Chapter 17- the date of departure to the Amazon is revealed, Dash hatches a plan
Nigel's group had finally entered the slums of Rio under their cloak. In the wheelbarrows pushed by the humans who were three of Lysandre's underlings, Nigel continued taunting the caged macaws, this time starting on Athos and his family when Otis interrupted.
"Nigel," he said, "We're in the slums now."
"Good," crooned Nigel, an evil glint in his eyes, "Sounds like we're nearly at our new friends' hideout."
"Yes, ANOTHER hideout of trouble that is," growled Athos bitterly, his wings folded exasperatedly. Ruby, Alexandre, Spinel and Poinsettia just said nothing. Suddenly, Athos found a talon with its claws hovering through the bars of his family's cage, poised to come down across his face.
"You speak again; scarlet macaw and you'll be in agony with your vile wormy pretty bird's face pouring with the stuff I LOVE to see on pretty birds like you," growled Nigel threateningly, his beak dripping saliva, "Now SHUT UP!"
Athos backed away, a fearful look smearing his face. However, under the fear his anger was burning and he barely resisted the urge to claw the threatening and smug look off of Nigel's face as it not only struck fear into him but also Ruby and his chicks. Nigel smiled as Athos looked back at him fearfully.
"That's right, pretty bird," he crooned, his talon lowered, "That's the look I'd like to see."
Then he left to prepare to meet Cazador's owners the moment they entered their hideout. D'Artagnan and his family in the cage adjacent to Athos and his family's looked on bitterly.
"That cockatoo's a BULLY!" hissed Sapphire.
"I'd like to rip his crest off," growled D'Artagnan, his grey eyes ablaze with anger and his navy blue and teal-tinted feathers on end. Then he shot Athos and his family a concerned look.
"But the thing is, Nigel can taunt and threaten those guys all he wants but he also has permission to injure them as well if they try to defend themselves," he said in a low voice. Athos shot D'Artagnan an infuriated glare.
"Well, I'm not gonna have him threaten my family including my non-species 'brothers' and 'sisters' OR terrorise our chicks, or the chicks of anyone else, especially Blu and Jewel's three," the lead scarlet macaw retorted.
"Blu and Jewel are like a flammable gas," explained Poinsettia, "If Nigel ever harms Carla, Bia or Tiago and inflict another wound on any of them again, their temper's going to explode with a bang."
"Absolutely, daughter," said Ruby in agreement. Alexandre and Spinel didn't say anything for they were absolutely petrified of the wicked cockatoo and he now sported an EXTREMELY explosive temper that could turn him into a vicious feral beast and potentially badly injure someone, and Athos was clearly aware of this. However, he was in defence mode and will NOT hesitate to give that vile cockatoo a piece of his mind if he EVER threatened his family, including Aurora, Levi and the others.
The cloaked group continued walking through the slums, with Catina following stealthily behind them. There weren't as many people around as this area of the city for there were fewer houses and shacks around, but it still struck Catina with bad and haunting memories of her time as a smuggler's cat. However, she knew she must keep her mind focussed on following the cloaked group and the subsequent steps after finding and infiltrating the hideout, including rescuing the macaws and the cockatoos. Then after another while in the cloak, Cazador alerted the cats and Nigel.
"There it is," he said, peering out from under the cover. Nigel, Otis and Moggy also peered out and gazed at the group's destination.
"Whoa," breathed Moggy in awe, Nigel and Otis simply wearing amazed gazes. The hideout was a large building, but it looked ramshackle with many of its parts that had fallen into disrepair. Many of its windows were broken and its bricks and roof were strewn with cracks and holes.
"That is much bigger than the hideouts that we stayed in with our owners," said Otis.
"Well, this one is the perfect place to hide our true identity from the public," said Cazador proudly, "Anyway, let's get ready to enter the building and meet our other owners including our boss Lysandre, and unload our catch."
Nigel, Moggy and Otis obeyed and retracted their heads back into the cloak.
Then within moments, the cloaked group was outside the front door of the building. One of the human grunts lifted the cloak and knocked the wood of the door with a fist. Around and behind him, the other two humans waited with the three wheelbarrows containing the caged birds, and the crows, falcons, Nigel and the cats. The macaws and cockatoos looked around, confused.
