Chapter 55- Zebedee's innocence is confirmed
Back in Rio
The cityscape of Rio was greeted as usual by the rising sun as it ascended from under the oceanic horizon, its reflection in the sea rippling like a pool of runny honey. The usual daytime activities of Rio also rose and people were preparing for the next day. However, in the jungle there was little activity from the diurnal birds. Normally, morning songs such as 'Real in Rio' flooded the jungle air with the dance of the colourful feathers and drabber fur in the branches but the mornings of the past few days had been different; the joyful songs and dancing of the bird and other animal community was pretty much absent, likely because so many of the residents of the Blu Bird Sanctuary had evacuated due to the massive toucan problem, and there were still a lot of those troublemaking big-beaked birds scattered throughout the Blu Bird Sanctuary despite Tulio's teams' efforts in catching them to reduce their population number. It truly was a worrying sign in the Rio sanctuary and Tulio's team was working hard to restore the jungle to its former glory and have the other birds return to the safety of the protected reserve and out of the poachers' reach.
Somewhere in the city of Rio, a certain pair of hyacinth macaws woke up after spending the rest of the night in two secluded holes in two of the human made buildings out of the sight of their occupants, and also anyone else outside that might be looking for them. Zebedee, his head initially tucked under his wing in the temporary room in the house not too far away from where Iris had chosen to sleep, her head also tucked under her wing in her temporary room, removed his head from under his wing and gazed groggily at the shaft of light from the rising sun streaming into the hole of his temporary room like a golden beam. The hyacinth macaw, his left facial side and blind eye still exposed for he had to replace his bandana to cover the disfigurement, opened his wings and stretched them out while at the same time releasing a yawn. After he had withdrawn his wings, Iris close by woke up and let loose a yawn as well. Then after stretching her wings, she left her compartment, flew over to the house in which Zebedee slept and peered into Zebedee's compartment.
"Morning, Zebedee," said she groggily as she rubbed her eyes, "Looks like morning has finally arrived."
"It sure has," replied Zebedee as he shook away the drowsiness. He then peered out of the entrance to his temporary room to observe the rising sun and the incoming day fully.
"Well, now that it is morning," said Iris, "I think it's time we considered the next step of our plans."
Zebedee shot the female hyacinth macaw a gaze, "And what's that?"
"Have you ever considered moving away from here and settling out in the Amazon jungle?" asked Iris, before her gaze caught Zebedee's exposed scarred left face and faded eye, "Obviously, you'll need a new bandana to replace the one you lost last night."
Zebedee slowly lifted wing and brushed the tiger stripes running down the entire height of his face and sighed.
"That's an obvious requirement," he said, but then his mind moved to the previous suggestion Iris had mentioned. He shook his head in surprise. "What do you mean moving away from here?"
"Well, since your father and the other older macaws and birds might still believe that you are responsible for the incident regarding Nico and Pedro's club even though you've not done it," said Iris, "They might still want you to face the consequences by staying with them in the attic until your mother gets back from Peru with the missing kids and the others including Blu and Jewel and tell me to leave your side, which I don't want," Iris sighed, obviously finding that idea repulsive, "And since there seems to be little chance of vindicating you, I would rather flee into the jungle with you and perhaps settle down in a little hollow of our own until things calm down back here. What do you think?"
Zebedee gazed at his girlfriend and mulled over the suggestion in his mind. He was clearly reluctant to leave Rio but he was also refusing to face the consequences proposed by the elders, including his own father Cobalto for something he knew he had never done. Finally, he said, "Can't we wait and see what happens?"
"But what if the problem doesn't resolve itself in the coming days?" asked Iris in protest. Then a scowl came upon her face. "I do NOT want to be torn from you over an unnecessary punishment for something you didn't do, Zebedee," the flower crested hyacinth macaw then breathed a sigh and shuddered. "You've been FRAMED, Zebedee. Can't you see that?" anger then began to boil within Iris as she began to rage at whoever had caused the framing, "Someone has set you up by pretending to be you and then send those marmosets to destroy Nico and Pedro's club and cause trouble," Zebedee gazed at Iris as she continued to protest and throw her wings in the air. Then a look of thunder crossed the flower crested hyacinth macaw's face, "It's obvious that someone is trying to forcefully separate us two, Zebedee, I can feel it."
