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“I was asking why Deidre signed you up to do stand-up comedy last night instead of singing. You’re taking voice lessons, after all.”
“Deidre grew up singing in a choir as a child and in a band in college. You heard her; she’s amazing.”
“We came in at happy birthday,” he said.
“Oh, you missed out. So Deidre sings, and I sing along. There’s a big difference. But it occurred to me, as I was making a list of things to try, that Deidre could sing because she had years and years and years of lessons, coaching, and practice. She didn’t come out of the womb able to belt out a song the way she can. Granted, some people are born talents, but that’s not what I wanted to focus on. I want to focus on the fact that I counted myself out without giving myself the opportunity to learn. I signed up for classes online.”
“Not in person? You were afraid of breaking their eardrums?” His teasing didn’t feel like it had a hidden knife in it the way Dan’s had. Mary didn’t mind Halo’s teasing tone.
“I just thought having a little distance would be less intimidating.”
“And you found someone?”
“I did, and it is the most ridiculous story you can imagine. I signed up for a trial service. I thought they’d pair me with some woman who had studied voice in college and was now—I don’t know, a church choir director or a stay-at-home mom who needed to earn a couple of extra bucks.”
“Not so?”
“This sweet young lady was teaching me. Just so kind and lovely. After I met her online, I thought she was a college student, earning some extra bucks as a side hustle.”
“Now, are we getting to the ridiculous part?”
“I decided to look her up online, and it turned out that she has a master’s from the best music school in America. She lives in NYC and was about to perform for a national foundation. She was the lead in an opera that was on a very famous stage. That someone with a master’s from anywhere was teaching me was —"
“A great opportunity?”
“Crazy, I think, is the right word.”
“But why would you say that?”
“Because you start with training wheels,” Mary said. “You get some basics under your belt. Have some fun. This was the kind of person you went to in order to polish for performances and competitions, to get ready for something big. All I wanted was to sing in the shower without driving people out of my house.”
“Ah.” He bent over and came up with berries on his palm. “Wild blueberries.”
She tentatively tasted one. Not as sweet as she bought in the store, but finding them out here was fun.
“We should go ahead and get our bog shoes strapped on.”
Mary breathed deeply, then sat on the ground to do as asked. “Yum! What is that smell? It’s like lemons.”
“That is called Labrador tea. It’s part of the rhododendron family, a family that I have recently had a very bad experience with. Luckily, this one just smells good and is stress-relieving. That’s what you’re sitting on. It’s everywhere.”
Before Mary stood, she collected a bouquet of woody green leaves with tiny flowers. And buried her nose in them.
As they stepped forward, the ground under her shifted. It was like trying to walk across an enormous waterbed. “As I get my bog legs, would you help me keep my equilibrium?”
“At your service, madam.” He extended his hand.
Together, they stepped out into what was a foreign vista. The colors of chartreuse, wheat, and russet were other-worldly. The craggy trees no taller than Mary’s shoulders could be found in sci-fi movie scenes.
It took a few minutes to get used to the ground undulating under her feet.
Max was hysterical how he lifted his paws high, as he pranced forward, his head rotating from side to side, sniffer going at warp speed.
“This water is acidic from the sphagnum moss, perfectly clean to drink, but it won’t quench your thirst as it has no minerals,” Halo explained. “It’s too acidic for animals to survive in it. So no fish.”
“Interesting.” Mary shoved her bouquet of Labrador tea into a D hook on the backpack strap where it was near her nose. She thought she’d figured out that Iniquus required the backpack lest their client fall into one of the pools of water, and the guardians needed to grab something to pull them out.
“Unlike the fish, you can swim in the bog pools,” Halo said. “The water feels quite unique. It’s an amazing experience.”
