Chapter 13- two more unexpectedly joins Carla's group, the first signs of trouble
Hours later, back with Carla and her group
It was night time in South America and the plane on which Tulio and his assistant, and of course Carla and her group in the cargo bay, was half way into its journey to Guyana. In the cargo bay, Carla's group was asleep in a warm place for it got very cold in the bay due to the altitude. Bia, Tiago, Finnick, Lavender, Justin, Matilda and Virgil were snuggled up together against a golf bag, blankets they had taken from one of the bags wrapped around them for warmth. Finnick had his head feathers no different from Roberto's set covering his face and he was snoring. Tiago, Bia, Matilda and Justin were simply breathing quietly, though a few faint raspy snores escaped Tiago's beak. Virgil and Lavender were twitching in their sleep, apparently dreaming, with Virgil dreaming about home and hanging out with his three siblings, including Charlotte, and friends including Turquesa, Garrett and Músculo. Spinel, Sheldon, Alexandre and Estelle were asleep by the two bags and pile of fanny packs which the group had taken off before meeting slumber. Spinel dreamt about music while Alexandre also dreamt about home. Next to the red macaws, Azul, Brooke, Miranda and Chlorophyll were also snuggled up together, asleep with Azul snoring somewhat and Miranda stirring in her sleep, dreaming about painting and art. Alessandro, Tristan, Trixie, Neytiri and Zebedee were not too far away, in a cluster of their own. Four of them were sleeping soundly but one of them, Tristan, was restless. He murmured in his sleep. A few inches away from the others, Carla was awake. She had woken up early and was looking at the map of Guyana in the atlas with a torch or flashlight she had snaffled from one of the other suitcases or bags, a blanket also wrapped around her. Behind her, Tristan continued stirring, his movements and murmurs becoming more rigorous until finally, he jerked up, awake with some of the blanket wrapped around him. Breathing rapidly, his heart racing and his turquoise and grey feathers flattened and pale blue eyes wide from the shock of a bad dream, Tristan registered his surroundings.
"Are you alright, Tristan?" asked Carla quietly, having heard Tristan jolt out of his nightmare. Tristan, after calming down, rubbed his face with his wings and kept the piece of blanket wrapped around him.
"I'm fine," he replied, "Just a bad dream."
He then stepped towards Carla, being careful not to wake up Trixie, Neytiri, Alessandro and Zebedee who stirred slightly in their sleep.
"What are you doing?" asked he after releasing a yawn and stretching his wings.
"I'm looking at the map of Guyana," replied Carla, "But I'm in doubt."
"About what?" asked Tristan, thinking that Carla was referring to the existence of the mythical birds and treasure. However, Carla knew that from his facial expression and shook her head.
"Not the existence of the place, Tristan," she said, "Its location. That is, where it is in the country."
Tristan came in and looked at the map. Guyana was well over 200,000 square kilometres in size, and most of its area was covered in tropical rainforest no different from that of Brazil and that begged the question. How were Carla and her group going to find an enclosed area inhabited by bizarre birds and containing the treasure over that amount of area? While Carla thought about this, Tristan rubbed his face with his wings again.
"I'm sorry to have startled you," he said, "I was dreaming about the incident with Larimar and her close call with those poachers last year."
"Oh, you mean when your other sister was almost caught when you were travelling to Rio with Aunt Phoebe and her family?" asked Carla. Tristan nodded.
"However," he said, "Unlike in reality when Dad managed to drive off those two humans with Mom and Aunt Phoebe and rescue Larimar, the poachers actually managed to successfully escape with Larimar in tow, and Mom and Dad were seriously injured."
Tristan stole a glance at Neytiri and Trixie with a worried look on his face. His primary concern was Neytiri for she was highly inquisitive while the smaller Trixie, despite being the youngest of the four offspring of Levi and Lapis Lazuli, had a good head for sense.
"I think Neytiri should have stayed at home," said he in a low voice before turning back to Carla. "She is, after all, highly vulnerable because of her highly curious nature. She loves new things and that could render her more vulnerable to getting caught, either by predators or by poachers."
Tristan then shook his head once and sighed. "Collette wasn't treating our vulnerability," Tristan referred to specifically himself, Neytiri and Trixie as he said this, "to getting caught by poachers lightly at all. When she voiced her concerns about it before we left to find Tulio to catch the plane, the look on her face and the voice tone she used were indicative that she really meant it."
