Officer Jacobs moved closer to the bed and frowned. ‘Well, Paelen, shall I tell you what I think?’ Not waiting for an answer he continued. ‘I don’t think this was a gift at all. In fact, I don’t believe you fell out any window. I think you were pushed.’ He held up the bridle. ‘If this is real gold, which I think it is, then it’s got to be worth a fortune. I’m sure someone of your age wouldn’t be getting it as a gift. Tell me, how old are you? Sixteen? Seventeen maybe? So I’ll ask you again, where did you get it?’
Paelen wasn’t about to tell them how old he was or that he hadn’t been pushed out any window. He especially couldn’t tell them about the bridle or from whom he’d taken it. Instead he shrugged. ‘I cannot remember.’
‘That’s a very convenient memory of yours,’ suggested Officer Jacobs. ‘You say this was a gift, but you won’t say who gave it to you.’
He next turned his attention to the beautifully tooled winged sandals. Fine, colourful feathers adorned the tiny wings and beautiful cut diamonds, sapphires and rubies had been sewn into the soft leather.
‘What can you tell me about these? They also look very valuable.’ Officer Jacobs winked at the doctor before he chuckled, “Or do you want to tell us that Mercury, messenger of the Gods gave them to you?’
‘That is correct,’ Paelen simply answered.
‘What’s correct?’ Officer Jacobs said, suddenly confused.
‘They were a gift from Mercury.’ Paelen dropped his eyes and felt his throat tighten. ‘He gave them to me before he died.’
Officer Jacobs frowned and shook his head. ‘What? Who died? Paelen, tell me, who gave you these sandals before they died?’
Paelen felt the conversation turning in the wrong direction. ‘No one. I told you, they were a gift.’
‘No, you just said someone died. I know it wasn’t Mercury. So who was it? Where are they now?’
‘I was wrong,’ Paelen said defensively. ‘Mercury did not die. The Nirads are not invading Olympus and there is no war. Everyone is fine and happy.’
‘Nirads? Olympus?’ Officer Jacobs repeated. ‘What are you talking about?’
Paelen realized he’d said too much. ‘I … I don’t remember. My head hurts.’
He was grateful when Doctor Bernstein stepped forward. ‘I think that’s enough for now, Officer. This young man has obviously been through a terrible ordeal. It’s best if we let him rest.’
The police officer kept his sharp eyes on Paelen, but finally nodded. ‘All right, we’ll leave it there for the moment.’ He started to put the bridle, sandals and toga back in the hospital bag. ‘But in the meantime, I think I’ll hold on to these until we can figure out who they belong to.’
Paelen started to panic. He’d fought very hard to get that bridle from Pegasus and didn’t want this man to take it from him. Throwing back the covers, he tried to climb from the bed but found the heavy casts on his legs stopping him. ‘Please, those are mine. You cannot take them.’
‘Paelen, calm down.’ Doctor Bernstein gently pushed Paelen back against the pillows. ‘You can’t walk. Both your legs are broken, as are most of your ribs. You need rest. Officer Jacobs won’t be taking your things far. He’ll just keep them safe until we can figure out who they belong to.’
‘But they belong to me!’ Paelen insisted.
‘Doctor?’
A nurse had entered the room. She was holding a patient chart in her shaking hands. The colour had drained from her face and she appeared to be very frightened as she studied Paelen. With a tremble in her voice, she said, ‘The blood tests on your patient just came back.’
The nurse handed over the chart as though it were burning her hands. Without waiting for a response, her eyes shot to Paelen a final time before she raced out of the room.
Shocked by her odd behaviour, Doctor Bernstein opened the chart and read the test results. His expression changed as his eyes darted from the chart to Paelen and then back to the chart again.
‘What is it?’ Officer Jacobs asked.
Saying nothing, Doctor Bernstein shuffled through the papers and checked and re-checked the results. When he finished, he closed the chart and concentrated on Paelen.
‘Who or should I say, what the hell are you?’
5
Emily was still on the roof with Pegasus.
Sometime during the seemingly endless night the storm ended just as abruptly as it had begun. The rain stopped and the skies cleared. With the city cast in total darkness from the power outage, for the first time in her life, Emily was able to see stars sparkling in the midnight sky over New York City. She peered up Broadway and listened to the eerie silence. There was some traffic on the wide road, but not much. Only the occasional sounds of a car horn or police siren shattered the overwhelming stillness.
Pegasus was standing close beside her as she looked down to the world below. Her hand was absently stroking the stallion’s muscled neck.
‘It looks so strange down there,’ she said softly. ‘It feels like we’re the only ones left alive in the whole city.’