Zebedee opened his beak to retort but Iris swept on, a tear beginning to well in her eye, "Though you may not believe it, meu amore, I certainly do! Someone is out there trying to tear our hearts into two, especially you, and ruin our lives, and it seems that they have managed to do that by turning our own FRIENDS and your own FATHER against us to do just that…" Iris then sat down and covered her face with her wings, "That is why I want us both to leave, because if we don't," Iris's voice then began to break as the interference of distress began to build like static in the signal of someone speaking on a radio, a human-made object, "you and I will be TORN AWAY from each other… YOU will be severely heartbroken… and we may NEVER see each other EVER AGAIN, AND I DON'T WANT THAT! I LOVE YOU TOO MUCH TO BE TORN AWAY FROM YOU ALL BECAUSE OF SOME SPITEFUL, JEALOUS IDIOT OR BUNCH OF IDIOTS responsible for your framing WANT TO SEE YOU HEARTBROKEN AND DESTROYED!" she screeched the final words in utter rage and distress and began to weep into her wings. Zebedee went over to her and placed a comforting wing on her shoulder. In his mind, he began to consider Iris's suggestion but was still blocked by reluctance to go along with it. Torn between his desire to stay and see what happens and Iris's suggestion to leave Rio and flee into the jungle, the one-eyed hyacinth macaw sat down beside Iris as she continued to sob, both his functional eye and faded eye laced with despair over the whole mess.
Back in the attic of Susan and Lucy and their family's cottage, a massive black cloud saturated with a boiling brew of negative emotions was flooding the air. Misery, despair, anger, sadness and frustration were some of those emotions, and Sapphire, Zephyr, Esmeralda (who was still bandaged), Orquidea, Cobalto and Lapis Lazuli, were smothered in them, along with immense tiredness for they had not slept a wink all through the remainder of last night either. Last night, Nico, Pedro, Sparkle, Rose, Rafael and Eva had left in a fiery huff, outraged at the macaws for Zebedee and Iris's disappearance. Further, these six birds had had a MASSIVE fallout with Roberto, Justin, Matilda, Finnick, Petunia, Virgil, and Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont, Serena, Broccoli, Dash, Ginger, James, Collette and Daisy, all of who had pleaded of Zebedee's innocence with Ellie and the others holding Byron, Diego, Ferdinand, Sonia, Melody, Einstein and Miles in the nests to keep them out of the raging inferno, but the pairs of toucans, canaries and cardinals were so consumed with anger that they didn't listen to Roberto and company's protests and just left but not before saying some things that would leave a wound in Cobalto and company for the rest of the night until now.
Roberto watched over the sleeping forms of the six Spix macaw chicks, including his own grandson Diego, his blue eyes laced with immense sadness and despair as they observed each of them as they continued to sleep with their remaining parents in their makeshift nests. Sonia and Melody slept under Justin's wing in one nest; Einstein, Miles and Virgil slept in another nest; in a third nest were Byron and Matilda; and in the fourth nest were Finnick and Diego, Roberto's own son and grandson respectively. Violet, Indigo and Zebedee's younger sister was asleep in a nest of her own next to the Spix macaws. Above the birds, Sebastian and Anabelle were hanging upside down from the curtain rail, Ferdinand clasped against Anabelle's chest, asleep also, and Melissa was asleep by herself next to her son and daughter-in-law. Near the group were the three emperor penguins still in their red cart and they had fallen asleep due to exhaustion from the events of last night but Roberto's attention was not on them. Roberto's eyes then returned to Finnick and Diego, the only remaining members of his and Brisa's family aside from Lavender, Garrett, Felix and Turquesa and their chicks, and also Oberon and Ophelia who were back in the Amazon. His daughter-in-law, Kira, had gone with Blu and company including her three biological cousins, to Peru to retrieve Sandalwood and the others including her and Finnick's other two chicks, Polaris and Achernar. Because Kira had opted to go on the rescue trip, Finnick was left to care for their remaining son until that group returned.
Roberto had hoped that those that had gone to Peru; especially Jewel, Carla, Bia and Tiago, were safe. Those four were like his closest family along with Brisa, his kids and grandkids, and kids-in-law and Roberto did not want anything to happen to those macaws and he had hoped that they, along with the others, would make it back to Rio safely with Sandalwood and the others by their sides. Furthermore, Roberto was still laced with immense shock from last night, especially from Nico, Pedro and company's outrage towards them and what they had said. Despairing, the mop-headed Spix macaw left the sleepers and lofted into flight to leave the cottage and to spend some time in the garden.
As Roberto exited an open window, flew about a metre and touched down on the grass to relish the warmth of the rising sun's rays for a bit to distract himself from last night's events, wing flaps reached his ears. Roberto looked up and saw four forms, a white cockatoo with a pale yellow crest and markings under his wings and tail, a pink-white cockatoo with darker salmon pink-orange splotches under her wings and tail and a pale red and yellow striped crest, a bright blue macaw resembling a female version of Zephyr and a scarlet macaw fly in. Travis, Sunset, Ruby and Brisa had returned but they did not look very good at all. All of their feathers were out of place and Travis and Sunset's crest feathers were kinked and untidy while Brisa's head feathers looked as though a massive gust of wind had blown through them and Ruby's short ponytail feathers were all over the place. Their eyes were bloodshot from an uneasy night last night and all four of them looked absolutely exhausted.