"I agree with her, Tristan," said Carla, "We are vulnerable as we will be flying through unprotected territory where poachers are likely to be encountered."
"Listen," she continued, hoping to settle Tristan's doubt and worry, "The chances of us encountering those animal thieves will be slim for Guyana is well over 200,000 km squared in area. And besides that, we will be sticking together throughout the quest."
Carla then flashed Neytiri a stern look, "But Neytiri over there must learn to stay by our side at all times. If she gets lost, we might never find her again."
"You see, that's what I'm worried about," agreed Tristan, his gaze on Neytiri as she turned over and murmured something in her sleep. Suddenly, a soft sound startled the chubby Spix and slender glaucous macaw and they stiffened.
"Did you hear that?" whispered Tristan. Carla nodded. Then the two began to look around, the blankets wrapped around them and Carla shining the torch in the direction where she heard the noise. Tristan came up to her side, the flame of nervousness slowly growing brighter.
"Don't tell me someone's followed us," he hissed. Carla ignored him and took a few steps away from the rest of the group who were still asleep. She examined the dark miniature landscape of hills and valleys formed by suitcases and bags with the torch, eyes filled with suspicion and alertness.
"Can you find anything?" asked Tristan timidly, his breath visible in the form of water vapour clouds as he exhaled into the freezing air. Carla continued looking but found nothing.
"Must have been the movement of one of the bags or suitcases," whispered she as she returned to Tristan. However, nothing could prepare the two for what happened next. As the Spix and glaucous macaw walked back to the other sleeping macaws, a voice sounded, "It was the two of us actually."
This sent sudden shock surging through Carla and Tristan and they both jumped into the air as though the floor had turned suddenly very hot. As the two landed, Carla and Tristan, their feathers flattened and breathing and heart rates running ten to the dozen, looked around, the beam of light from Carla's torch darting here and there until it landed on two lumps of feathers wearing a brown pouch like the ones the macaws had. Then to Carla and Tristan's shock, the two figures as they walked towards them, timid looks on their faces were two recognisable friends. One of them had faint pink plumage and a striking vermillion and yellow crest while the other had large eyes, dark brown and ivory underside with black-brown specks thrown across it, and menacing looking talons. They were a male half-sulfur-crested, half-Major Mitchell's cockatoo based on his plumage and a female peregrine falcon and they both had fanny packs strapped around their waists. As soon as Tristan and Carla recognised them, their shock turned to anger.
"Milo, Velocity!" barked Carla, "What are you two doing here!?"
Tristan also looked on angry but said nothing. Milo shrank back at the angry looks of the two macaws while Velocity flinched.
"We've come to help," Velocity timidly replied. Milo nodded in agreement. Tristan and Carla exchanged looks and gazed back at the two newcomers. At first, the Spix and glaucous macaw could not understand how one of Travis and Sunset's sons and Cometa and Lightning's daughter could have boarded the plane but then it dawned upon them both. However, it was an idea neither Carla nor Tristan didn't like.
"Don't tell me the two of you have sneaked away from your families, have you!?" demanded Tristan when he finally found words. Milo and Velocity gazed back at the glaucous macaw with guilty looks.
"We did," Milo finally spoke, "When you told us about the myth of the Bizarre Birds and Treasure back in Rio, and how you were going to go to Guyana to find it to save the Sanctuary de Amazon from losing its protected reserve status, we decided to help."
"So we sneaked away from our family's homes," added Velocity, "Picked up a fanny pack each from the stalls while you macaws faced being chased out by the owners with your two cat friends, Broccoli and Collette, and during that as well, Milo gathered some fruit while I left to pick up some fresh meat from the nearby butcher's…"
Velocity unzipped her fanny pack and showed Carla and Tristan some lumps of pinkish flesh and added, "It's mostly chicken and a lump of duck. Since my species is strictly carnivorous, I had to go to the butcher's and nab these meat pieces, but I got into serious trouble with the butcher while I was picking up the duck lump and had to hot-wing it out of there. The butcher didn't half chase me, honestly."
"And then we followed you two to the airport," said Milo, "And we boarded the plane moments before the baggage handlers closed the cargo bay door, and here we are."
It took Carla and Tristan a few minutes to absorb this information. When they finally did, they hardened their frowns.
"Don't you realise how worried your parents and siblings are gonna be when they find out you have both gone!?" asked Carla.
"I wrote a note to tell Mom, Dad, Eustace and Rosa that I had gone after you to help," said Milo.
