Hogan's Heroes and Hawaii Five-O belong to others. I'm just visiting their worlds. Toby Cockatoo is mine. He's based on the cockatoo who owns me.

THE COCKATOO CAPER

An agitated Toby Cockatoo raised and lowered his crest. Anger didn't begin to describe his feelings. Another bird? Why would anyone give him a pet bird? A parakeet at that! And to make matters worse—if that were even possible—his human, his well-trained human, was playing with it, calling it "Pretty Bird" and "Buddy Boy!"

"Not now, Toby!" Andrew Carter's annoyed response to Toby's ear-splitting cockatoo shrieks made his human's feelings clear. His human preferred a parakeet to him! Revenge was in order, but what? Should he just turn his back on his (former) best friend and pretend to know nothing, N-O-T-H-I-N-G? Not good enough! Maybe some Gestapo tactics would the trick. He fluffed his feathers as he muttered in perfect imitation of one Major Wolfgang Hochstetter, "Heads will roll . . ."

Not surprisingly, his human ignored him as the parakeet claimed his attention. Now he was trying to teach the annoying little twitterbox to whistle. Maybe it was time to look for a new person to train to a cockatoo's specifications. But who? Toby remembered something—that young detective, the one with the curly hair. He provided delicious treats, coffee, pastries. Perhaps he was trainable. And Toby knew where to find him!

Toby quietly picked at the latch on his cage. His person wasn't watching. A moment later, he was out and through an open lanai door. A few beats of his powerful wings and he was on his way. A couple of high circles later, Toby flew to Danny Williams' apartment.

o-o-o-o-o

Danny opened his door, shrugged out of his jacket, dropped it on the nearest chair, and pulled off his tie. It had been a long day. He was too tired even to consider going surfing. He poured himself a large glass of pineapple juice, kicked off his shoes, picked up a surfing magazine, and headed for the lanai as he contemplated a peaceful evening. That is, until he was greeted by a soft, "Hi! Hello!"

"Toby! What are you doing here? Where's Carter?" Danny looked around. He almost expected to find that Newkirk and Carter had picked his lock, but no. It was just himself and Toby Cockatoo. The young detective began to worry. "How did you get here?" he addressed the big white bird. No answer except for what sounded like a muttered string of curses ending with an angry "Buddy Boy."

"Better get you inside," Danny said as he gingerly offered his hand to Carter's notorious pet. Toby politely stepped up and bounced with glee as his new human carried him to the kitchen. This one was definitely trainable—and young enough to learn easily what it took to be a responsible cockatoo companion.

"Bet you're hungry," Dan grinned ruefully as he remembered a previous encounter. "I know what you like." A malasada was quickly offered and accepted. Toby, pleased at the offering, began to tear the delicious pastry apart, savoring every bite.

Dan chuckled as he watched Toby devour the treat. Probably not what cockatoos should eat, but obviously what this cockatoo wanted to eat. "Better call Carter," he thought as he reached for the phone. "He's probably worried sick."

A loud knock interrupted Williams' train of thought. He opened the door to find a very worried Andrew Carter. "Toby's gone! He flew away!"

Danny laughed and simply pointed to the kitchen where Toby was finishing his treat.

"He's here? How? When?" Carter stammered, temporarily reduced to the young technical sergeant of Stalag 13, the one who'd forget to put film in the camera or set the timers wrong for the night's planned act of sabotage.

"Don't know," Danny replied. "He keeps muttering about someone named Buddy Boy. He sounds like he's been insulted."

Toby expressed his feelings by turning his back and emitting a loud, blood curdling screech.

"Buddy Boy?" Carter sounded confused. "That's the parakeet I'm training for a local nursing home. They've got a couple of cockatiels and wanted a parakeet as well."

Toby raised his crest. His human wasn't planning to replace him? The annoying parakeet was only a temporary visitor in need of training? Who better to take the little guy under his wing than a cockatoo, especially one who knew all the tricks for training people. Never know when those particular skills might come in handy! Toby jumped to Carter's shoulder, chortling happily. Time to go home!