As the four touched wearily down onto the grass, Roberto went over to them.
"Oh, buddies, Brisa my blue flower, I've been so worried about you," he said, his silvery voice laced with concern, "Have you managed to catch up with Sheldon at all?"
"We were forced to break off the chase and find somewhere to spend the rest of the night, Roberto," said Brisa wearily.
"However, we did not get much sleep at all," said Travis.
"We're sorry we didn't return all through last night," added Sunset.
"And to answer your question regarding Sheldon," said Ruby, "He managed to out-fly us, forcing us to give up chasing him down and retreat to a safe spot for it was too risky to return to the cottage while it was still dark," Ruby then flumped down onto her front in the grass, a despairing sigh escaping her beak. Roberto gazed at the scarlet macaw with concern and turned to the other three, "And what about Zebedee? Did you manage to find him?"
Shakes came from the two cockatoos and the Spix macaw's heads, their faces twisted into scowls.
"No, we were too occupied with chasing Sheldon," said Travis, before his glare travelled to the roof as he thought of Cobalto's group in the attic, "But Cobalto and the others should have him…"
"I'm afraid he and Iris slipped away last night," said Roberto. He then shuddered, "Leading to Nico, Pedro and the other four's immense outburst at the rest of us…"
Dread came upon Travis, Sunset, Ruby and Brisa and they exchanged glances.
"What happened?" asked Sunset. Roberto bowed his head, not wanting to say it but as he gazed at the demanding glares on the four's faces, he decided to let it out.
"Before they left, Nico, Pedro, Rafael, Eva, Rose and Sparkle called us bad parents and grandparents and told us to get out of Rio and never return once we have caught Zebedee and Iris and have dealt with them," said the handsome Spix macaw, his blue eyes beginning to shed tears and his voice beginning to break.
As he said this, some eyes peered through the open window. Petunia, Wilbur (who had fully recovered from the effects of the sleeping gas last night, along with Porthos who was still asleep) and Ellie, along with Eustace, Milo, Rosa, Clemont, Serena and the cockatoo youngsters Yolanda, Vincent and Peach who had spent the rest of the night elsewhere in the cottage, gazed out at the five older adult birds as they talked. Hurt from Nico, Pedro and company's comments last night still burned within them, alongside outrage and bitterness against whoever had set up Zebedee and had caused this mess. As the group continued watching Roberto, Travis, Sunset, Brisa and Ruby talk, a voice came from behind them.
"It seems that things just keep on getting worse and worse for us, doesn't it?" it said. Petunia and company turned round and to their surprise, they saw that the speaker was Justin and he was standing with Sonia and Melody in his wings. Behind him were Virgil, Einstein and Miles, Matilda with Byron and Finnick with Diego. The Spix macaws' faces were laced with disgruntled scowls.
"Justin, Matilda, Virgil and Finnick," said Eustace, "W-w-we thought you guys were still asleep."
Virgil shook his head and said, "No, we've only just got up."
"The others are doing the same," added Matilda, her wings wrapped around Byron, whose face was morphed into a sombre look. Then Einstein and Miles looked up at Virgil.
"Daddy," said Einstein.
"Yes, son," said Virgil.
"When will Mommy come back with Sandalwood?" asked Miles. Sonia, Melody, Byron and Diego also gazed at Virgil, Matilda, Justin and Finnick with faces asking the same question. Then Petunia stepped in.
"Well, kids," she said, "It will… it will be quite some time."
"Yes," said Clemont, "Peru is a long way from here, and if my calculations are correct," he then disappeared into his mathematical thought, something he did not use as often as he did when he was younger, "I'd say it would… by plane… it would… take about ten hours to make it from here to the border…"
Small smiles and a few giggles, a rare sound at these times, spread through the group and Rosa leaned onto her citron-crested cockatoo mate.
"You certainly are like Bia and Poinsettia at times, Clemont," she said with a giggle.
"Definitely," commented Petunia. Then the great green macaw's face fell as she turned her gaze back to Roberto and the other four as they continued to talk, "But at least Aunt Phoebe and the others, along with Dad and my scarlet mate Benjamin, will be away for a while, while this mess back here seems to get worse and worse…"
"Yeah, and I hope Zebedee and Iris are alright," put in Eustace. The eldest son of Travis and Sunset then gazed down at his right leg and talon, the only leg he had had left with the left one being nothing more than a stub, and thought of Zebedee's scarred left face. Both the loss of Eustace's leg and Zebedee's sight in his left eye were souvenirs of the Great War for the Sanctuary against the colony of flying foxes some years ago, but the loss of his leg was nothing compared to the mental scars Eustace and his family were to bear from almost getting burned alive in their own birdhouses by the toucans during the hasty evacuation from Tulio and Linda's cottage the other night. Luckily, Vincent had not been there at the time and was thus safe. However, Serena did not leave Eustace after he lost his leg, unlike Penelope, Zebedee's ex, who had forsaken the poor hyacinth macaw because of his 'ugly' scarred left face for another male hyacinth macaw, shattering Zebedee's heart and taking him a long time to recover and be confident enough to find another female macaw who would accept him for his disfigurement. Eustace knew that Zebedee could not bear heartbreak again, and it seemed clear that someone was trying to drive a wedge between him and Iris. Eustace shuddered at the thought of that happening. 'Surely things could not get any worse', thought the cockatoo, especially as thoughts of Zebedee and Iris, who were still missing, flashed in his mind. Saddened, his gaze then returned to his parents as they continued to talk with Roberto, Ruby and Brisa through the window outside.
