When Bunny looked back at them, Diego had a grin of satisfaction on his face: his father, eyes still dull, face otherwise slack, was chewing the soft diced bits in the stew. Encouraged, Diego replenished the spoon with more bits; the cat on his father’s shoulders sniffed as the spoon passed his nose, but didn’t try to snag it. Dr. Metaxos’s eyes even looked a little more focused when he chewed, Bunny thought. Food was the best thing he could concentrate on right now; maybe he was even tasting it. She hoped so: it was a shame to waste a good Clodagh stew on someone who couldn’t appreciate the fine taste of it.
Just then the door burst open and Aisling swirled in like a one-woman typhoon, followed closely by Steve Margolies. Through the door behind Steve, Bunny saw Sinead talking into the ear of one of the curly-coat horses that stood around about the house.
“Clodagh,” Aisling called cheerfully, “Sinead and the cur lies did some right fine towing work at the river, getting snocles out of trouble. Everyone’s out now and on their way back here. We left all the snocles at Adak’s, but he’s so busy, I thought I’d see if you had something cooked up for him to eat. He’s going to be there all night. And it’s not just the river breaking up early, either. You know all that smoke we’ve been after seein’ and the ground shaking? Well, that’s from a volcano eruption over by where Odark found Lavelle and Siggy with your lad here and his da.” She grinned at the expressions of disbelief and amazement. “And the miners and engineers and company men that went out that way to start work, they got caught right under that volcano.” She grinned so broadly at the effect of that news that she had to lick her lips.
Of them all, Clodagh didn’t seem surprised.
“And, there’s a shuttle down, almost right on top of the volcano, to hear Adak tell it, and the survivors yelling like stuck pigs for help. Well, that smooth redheaded captain who was sniffin’ after Yana took her and Giancarlo and some other soldier to go see if anyone got out of the shuttle. They made it to the miners and then”-Aisling’s expression changed to indignation- “that captain wanted to leave behind the injured miners and all, right where they were being bombarded with ash and hot mud, so’s he could search for the shuttle. Can you believe the man’s sand that he’d abandon wounded, his own people, mind you? And crazy enough to want to make a copter fly into all that heat and ash and smoke? But as luck would have it, and such good luck I can scarcely believe myself, the pilot was Rick, you remember Orla O’Shay’s oldest boy that went into the service fifteen years ago? He and Yana Maddock made the captain and the colonel and the other bloke with them get out and load the wounded. He radioed back for a pickup for them and the other survivors, and Adak was just talking to him as we came in. Sinead says she has it from her sources that Scan’s gone missin’, too, and she’s that worried about himself and Yana. The O’Shay boy says Yana disarmed the colonel and his lad neat as you please and not a moment too soon. Dr. Steve here wants to rustle up some transport. He feels he’s got to get out there to eyeball that volcano while it’s growing.”
She paused to take a deep breath and then, with a grin, added, “Seems like Petaybee’s not supposed to have volcanoes in that spot.”
“Bunka, take a bowl of stew over to Adak and see if there’s any more news, will you?” Clodagh said in a tone that was not a request.
“Sure, Clodagh,” Bunny said.
“You’re the one I’m to ask about transport?” Steve Margolies asked, looking perplexedly at the big woman.
“Eat first,” Clodagh said hospitably, and handed him a bowl before filling a bigger one for Bunny to take to Adak. “You need good food after that stuff at the river, and for anything else you want to do.”