague idea of what such a thing was, but the thought of being responsible for operating one, during a life and death surgery, made her bite her lip . Okay, Liberty, time to put that supposedly high intelligence of yours to good use. Operate the sterile field generator. Do it now, and do it right.
Jason handed her the case that contained the instrument she had to employ. There was a grateful look in his eyes. Then he continued preparing the tools the vet would be using.
She opened the case. The device had a handle, several controls, and a trigger. The sterile field was obviously emitted from the opposite end from the handle. It didn’t look that hard. She just had to figure out the controls.
They were labeled Intensity, Spread, and Pulse.
“Liberty, intensity three, spread ten, pulse one. Five seconds over the area I have shaved,” the vet said.
Liberty touched the controls until the right numbers appeared, moved the device near the newly shaven skin, and pressed the trigger, moving it slowly so that it would cover the entire area in about five seconds. Then she released
the trigger.
Neither Brother Mohammed nor Jason had been able to watch her, and so neither could give her any feedback on what she had just done. They were busy preparing the surgical tools that might save the llama’s life, if used quickly and properly. The magnitude of the trust they were giving her was almost overwhelming.
Brother Mohammed turned back to the hopefully sterile surgery site and began to cut. “Intensity one, pulse five, now.”
Liberty jabbed at the controls and pressed the trigger, leaving the vet enough room to work. A moment later several loops of intestine bulged out of the opening, one of which contained a swollen, blackened, contorted section.
Brother Mohammed quickly went to work severing and sealing the blood vessels that led to the effected section.
“Go to spread eight,” he said, and Liberty complied without releasing the trigger. Jason was handing him more tools, often without any word being spoken, and the vet was preparing to remove the ugly section of intestine.
Jason held a sterile pan underneath to catch the useless tissue and its contents as his mentor cut.
A few tedious minutes later, the offending section of tube, about seven or eight inches long, had been completely removed. It stank. The vet was now working to join the remaining ends together. “Vary the angle to avoid shadows, Liberty,” he said.
She realized that the sterile field generator probably emitted some form of electromagnetic energy, and if an area was constantly behind something, like the surgeon’s hands, a microbe could slip in and remain there. She began to move the device slowly to different positions.
After more tedious minutes, he had completed the connection.
“She’s regaining consciousness,” Jason said.
“Allah! I need five more minutes!” Brother Mohammed said with frustration.
“Should I put her to sleep again?”
“No. I don’t think she would survive it. Liberty, continue the field, and prepare to immobilize her front legs.”
“Any suggestions on how?”
The vet wasn’t listening. He was busy closing the abdominal cavity as quickly as he could. Jason was lashing the animal’s hind legs together with a wide strap. “Just be prepared for her to kick, and make sure those kicks can’t get to the surgical site. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Liberty did the only thing she could think of to do, and still maintain the sterile field. She moved her own body behind the llama’s front legs, which were even then starting to twitch. The vet was nearing the end of the closing procedure, and as soon as Jason had finished strapping the hind legs to a post, he dashed around to help her with the front legs. Just then the legs started kicking. Three times they beat against Liberty’s side before Jason could immobilize them. The sterile field generator shook but Liberty didn’t let go. The vet finished the closure, quickly spread an ointment along the incision, and tossed his tools into a pan.
“Field
off!”
“Are you okay?” Jason asked Liberty.
“Ouch! I’m going to have some bruises, but I think I’m okay. Did we do it?
Did it work?”
“We did what we could,” Brother Mohammed said. “Now time and Allah will decide. Thank you, Liberty.” Then he prepared to administer some relaxing and pain-killing medications to the awakening animal.
After their patient was made comfortable, they talked about schedules, and Brother Mohammed decided that he and Jason would stay with the llama for the next three hours. That would give Liberty a chance to get cleaned up, go to Russian, and bring back dinner trays. Then she and Jason would watch Juanita for the evening, while the vet got dinner and arranged for others to help later.
When Liberty returned to the barn with a well-laden tray in each hand, she found Jason feeding some alfalfa pellets to the still restrained llama, and Brother Mohammed checking some vital signs.
“Thanks, Lib!” Jason said.
“How is our patient?”
“Surprisingly good,” the vet said. “Her temperature is up a little, so please watch it closely this evening. And keep the animal warm and comfortable.”
He stood and began packing his instruments. “I will stop by several times this evening. Call me if you need to.”
“Thank you so much, Brother Mohammed. We’ll watch her closely,” Jason said.
The next several hours were tense. Both of the youth found things to do, a little cleaning here, a little animal brushing there, but every time Juanita made a funny noise, they dashed back to the llama pen to comfort her and try to determine if the veterinarian was required. Jason monitored his patient’s temperature, and to their relief, it only rose another degree before settling back to normal. Whenever Juanita would eat or drink, they let her. Brother Mohammed stopped by almost hourly.
The pair didn’t feel like talking much, especially as midnight approached.
They took to leaning against bales of hay, side by side, sometimes holding hands, sometimes not. Finally at midnight, Sister Claire, whom Liberty knew from the Horse Barn, arrived to watch their animal for a few hours.
“Sorry I couldn’t get here sooner. You think you have a zoo here — you should see the Main Lobby! There are conferences overlapping with seminars, tangled up with retreats and mixed up with hermitages. How long does Mohammed want to keep her restrained?”
“Until at least morning. She hates it, but she’s putting up with it. Then we go to the belly bands.”
“She won’t like those, either!”
“I know. Thanks for helping, Claire. Brother Mohammed will be sleeping on his pager, and so will I. After a shower, that is!”
Liberty sniffed at him melodramatically. “You smell okay to me!”
“That’s because you smell like llama urp too!”