Then Finnick flashed a glance behind him and said, "Well, we'd better go. The others will be up shortly and soon, it will be breakfast time. I'll see you guys later. Come along, Diego."
His son obeyed and followed his father back in the direction they came, with Virgil, Matilda and Justin, Byron, Sonia, Melody, Einstein and Miles in tow. Petunia, Wilbur and Ellie only sighed and continued to observe the conversation between Travis, Sunset, Brisa, Roberto and Ruby through the window with Eustace and the other cockatoos.
"I sure hope Zebedee and Iris are alright, like I've said," whispered Eustace.
"It's clear that Zebedee's been framed," said Ellie angrily, "We know that he would never, ever associate with those pesky marmosets."
"Apart from the majority of those toucans, they are nothing but troublemakers," said Milo bitterly.
"Not to the same extent of those psycho-toucans they aren't," growled Rosa, "And I think those toucans have become like Nigel after the other night when they tried to roast us in our own birdhouse."
"Oh, please don't mention that diabolical deed," cried Clemont tearfully, "You're causing the rest of us discomfort for one and you're upsetting the kids for another."
Rosa gazed at Yolanda and Peach and sighed. It was clear that these two will likely develop a fear of fire in the near future, having almost getting killed by it at such a young age. This incident was similar to that of Jewel and several others who were deathly afraid of the orange, glowing monster of heat and destruction if it got out of control or was set alight by careless or evil clutches.
Soon
Travis, Sunset, Roberto, Sapphire, Zephyr, Ruby, Orquidea, Esmeralda, Cobalto and Lapis Lazuli were distributing some fruit for themselves, their children and the seven remaining kids while the three penguin guests, Mumble, Balthazar and Ginny, received some fresh fish. The rest of the group including Melissa, the cats and the greyhounds were also awake and were eating some fruit and meat. However, the mood of the latter two animal types towards Zephyr and company was saturated with pure rage and bitterness and they even refused to talk to them. It was clear that Broccoli and company were on Petunia and company's side regarding Zebedee and his innocence. Then after breakfast, Petunia and company including Eustace and his family decided to go out and play. As they left, Andromeda and Marella, as they guided the bat-birds who had been spending the night here as well, paused and gazed back at Broccoli and the others as they glared at Zephyr and company as they cleared away the empty food pots, only to snap their gaze away and pretend that they hadn't noticed when one of them looked their way. Ellie came in, a despairing look on her face.
"Things seem to be falling more and more to pieces," she whispered as she watched Broccoli turn his head away from Ruby.
"I can see that," said Andromeda with no surprise, "I may have not been here long with my family but I've got to know Zebedee long enough to know whether he's being honest or not."
Ellie shot the archaeobird clan matriarch a surprised look.
"You have a hunch that Zebedee is innocent?" she asked. Andromeda returned the female Cuban macaw and Frodo's mate's surprise gaze with a convinced frown.
"I know when someone's being honest or dishonest based on the structure of their voice when they protest their innocence," she said, before leaving with Marella and the bat-birds. Ellie just sighed and followed with Cressida. Just as this group left, Porthos came in. His left talon, which still bore stitching to fix the wound he had accidentally inflicted on himself when flying through a broken window, in a bandage and cast, so he was unable to walk normally until that foot healed completely. Thankfully, the blue-and-gold macaw was still able to fly. As he stopped by a post of a door, he gazed sombrely at Zephyr and company as they talked about searching for Zebedee and Iris now that it was morning, the cats and greyhounds just walking by the macaws and cockatoos without even acknowledging them.
Like Petunia and company, Porthos was sceptical of Zebedee being responsible for causing Nico and Pedro the trouble last night by sending that pack of marmosets to ransack their club and cause injury and near death to their clubbers including their respective partners, Sparkle and Rose. 'If Zebedee hadn't caused Nico and Pedro that trouble last night,' thought the burly blue-and-gold macaw, 'then it's obvious that someone else had, but the question is… who?'
As this question churned in his mind, a voice behind him said, "I sure hope those navy blue skuas and their red skua friend are alright after what happened last night."
