What would have happened if Linda, Tulio and Blu from Jewel had not taken any rescue action?
The man and woman had left the inside of the clinic when they heard what had happened in their absence. Police officers had already arrived on the scene and were searching the area for any clues that would lead to some sort of clue in the case. Turning back to the woman, a mixture of anger and sadness made her burst out crying hearing the whole story.
"Oh, Blu, I'm so sorry! It's my fault!" screamed Linda swallowing bitter tears, still not believing what had happened.
"Linda, it's not your fault" a thin man, Tulio, spoke up from behind the woman. He was not happy about this either, as he knew that without Blu and Jewel there would be nothing after the extension of the spix Macaw species.
"You're right, it's not my fault... It's because of you!" chuckled the woman turning abruptly towards the man, then started walking towards him.
"All this talk of yours, that you need to extend the species, that you need to try, and you know what...?!" shouted the woman so loudly that she drew the attention of nearby officers, but she didn't care. As she shouted the words she took a deep breath to calm herself and moved away slowly from the man.
"I'm sorry... I shouldn't yell at you, it won't help"
"I don't know how it happened, Sylvio is the best bodyguard in town!"
"I don't know how it happened, a white bird put that rag to my mouth, oh yeah!" they were interrupted by the clinic's security guard, Sylvio, who was testifying. He put the same cloth to his mouth that made him lose consciousness, and then lost it again by falling to the ground. The policeman to whom Sylvio was testifying took the cloth to his mouth and also fell to the ground with a bang.
"ekh..." sighed Tulio placing a hand over his face signalling embarrassment.
"Can we rely on them?" asked Linda.
"We have to, there's nothing else we can do," replied Tulio.
"After all, there has to be a way to help them...if this is the way they work then we can say goodbye to them!"
"And what will you do? You don't know who took them, you don't know where they are. I'm not happy either, but this is the only way. Let's go to the hotel, we'll wait for their call."
"Are you coming with me?"
"If it bothers you I'll stay"
"No, you can go ..." replied Linda leaving the scene.
Meanwhile Blu and Jewel were being carried by the boy to the small flat where his employers were already waiting for him.
"Just relax, I'm sure Linda has already figured something out, we'll be home soon...I already miss the cage, the bell... Oh, I miss the bell so much! " mumbled Blu to calm himself down, but it was sadly ineffective.
"Shhh! Pretend to be dead!" said Jewel when she saw through the hole in the fabric (which she had made herself) that they were approaching the door.
"Why should I pretend, I'll be one soon anyway!"
"Better not discuss it!"
"Ekh... Okay..." sighed Blu then lay down on the bottom of the cage. The door opened.
"I said he's a lot like me. Clever... cunning" said the man sitting behind the desk. He was a skinny man, but as he recognised a clever thief.
"Here you go kid" said the man handing the boy $40
"Hey, that's half what you promised me"
"Shut up" replied the thief putting the material aside. He saw two, seemingly dead birds.
"I said they were supposed to be alive, did I misspell it!" he growled as he was met with this sight. He picked up the female and displayed her in front of the boy's nose.
"Tell me Fernando, is this what a live bird looks like! Well!" exclaimed the man, when suddenly the female raised her head violently and bit his finger. The pain made him let go of her immediately, whereupon she flew upwards.
"Catch her!" ordered the thief to his friends who were standing nearby. Their clumsiness caused them to collide with each other, which helped for Jewel. She was starting to look forward when she saw the ventilation shaft, when she suddenly felt a tightening around her neck. She didn't even realize when she fell with a bang onto the boards. She was pressed against the boards by a cockatoo.
"Nigel!" the man called out.
"It would be good to have her alive!"
The cockatoo with the female in its claws flew down throwing its prey into the cage.
"Into the storeroom with them" ordered the man as the boy began to back away.
"What will you do with them?"
"We're going to find them a proper home" replied the man, then with a bang he closed the door through the boy.