"Where are we?" asked Travis timidly to one of the crows that kept watched over him and his family. Sunset had Eustace, Milo and Rosa hugged close to her. The crow did not reply to Travis's question.
"I said 'where are we'?" asked Travis again, this time in a louder and harsher voice. He then flinched when the crow's glare bore into him.
"You speak again and I'll claw your face in," snarled the black bird. Travis, taken aback by this answer and the attitude of the crow, backed away against Sunset in appal and disgust. The three sulfur-crested/Major Mitchell's hybrid chicks then began to whimper timidly.
"I don't like this place, Mom," spoke Eustace in a timid voice, his light purple eyes laced with fear.
"I wanna go home," whispered Rosa with longing for that, her eyes closed with tears leaking through her closed eyelids, "It's scary here."
"Where are Dash and Veggie?" groaned Milo. Sunset looked warily around at the cats and crows as they kept watch over her and her family. If her chicks started whimpering, the cockatoos could face serious consequences but luckily, the chicks kept their urge to cry under control. Then suddenly, the surroundings rocked a bit as one of the human grunts started pushing the wheelbarrow in which they were placed, sending Travis and Sunset jerking in the opposite direction of the movement. From the outsider's view, the cloaked group then entered the building through the door. Behind, Catina saw the ghostly cloaked group disappear through the door and the door shut behind them. Now free from the potential risk of getting spotted or heard, Catina accelerated her pace and rushed up towards the building. Then she looked for a window and as soon as she had found a broken window next to the door, she hopped onto the frame and carefully climbed through the hole, wary of the spiky shards bordering it. As soon as she was in, she made a beeline for a pile of equipment. There she hid and began to watch the new poacher group.
The three human grunts and the villainous animals had cast off their cloak. It was now safe for them to do so for they were out of the public's way. After they had done this, Cazador hurried off to fetch Lysandre and the others while the three humans and the other falcons, cats, crows and Nigel unloaded the wheelbarrows and placed the caged macaws and cockatoos onto the floor in an arrangement for easy examination. As they unloaded the cages and placed them onto the floor, the macaws and Travis's family shivered and huddled together apart from Aurora and Levi who were in a separate cage by themselves. However, Aurora tried reaching for Zephyr and her four chicks but was out of reach. As soon as the three humans and the crows, cats, Nigel and the other five falcons had finished unloading the last of the cages and had placed them on the floor, the three human grunts left with the wheelbarrows to put them away for future use. The macaws and cockatoos then began to look around. Cara, Bia and Tiago were very afraid and were huddled together while Blu and Jewel looked around with eyes flooded with different emotions: Blu with immense fear and Jewel with disgust. The looks of fear, disgust and fury also laced the faces of the other macaws and Travis and his family for they clearly did NOT like this place one bit. It was like being in a haunted mansion, only the horror theme was of a smuggler's den and not an abandoned house.
As the prisoners continued examining this decrepit place, the five falcons including Cometa, the crows, the cats and Nigel gathered around the caged birds to keep a watch on them. All but one of the falcons wore gleeful, scornful and triumphant looks on their faces, but the other one, Cometa, wore a facial look that was totally different from the others. Hers was laced with remorse and sympathy for the prisoners, especially for Levi and Aurora, Carla, Bia and Tiago and the other chicks including the three hybrid cockatoos. Their frightened gazes as they flickered around the unknown and scary surroundings sent more guilt and remorse down her spine. Then suddenly, footsteps sounded on the floor. There was not one pair of human feet but many. As the group of birds heard this, they all looked up and saw a shadowy crowd of figures approach them. Terrified by these newcomers, all the chicks huddled together against their parents' chests and in their wings, apart from Carla, Bia and Tiago who were separate from their mother and father. However, they were desperate to be with them, as Aurora was with Zephyr and Levi with Lapis Lazuli. Cometa saw the frightened looks on Carla, Bia and Tiago's faces and Blu sand Jewel looking worriedly at them from their cage.