Porthos turned round and saw Mumble, Balthazar and Ginny walk in, concern lacing their faces.
"It-it's too complicated," said the blue-and-gold macaw to the three penguins, before examining the large flightless seabirds properly, "So you're from Antarctica?"
"Yes we are," said Mumble, "We're from Emperor-Land."
"You know that's WELL OVER 5000 miles away from here," Porthos said, "When I heard you explain to us that you came from there, I just couldn't believe my ears."
Mumble, Ginny and Balthazar's faces fell.
"We've been travelling the oceans looking for our lost penguin chick named Atreyu," said Ginny, "He was torn from a fishing trip a few weeks ago when a fishing boat came and he got caught in one of its nets and whisked away…"
Porthos sighed. This incident sounded eerily parallel to what happened to so many animals out in the forest at the hands of loggers and how some youngsters sometimes ended up separated from their families when those destructive machines ravaged their homes. Only big difference was Mumble and company's incident was out at sea and not in a rainforest.
"And wasn't that fishing boat supposed to be there?" he asked, "I thought fishing had been banned around Antarctica due to the effect it was having on the fishing stocks."
Mumble shot the blue-and-gold macaw an astonished gaze. "I can't believe how well you land skuas know about our food supply and the cause of its diminishment…"
"We heard about it on the news at some point," said Porthos when he realised what Mumble had called him, "And I'm a macaw by the way, not a skua. A skua's a seabird"
"We had no idea of what sort of bird you are," said Balthazar, "Actually, we thought you were some type of seabird that lives far inland…" his gaze then began to scan the rooms, and a smile of intrigue formed on his face. "So this is what those aliens live in? Mumble told me that they are called buildings."
"This construction is called a house or cottage," said Porthos, "It's what most humans live in but they can also live in caves, tents, and even in boats out at sea, but out depends on where they live."
"Interesting," said Ginny in awe. Then Porthos returned to the subject about the missing penguin chick, a sympathetic look on his face.
"By the way, I'm so sorry for your loss," he said sadly, before he bowed his own head, "We've lost quite a few of our own kids as well, but they were captured deliberately, not by accident like your penguin chick."
"Those aliens sometimes catch animals?" asked Mumble. Porthos gazed at the chick-like penguin with a scowl on his face.
"Some of them do, and such people are called poachers or smugglers," he said with distaste lacing his voice, "But they don't catch animals to preserve them like caring humans, they catch them for the stuff they call money."
"Money?" repeated Balthazar in confusion.
"Slips of paper and metallic discs humans use in trading," said Porthos. Balthazar exchanged glances with Mumble and Ginny.
"The alien world sure seems to get stranger and stranger the more we learn about it, doesn't it?" asked Mumble. The other two penguins nodded.
"And I suppose you rarely get human visitors to your home don't you?" asked Porthos.
"Only once," said Mumble, "It was when we emperor penguins communicated with them about the fish shortages in our seas."
"Mumble here was the hero that saved our food supply," said Ginny with a proud smile at the penguin who resembled a chick from the belly upward due to his blue eyes, downy feathers and white and black head markings, "He taught us how to dance."
"Sounds like you've had quite an adventure," said Porthos with a small smile. The three penguins nodded in agreement.
Outside in the garden, the remaining kids were playing with Broccoli, Daisy, Collette, James, Dash and Ginger joining them to help keep watch over them. Ebony, Avellana, Rusty, Cleo and Fido had come to join them for a change of scene. As they watched the kids including Avellana and Rusty's two puppies and also Yolanda and Peach play ball or do other things, Vincent sitting out to read a book due to his broken wing in a cast, Wilbur came up to Broccoli and gazed at the grumpy look on the cat's face.
"You're still mad at Uncle Cobalto and the others aren't you regarding Zebedee and Iris," said he. Broccoli replied with a silent nod before speaking.
"Yes," said the tabby cat and Veggie lookalike, "I think they have been utterly disgraceful, jumping to conclusions about that poor couple regarding the marmoset incident at Nico and Pedro's club last night without first investigating the situation based on Zebedee's protests of innocence. Nico, Pedro, Rafael, Eva, Sparkle and Rose are no different. This is NOT something Mom and Dad (that is, Catina and Veggie) would have wanted those macaws to do to their own family member when he hasn't done anything, and certainly not Blu and the others."
Wilbur nodded in agreement while Petunia as she walked in with a scowl on her face, growled, "Absolutely not," in agreement. She flashed a glance at Sonia, Melody and Byron as they dashed past after the ball with Cleo, Fido and some of the others in the opposing team in pursuit after them.
"If that were to happen to either Altair or Aldebaran," continued Petunia, "And they were being outright honest, I would believe THEM and not the complainers of the incident and would look into whoever has set them up to land them in trouble."
