Gifts of an Eagle by Kent Durden

Author:Kent Durden [Durden, Kent]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4532-7171-1
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 2012-08-14T15:32:00+00:00

VIII

A New Home

DURING THE FIRST FOUR years of Lady’s life, there were a number of incidents that made us subtly aware that our house on the hill was not exactly the ideal place to raise an eagle and let her fly free whenever she wished. The incident of the two dogs being chased by Lady was followed eventually by a similar incident with the neighbor’s cat.

As Lady was flying one day, she spotted a large black cat in the field below and began her descent. The cat instantly spotted her and lit out for the house at full speed. It was obvious that the cat would win the race to the house until, for some unexplained reason, the feline made a course correction that took it toward the orchard. It was then, to our horror, that we saw why. The cat had spotted its mistress, the lady-owner of the farm below and our landlady, and was making for her. Lady made a neat correction to this new course, added a few powerful beats to her wings, and rapidly closed the gap. The poor woman was not aware of anything until suddenly the cat screeched to a halt at her feet and began to gyrate back and forth nearly knocking her down. Before she could gather her wits about her at the cat’s strange behavior, the eagle arrived with a swoosh above her and began hovering, waiting for the cat to make a break. Obviously the cat was not going to leave this place of refuge. With one hand trying to hold the panicky cat off, and with the other trying to shoo away the eagle, the poor woman had her hands full. It was not until Dad raced down the hill that Lady finally left the frightened pair and returned to her perch. With much embarrassment, Dad apologized and returned home, certain that an eviction notice was forthcoming.

The eviction notice never came, but we did detect a bit of coolness on the part of our landlady as well as of some of the neighbors. There were several cats that had mysteriously disappeared from the area, and although no one had seen Lady catch them, suspicions were very strong. Dad began to look for another house.

In the past, all the homes we had lived in were, like this current one, rented. Dad had an uncanny affinity for finding houses that were remote. I can vividly recall rides on weekends when Dad would spot a lonely house, far off the road, that appeared vacant. While Mom and my sister remained in the car, Dad and I would hike up to the house. He would peer into all the windows and then, at my insistence, lift me up so I could see the dusty interior. Then somehow he would find the owner, make a deal, and that would be our home for a while, until for some reason we would have to move. That was long before Lady’s time, but even then we always had other animals or hawks.

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