OP 3

Rumors Fleetwood Mac














It was four years since Lead had been in Boston and like all cities, construction projects and shifting businesses changed the landscape significantly, providing distracting conversation. However, once seated in the restaurant, the discussion again came round to the circumstances of Lead’s current visit.



“Well, it’s a bit complicated.” Lead sighed, leaning back taking a sip of tea. “I’ve been conversing with this man, Mathew Challahan for a couple of years now on e-mail and by phone. He’s the head of the board at the zoo. They’ve been trying very hard to revitalize the place and make it animal friendly. He contacted me initially about a wallaby problem they were having. One of the poor devils was sick, anyway, we got it all worked out and we’ve been in contact ever since. It’s been a few years now. I guess it was about a year and half ago, he talked to me about wanting to bring over some wombats, but there was some concern about the local possum population. We’ve been working together and put in a couple of grants, and well the end of the story is, here I am.” Lead shrugged.


“If you’d told me…” Jack began.


“There wasn’t anything to tell.” Lead cut him off. “I called you right after I got the announcement we won the funds.” Lead laughed. “You’d think you were the older brother.”


“So what’s the deal with the school?” Ally asked.


“Well, Quincy Academy is an Independent Co-educational institution, grades k-12…” Lead shifted in his chair in a manner Ally recognized in Jack as nervousness. “K-8 is a day school, but the upper school, which is grades 9-12 admits borders. It offers a college prep curriculum, with most of the students going to Ivy League schools…”


“You sound like a view book.” Jack interrupted, teasing and completely oblivious to his brother’s tension. “Are you going to teach? Kindergarten Zoologist?”


“No. There are no formal teaching responsibilities.” Lead answered dryly. “The school has a lab. I’ll probably do a few guest lectures kind of thing and the kids will work with me with the animals and getting the habitat ready. I’ll live in an apartment on campus and I can take meals in the dinning room. I’ve talked on the phone with the headmistress a few times. I can pick up keys from the secretary after 8:00 am Monday. And I have a face to face appointment with the headmistress at 11. I’m sure it will be fine.” Lead ran a hand through his hair.


“Fine? You didn’t go to boarding school.” Jack laughed still oblivious to Lead’s growing tension.


“So, what’s a wombat like?” Ally interrupted changing the subject. It was painful to watch how nervous Lead was about the whole situation. That Jack seemed to not have a clue was mind-boggling.


“It’s a cute little furry guy.” Lead lit up. “A relative of the possum, but a lot cuter. Common wombats look like a cross between a hedgehog and a guinea pig, but the Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat is more like a cross between a kola and…” Lead scowled trying to think, finally leaning on the table, he very seriously added, “well, and kind of like a small hippo.”


“Oh?” Ally replied the image appearing in her mind nightmarish. She was thankful that Lead’s enthusiasm had caused him not to notice, but charge ahead now that he was in more comfortable territory.


“The common wombat is actually most closely related to the kola. Though more solitary and largely nocturnal, during the day they burrow up to 20 meters, which can be a real challenge for spectators. The Southern Wombat is more communal, but still uses an extensive burrowing system.”


“So, who’s coming to the zoo?” Ally asked a little overwhelmed.


“We’re going to try to create a successful habitat for a few Common


Wombats, but,” Lead grinned as plates of steaming food were placed before them, “you can’t possibly care about this.”


“True.” Jack nodded reaching for a dish.


”Actually, it’s very interesting.” Ally glared at Jack, who merely laughed. “So, what do they eat?”


“Plants. A couple should be out of quarantine and arriving in a week or so, they’ll be staying in the lab for a while. I’ll give you a call for a personal introduction, if you like.”


“Really?” Ally was wide eyed. “Oh, that’d be SO cool.” She shook her head while placing two heaping spoonfuls of orange chicken on her plate.


Lead and Jack both smiled, their eyes meeting across the table. Lead gave a firm, brief nod at his brother. He liked Ally a lot. Her interest was genuine and she possessed none of the obnoxious arrogance that Jack’s last flame, Gwen, had displayed with pride. In fact, it seemed that the two women couldn’t be further apart from each other.


It was no wonder Jack couldn’t remember the wombats, Lead thought. They had talked a little about the project, argued greatly about living arrangements and why Lead hadn’t informed Jack he was coming sooner, and then spent at least twice that much time discussing Ally. Lead couldn’t remember a time when his brother had been so thoroughly enchanted by a woman. Though, after Gwen, he’d been more than a little doubtful about his brother’s judgment. But having met Ally, he was starting to understand, though their relationship still seemed a bit puzzling.