"That would be correct, Petunia," said Avellana nearby as she sat with Rusty. When these two, along with their puppies and Ebony had arrived, Dash had explained everything that had happened last night to them.
"I just hope Zebedee and Iris are vindicated as soon as possible," said Rusty.
"I HOPE they are," snapped Wilbur harshly, "Because if not, poor Zebedee's gonna be penalised for something he had never done."
"He'd never associate with those marmosets anyway," put in Petunia, "neither would Iris for they both know how troublesome those little monkeys can be. I remember witnessing a group of those marmosets steal some valuables from a family of humans during one of my previous trips to Rio. The adults were distracted by both their children and some of the marmosets while another group snaffled them while they were not looking."
"Yes, many of those marmosets are utterly mischievous," said Wilbur, before a small smile of relief formed on his beak, "But at least they're not as bad as those numerous you-know-whos."
The others nodded in agreement, knowing who Wilbur was referring to.
"You also told us that Blu and Jewel were targeted by a bunch of marmosets during their first dance at a certain bird's club, am I right?" asked Rusty.
"Yes," said Broccoli with a nod, "that was when that disgusting cockatoo persuaded them into finding and stealing that couple for him."
Petunia and Wilbur exchanged glances, remembering the story of Blu and Jewel's first dance getting interrupted by a marmoset attack. Blu and Jewel had also told D'Artagnan, Aurora, Athos, Porthos, Aramis, Phoebe, Levi and their mates and the others about the marmosets and how they were often bad news. Not all marmosets, however, were mischievous and troublemakers for some of them were good friends with some of the avian residents on the Blu Bird Sanctuary but it was better to keep away from any strange marmoset group for safety reasons. Then the two macaws, Broccoli, Avellana and Rusty returned to watching the kids as they continued to play.
Just outside the garden's fence, Eustace and Serena were going for a walk. They had left Vincent and Yolanda in the care of Milo, Clemont and Serena so that they could have some lone time. The couple was worried for Zebedee and Iris and had hoped they were alright, as well as Sheldon who they had heard had stormed off into the night last night. However, the two of them had not been surprised.
"You know, based on what Aunt Ruby, Aunt Brisa, and Mom (Sunset) and Dad (Travis) had described to Roberto about Sheldon's behaviour after they had returned," said Eustace to his pure sulfur-crested mate, "Sheldon must have been utterly furious."
"At least it's not about Spinel that time," said Serena, "and since he has returned, it is possible that he wants to reconcile with his mate after his falling out with her."
Eustace nodded in agreement. Suddenly, a mocking voice shouted, "Well, if it ain't the one-legged cockatoo."
The cockatoo couple snapped their gazes in the direction of the speaker and found a trio of pigeons, all with mocking glares on their faces, laugh at them. Their eyes were especially on the stump of what was Eustace's left leg. The cockatoo couple stopped and glared at the pigeons.
"Hey, fruity crest," said the second pigeon, its mocking voice aimed at Eustace, "Where's ya other foot? Did a dog come along and bite it off or sommat?"
And after this mocking comment, laughter erupted from the three pigeons, especially as Eustace's eyes flashed with hurt. However, it had ignited rage and disgust within Serena. Shooting her wings out and flaring her pure yellow crest, the sulfur-crested cockatoo lunged at the three pigeons, screeching loudly. The three pigeons, startled, tried lofting into flight but Serena shot around them and blocked their escape. Then the cockatoo glared at the three pigeons, her eyes blazing green fire.
"How dare you mock my mate's missing leg, you trio of insensitive rats with wings and feathers," growled the female sulphur-crested cockatoo in a dangerously low voice, before escalating her voice to a screech, "How DARE YOU!"
This sent a shockwave tearing through the pigeons and made them flinch. Then the three birds began to tremble. In the background, Eustace looked on at the pigeons with hurt lacing his eyes. Serena then went on.
"Now you will APOLOGISE to my mate and LEAVE," continued she, her crest fully flared, "Is that clear?"
No reply, so Serena reinforced her message with a massive bellow. "I said, IS THAT CLEAR!?"
The pigeons, terrified by the fury burning within the cockatoo's glare and crest, nodded timidly and turned to Eustace, hastily issued him an apology and then darted off into flight like startled insects. Satisfied that the pigeons had learned their lesson, Serena returned to Eustace's side.
"And if those three flying rats ever mock you again, I WILL seize them and give 'em a piece of my mind," growled the sulfur-crested cockatoo, "No-one, but NO-ONE mocks my mate like that, especially for the loss of your leg."
Eustace was lifted by Serena's protectiveness and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"You know, I have never met a cockatoo who is so defensive against the result of my ordeal," cooed the oldest son of Travis and Sunset, "You're just like Iris defending Zebedee against mockers of his scarred face."
