There Is a Sky part 6

(Author's note: I have always imagined Hope Island in the southern hemisphere, off the coast of South America, halfway towards Australia, for some reason. I guess that's kind of why they're flying in a northeastern direction, crossing over Mexico a bit, in order to get to the southwestern United States. Just thought I'd mention it. :-P)

        The morning sun reflected off the glass of the most efficient craft in the skies; if anyone could have been present on the outside, the intense light would have blinded them.
        Supposedly, that's a matter of opinion.
        As if a crow could comprehend such a thing.
        Still, shiny objects had their allure; the dark bird continued to follow the giant yellow thing, but only at a fraction of its pace. Too fast to be a bird, yet too silent to be a plane; these things only encouraged the animal to continue its flight onward.

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        Ma-Ti slumped over in his seat, gazing uneasily out the window. After talking with Gaia, he hated
        God no
        the idea of going to this place. The thing that disturbed him the most was that he couldn't tell a soul.
        After all, his friends thought they where all just going to the private Oscuro preserve. It was a beautiful place; one of the few untouched gems of native North American desert wilderness left in that part of the country. It wasn't the fact that they where going to the preserve that Ma-Ti qualms about.
        It was the nearby town of Cielo.

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        The yellow bird flew on.

        The crow followed.

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        Linka was bothered, and she couldn't understand why. She had been rather looking forward to this trip, not so much to see the beautiful scenery as to not be stuck on the same island as Wheeler. She grimaced and muttered to herself in Russian.
        He is so annoying…
        Stupid Yankee.
        Gaia had been rather mysterious about the reason they needed to go. Linka remembered the dialogue had taken place:

        "I need you to travel to this location in the southwestern United States," Gaia pointed out on a map, "in order to set straight some questionable activities that have been occurring there in the past week."
        Kwame gazed at the map curiously. "Like what?"
        "Well, there have been odd incidences of wildfires, for one."
        He frowned. "But that is not uncommon in that part of the world."
        She nodded. "True, but that is hardly the season for it, and there has been neither particularly dry weather nor thunderstorms as of late."
        "I see."
        "Also," she continued, "there is the question of the caretaker of this property."
        Gi looked confused. "What do you mean? Doesn't the government own it?"
        Gaia shook her head. "No. It is not state funded. After all, it is a private preserve--I am sending you there not only to straighten things up, but the find the proper deed holder for the land…"
        Ma-Ti spoke up, fearing he already knew the answer.
        "What happened to the previous owner?"
        Gaia shrugged. "He died. About twenty years ago. It was quite unexpected; the man was so poor, the state had to bury him."

*****

        Staring out the window, Linka could swear that sometimes she could see the wind.

Part 7