"Swoop," she whispered to the falcon next to her, "Do you think we should transfer those three chicks from that cage into the cage with the two adult blue macaws? They look desperate to be with each other…"
"Look, Cometa," snapped Swoop annoyed, "Just leave those birds in their cages. If we did that, they might escape. Now pipe down and prepare to meet Lysandre."
Cometa reluctantly did so and moved her attention to Lysandre and his group as they approached the group and gathered around them. As Lysandre's group, together with more crows, crowded around the caged macaws and cockatoos, Cantina, having found a way into the building through a hole in the wall, stealthily and quietly crept towards a pile of equipment and empty cages and then looked out to watch the group. Her eyes widened in shock at the size of Lysandre's group.
When Catina had been part of Otis's group, they only had up to six owners: leader Frank, and underlings Luke, Vera, Marvin, and Jack and Jill, whilst Nigel only had four owners: Marcel, the leader, Tipa, Armando and Fernando. These two groups used to work together until Frank and Marcel became overcome with competitiveness, with attempts to outdo each other in how many birds they could capture and smuggle and how much money they could make growing exponentially. These attitudes drove a cutting blade down the middle of the group and made the two new groups go their separate ways after a titanic, volcanic falling out, culminating in Frank and Marcel getting into a violent, physical brawl resulting in one of them getting injured. Since then the two poacher groups went their separate ways and never spoke to each other again, but if they did meet, they always ran into violent loggerheads. The cats and Nigel remembered that clearly but they had put all that behind them for they now had a new group of poachers to work with. Lysandre's group was well over three times the size of Nigel and the cats' group combined and Catina could see that the group of humans, together with the falcons and crows, was massive. This clearly was a new threat in larger proportions to the two previous groups of smugglers, one of which Catina had been a part of and also remembered entering into violent conflict with each other.
As Catina continued watching from the pile of equipment unseen, Lysandre began to examine the captured macaws and cockatoos. As his eyes skated over Blu, Jewel, and Carla, Bia and Tiago, Lysandre stopped and leaned down to take a closer look at the Spix macaw family in their two cages.
"So this is one of the Spix families from the Blu Bird Sanctuary?" he said.
"That's right, sir," said one of the three human grunts who had participated in transporting the macaws and cockatoos to this place, "The other Spix family, and the glaucous and Lear's macaw families are right there."
He indicated with a point of a finger towards Levi and Aurora, and Zephyr and Lapis Lazuli and their chicks in four more cages and D'Artagnan, Sapphire and their three daughters in their cage as well. Lysandre moved over to the cages containing these macaws. As he shoved his face up towards Zephyr and his chicks, Justin, Charlotte, Matilda and Virgil cowered in his wings while Zephyr bitterly glared back at the two green eyes saturated with glee and the fantasy of a huge price tag on him and his chicks, his feathers on end. Cometa looked on and saw how frightened Zephyr's chicks were but couldn't say anything. Then Lysandre moved on and examined Lapis Lazuli up close. Tristan, Quincy, Larimar and Trixie also cowered in her wings while Lapis Lazuli took up a defensive posture. Her lush blue feathers were on end and her blue eyes were flaring with rage. However, Lysandre did not care about the fright he was causing the chicks and then moved over to Levi and Aurora who backed away against the side or corner furthest from the wickedly smiling poacher's face. Next, Lysandre moved over to D'Artagnan, Sapphire, Miranda, Jasmine and Annette, frightening the three chicks and enraging the adult male and the adult female.
"So this is the Lear's macaw family that resides on the Blu Bird Sanctuary?" he asked.
"It is," said another human grunt, a female who had also participated in taking the caged birds to here, "Looks like our pets have caught all five of them."
