| Time for a Story |
An episodic adventure which will appear fresh online; comment at will.
Cara Bay ~~ 14th Installment - with 2 parts
(Installment 1 posted January 18)
Chapter 5: Part 3
Before she began, Cara thought how different this already was from her relationship with Tilde. Tilde was her own achievement. She hadn’t had to train to be able to reach Tilde. Not that she didn’t relish the idea of training at a master Spinner’s hand. Could she follow Adeline’s instructions? Her mother? Cara wasn’t sure, but now wasn’t the time to worry about it. Now was the time to check it out
She drew a deep breath. Something simple. What bird was everywhere and often friendly to ordinary humans? Something pretty, conversational, bright but not flashy? She pictured bright red plumage, a melodic chirp, and a jaunty crest atop a flicking head. She tracked abrupt swooping flight from bush to tree, a perch atop a sunlit branch of a tulip poplar, breezes tossing the leafy mass behind it. She felt the lift to her heart that comes from listening to the chirp and song of Cardinalis cardinalis.
Morning breeze slipped by her cheeks. Slight hesitation, she stretched fingers out and tapped the table beside the dish. She heard notes. Tiny, chirping notes of a young male cardinal calling to his neighbors, like words to a dance: one, one, two, two, chir-rup, chir-rup, quick, quick, quick, quick, quick, quick; one, one, two, two, chir-rup, chir-rup, quick, quick, quick, quick, quick, quick. Even here, on the porch, hand outstretched, eyes closed, Cara smiled at the sound. The sound that was only in her head.
She cocked her head, much like the bird. Why am I hearing it?
She opened her eyes in confusion.
Chir-rup!
A sprightly bird pecked at the seeds in the dish, then tilted his head and looked her directly in the eye. He blinked once, then resumed pecking seeds.
Cara blinked and turned to Adeline, her eyes wide.
“Don’t,” Adeline whispered. “Move slow. Don’t spook him.”
Slowly Cara faced the bird. He was looking at her again.
Adeline’s voice came from behind Cara. “It’s all right. You’ve done really well so far. Now just go easy, talk to him.”
The words came easily, although Cara was still marvelling at the bird’s presence. “Hey, hey,” she spoke in small whispers, softer than the cardinal’s chirp. “Enjoying the seed? That’s okay, that’s good! You can have some more. Go ahead.” The bird ducked his head at her and grabbed another seed, his eyes returning right to hers. They locked eyes, then he slowly picked another seed and deposited it on the table between Cara and the dish. He ruffled his wings, then straightened up and watched as she picked up the seed.
“Thank you. That is kind of you.” Slowly, Cara picked up the seed and put it in her mouth. How did I know I needed to accept it? That the bird wanted me to? It was hard, too hard to chew. With an effort, she swallowed it whole. Was that what birds did? She’d never wondered before.
The cardinal waggled his head sharply. “Not me. Not me. I cra-ack it! I cra-ack it!” Then he demonstrated by snatching up another kernel, positioning it in his beak, and bearing down on it. Cara heard the kernel split, and watched further as the bird swallowed. “You see? You see?” He ruffled his feathers again and smiled at Cara.
He smiled! Amazing! She’d never noticed a bird’s smile before. Not even Tilde’s. And she could comprehend his words—wait, is ‘words’ the right—word?”
She heard a quiet chuckle behind her.
“ ‘Words’ will do. You’ve done well. I’m impressed. Now, see if you can coax him in. Lead him to the cage and see if he’ll enter it. We’ll not make him. Just see if he’ll come.”
Cara gave a quick nod and turned back. The cardinal hopped backwards, off the edge of the bowl. He peered warily at Cara, his sense of trust abandoning him. She raised her hand toward him. He turned and flew off.
Chapter 6: Part 1
“Oh!” Cara watched as the bird flew away. Her shoulders drooped; she turned around and faced Adeline. “What went wrong? I tried to be careful!”
Her mother stepped forward, her face noncommittal. “It’s hard to tell. Some birds are just more flighty than others.” She smiled at her own words, but then she delivered a final barb. “Not usually cardinals, though. Tell me how you did it,” she added brusquely.