She punched him in the shoulder and they staggered toward the residence halls.
When Liberty, not finding Jason in his room, arrived at the barn early the following morning, she learned that Juanita had become very agitated during the night and had torn open part of her incision. Jason had only gotten two hours sleep, and Brother Mohammed had already been there and returned to bed. Sister Claire was still there, but was about to retire, as she had an
important work shift in just a few hours.
Liberty brought Jason breakfast and some other supplies he needed before running to her Children’s Program shift. When she got back to the barn, Jason and the vet were fitting Juanita with the abdominal supports she would have to wear for several weeks. They were glad of an extra hand.
Right after lunch, two members arrived to relieve the sweaty, dirty trio.
Jason dragged himself home again, and Liberty went to Helicopter Maintenance, which was a busy two hours of actual maintenance procedures, as the holiday events were keeping Lyceum’s airborne fleet busy.
In the middle of the afternoon she called the barn, just out of concern for Juanita, and to her dismay, Jason answered. Again he had only gotten a couple of hours of sleep, as the llama had been in pain and he and Brother Mohammed had needed to adjust her belly bands. She hurried over with supplies, snacks, and comforting words and kisses.
About five o’clock of the day after her surgery, Juanita finally seemed to be stabilized, and Jason curled up on the cot in the barn’s little office and was instantly asleep. Liberty used the computer terminal there to leave a note for Brother Ben stating that she would have to miss Swimming that day, and canceled her Flight Simulator reservation for that evening. Then she just sat in the office near Jason looking at magazines, or helped the other members with the animals.
At nine o’clock that evening, Jason awoke more refreshed than he had felt in two days. And he was very happy to discover that Juanita was still in a comfortable, stable condition. The members who had been covering the barn all afternoon and evening went home, and Brother Mohammed arrived soon after. He examined the llama thoroughly.
“Praise be to Allah! I think we are finally out of the desert!” he said, and both he and Jason smiled and embraced each other, and then grabbed Liberty and brought her into the joyful squeeze.
As the veterinarian had no responsibilities the following day, he planned to spend that night in the barn. Jason and Liberty helped him to check on the other animals and get ready for his vigil, and then they prepared to return to the main building complex. They stopped by the Horse Barn, peeked in on
the sleepy equines, and sat down on a bench to collect their thoughts.
Liberty snuggled close to Jason, and he put his arm around her.
“Jason, you are a very, very special person. The last two days have made me absolutely sure that... that I love you,” she said, looking up into his brown eyes.
He looked at her with a tenderness that made her feel completely comfortable with the words she had just spoken. “I’ve had a couple of girls want my body,” he said, “including Brenda, as you know, but I don’t think anyone’s ever loved me before. But that’s what I’ve been waiting for, and...
um... I think I also love you, Liberty,” he said and smiled, a bashful, almost timid smile. A moment later their hands joined.
“For two days you’ve been giving to Juanita more than most people ever give to anyone. And I’ve seen you give to many other people and animals.
Now I’d like to give to you. I want to give you the most precious thing I have, Jason, and no other boy has ever deserved it like you do. I want to comfort you tonight, and hold you while you sleep as deeply and as long as you want...
if you’ll have me...”
They looked long at each other, and then their heads moved closer together and finally their lips met. Liberty gave a major part of herself away in that kiss, deciding that this was the right time to let go of all the fears that always ran through her mind each time she loved a boy, hoping beyond hope that her surrender would be matched by his.
As if with one unspoken will, they arose and wandered slowly toward the residence halls, giggling and swaying as they went, sometimes with their arms around each other, sometimes just holding hands. Members they passed smiled knowingly.
Once inside, they detoured through the Dining Hall to collect some snacks, and then resumed their original course. With nothing but her body and her eyes, Liberty made it known to Jason that she had no need to go to her own apartment, that this night would be spent in his room exclusively. He willingly guided her in that direction.
Liberty knew that Jason had wanted to save himself for someone special.
She also knew that he had once, when he first came to Lyceum, thought that Brenda was that special person. To his great sadness, he had found out
otherwise. As handsome as he was, the fact that he lived at Lyceum, and the fact that he spent so much time caring for all those smelly animals, when not working elsewhere or studying, had set him apart, even in the eyes of many members.
But somehow Liberty’s recent experiences had made her ready for Jason.
During her year at the Buchanan country house, she had become very comfortable with the aromas of horses and cows. Lyceum’s llamas, sheep, goats, and other creatures were similar enough. Two years before she would have laughed at the idea of loving a farm animal boy. Two years before she was a child of the city, and had planned to remain one.
Two years before, Liberty Buchanan would have started by teaching her new lover all the intricate arts of pleasuring that he didn’t yet know. She had no intention of doing that this time, or ever again. This time she planned to share his innocence, giggle and blush right along with him, and not take charge at all. She planned to let things happen by themselves, in their own sweet time, and if it took all night, that was okay, and if it didn’t happen at all that night, that was okay too. Liberty Buchanan was through with professional love making. From now on, she planned to remain strictly amateur, in the most literal sense of the word.
And so they sat on Jason’s bed for a long time, just giggling and talking, munching on chips, sipping sparkling juices, touching each other playfully.
Liberty couldn’t remember ever being so happy, so care-free, exploring the fingers of her sweetheart’s hand one minute, letting him feed her peanuts the next, kissing his neck after that. It was nearly one o’clock in the morning before they realized that they hadn’t yet showered since coming in from the barn.
Jason offered his hand, Liberty accepted it, and together they entered his tiny bathroom. Both grinning shyly, they made a pile of all their smelly clothes, and then Jason adjusted the water and gestured for Liberty to enter.
She did and he followed.