Nigel and some of the cats smiled proudly as Lysandre then congratulated the group, the three grunts, the crows and the six falcons for catching all four of the valuable macaw families. Then Lysandre moved on to examine the other macaw families. His face passed from Porthos, Orquidea, Azul, Wilbur and Ariel's cage to Athos and his family's cage. Orquidea, who still had her wings clasped over her scratched stomach where Nigel had attacked her for clawing him across the face glared at Lysandre's face as it glided by like a predator. As Lysandre's face glided past Athos and his family's cage, Athos released a warning hiss while Alexandre, Poinsettia and Spinel cowered in Ruby's wings. Then Lysandre's wicked green eyes, green as the description of money, glided past the cage containing Aramis, Esmeralda, Chlorophyll and Petunia, and Lysandre took a moment to greedily glare at the great green macaw family before moving on. All four macaws flinched from the lead poacher's face and Aramis took up a defensive stance but Lysandre was unfazed. Then Lysandre moved his face to Phoebe, Cobalto, Zebedee and Indigo and then finally to Travis, Sunset, Eustace, Milo and Rosa.
As he got to the cockatoo family, he smiled with fascination.
"I have never seen a sulfur-crested/Major Mitchell's pairing like that before," he then looked at the three human grunts and asked, "Do these live on the Blu Bird Sanctuary as well?"
"I don't know, sir," said the third grunt who had helped to steal the macaws, "but the falcons, the cats, the crows and Nigel had captured them with those macaws. I believe so."
Lysandre then looked over Travis and his family and smiled. Travis and Sunset glared back at the head of the poaching group with bitter eyes and raised crests.
"This family of cockatoos will be worth a fortune," said Lysandre, "Especially their chicks since they'll be hybrids of the two adults."
From her hiding spot, Catina's baby blue eyes widened in horror when she saw the flash of pure white and pink among the rest of the colour formed by the macaws.
"Travis and his family have been captured as well?" she asked herself under her breath in disbelief. Lysandre then stood up and clapped his hands together.
"Well, that's one job done," he said to his group and pets, "Now the next stage is preparing for our trip into the Amazon as soon as Ernesto gives us the decided date issued by Tulio."
The pets and his underlings all nodded in obedience.
"Then, while we are there," continued Lysandre, "We will set to work in capturing macaws from the Spix, Lear's and glaucous macaw flocks, alongside as any of the other animals as possible and then we'll be making our escape."
These words reached Catina's ears, and her eyes lit in realisation.
"Looks like I've struck gold," she hissed, "This is definitely the new group of poachers, and their group's larger than mine and Nigel's."
"And while we smuggle those birds and other animals out of this country," added Lysandre, "We will be segregating them into destination groups before we land in our first country and selling the first group of animals through the black market…"
The others nodded again. As Lysandre mentioned segregating the animals into destination groups, an idea entered Nigel's head as he stole a glance from Blu, Jewel, Carla, Bia and Tiago, but it was a totally evil idea. It was an idea in which he would carry out his revenge on the Spix macaw family for the loss of his ability to fly. The reaction from the caged birds was a flood with horror and fear.
"They're gonna split us up once they are done poaching in the Sanctuary de Amazon?" whispered Athos worriedly.
"I hope they're not planning on forcing apart our families," said Ruby. As Ruby mentioned this, a dreadful thought entered Athos's head.
"And then we will be rich," said one of the assistants named Gale.
"Yep," said Lysandre. Dollar signs then flashed in Otis and his cat gang's eyes as the thoughts of the end result of this whole process flashed in their minds.
"If only Brutus were here," said Moggy in a sombre voice as she took a minute to grieve the loss of the cats' leader, "He would have loved to join this group."
"Yeah, I know," said Tom. Otis was about to say something when a musical tune filled the air. However, it was not made by vocal cords, but by something artificial, and it was emanating from Lysandre's pocket. Lysandre took out the source of the sound, a mobile phone and pressed the 'answer' button.
"Hello," he said. His grunts and pets kept a close eye on the caged birds. While Lysandre began talking to the caller with the other humans and the pets listening, the caged birds began to talk among themselves.
"What did that human mean by segregating the animals into destination groups?" asked Phoebe as she held Zebedee and Indigo in her wings despite the cramped space of the somewhat large cage. Though a single hyacinth macaw adult could fit into the cage, it was too small for a family of them.
"I think he means that he's going to split us into groups to be sold to different countries," replied Cobalto, "Say one group of animals will be destined to go to France, another to Germany and so on as an example?"
"Could that mean splitting us up, Father?" asked Zebedee timidly.
