Hawaii Five-O and Hogan's Heroes belong to CBS. No copyright infringement is intended. Toby Cockatoo belongs to me (and Andrew Carter). He will bite if you borrow him without permission!
BOOK 'EM, TOBY!
Toby Cockatoo was bored. Very bored. He'd destroyed three – count 'em, three! – new toys in the past week, demolished two boxes of corn flakes, and shredded Carter's latest medical pharmacology magazine. And that parakeet was still here! Yes, that twitterbox was fun to watch and took instruction well, but the little guy just couldn't get the hang of picking locks! Must be that tiny little beak! Maybe he should just let the little fellow out for a while, let him find something new to shred. No, he's too small. Might hurt himself. Better keep him in his cage.
The big white bird studied the new lock Carter had put on his own cage. He remembered his person's chuckle. "This should keep you inside when I'm at work!" Or out having fun with Hogan and the Five-O guys! Solving mysteries, chasing bad guys, catching spies! That was work for a cockatoo! Hadn't he foiled Major Hochstetter a time or two? Wasn't he a member (unofficially, of course) of Hogan's team? Didn't he belong to Five-O? Time to go looking for adventure!
Hmmm . . . a simple keypad lock. Toby had watched his person release the mechanism. And he'd memorized the sequence, a easy trick for a highly intelligent cockatoo. Toby fluffed his perfectly groomed feathers, reached a foot through the bars of the cage, and pulled the lock inside. A few taps of his beak and the lock popped open. He pushed the door ajar and slipped out.
He headed for the kitchen counter. What new treat could he find for a cockatoo's delight? There! A bowl of candy corn! He delicately sampled a piece, then shook his head and spit it out. Yuck! Too sweet! Not to a cockatoo's taste. He showed his displeasure by dumping the stuff all over the floor. It bounced nicely. Trick or treat! Toby adored tricks!
The lanai screen door wasn't completely closed – easy enough for a cockatoo to squeeze through. A few beats of his powerful wings and he was off to find adventure!
Where to go? Toby considered his options. Hogan's office? No, he'd need to dodge all those planes at the airport and Hickam. Five-O? They were probably out having fun, chasing bad guys, solving cases. Ah! He had it! LeBeau's! At least he'd get a nice muffin treat before the little chef called Carter!
o-o-o-o-o
"So, mes amis, will you help us on Halloween? Les enfants will enjoy a fun evening. And there will be some extra treats for my friend here!" The little French chef punched Kono lightly on the arm.
"And all we have to do is hand out candy? No Toby this year?" Danny had too many memories of that bird's mischievous antics.
"Carter promised he'd behave," Newkirk chimed in.
"Who'll behave? Carter or Toby? He nearly wrecked the Five-O offices last year." Danny couldn't stop laughing. "And he ate Kono's donuts, too."
"Come on, Bruddah. It'll be fun. And Steve won't be able to have us do patrol. We can still make that Halloween party at Haunama Bay." Kono dangled the temptation of some time off.
Danny bit. "OK, Bruddahs. We'll do it!' he looked around. "Where's Carter? I thought he was meeting us here."
Carter didn't make it on time, but a very familiar big white bird with a taste for muffins and Kona coffee did. He came in on a perfect gentle landing, folded his magnificent wings, raised his crest and announced loudly "A-LO-O-O-HA!" Danny flinched. He'd had enough encounters with Carter's feathered friend. He quickly handed over a piece of muffin. Toby simply grabbed the entire pastry off the young cop's plate. This was what he called a real breakfast! He preferred his mangoes baked in a tempting pastry. Less messy that way and no juice on his pristine feathers.
"Better let him have it. Mate," the Cockney intelligence officer snarked as LeBeau replaced Dan's muffin with a fresh one. Toby let out a laugh that would have done justice to a horror movie villain. Dan backed away.
The young cop looked at his watch. "Better get going, Kono. Steve wants us to meet him and Chin at the Ilikai. Something about security arrangements for that up-coming Governors' conference."
"Yeah, and there's all that trouble with the purse snatcher here in Waikiki. Don't know why HPD don't handle dat one."
Danny shrugged. "Guess Jameson doesn't want any bad publicity during the conference." He turned to Newkirk. "You'll take care of Toby?"
LeBeau looked around. All he saw was a pile of crumbs. "Toby? Toby! Mon Dieu! He's gone!"
"Probably went back to Carter's," Newkirk smiled. "We'll keep an eye out for him."
"And call Andre," LeBeau added.
Toby peeped through the leaves on a nearby monkeypod tree. At last, a case for a cockatoo, especially one trained as an underground agent at Stalag 13! He'd have fun with this one. Hadn't Newkirk taught him the finer points of petty thievery? The sharp-eyed bird studied the passers-by. There! A distracted tourist, her purse loosely dangling on her shoulder. A perfect target! And there! A couple of older teens watching her. The perfect set-up. He'd seen Newkirk and Carter pull that one off more times than he could count. Sure enough, the smaller kid played the decoy role, approaching the lady to ask a question. (His person had done it back in Germany with much more finesse!) The other kid ran in for the snatch! Amateurs! Perfect targets for a cockatoo. He'd done this trick before, even stealing the hat right off Kommandant Klink's head during one of those camp shows Hogan staged for a distraction now and then
The woman's scream alerted Dan and Kono. The big Hawaiian, huffing and puffing from too much exertion just after his mid-morning snack, stayed with the distraught woman. Danny managed to tackle the younger kid and handed him over to the big cop. The older one, grinning wickedly, dodged around a corner.
Toby flew into action. Emitting a piercing "ACHTUNG!," he dug his large, sharp claws into the teen's shoulder. A sharp bite on the ear – the kid could put a new earring in that hole - and the purse dropped to the ground. An easy snatch for a cockatoo!
Fending off a large cockatoo was no easy task for the now thoroughly cowed purse snatcher, especially a cockatoo with Toby's aerobatic skills. The kid flailed his arms; the big white bird flew a perfect figure eight. The kid tried to duck, Toby dive-bombed his head, bowing when he heard cheers and laughter. He had an audience! Nothing a cockatoo liked better! He laughed in devilish glee, landing on the kid's shoulder, flapping his wings wildly in the would-be thief's face and yelling "TRICK OR TREAT!" in his loudest voice. Altogether, a stellar performance, made even better by the click of cameras! Maybe he could try out for the Blue Angels! Or the Thunderbirds.
"TOBY!" A perturbed Carter's agitated voice brought his stunt-flying to a halt, allowing Danny to collar the purse snatcher. Toby took a bow – OK, several bows, much to the delight of the bystanders – and flew over to his person, settling down for some well-deserved feather scritches and a promise from the Five-O detectives of a special reward. And a better lock for his cage, Carter promised himself.
And nothing could be better than hearing Danny Williams laugh "Book 'em, Toby!"
Note: The Blue Angels, of course, are the Navy's precision flying team. The Thunderbirds represent the Air Force. Naturally, the Boys from Barracks 2 would favor the Thunderbirds! And Hogan would expect it!