"I couldn't agree more," said Serena, her forehead and beak against Eustace's, "Especially if it's as a result of a massive war when protecting some of your allies."
Eustace nodded in agreement. Just then the couple's ears picked up the sounds of wing flaps. The cockatoos looked up and to their surprise; they saw several familiar forms melt out of the street of houses. Two of them were black with brightly coloured beaks extending in front of them, another was blue-grey and ivory, a fourth was brown and beige and a fifth was orange and light blue.
"Tom, Diantha, Orion and Hermione?" said Eustace with surprise, "What are they doing here? And isn't that…" his eyes shifted to the orange and light blue form. This form was a falcon but it was smaller than the peregrine falcon and his merlin mate. Its head and wings had the aqua blue while its body was orange and white. Black dots were sprinkled all over its body and the tips of its wings were black. Serena recognised the small bird of prey. She had seen this bird while he was hanging out with Velocity, Merlin and some other members of the Control de Plagas Squad during an outing with Travis, Sunset and the rest of the cockatoo family at some point.
"That's Vulcan, one of the American kestrels of the Control de Plagas Squad," said Serena. Then her green eyes picked up a spot of colour in the talons of the kestrel and the other four birds as they came closer. After taking some time to deduce what these things were, shock came over her.
"Uh-oh," said the sulfur-crested cockatoo.
"What is it?" asked Eustace. Serena pointed a talon at the cargo of the five birds. Soon, the quintet was close enough for the cargo to be seen. As Tom, Diantha, Orion, Hermione and the kestrel named Vulcan flew past, their faces twisted into scowls which clearly indicated fury, Eustace examined the cargo. One of the cargo pieces, the one carried in Orion's talons, appeared to be some sort of cloak of feathers, but it wasn't any other feathers. Furthermore, it was large enough to cover two cockatoos stacked on one another, or a certain macaw species that was twice the size of Eustace and Serena when fully grown. In Vulcan's talons was some sort of small tiny bottle filled with a yellow substance. Eustace had seen this type of substance in these small bottles in the makeup box sometimes carried by one of Fernando's female friends and he remembered that this stuff was used by some human females to paint their faces. Tom, meanwhile, was carrying some sort of fruit shell while in Hermione's talons, a large leaf hung out from under the merlin, and Diantha had some of the feathers from the cloak in her talons. As the five birds passed by the two cockatoos, unaware of their presence, and continued in the direction of the cottage, Eustace continued to examine the pieces of cargo.
"That cloak looks like some sort of navy blue bird suit," he said, "And that leaf that Hermione's got looks like a band…" the sulfur-crested/Major Mitchell's hybrid broke off as deduction came upon him.
"Eustace," said Serena, "What are you trying to get to?"
Eustace turned his head and gazed at his sulfur-crested mate, his face laced with dread.
Back in the garden, Porthos and Zephyr were outside talking with Mumble, Balthazar and Ginny while Roberto, Brisa, Travis, Sunset, Sapphire, Ruby, Orquidea, Esmeralda, Cobalto and Lapis Lazuli were in the attic preparing to go out into the city once again to search for Zebedee and Iris. Andromeda, Marella and Melissa, meanwhile were watching over the seven kids and the bat-birds, Melissa calling Ferdinand away from the fence's edge.
"So you say you've come all the way up north to here from the Antarctic continent?" asked Zephyr to Mumble in astonishment.
"Yes, that's true," said Mumble.
"We've been travelling for weeks from our homeland to search for our missing son," said Ginny.
"His name is Atreyu," added Balthazar. Zephyr and Porthos exchanged confused glances.
"I'm afraid we don't know any chick named Atreyu," said the latter. The three emperor penguins' faces fell. Porthos continued. "But you three shouldn't be here in Brazil. I think you could do with some sort of transportation by our human friends back to the Antarctic Circle where you belong."
"But how are those aliens gonna take us back to Emperor-Land from here?" asked Mumble, "Could they have some flying things that allow them to go to distant places and carry things there?"
"Aliens?" repeated Zephyr in confusion.
"I believe he means humans," said Porthos, before turning back to Mumble and his two companions, "Our human friends do have those flying machines such as planes and helicopters…"
As he spoke, a voice came from behind him.
"Porthos, Zephyr," it said.
"Not now, Orion," said Zephyr who recognised the voice's owner, "We're trying to discuss with these three flightless seabirds how they are gonna get back to their homeland…"
"But Zephyr," protested another voice, Diantha's, "This is incredibly urgent. We have something that you MUST see."
"We believe that these materials may have been used by someone to set up Zebedee to land him in trouble with the marmoset attack on Nico and Pedro's club," came Hermione's voice. Porthos turned round and saw two toucans (friendly toucans), a peregrine falcon, a merlin and a kestrel standing a metre behind him and Zephyr, some materials in their wings. Zephyr also turned round and saw the quintet. Turning back to Mumble, Balthazar and Ginny, Zephyr said, "Excuse us," and left to speak with Orion and the other four, leaving the trio of emperor penguins to exchange confused glances and shrug.