"I don't know, son," whispered his dad in reply. He stole a glance from Lysandre and his group and pets. "But we have to get out of here right now and warn Tulio about this group. We can't allow this group to infiltrate the nature reserve and poach animals, especially from the Spix, glaucous and Lear's macaw tribes, or the blue-throated macaw clan for the blue-throated macaw is quite rare too."
"I hope our cat and dog friends will have done that already," said Travis in his cage adjacent to that of the hyacinth macaw family. Then a dreadful thought hit Cobalto.
"Cobalto," asked Phoebe when she saw the dreaded look glint in her mate's eyes, "What is it?"
"I just had a thought," said Cobalto. He then stole another glance at Lysandre and his group and then looked at Phoebe and then at Travis and Sunset. "Do you guys remember what that falcon told us about this group planning on infiltrating into the Sanctuary de Amazon disguised as ecologists and conservationists back in the attic of Susan and Lucy's house?"
"Yes?" said Travis.
"I just had a thought about our tribe and clans and smaller bird groups' trust in humans," said Cobalto. Confusion hit the female hyacinth macaw and the cockatoos.
"What do you mean?" asked Sunset but then understanding took hold of her. As the dawn hit, she gasped, but Travis and Phoebe were still stuck in the cloud of confusion.
"Before our homes were set up as a nature reserve," said Cobalto, "We had no trust in humans whatsoever and saw them as nothing but destroyers of the environment, regardless of whether they were well-meaning or not. But after a group of truly well-meaning humans had set up our homes as a protected nature reserve in order to protect us and our homes from the destruction of logging, especially the Spix, the glaucous and the Lear's macaw tribes based on their species' rarity and endangerment, can you guys imagine what impact our tribes and clans' trust in well-meaning humans would face if a group of poachers disguised as some of them sneaked into their home?"
"It could destroy that," said Sunset in a low, dreaded voice.
Travis and Phoebe flinched while the chicks gasped in horror but Cobalto nodded in understanding. Then Travis, his yellow crest fully raised and a look of thunder flashing on his face, thumped the side of his cage in anger, jerking his family's cage slightly and shifting it by about an inch.
"I cannot BELIEVE that a bunch of poachers would have the AUDACITY to come up with some stupid plan to disguise as ecologists to steal animals from a protected nature reserve," he growled.
"We've got to get out of here," said Sunset. Suddenly, a clap from Lysandre's hands cut her off, pulling the cockatoo and blue-throated macaw families' attention to the head of the poachers.
"We have some good news, folks," said Lysandre, a gleeful look plastered on his face, "Tulio has now decided on the date his group will be heading out into the Amazon as reported by Ernesto which will be two days from now…"
The group of caged birds listened as Lysandre then explained to his group what they need to do to prepare for that departure day. Blu looked on with an awful look scribbled on his face. He had come to the same conclusion as Cobalto regarding the trust of the bird tribes and clans in well-meaning humans and had shivered at how Lysandre's group's infiltration into the Sanctuary de Amazon through disguising as ecologists would jeopardise that. From her hiding place, Catina had also heard when Tulio and his team will be heading off into the Amazon from the head of the poachers. A horrified look marked her face as she continued watching Lysandre and listening to his commands of preparation, taking in every syllable. Then as soon as Lysandre had finished explaining what his group need to do, he dismissed the group and the group dispersed. Some of the underlings then picked up the caged macaws and cockatoos to move them to somewhere else so that they would not cause a trip hazard. As their cage was being carried along, Blu gave Jewel a dreaded look.
"I don't like what those poachers are planning to do; Jewel," he said, "And I'd hate to think what impact their intrusion is gonna have on our tribes and clans' trust in well-meaning humans."
"We're gonna HAVE to think of a way out of here," growled Jewel bitterly. She then glared at the ten padlocks locking her and Blu into their cage and then stole a glance from Carla, Bia and Tiago as they timidly huddled together as their cage was being carried by another person. Then streaks of black feathers shot by as some of the crows fluttered past. In the Lear's macaws' cage, Sapphire flinched at the sight of the corvid birds.