“I’m not exactly sure. I thought about cardinals, how red they are and how chirrup-y. And I saw him in my mind’s eye, flitting about.” She spread out her hands in awe. “Then, he was there! And he spoke to me. Without questions! Why do you think he flew off?” she fretted.
“There could be different reasons. He didn’t seem unfamiliar with the prospect. And if he spoke to you, he has definitely interacted with Discourse spinners before. “
“He showed me how he cracked the corn. He told me how, too. But,” she frowned in concentration, “he didn’t like how I put out my hand, did he?”
“Did you do anything threatening? Step toward him? Move too fast?”
Cara shook her head ‘no’ at each question.
“What about your thoughts? What were you thinking about?”
Cara tried to recall. She’d been so excited about coaxing him into the cage. I kept picturing how he’d look fluttering in and onto the perch—“
Adeline shook her head and her finger as well. “That’s it. He saw that image and thought you were going to trap him. Cardinals in particular value their independence, and they expect a good Spinner to respect that. You’ll have to re-earn his trust. If you can.”
Cara moaned a bit and turned on her heel with a mope.
“Don’t go off!” Adeline nodded her head towards the table. “Try again.”
“You think I can get him back?” asked Cara, a volume of doubt in her teary eyes and broken voice.
“Probably not. You might try for a different bird. You seem to favor raptors. Perhaps an owl, like Tilde?”
Cara nodded, but her heart wasn’t in it. She really wanted the cardinal to come back. Not just to prove herself, but she wanted to really meet him. She wanted to know his name, ask if he had a mate, where he nested. She wanted to take a walk with him and see a tree through his eyes.
She settled herself at the table and settled her thoughts as well. She had to soothe him, be gentle and undo the damage. She closed her eyes and gripped the table edge lightly. Best place for her hands was out of sight.
Cara’s thoughts went back to how she’d originally reached him, but the only vision she received was of a pair of swallows, perched side-by-side in the open window of a hayloft. They stared at her, their eyes beady in disapproval.
That wouldn’t do.
She focused instead on how he’d looked sitting on the bowl before her, cracking corn and preening over his own talents. She tried to keep her feelings light and her heart true. And she staved off imagining the bird in the cage.
The skies in her head remained empty. Clouds pulled up over the tips of long leaf pines. Oak leaves rustled. But no birds betrayed their presence by flying across the scape. A small furrow formed between her brows.
She was pulling back from the table in defeat, when fluttering made her open her eyes.
Two cardinals, a petite female the color of light cocoa and a plump red male with a familiar brightness to his eye, huddled together on the opposite side of the corn bowl.
“I brought my wife,” the words formed in Cara’s mind, and apparently in Adeline’s as well, judging from the approving surprise on her face.
“Come with me,” Cara thought, and turned to lead the birds into the other room. They flew up and landed one on each shoulder, the female tweaking at Cara’s curls. Adeline trailed behind.
Before they’d even reached the cage, the male cardinal took off, flew through the open door and claimed rights to the perch. His wife remained politely on Cara’s shoulder until they stopped at the cage. Then she flew in and joined her husband.
He chirruped and then went on to introduce them properly. “We are Cecil and Jane. Cecil and Jane. You are—?” They cocked their heads at identical angles.
“Cara—and Adeline.”
For a moment they all looked at each other, then Cara stepped over to point out the cage’s amenities. She added the remains of the outside corn to the bowl inside and freshened the water. She made a point of leaving the door open.
Adeline pulled up stools for herself and Cara, and nodded to Cara to continue.
“Thank you for coming back. I was so afraid I’d frightened you away for good.”
They bobbed their heads to acknowledge her words.
“I’m grateful you came, and that you brought your wife, but why did you?”
The two birds looked at each other.
Jane spoke. “Cecil is hesitant to say. I think it best if we are truthful. We are not certain we trust you yet. You are new at Discourse, and we are unsure of your motives.” She darted a look at the door. “Leaving that open is a help.”
“But—if you don’t trust me yet—and I understand why —why are you here?”
“Tilde sent us.”