"I did the same to tell Mom, Dad and Orion that I have followed you as well," said Velocity, "Though I met Milo just as we were about to snatch a fanny pack each from the same stands you went to get your supplies."
Carla shot Tristan a dumbfounded look. They didn't know what to say at all but seeing that it was now too late for Velocity and Milo to turn back now, Carla had no choice but to take the peregrine falcon and cockatoo with her group for the rest of the quest. However, her gaze was still hard on the two newcomers.
"You don't realise how dangerous and risky this trip is," Carla growled, "This is a quest to a strange place where we're likely to encounter all sorts of hazards and if anything were to happen to you, say you got badly hurt, we won't be held liable for your situations."
"Absolutely," put in Tristan, "So that means you're to stick with our group at all times and don't wander off."
Velocity and Milo nodded and with that, they followed the two macaws back to the rest of the group who were still asleep.
"We've still got another seven hours or more before we touch down in Georgetown," said Carla as she opened up the map of Guyana. Tristan, Velocity and Milo looked at the atlas, "Once the rest of the group wake up, we will be having a review of the next leg of the quest."
"How are we gonna search the entire rainforest part of the country?" asked Velocity, a talon pointing to the green area of the image of Guyana, indicating rainforest. Carla looked at it.
"We'll get to that before we land in Georgetown," she said, "But until then, let's get back to sleep."
Tristan nodded and with that, he returned to Neytiri, Trixie, Zebedee and Alessandro's side while Carla returned to Bia and Tiago's side to settle down after putting away the atlas. Velocity and Milo then found a spot and settled down too. Then a few minutes later, the four had drifted off to sleep.
Next morning in Rio
The sun just peered above the eastern horizon and in the city of Rio, people were waking up. In one particular house, a pair of cats had left the front door via the cat/dog flap to go for an early walk. Broccoli and Collette had woken up early which was unusual for them since they woke up after sunrise and not during. Both cats looked worried and concerned, especially for Carla and her group who were away.
"Boy, bro," said Collette, "What a night it has been last night. I couldn't stop dreaming about all kinds of things that could happen to Carla and her group."
"Well, we did give them a strong warning before they left, and I hope they have it in their heads while they are over in Guyana," said Broccoli. However, he was still laced with concern. It had been difficult in letting the macaws leave for the trip, and Broccoli was worried about how their parents in the Sanctuary de Amazon, if they ever found out that some or all of their offspring were in a strange country outside their knowledge, would react, especially if they hear that he and Collette had helped them go to Guyana. Based on this, Broccoli and Collette knew that they would be in trouble anytime soon once the truth is uncovered. What if the mythical treasure and creatures didn't exist after all? This thought preyed on the two cats' minds and all kinds of consequences flared with it, such as the loss of trust with their feathered friends for allowing Carla's group to go to Guyana outside their parents', especially Blu and Jewel's, knowledge, which Veggie's family had maintained over the years since after their arrival in Rio, and a bad reputation following it as most of the macaws in that group were the offspring of Veggie, Dash and Ginger's friends. Not to mention a bad image made of his and Collette's own father and calico mother who had contributed an awful lot in the past, such as helping to get Lysandre's group caught, and Dash and Ginger. Broccoli especially shuddered at how Blu and Jewel might react if they hear the truth about the whereabouts of their entire first brood. If Carla, Bia or Tiago or any of the other macaws that went with them ever got hurt, Broccoli and Collette knew that they would never forgive themselves. The cloud of worry hung over the two cats just like it was going to the other chicks in the Sanctuary de Amazon.
While Broccoli thought about these things, he and Collette were made aware of flapping noises made by several pairs of wings. The brother and caliby sister looked up and to their surprise, they saw a white cockatoo with yellow markings and crest and a pale pink cockatoo with a bright red and yellow banded crest fly out from the birdhouse with two more but smaller cockatoos who had a mix of the sulfur-crested and Major Mitchell's cockatoos before them. All four wore looks of alarm and terror on their faces and their crests were raised.
"Milo!" cried the white and yellow cockatoo who was Travis, "Milo!"
Sunset, Rosa and Eustace also shouted Milo's name as they followed Travis into the brightening cityscape air above Rio. Broccoli and Collette looked at each other, dread welling within them.
"Don't tell me Milo's gone missing, has he?" whispered Broccoli. Collette did not reply. Then the cats were alerted by more wing flaps above their heads. The two looked up and, to their surprise, they saw three peregrine falcons, two slate grey and the other brown, fly in towards Travis and his family's birdhouse and perch onto it.