"These crows remind me of those hideous flying foxes and how they sometimes shoot past amongst the foliage to intimidate us birds," she whispered to D'Artagnan, "I don't like those black birds at all."
Then she flinched as one of the crows shot her a mean glare before following its comrades. D'Artagnan looked on in disgust, and then shot concerned glances at the other macaws and cockatoos, especially Blu and Jewel, their three chicks, and Levi and Aurora.
"We've got to get out of here now," he whispered. Suddenly, the cage started to descend as the human carrying it then lowered it onto the ground. D'Artagnan nearly stumbled as the rocking of the cage threw him off balance. Around the Lear's macaw family, the other caged birds were also set down by the other human grunts. As soon as they had placed the cages in a spot such that they won't pose a trip hazard, the human grunts left to join their groupmates before crows touched down around the caged macaws and cockatoos to watch them and make sure that they did not plan on escaping. Not too far away from the group of poachers, Catina had followed the group of poachers and had hid herself amongst another pile of empty cages.
Meanwhile
Back at Susan and Lucy's house, Dash, Ginger, Veggie and James, Danny and Avellana the adolescent greyhounds and Collette and Daisy the young adult cats and Broccoli's sisters were loitering around on the cats and dogs' beds. Broccoli and Esperanza were at the vet's, having been taken there by Susan and Lucy. The other eight mammals' minds were churning with worry like the waters of a rushing river. They were worried for their bird friends, Catina and for Broccoli and Esperanza and also about this new group of poachers at work. Veggie lay on his and Catina's bed, his mind tumbling with worry like clothes in a washing machine. The thought of a new group of poachers planning on sneaking into the protected nature reserve in the Amazon rainforest made his stomach turn. The same thought also plagued the minds of the other seven cats and greyhounds, and Veggie could not believe that a group of poachers, despite knowing that the area where the Spix macaws and their neighbours lived was now the Sanctuary de Amazon protected reserve with poaching and logging outlawed would cook up a plan to sneak into there to poach birds anyway. But Veggie knew that thieving humans would always concoct new, sometimes even unbelievable and extreme ways to try and get past the barriers of security. Veggie had read on the internet about illegal drug smugglers that had come up with such ways, some of which were even ridiculous, to smuggle illegal drugs into a country through its airport security customs. It was obvious that there were some humans out there who would try and sneak through security using devious ways even if it means breaking the law. Then Veggie's thoughts travelled over to Esperanza and Broccoli who were at the vet's. It was clear that Broccoli had been in agony with his left front paw and Veggie had hoped that the injury inflicted on him by Nigel was not too bad. While he thought about his oldest son and Esperanza, the oldest daughter and puppy of Ginger and Dash's first litter, Collette's voice broke through his daydream-like state.
"Dad," said the caliby. Veggie looked at her.
"Yes, Collette," he said.
"Do you think Broccoli will be okay?" asked Collette.
"Look, he and Esperanza are in good hands," said Veggie firmly, "I just hope Broccoli's injured paw isn't too bad."
Collette sighed and sat down by her dad's bed. She remembered Broccoli's extreme cry of agony as Nigel sank his beak into his front left leg when he tried protecting Carla, Bia and Tiago and had refused to hand them over to him to be caged as demanded.
"I think Broccoli had been so brave to try his best to defend Blu and Jewel's chicks from that savage yellow crested vulture," said Collette, a tear leaking from an eye and running down her cheek, "But out of all of us, I think he suffered the most. It is quite analogous to when Nigel broke Jewel's wing years ago."
"That cockatoo's an outright monster, honestly," said Veggie with a small growl, "Especially towards exotic bird chicks. The way he frightened Carla and Bia was just beyond disgusting, but when he went further and scratched Carla down the side, THAT is REALLY crossing the line by a MILE."
Collette then gazed at a window in the hallway and saw the darkening sky, indicating the approach of dusk. "I hope our avian friends are okay and that Mom has everything covered."
"Look, she's spent most of her life as a smuggler's cat, daughter," said Veggie, "She knows what she is doing."
Just then, Veggie's brown eyes caught Dash who was lost in thought. His left paw was under his chin and he was staring into space, a frown on his face.
