Poachers in the Pingos by Anita Daher

Author:Anita Daher
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: JUV000000
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2008-10-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

“Man, I HATE that bird!” Tommy cried as they watched the blue-eyed raven waddle toward them.

“Maybe he’s out here looking for his owner,” Colly said.

Tommy’s whole face lit up. “Let’s bring him back to the boat. If that raven feather with the dead gyrfalcons really was from Beastie, then maybe he knows where Harvey is going!”

Just as he’d seen Harvey do, Colly offered Beastie his arm. “Good bird,” he said, when Beastie hopped onto it. He stepped carefully as they made their way back down the pingo, hoping the bird wouldn’t fly away. Just as the pinch of his talons was becoming unbearable, Beastie shifted his weight and extended his beak toward Colly’s mouth.

Tommy snorted. “I think he wants you to kiss him!”

Colly turned his head away. “No way!”

“You better do it,” Tommy said. “We don’t want him to get mad and fly home!”

Colly looked at Beastie, who was opening and closing his beak, still leaning toward him. “Oh, fine!” He lifted his chin and gave Beastie a loud smack on the beak. “Nice Beastie,” he said; then he spat and wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

Beastie gave a soft squawk and a few musical pinging sounds, as if he were pleased. He must not have liked the sound of the boat, though. As soon as Tommy increased the power, the bird flew in the air.

“Find Harvey!” Colly shouted.

The bird appeared to understand, or maybe he was just continuing along a path he’d been on all along. He flew along the shore as Tommy and Colly followed in the boat as best they could. There were so many small bays and inlets, they had to strain to see him as they sped along. In places the shore had what looked like ice-filled cliffs, dark on top and white underneath, as if a piece had broken away, exposing the permafrost. Kind of like a giant gobstopper candy that had been smacked with a hammer.

They watched as Beastie flew higher, and then turned and flew inland. A moment later they saw him swoop from the sky and land somewhere out of sight.

“Oh great,” Tommy said.

Colly scanned the shore. Ice-filled cliffs and grassy hillocks made it difficult to see very far inland. A little farther on, the shore offered a few more boggy inlets—a chance to take the boat a little closer to where the bird must have landed. “Let’s try in there,” he said, pointing.

Slowly, Tommy chugged into the opening, where they found nothing but bog and brush.

“Try the next one,” Colly said, his voice tight. “Beastie must have seen something to make him stop!”

As the boat sped around the weedy curve, Colly spotted something on the muddy shore. Philip’s windsurfer!

“Why would Philip be out here?” Colly asked.

“He goes all over for his wind research,” Tommy said. “If Philip is out here, maybe he has a radio or a satellite phone and can call for help!”

Colly nodded. “That’s a good idea.”

As soon as they were close enough to the shore, they jumped into the frigid water and secured the boat.

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