"Cometa, Lightning and one of their near-adult chicks," said Collette confused, "What are they doing here?"
Then she noticed that there were only three falcons present. Cometa's family consisted of four members: Cometa herself, her mate, and her son and her daughter, but only one of their offspring was present and as it was still dark, it was hard to tell who the remaining offspring was at first. Before Broccoli and Collette could wonder why one of Cometa and Lightning's chicks, as well as which one, was missing, the answer came straight from the falcons' beaks.
"I can't believe Velocity has disappeared without a trace," cried Cometa, her voice thick with stress and worry, "She has left us a note telling us that she would be gone but she didn't say why. Where could she go? First she was present with us before we went to sleep, and then by this morning, she's disappeared."
"I don't know," replied Lightning as he knocked on Travis and Sunset's birdhouse, hoping that they were in, "Maybe Travis would know."
Collette and Broccoli then caught a glimpse of Cometa and Lightning's other chick whose face was plastered with fear and worry. Based on what Cometa and Lightning's mentioning of Velocity, their daughter being missing, it had to be Orion, and he looked fearful. Both Velocity and Orion looked almost identical except for their sizes with Velocity, despite being the younger of Cometa and Lightning's two chicks, being the larger of the two since female peregrine falcons were larger than the males. Also, Velocity had a slender build while Orion was slightly burlier, and Orion sported the Belt and Sword-like blotches on his belly, a feature Velocity lacked completely. Cometa then began to have a meltdown.
"Oh, it's ALL MY FAULT!" she cried, her eyes weeping tears, "What sort of mother am I!?"
"Oh, don't panic, dear," said Lightning trying to calm her nerves, "We'll sort this out."
Collette and Broccoli flinched as Cometa began to lose control of her breathing and shake. Then Orion peered into the birdhouse when he realised that Lightning's knock was not answered.
"Mr Travis," he called as he looked in.
"Are the cockatoos in, son?" asked Lightning as he hugged the sobbing Cometa, trying to calm her. Orion's head retracted from the hole in Travis and Sunset's sleeping compartment and shook.
"No, Father," he said. He then went to check the other three compartments, the three in which Rosa, Eustace and Milo slept. After peering into Rosa and Eustace's rooms and finding nothing, Orion peered into Milo's room.
"They're definitely not here, Dad," he said but then his voice changed. "Wait, I've found something."
Hearing Orion say this, Collette and Broccoli cocked their ears as the young male falcon's head withdrew from Milo's room with a sheet a paper in his beak. The young male falcon then handed his parents the sheet and Lightning began to read it. Being domesticated falcons, he and Cometa had learned to read human writing.
"Dear Mom, Dad, Rosa and Eustace, I will be absent for a while. I'm sorry if I cause you stress and worry. I love you, Milo."
As soon as Lightning had finished reading this, Cometa, who had managed to regain her self-control and wipe her glistening eyes of tears, shot her smaller mate a horrified look.
"Travis and his family need to see that PRONTO," she said seriously. Lightning and Orion then shot her a worried and dreaded look each. Then realisation took hold inside Collette and Broccoli.
"Well, that answers our question then, doesn't it?" said Collette.
"Yeah but then it begs another question," said Broccoli, "Where could Milo, and Velocity as well, have gone?"
Meanwhile
The plane touched down in Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Georgetown, Guyana. In its cargo bay, Carla's group including Velocity and Milo, were awake and ready for leaving the plane. They had returned the blankets they had used for warmth for the journey as the temperature had increased with the plane's descent. They hung on to each other and the surrounding bags as the cargo bay rocked with the bumpy ride, and each bird had his or her fanny pack strapped around their waists once again, and some of the stronger macaws ready to carry the two larger bags. While the others held tight, Chlorophyll and Azul surveyed around the spot they were in, making sure that any fruit remains and feathers were collected to be disposed of once they left the plane to prevent suspicion of their presence being aroused in the baggage handlers. When the other macaws had seen Velocity and Milo, they were struck with incredulous shock but Carla had explained to them that they wanted to help though some weren't sure. The quest was risky and there were concerns about their families back in Rio. If they find out that they had gone to Guyana with Carla's group, they were going to be worried. Putting off these thoughts, Carla and company turned to focus on leaving the plane once the cargo bay was opened.
