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12 Days, Act Four (12.28.13)
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"So, what's a calling bird?"

Isabella looked up from the scroll, hoping to get an answer from her girls. Adyson was willing to give it a guess.

"A bird that comes when you call it?"

Isabella glared at her.

"What? You asked! I don't know!"

"I think I do!" Gretchen exclaimed, sitting at the computer.

Everyone gathered around her, and instantly gasped with surprise.

"OH, SO THAT'S WHAT A CALLING BIRD IS!" they all shouted.

"Now the next question is," Isabella thought aloud, "is how do we get one? Or, to be more precise, how do we get FOUR?"

"Leave that to me!" Gretchen proclaimed, pulling out her phone.

Half an hour later, Gretchen led the girls into a pet shop named 'Pets Ahoy.' Inside was an assortment of various animals of numerous species. But the girls were the most interested in…

"Girls, welcome to the largest selection of birds for sale in the entire Tri-State Area!"

Milly and Katie started running around like kids in a candy store, amazed by all the different kinds of birds that were there. Isabella and Adyson were calmer in response, just taking in the sights as they browsed the selection with Gretchen.

"Rob, the owner here, is a friend of the family. If you need a bird, any kind of bird, he has it for sale."

"Any kind of bird?"

"You betcha."

Adyson stopped in front of cage labeled swans. It was empty.

"Ooh, maybe we should ask if he has swans?"

"No skipping ahead in the song, Addy," replied Isabella.

The trio came to a stop in front of the calling birds. Or, as the label on the cage read, blackbirds. Isabella silently counted them under her breath.

"Seven. Seven of them! More than enough, naturally. Good work, Gretchen!"

Gretchen smiled. "Thanks, Chief!"

A few minutes later, the girls, minus Gretchen, were standing at the register. The worker was ringing them up for four blackbirds, three French hens, and two turtle doves… which Rob, the owner, was bringing in from the back, along with Gretchen.

"I appreciate the business, little one! Tell your parents I said hello!"

"Will do! And, just a warning, we'll probably be back tomorrow."

He laughed. "This must be some client you have."

"She is, she is!"

He put the cage down on the counter, wished the girls all well, and then returned to his office in the back.

"How did our client pay for all these gifts anyway?" queried Milly.

"She's quite the resourceful one," answered Isabella. "She finds ways."

Suddenly, the girls were approached by a man.

"Pardon me, girls, but I can't hope that you're buying four calling birds, three French hens, and two turtle doves. As in the lyrics from '12 Days of Christmas.'"

"Yes! Yes, we are!"

"Betcha still need a partridge in a pear tree, right? Allow me."

He took out his calling card and handed it to Isabella. She read it aloud to the group.

"'Brian Forster, a.k.a. Chris Partridge.' Another Partridge? Here? What luck!"

"Just one question… I don't have to find a pear tree, get in it, and then fall out, do I?"

The girls giggled boisterously for a few seconds before Isabella gave an answer.

"No."

End Act Four