"What's wrong, Dash?" asked Veggie when he noticed the frown.
"I've just been thinking," said the light grey male greyhound as he retracted his paw from under his chin. He then looked at Veggie. "Have you ever thought of helping Catina?"
"What do you mean?" asked Veggie. Suddenly, the cats and dogs were alerted by the clicking of the front door's lock as the door was unlocked. Then the door was opened and in came Susan. She was on the phone talking to someone.
"Yes, Tulio, I'm EVER SO sorry about earlier with three of our greyhounds," she said, "I'm afraid our house has been turned into a right pigsty by our cats and dogs who I believe have been fighting…"
Disgust tore through the cats and dogs as they heard this.
"Us fighting each other!?" snapped James bitterly, "It were the awful bunch of crows, cats, falcons and that cockatoo that we fought with, leading to the carnage in the living room and kitchen."
Dash then cocked an ear to listen to the person Susan was talking to on the phone, which was Tulio.
"How are Broccoli and Esperanza, Susan?" asked Tulio's voice.
"Oh, Esperanza's fine, just a nasty scratch on her side but Broccoli's forelimb has a cracked bone," said Susan in reply. Shock and horror tore through the cat and dog group and all eight of them flinched.
"So it's true!?" blurted out Ginger. Veggie just said nothing while Collette and Daisy's eyes began to ooze tears.
"The vet had taken an X-ray of his forelimb," continued Susan, "And the result showed that part of the radius close to the carpals of the paw had a small crack in it…"
"What's a radius?" asked Danny.
"One of the bones in the lower part of the front limb," replied Avellana, using her knowledge of anatomy of the skeleton. As with ecology, the chestnut greyhound puppy was also knowledgeable of the names of many of the bones in the vertebrate body, somewhat like Bia and Poinsettia, "the other's called the ulna."
"…So Broccoli's going to have that forelimb in a cast and will possibly be spending at least two weeks in the vet's hospital," continued Susan. Veggie shot Susan a glare.
"I hope Nigel's enjoying the result he has caused our son," he growled sarcastically.
"I should imagine he is," said Dash, rage storming his face, "After all, he's a sadistic psycho of work of a cockatoo with a taste for seeing others in pain that exceeds even that of Brutus."
"I hope he's not planning on biting any of our feathered friends," said Danny timidly and worriedly. Then Susan said, "So we're going to go to the Sanctuary de Amazon two days from now? Right I'll get ready but one of us may have to stay behind and sort our house out as well as look after Broccoli and Esperanza while they are recovering, as well as the rest of our pets…"
Dash heard this and felt a plan form in his head.
"What is it now?" asked Veggie. Dash shot him an angry look.
"We're going to have to take this problem into our own paws," he replied, "If our owners or Tulio won't believe that there is a group of poachers planning on infiltrating the Sanctuary de Amazon, we're going to have to find another way."
Suddenly, Susan then hung up on her mobile phone, having finished her conversation with Tulio and then put her phone away. She then prepared to go back to Tulio's Aviary to finish the day, but not before checking the food and water bowls and toilet trays of the cats and dogs to see if they needed filling or changing. She did not even flash a split-second glance at the cats and dogs for she was still angry with them for causing the mess of the house and for apparently fighting. As soon as Susan had checked the bowls and trays and satisfied that they did not require changing or refilling, Susan made an immediate beeline for the door. The hole left by the ripped out cat/dog flap had been bordered up for temporary security until a replacement was ordered but with Susan and Lucy so busy with conservation work and the casualties such as Broccoli, that was to wait. Susan then opened the door and left, locking the door in the process. As soon as Susan had disappeared, Dash began to discuss his ideas with the other cats and dogs.
"So what do you have in mind?" asked Veggie. The young adult cats and adolescent puppies listened intently.
"It sounds kind of farfetched but we may have to go to the Amazon," said Dash. This was met with the shakes of the other cats' and dogs' heads and a shout of disbelief from his mate.
"What!?" snapped Ginger.