The group felt the plane slow down and then move at a steady pace.
"Listen," said Matilda, "We're finally in Georgetown."
"So Guyana is well over 200,000 km square in area," said Milo to Carla, "That's a lot of land."
"But it isn't as big as Brazil," said Bia.
"It's gonna take days to search the entire country and its rainforest," said Justin.
"Yeah, and the debt deadline is less than a month away," said Finnick, "I just hope the search doesn't last too long."
"It's taken us three days to get from our home to here, anyway," said Lavender with a frown.
"Let's just get ready for leaving," whispered Carla as the plane continued moving. The others obeyed and prepared for action. Then within seconds, the plane finally stopped but it was another few more minutes until the cargo bay door was opened. A group of Guyanese baggage handlers then set to unloading the plane and placing the bags and suitcases onto a conveyor that would take them to the baggage reclaim carousels in the 'Arrivals' department of the airport. While the handlers were engrossed in their work, Carla and her group quickly left the plane's cargo bay a few at a time, sneaked past the group of humans. Then as soon as all 23 birds were together and Carla had done a headcount, they all took to the air. The entirely new and unfamiliar landscape of Guyana lowered and lowered beneath Carla and her group as they climbed higher and higher into the sky.
"Whoooaa," cried some of them in awe. Justin, Matilda and Virgil's eyes were all wide in awe at the town of Georgetown. Georgetown was the capital city of Guyana and though it seemed massive, it was not too large. But still, it had pretty much all the traits of a human city. A huge sea of houses stretched out below the group. Grey lines crisscrossed the sea of orange, grey and brown blocks and the group could see smaller points moving like tiny flies along the lines. The grey lines were roads and the moving dots, cars and other vehicles. Some of the macaws, such as Estelle, Alexandre and Spinel looked to the left and saw, in the distance, an azure coloured sea extending to the horizon. The azure sea became more and more visible as the group gained more altitude.
"What's that blue stuff over there?" asked Estelle.
"That's the Atlantic Ocean," said Spinel, "Guyana has a coastal region."
"Isn't that where your parents came from?" asked Finnick, "From some country across that stretch of water?"
"Europe is across that ocean, and the country you're talking about is the UK," said Justin, "We told you about where Uncle Athos and company grew up before coming to Brazil, remember?"
"Oh, yeah," said Finnick as he remembered. The macaws, Velocity and Milo then straightened out into a V-formation as they reached a reasonably high altitude. Carla flew at the front while those that carried the two bags, Chlorophyll, Zebedee, Brooke and Finnick with one and Miranda, Azul, Alessandro and Tristan with the other, flew at the back. Below them, Georgetown stretched out and Cheddi Jagan Airport was soon receding into the distance. Some of the macaws, especially the inquisitive Neytiri, smiled in utter awe at the size of the city.
"This city is probably smaller than the cities of Manaus and Rio," said Tristan.
"I'd never thought that Georgetown would be quite big though," said Trixie, occasionally flashing a glance at Neytiri and making sure that she didn't wander off.
"Which direction are we to fly, Carla?" asked Zebedee. Carla looked at the compass she had attached to her fanny pack so that she did not lose it.
"We're to head south," she replied in a loud voice for all to hear, "The rainforest part of Guyana lies due south, east and west of Georgetown."
"That sounds like a lot," said Brooke worriedly as she helped Finnick, Chlorophyll and Zebedee carry one of the bags. Milo then gazed into the distance and frowned.
"Looks like a huge thunderstorm is developing over there," he said. Carla and the others followed his gaze and saw that he was right. Ahead of Carla and her group was a massive black cloud and below it, a streaky mist, indicating rain and Carla thought she saw a small flash blink near the base of the cloud as well.
"It's a cumulonimbus cloud," said Bia, talking in her technical term language again.
"A thunderstorm," whispered Tiago, "And by the looks of it, it is heading this way."
"We'd better be prepared to find shelter before that envelops us," said Justin, "As we cannot fly well in the rain."
Carla gazed down at the sea of houses that was Georgetown and frowned.
"It might mean us taking shelter in an artificial construction if we cannot make it to the rainforest and if there are no forests around within a short distance" she said. Estelle, Brooke, Sheldon, Alessandro, Neytiri, Finnick and Lavender shot Carla an alarmed look. Being wild-born macaws who had spent most of their lives in a natural environment, they were against the idea of staying in a human-made construct like a house. But if the thunderstorm in the distance was to catch them and they were still above Georgetown, then they wouldn't have a choice. Luckily, the thunderstorm seemed to be quite far off in the distance and it may be a while before Carla's group could encounter it.
