Chapter 9

Paths Meet

Jim flew on nearing the borders Florida. He looked out towards the distant sunrise… it was beautiful. He had only just realised that this was the first time that he had fully seen the sun, as it had always been partially obscured by the trees in the forest, even during fall, the trees were so close together, you were lucky to see a patch of sky, never mind the sun. It was so beautiful to behold… it reminded him of his Judy. He would never say that out loud to his friends, they would never let him live it down…

His family… his friends… he also realised that this was the first time he had been without them in what seemed like a lifetime. As wondrous, as the sun was, he felt lonely now, wishing that he was back in the forest, with his mate and chicks.

Then he heard a screech, not too far away. Only just visible on the horizon, was a falcon and it was heading straight for him. Jim was not sure whether he had been seen or not, but he was not going to wait around to find out. He immediately dived down towards a bush. Before hiding, he stubbed his cigar out on a stone, knowing that there was either the possibility of either the smoke alerting the falcon to his whereabouts or the bush being set alight by accident. He hid in the bush and waited. After a moment, he dared himself a peek out of the bush. The falcon was flying on.

Jim paused for a moment to catch his breath. Then he heard something… voices… he was not alone. He listened for a moment.

"Do you think he's gone Alba?" came a nervous male voice.

"Yes, I think he's gone." This time, it was a female voice. "If he'd seen us we'd be arrested now."

"You know Alba," came the male voice. "Maybe this whole ambassador thing wasn't such a good idea after all. I don't even know why I thought of it, I mean I'd only just woken up, I was bound to say something stupid."

"We're not backing out of this now, Flut," said the female voice. "I'm going to put an end to the injustice once and for all, even if I have to serve a hundred life sentences until I do it."

"But what if the crows don't listen. What if they tear us apart on sight."

"If they're as honourable as Graymore said they are, they won't and I'm sure one of them will at least listen."

Jim was fascinated. He moved through the bush until he came to the source of the voices… a barn owl and a finch in political attire. The finch noticed him and began to panic at once.

"ARGH! Don't kill me! Please don't kill me! I didn't wanna be dragged into this! I'm practically a prisoner! I'll give you anything, my money, my cigarette card collection, my lunch I just wanna live!"

"Flut, do you want the falcons to hear us? Calm down!"

"Don't tell me to calm down! You don't tell me to calm down, I tell YOU to calm down! I'm your political advisor! I'm your political advisory FINCH! I have rights! And guess what… if we live through this… I'm on STRIKE… STRIKE, you hear me… STRIKE… S - T - R - I - K --"

SLAP!!!

That was all it took. Alba slapped Flut around the face with such force that he span around in mid-air for a moment, and fell to the ground.

"Thank you, Alba, I needed that."

"Is he OK?" inquired Jim.

"He's fine," said Alba. "He's just a bit over-worked."

"Well, that's great, we've met a crow," said Flut. "That's what we came out to do. So, let's fly outta here while we still have wings to fly with."

He had only just took off, when the tails of his suit snagged on a branch.

"AAARRRGGGHHH! Why are you doing this to me? What have I done to deserve this? I've always took care of you, I've had you cleaned every day!"

Jim edged towards Flut. "Look, Flap."

"My names Flut!. Oh no! I've given away my name. He'll murder me in my sleep now. I want my mommy!"

"Simmer down, I ain't gonna hurt you. I ain't gonna hurt you!"

Flut stopped yanking at the tails of his suit but was still hyperventilating. He looked towards Jim. "But you're a crow and we're… not crows. Why…"

"You ain't posed no threat to me. So I ain't gonna attack. That's not how crows do things."

Flut stared at Jim, inhaled and exhaled for a few moments… and fainted.

"I knew it," said Alba triumphantly.

"Knew what?"

"That you weren't the villains that Lord Otus tries to make us believe you are. Henrick Graymore was right about you."

"Henrick Graymore?" Jim was confused. Who was she talking about?

Alba sensed the confusion and said, "I think it's time I brought you up to date with what's gone on in the past century."