Chapter 49 In Which we see What Happened one Moonlit Night
An owl glided silently to his perch on an old, dead oak tree. Throughout the forest there were trees more beautiful, more majestic, older, younger and more alive, but this tree suited the barred owl perfectly. The full moon should have made him easily visible to his prey, but the shadow cast on the branch from the tree trunk allowed him to stay in the clearing, providing a hunting ground that was a raptor's paradise.
As a small deer mouse skittered across the open space and the owl prepared to capture his meal, a disturbance shattered the silence and frightened the small animal back the way it had come. Walking down the path was an older man with a cane and a young boy not more than four years old.
It was past the boy's bedtime but a long drive with a day of inactivity had made the child restless and out of sorts. Back at the cabin a woman and her baby slept, unaware of the ramblings of her man and his ward.
"Shhh," said the man. "If you want to see the nighttime animals, you must move softly and make as little noise as possible.
"Alright, Mr. Greg, but how do you know about this?"
"Henry, when I was about your age I lived in the country. I spent hours, day and night, exploring the forest nearby. I learned, while being as quiet as I could be, the sounds that the animals made. I was best at imitating the birds. Sometimes, I could even get them to answer me and come closer."
"Could you do it now?" whispered Henry. "It's been a while, but I can try. Listen, It will sound like I'm saying 'Who cooks for you', 'Who cooks for you?' Whoo – whoo – whoo - whoooo, Who – who – whoo - whoooo!"
"I can hear you say it 'Who cooks for you?' Who – who – whoo - whoooo!" Henry giggled softly. "Do it again!"
This time, after House hooted, the man and the boy stayed silent. A sound came from far away and House answered. When the bird responded, it sounded much closer. Again, House answered. The sequence was repeated twice more. Each time the owl sounded closer. As Henry and House waited for the next call, a large bird drifted into the clearing and landed on the branch of the old, dead oak tree. When they looked to see where the bird had perched, they discovered both owls sitting side by side.
"I've never seen that before!" whispered House to Henry.
"There's one for each of us!" responded the boy.
"I suppose there is."
After standing and watching the owls for a time, Henry began to get restless.
"We need to go and let these owls do what they came to do."
"What are they going to do, Mr. Greg?"
"Hunt, then eat."
"Cool, can we watch?"
"Not tonight. It's time for bed and we need to head back."
"But I don't want to go back, I want to stay!' whined Henry.
"Tomorrow will be here before you know it, Henry, and we will have other exciting things to do, but you won't have fun if you're tired and cranky."
"You know all about cranky, don't you, Mr. Greg?"
House fought back a grin. "Yes, and so will you if don't obey me and stop your fussing!
A petulant Henry looked up at House, nodded his head and held out his hand for House to take.
"Henry, don't feel too bad about leaving the owls tonight; tomorrow we'll come back and look for owl pellets."
"Oo, owl poop?"
"No, even better. Owl barf!"
"Cool"