"What a nightmare kid... Well, but at least he did a good job. Put them in handcuffs and move them to the storeroom. I've got a thing to do." Marcel (for that was his name) said. He was about to leave, having already pressed the door handle, when he suddenly stopped.
"Oh, and I forgot, Nigel wants to eat" laughed Marcel, slamming the door behind him.
When Blu and Jewel were moved, they sat in the cage, in both corners trying not to pay attention to the screams that were coming from everywhere.
"So you like the cage like this?" asked Jewel breaking the silence in their cage.
"Yeah... I mean no! I prefer this one of mine"
"And how is your cage different from this one?
"It's mine"
"Hahahaha" laughed Jewel hearing this stupid answer.
"Really, I didn't think you were that stupid"
"I didn't think you were that mean"
"Well, we don't know each other, why are you judging me?"
"And why are you doing that?" asked Blu embarrassing Jewel.
"I was more concerned with that answer... Anyway, never mind, we're trapped in a cage and we're talking about the difference between this cage and yours!"
"In this situation we have nothing to do"
"Do you at least guess what they want to do with us?" asked Jewel to which Blu shrugged his wings.
"Ekh...well then maybe tell us something about yourself"
"You seriously want to ask that in this situation?"
"If you have a plan on how to escape from here then that's fine"
"So... I'm from Minnesota, I'm Linda's friend, I'm here by accident... And I can't fly."
"Can't fly?" repeated Jewel in surprise. Blu merely nodded with a motion of his head.
"Punishment has befallen me! I'm chained to a non-flyer!"
"There are some species that don't fly..."
"But you're not one!"
"Instead of shouting at me then tell me something about yourself " replied Blu having had enough of Jewel's raised voice.
"I come from the jungle, also I am here by chance, and I am trapped with a pet"
"You forgot to add that you are mean"
"And you're stupid"
"You're both stupid! Instead of worrying about your fate, you argue about your personalities!" interjected a parrot trapped next to Macaw's spix. Both Blu and Jewel stopped talking and just stared at the ceiling. They wanted to be quiet, but the noise around them made that impossible.
"I'd just like to add that you're the reason we're here," Blu said, breaking the silence.
"Because of me? If you hadn't come to me then..." suddenly for Jewel was interrupted by the sound of the door opening.
"We're taking these birds" said one of the men, then they started taking the bird cages with them. They usually took 3-4 cages per person, depending on what species it was. They packed all the birds into a van that was parked outside the flat. After 20 minutes of packing, the small warehouse was glowing empty.
"Spix Macaw where?"
"to the front."
Blu and Jewel were put into the cockpit of the van, and Marcel also entered.
Epilogue
It was late at night when Tulio sat at Linda's, the woman had already gone to bed, she was all exhausted from the nerves and stress she had faced that night. While Tulio was staring at the city skyline the phone rang. He answered it quickly so as not to wake Linda.
"and how, how is the search going?"
"Unfortunately... There are practically no clues, we'll keep looking, but please prepare for the worst.
"Please... Do something, anything, but you must find them!
" Please believe me we are trying, but we have no basis from where to start the search "
"Well... Thank you for the information" Tulio replied, then hung up. He looked at Linde, he felt terribly sorry for her. It will hurt her a lot that she lost her friend and he has some part in this. Unfortunately, he couldn't foresee that, so he prepared himself for the conversation that awaited him.
Meanwhile, Blu and Jewel had already been transported to the airport, where a plane was already waiting for them.
"That wasn't the plan..." sighed Blu as their cage was being put on the plane.
"And what was it"
"Certainly not like this" replied Blu. Once all the cages were secured, the tailgate was closed and the engines fired up.
"Guys we're going to be rich!" announced Marcel triumphantly high-fiving his colleagues.
"Where do you think they want to take us?"
"I honestly don't know, but I wouldn't count on anything pleasant" replied Blu. Moments later the plane took off.
Thanks for reading the chapter! See you later!