Hours later
Carla and company had been flying over the Guyanese landscape for hours now. However, they did stop and rest for some time when they had reached the outskirts of Georgetown and had eaten some more of their fruit or in Velocity's case, meat, packed into their fanny packs before continuing. Because they had eaten much of the fruit or meat from their fanny packs, the weight they had to carry was lighter, thus Carla and company were able to fly at a faster pace. Bia, Tiago, Lavender, Virgil and Justin then took their turn in carrying one of the bags while the other was carried by Milo, Trixie, Tristan, Zebedee (who had opted to continue carrying the bag) and Matilda carried the other to give Chlorophyll, Brooke and Finnick, and Miranda, Azul and Alessandro a break. As Carla's group continued their quest deeper into the Guyanese landscape, Carla looked up at the sky. It was getting darker and dark grey clouds were thickening. The large rainstorm also appeared to be closer. Furthermore, the sun was sinking further towards the western horizon. Carla and the others knew that these conditions meant one thing.
"We're gonna have to find some shelter soon, gang," she said to the others.
"Yeah, that rainstorm's getting closer and closer," said Virgil as he gazed at the dark clouds looming just ahead while carrying a strap of one of the bags.
"We will be entering the rain soon," said Matilda. Spinel's eyes then travelled around the group as she examined the landscape for any signs of green sea, indicating forest.
"You know something, I cannot believe the size of the Amazon rainforest," she said, "It's surprising that it extends even into the neighbouring countries from Brazil."
"It does," said Alexandre, "The rainforest also extends into Peru, French Guinea and several other countries bordering Brazil."
"Guyana seems to have a wide variety of habitats I've read," said Tristan, "It has savannahs, different sorts of forests, and river and coastal based habitats."
"It has a wide diversity of mini-biomes," said Bia, using her impressive choice of scientific words again, "It's surprising how diverse this country's habitats are."
"I ought to read more about this country when we return from this quest," said Velocity, "It sounds interesting. My brother Orion would love to learn about South American habitats."
"I'm sure he would," said Bia, "But let's stay focussed on finding this habitat of the mythical bizarre birds," she then faced Carla and asked, "So, where do we start?"
"I'm thinking…" Carla then entered into thought until she finally said, "Perhaps from the centre of Guyana?" she stole a glance from behind. "Georgetown is still close behind us. We can't start searching for this place until we're well away from that city."
"That could take us days," wailed Finnick despairingly. He then looked at the sun as it approached western the horizon. "And the sun looks like it's about to set anyway."
Carla turned and saw that Finnick was right. The sun was approaching its setting point but she would rather lead the group further and further into Guyana as much as possible to get away from Georgetown. Sighing, she continued leading the group along. Much of the group was used to flying for ages due to their travels between Rio and the Sanctuary de Amazon, but the rest of them, such as Velocity, Estelle, Sheldon, Alessandro, Neytiri, Finnick, Lavender and Brooke, had never flown for so long in their lives at all, and their wing muscles were starting to ache, and sooner or later, the group will have to stop and rest again, especially for the night and until the stormy rains ahead of them passes.
As the group continued flying along with the sun getting ever closer to its setting point to end the day and also the rain approaching, Carla and her group were made aware of the sound of large wing flaps sounding near them. Hearing this, Carla, awareness igniting within her, shot glances at the other members of the group. She looked at Bia, Tiago, Lavender, Virgil and Justin who carried one of the bags, then at Milo, Trixie, Tristan, Matilda and Zebedee who carried the other, before shooting glances at the other birds flying freely. First she looked at Spinel, Alexandre, Estelle and Sheldon, then at the other birds in the group. However, their wings, not even Velocity's, were too small to match the larger whooshing noises sounding from something nearby, and those noises came from larger wings. As Carla then began to look around warily, some of the other birds shot her a puzzled look.
"What is it, Carla?" asked Velocity. Carla's talon darted upward into a 'Shh!' gesture, so Velocity shut her beak. She and the other birds then began to look around.
"Can you guys hear that?" asked Carla. Near her, Miranda listened.
"Sounds like the sounds of the flapping of large wings," she said, "It's not any of us for our wings are too small."