As the male green-eyed Spix macaw and burly blue-and-gold macaw stood before Orion and company, Diantha came forward and placed the materials before the pair, a furious look on her face.
"This appears to be some sort of macaw suit made of these navy blue feathers," explained Rafael and Eva's daughter, "which is the same colour as most hyacinth macaws' plumage," she then brandished a flight feather that came from the suit and handed it to Zephyr for him and Porthos to examine before turning to the leaf, "and this appears to be some sort of leaf bandana."
"This," said Orion, his talon holding up a small bottle of yellow stuff, "is a bottle of yellow human facial makeup."
He then handed it to Porthos and he took it and looked at it. Then Vulcan came forward with two pieces of fruit shell of a familiar shape but larger.
"And these fruit shells bear a strong resemblance to a parrot's beak," said the kestrel as he passed it to Porthos as well. The two macaws then began to examine the materials. Behind the pair macaws, Sapphire, Esmeralda and Cobalto came in. When they saw Orion and the other four, surprise came upon their faces. Broccoli and James also came in, as did Serena and Eustace. Then after a few more minutes of examining the materials, Zephyr and Porthos glared at Orion, Diantha, Tom, Vulcan and Hermione.
"Hmm, it appears that these things resemble that leader of the marmoset gang's description of Zebedee last night," said Zephyr with a growl.
"Where did you find these?" asked Porthos. Vulcan came forward, a frown on his face. However, behind him, Diantha, Tom, Orion and Hermione and the fence, a pair of eyes peered through the gaps in the bars.
"While we were browsing a mango tree with some small birds, among them Tiny, during an outing with them to help them find some fruit for the evacuated residents," said Vulcan, "We found those things stashed in a nearby hollow."
"That cloak," said Diantha, a point to the cloak of navy blue feathers, "Is big enough to coat a hyacinth macaw or two birds the size of me and Tom."
When she saw the demanding looks on Zephyr and Porthos's faces, she went to answer the question, but nothing could prepare them for what came out of her multi-coloured beak. "We found these materials in the hollow of Mable, one of my many, many sisters, and her massive family. Thankfully those toucans were asleep when we took those materials to show you."
"Otherwise we would have been set upon by that couple's vast number of chicks and viciously attacked," added Tom. Immense astonishment tore through Zephyr and Porthos, and their beaks dropped open in disbelief. Nearby, Sapphire, Esmeralda and Cobalto's heads jolted up while Broccoli, James, Eustace, Serena and Ebony all flinched. Behind the fence, the watcher also flinched and released a startled squeak. Then Zephyr's face creased in to a scowl.
"You've got to be kidding, you five," growled the Spix macaw.
"Are you meaning to say that Mable and her mate might have been the ones to have dressed up to pose as Zebedee and send those marmosets to destroy Nico and Pedro's club in order to set up that hyacinth macaw so that he could end up in trouble?" added Porthos, outrage tearing through him. The heads of all five in Orion's group nodded.
"It would seem so," said Diantha with a frown. Then Porthos shot Zephyr a very severe look.
"We'd better tell the others, and most importantly Nico, Pedro, Sparkle, Rose, Rafael and Eva of these FINDINGS ASAP!" he blurted out.
"Got it, Porthos," said Zephyr. He then turned to Sapphire, Esmeralda and Cobalto who had been standing nearby sand listening and said, "You three set up a search party to find Zebedee and Iris and when you find them, tell them that Zebedee DEFINITELY HAS been set up by someone dressing up as him and sending those marmosets to attack Nico and Pedro's club…" the three said macaws nodded and lofted into flight to report to Ruby and the others of the findings and also relay Zephyr's instructions. Then Zephyr turned to Orion, Hermione, Diantha, Tom and Vulcan, "You go find Rafael and Eva and report the same thing."
Orion's group nodded and took off to find Rafael and Eva while Zephyr turned to Porthos and also Broccoli, Serena, Eustace, Justin, Matilda and Virgil and the others who had been listening to the startling revelation and said, "And you lot stay here with the seven kids and the penguins while we sort out this mess," a look of pure outrage then crossed Zephyr's face, "While we help Cobalto and the others find Zebedee and Iris to tell him that he has definitely been framed."
Broccoli, Serena, Eustace, Justin, Matilda and Virgil, together with Porthos, nodded and left to continue to watch the kids and the three penguins who wore confused looks on their faces, while Zephyr left for the attic to join Cobalto and the others. Behind the fence, the listener, who had been eavesdropping flashed a horrified, flabberghasted and panicked look on its face and lofted into flight in a black blur streaked with an orange streak like that of Tom's.