"I'm afraid it's too risky," said Veggie, "One, Tulio would not tolerate us going with them to the sanctuary in the Amazon rainforest; if you, Avellana and James have unintentionally caused them trouble at Tulio's Aviary, I can't imagine what Tulio, Susan and Lucy's reaction would be like if they catch us hitching a ride with them to the Sanctuary de Amazon…"
"But based on the falcon's explanation of how those poachers are going to go to the Sanctuary de Amazon when he and his minions including Nigel and his cat friends held us in cages in the attic, Veggie," protested Dash, "He mentioned how one of his owners is spying on Tulio and his team and keeping an ear out for the signal, which is the date when Tulio and his group will head off to the Sanctuary de Amazon, and then contacting the poaching group leader to tell him that date."
"The date at which Tulio and his team will be going to the Amazon?" repeated Veggie. But then it dawned upon him and the others. They had just heard Tulio tell Susan it over the phone.
"Then that means that the spy from that poaching group will have told the head of the group that by now," said Avellana in realisation.
"And that subsequently means that that group of poachers will be heading off to the Amazon on the exact same day as Tulio and his team," put in Danny. Dash's face then changed to a look of determination.
"Then that means we'll be going to the Amazon too," he growled.
"I'm sorry, Dash but it's too dangerous like I've said before," said Veggie.
"The Amazon rainforest is not the place for domestic cats and dogs such as us," said Avellana, "I've read of what potential predators and other lethal plants and animals might lurk in that maze of vegetation in an ecology book."
"That's right," said Veggie in agreement, "Seriously, Dash, we don't want to run into anything like a jaguar or a crocodile or a snake capable of swallowing a human whole."
"But Veggie," protested Dash, "Our feathered friends are at stake and Tulio and his team are still unaware that they have a spy amidst them. If we don't help uncover that spy and who he or she is working for, they're going to have poachers in ecologists' clothing sneaking into the area Tulio and Linda have worked ever so hard to set up poaching macaws from that only flock of Spix macaws in the world, and macaws from the glaucous and Lear's flocks and also other animals… without Tulio and his team knowing."
Then Collette stepped in, a determined look on her face.
"Birds may be our natural enemy even though we, Mom and Broccoli are friends with them and wouldn't dream of killing and eating a bird," she said, "But those flocks of birds in the Sanctuary de Amazon don't deserve to have poachers nabbing individuals from them, especially the three flocks whose species are critically endangered."
"I'm taking the vote; I'm in as well," said Danny.
"So am I," said Daisy. Then Avellana and James stood up to show that they want to participate in the quest to uncover the sneaky poachers as well. Then Veggie reluctantly joined the agreeing side.
"I'll go as well," he said, "Since after all, my mate has the poachers' hideout and our kidnapped feathered friends covered, and she may need backup should she run into trouble."
Then Ginger said, "I'm coming with you."
The others shot her a shocked glare.
"But Ginger," said Dash, "That is extremely unwise. That cat gang led by Otis and Nigel the cockatoo are amongst the group of poachers alongside a group of falcons and crows, you know and they are EXTREMELY dangerous, especially that savage Nigel."
"If you ended up in a dire situation involving them, especially Nigel or a falcon," added Veggie, "Your unborn pups could be in serious danger, and as Dash said, Nigel is an extremely dangerous cockatoo."
He shuddered as he remembered hearing Broccoli's agonised cries when Nigel bit his paw, and the extent of the damage the cockatoo had caused his son now revealed.
"Look, I appreciate your concerns," said Ginger adamantly, "And I am aware of the risks but those macaws are my friends as well as yours, and there is no way I'm gonna allow those creeps to poach any of those protected birds or any other animal from the Sanctuary de Amazon and smuggle out of Brazil, so I'm in."
At first, the other seven looked reluctant but then they relented.
"Okay," said Dash, "But you MUST steer clear of the most dangerous and riskiest situations and keep your distance from those poachers' pets. I don't want you injured."
Ginger smiled. However, inside, Dash regretted letting Ginger in on the risky quest. 'If she ends up hurt or even worse, lose our second litter of puppies, it'll be all my fault,' the male greyhound thought. He then thought of his and Ginger's future second litter and hoped that Ginger would not end up in mortal danger. After all this was a dangerous operation the cats and dogs were planning to go on.