Miranda then stole a glance at Zebedee as he carried one of the bags with Trixie, Tristan, Matilda and Milo and said, "And it's certainly not Zebedee. He's still too young to make large wing flap noises like an adult hyacinth macaw would make."
Then Chlorophyll was gripped with fear, his green, red, yellow and blue plumage flattening.
"I hope it's not what I think it is," said he, referring to one specific bird that had large wings and especially large talons. Alessandro shot him a frowned look.
"A harpy eagle, this far south?" he muttered, "They mainly live on Brazil."
"Actually," began Chlorophyll when suddenly, a shout of alarm from Tiago startled him and the chestnut-fronted macaw. The pair then shot a look at the male chick who flew with his sister, Lavender, Virgil and Matilda as they carried one of the bags. The eyes of all five of them were wide with fright and Lavender's ponytail feathers, which bore a strong resemblance to her father Roberto's crest feathers except that they were tied back, were flared out, and all five were gazing to the left of the group.
"We're being followed," said Tiago, "There's a large bird flying alongside us."
"What sort of bird is it?" asked Miranda.
"A harpy eagle?" asked Chlorophyll fearfully.
"No, it's a black caracara," said Bia who used her well-developed knowledge of bird species to identify the large bird flying alongside the group. The others including Carla turned and to their horror, they saw the large bird that was the source of the large whooshing noises. The bird's plumage was charcoal black, similar to the plumage of Ónix the red-tailed black cockatoo, a friend of Athos and company and also Veggie, Dash and their friends back in Rio. The bird bore a similar body shape to Velocity and had bright orange fleshy spec-like marks around its eyes. A spot of white was visible on its wings and its talons were bright yellow. Its wings, unlike Velocity's vaguely crescent shaped wings, were slotted with their primary flight feathers protruding individually from them like human fingers. The black bird was larger than the young macaws and also larger even than Milo and Velocity but it was no bigger than an adult hyacinth macaw. The caracara's eyes, which were a shade of brown, were fixated on the mixed group of macaws, falcon and cockatoo, but they were not at all warm and welcoming, nor were they filled with curiosity or wonder at seeing a strange group of birds flying, each with a fanny pack around their waists and also carrying two bags. Instead, the eyes were unfriendly, sinister, chilling and intimidating, so intimidating that it sent shivers down the spines of some of the macaws and made their skins crawl and doused their nerves with an icy wind. Velocity then shuddered for she did not like stares like that. They always made her feel threatened, and Neytiri fluttered behind Estelle, Alexandre and Sheldon, frightened by the caracara's gaze. Carla also continued staring at the black falcon-like bird.
"Carla," whispered Miranda warily, "What should we do? Remember what we've been told about strange birds? Don't talk to them."
Carla didn't reply for her mind was occupied with possible escape plans. The thunderstorm was approaching and the sun was setting, but it was not safe to have this caracara following them. Besides that, it could be on the hunt since caracaras were carnivores like Velocity's species. However, this thought made Carla shiver. Then Spinel said, "Is the black caracara native to Guyana?"
"I don't know but its very presence and glare is giving us the creeps," muttered Alexandre, "Let's try to shake it off."
He then looked at Carla and asked, "Any ideas?"
Carla, her eyes still fixed on the caracara, continued to think until finally, she said, "Let's head for the green area below us."
"Good idea," spoke Velocity in a shaky voice from the nerves, "My insides are telling me that that bird isn't safe to fly alongside us. Let's go."
And with that, the entire group broke from their straight flight and descended towards the green landscape below. They were somewhat far from Georgetown but not far enough for the city to be tiny on the horizon. However, as the group of macaws, falcon and cockatoo descended towards a patch of green, which was a simple forest, the caracara dived after them. As she helped Tiago, Lavender, Virgil and Justin carry one of the bags; Bia flashed a glance back at the caracara and gasped when she saw the bird following them.
"It's following us," she called to Carla and the others timidly.
"Oh, don't look back," said Virgil, "Don't look back everyone."
"We can't have predatory birds chasing after us when we've got an important quest to complete," muttered Lavender exasperatedly.
"This is the sort of hazard we knew would encounter during our trip to this place," put in Justin.
"Predators," said Tiago. Besides the five Spix macaws, Milo, Trixie, Tristan, Matilda and Zebedee who carried the other bag, also flashed a glance at the caracara.
"I thought black caracara birds were scavengers," said Matilda.
"Yeah, they mostly feed on carrion or small animals," said Tristan.
"Um… I've read somewhere that they also feed on other food like insects, fish and some fruit," said Milo.
