Item Fourteen Is a Goat

Ivana stands at the baggage belt and waits. The belt is empty. It goes round and round with nothing on it. All the other passengers are gone.

She is fifteen, and this is her first trip alone. Her mother said one thing at the gate. "Be careful." Ivana plans to be very careful. She plans to walk out with her suitcase and her head high.

She cannot do that without the suitcase.

Her headphones are loud, and her music is good. She does not hear the announcement. She does not see the new sign above the belt. She only sees an empty belt. A small, cold worry fills her stomach.

A boy in a big yellow vest walks up to her. He holds a clipboard against his chest. His name tag says JORGE. Under it, in small letters, it says NEW HELPER. He looks about her age.

Ivana takes off one headphone.

"Excuse me," Jorge says in a very polite voice. He sounds like a person who practiced in a mirror. "Are you the owner of Brenda?"

"Who is Brenda?"

Jorge looks at his clipboard. "Brenda is a goat. She travels in a crate. She is on this flight."

"I do not have a goat," Ivana says.

"The list says you do." Jorge turns the clipboard around and points. "Look. Item fourteen. One goat, name Brenda. Owner, Ivana."

Ivana reads the line. It really says Ivana. A laugh starts in her chest. She holds it back.

"That is my name," she says. "But I do not have a goat. I am fifteen. My mother knows everything I own."

"Many people say that," Jorge says. "And then the goat arrives."

"Does that happen a lot?"

"This is my first week," Jorge says. "So, I do not know. But I heard it from someone."

Ivana looks at him. Then she looks at the clipboard. Item thirteen is a box of bees. Item fifteen is a very large cheese. Item sixteen is a crab. Next to it is a note: DO NOT TAP THE GLASS.

"Why do you have a list of animals?" she asks.

"It is the list for my afternoon job. I look after the special cargo." Jorge stands a little taller when he says this. "It is an important job. Yesterday I carried a cello. It had its own seat."

"And I am on this list because…"

"Because Ivana owns Brenda," Jorge says. He sounds very sure. "Please come with me. She waits in the cargo room. She is not happy."

"Jorge," Ivana says, very gently. "I think the list is wrong."

"The list is never wrong. The list is a list." Jorge frowns at the paper. "But I will ask my boss."

He lifts a radio from his belt. The radio makes a loud noise. Jorge holds it far from his ear and clears his throat.

"Base, this is Jorge. I have a passenger named Ivana. She says she has no goat."

The radio crackles for a long time. A slow voice comes out of it.

"Jorge. What is the flight number on your list?"

Jorge looks at the top of the page. His mouth opens a little. He reads in a small voice. "Flight two-four-one."

"And the passenger's flight?"

Jorge turns to Ivana. "What is your flight?"

"Two-one-four," Ivana says.

For a moment, nobody says anything. The belt turns. The radio hums.

"Jorge," says the voice. "Your list is for the plane at Gate Nine. This girl is on the plane from the north. They are not the same plane."

"They are almost the same number," says Jorge.

"Almost is not the same."

The radio hums again. "The goat owner is also called Ivana. She is a woman with a crate. This Ivana is a girl with headphones."

Ivana puts her hand over her mouth. Her shoulders shake. She tries to stay polite. A small noise comes out of her nose. Jorge looks at her for a second. Then he laughs too. Soon they both have to hold the wall.

"I told a customer she owned a goat," Jorge says.

"You told me my goat was unhappy."

"I was worried about your goat."

"I never worried about a goat before," Ivana says. She wipes her eyes. "What about the crab? Is the crab mine too?"

"The crab belongs to a man with a hat," says Jorge. "I will not ask."

The radio crackles again. "Jorge, please find the girl's suitcase. They changed her belt twenty minutes ago. She is on belt six."

"They changed the belt?" Ivana says. "There was an announcement?"

"There was a sign," Jorge says, and points up. A new sign hangs above the belt. It says, in big letters: FLIGHT 214 — BELT 6. The sign is bright orange.

Ivana closes her eyes. "I wore headphones."

"Many people do," Jorge says kindly.

They walk across the hall together. Belt six turns slowly under a gold light. There is only one thing on it. It is a purple suitcase with a sticker of a sleepy cat. It rides alone, round and round, like a small queen.

Ivana picks it up. It is heavy and it is hers.

"Thank you," she says. "I am sorry about the goat."

"I am sorry about the list." Jorge holds the clipboard like a shield. "Do you want me to walk you to the exit?"

"I can find it. There is a very large sign."

"There is always a sign," Jorge agrees. He gives a little salute with the clipboard and turns to go. His vest is so big that it swings like a cape.

"Jorge," Ivana calls.

He turns around.

"If you meet Brenda," she says, "tell her I said hello."