"But never macaws or larger birds," said Trixie. She then flashed a glance at the caracara's face and shuddered at the piercing gaze. "This one looks like it's hungry."
"Shut up and keep descending," snapped Tristan.
"Okay, okay, Mr Bossy," replied Trixie in irritation. Ahead of the bag carriers, Alessandro gazed at the rising green forest.
"I hope that forest will do," he said, "It doesn't look much like a rainforest but hopefully it would help us escape the caracara."
"Then let's head for the trees," shouted Carla and with that, the group accelerated downward for the forest below. However, the caracara remained hot on their tail but its eyes weren't flooded with hunger as Trixie had believed, they were flooded with evil mischief and intimidation, as though chasing the macaws, Velocity and Milo was a joke. It was not the sort of light-hearted mischief Tiago or Matilda had when they planned their sensible pranks. As Carla's group continued their descent towards the trees, something nasty happened. The caracara then called to something. When Azul who flew with Brooke saw this, he was flooded with puzzlement.
"What on earth…" he began, but then worry took hold, "Sounds like it's shouting to something."
"Look, let's just…" began Carla angrily and impatiently when suddenly, loud screeches exploded from someone. At first, the group was confused but when they heard, "AAAAAHHH! HEEELPP!" their blood turned into iced water. Carla and the others snapped their heads in the direction of the shouter and when they saw that it was Justin, horror flared within them like a volcanic eruption. Something had darted in and had snatched Justin from Bia's bag carrying group and it must have responded to the caracara's call. And based on their body shapes, the kidnappers, which were two of them, appeared to be corvid birds, like a crow or a raven. When Matilda and Virgil, Finnick and Lavender saw their brother/cousin get carried away by the two corvids, screeching, they bellowed, "JUSTIN!"
"After those birds before they make off with Justin!" cried Carla and with that, the group abandoned their trajectory towards the forest and rocketed after the poor Spix macaw. However, the group was unaware that more birds, mostly corvids, were flying straight towards them. The caracara behind the group grinned evilly as the group of corvids approached the rest of Carla's group as they pursued the first two with Justin in their clutches. Then before the other 22 birds could see that there were more corvids heading their way, several black and black and white comets shot in and grabbed Bia, Tiago, Virgil, Lavender and the bag, and Miranda, Estelle, Spinel, Alexandre and Sheldon, much to the utter horror of the others. Then more corvids flew in and snatched Milo, Trixie, Tristan, Matilda, Zebedee and their bag right out of the air like flies as well. Next, Azul and Brooke were captured, followed by Alessandro, Neytiri and Finnick, and Chlorophyll after them. When Carla and Velocity were left, the two became swamped with utter and confusion and horror as they saw the others get carried away by a few dozen corvid birds, shouting for help.
"What is happening!?" cried Carla, her green eyes flooded with terror. No sooner than these words escaped her beak, when a black a white bird, which appeared to be a magpie, flew in and grabbed Velocity. However, the fierce falcon fought back.
"LET ME GO, you PESKY…" bellowed Velocity and with that, she clawed the magpie across the belly, making the magpie screech in agony and retreat. However, two more magpies flew in and seized Velocity while three black birds which appeared to be ravens flew in and seized Carla. Then fury exploded within the peregrine falcon and her large eyes became like bulbous flames. Screeching angrily, Velocity began to flail and flap about wildly, lashing her talons and beak at the magpies. She inflicted a scratch on another and bit a third on the leg. The two magpies cried in pain but then more birds piled onto Velocity. Then what happened next horrified Carla, who was being carried away by some ravens and more magpies. As Velocity continued to furiously fight back, the caracara flew in and bashed the peregrine falcon on the head with a swipe of a talon clenched into a fist.
"VELOCITY!" cried Carla as she watched the falcon, who was stunned by the blow, drop like a stone towards earth. However, she was caught by a few more magpies and ravens and then carried by them after Carla. Carla then began screeching and shouting at the magpies and ravens that carried her away but the caracara flew in and sneered in her face.
"Lights out, blue macaw, and shut your beak," it crooned nastily and before Carla could retort, a hard pound to the head jolted her skull. Carla stopped flailing and shouting and her vision became lit up with glitter, like the glitter in a glass dome she had seen at Linda's bookstore one time. Then the communication between her brain and muscles were temporarily cut off and Carla's world became swamped with blackness. Then within moments, she was unconscious.