Hey readers. Hope u enjoy. Same disclaimer as the 1st chapter.
Chapter 2
(Danger)
Cody slept away in his old hammock with a white undershirt and boxers under a light sheet. One arm was above his head while the other rested on his chest. Suddenly his world was thrown sideways as he fell to the ground with a whump! "What? What? What?" he asked while looking around, now fully awake. He pushed his bangs out of his face.
His eyes found a pair of tan long legs connected to Rose in a light blue tank top with khaki short and hiking boots. She had managed to fashion her golden feather into a necklace with the feather hanging down attached to a leather cord. Apparently she had been trying to wake him up and nothing had worked. So she tipped the hammock.
"Come on Cody, look outside!" she told him. "And put some pants on." She ran out of the room and soon Cody heard the screen door slam.
He looked at the clock, it was only 4 am. He groaned and dragged his feet to the window, only to jump back in shock. Looking at him thru the window was Lightning, who tilted his head to the side in confusion when Cody fell back.
As Cody got back up he petted Lightning's head. "Is it time boy?" The great eagle head bobbed. Cody grinned and rummaged around his room for a pair of shorts and his boots. Before running out the front door and swinging onto Lightning's back.
Rose was already ready for take off on Arana. Goliath took off first followed quickly by his 2 children. As they soared thru the night sky, Rose could see the morning light just start to peek over the horizon. The wind blew into her face and whipped her hair back like a cape flapping in the wind. She looked over to Cody with a big grin on his face. Cody looked back at her with a smile she had only seen the day before when he had seen Marahute land in the crevice and when he was flying with Lightning. 'He's so handsome when he smiles like that' she thought, then shook her head, thankful that the darkness hid her blush. 'He'll never see me as anything but a friend.' She thought sadly. As they came over the canyon lip, Rose's face brightened. She could see Kiah flying around in circles around the nest in nervousness.
As Lightning and Arana dropped them off, Cody trotted off to Marahute who was staring at her eggs as they wriggled and rolled back and forth. Suddenly the air was filled with little cracking sounds. Rose moved to stand next to Cody and took his hand. Lightning, Arana and Kiah moved in to get a closer look as their new siblings peeped their heads out for the first time. Rose couldn't help but "awww" as they stumbled out of their eggs.
Cody smiled and rubbed Marahute's beak. "Congratulations girl." Marahute settled down next to them to feed them while Rose gave a yawn.
Cody looked at Rose and smiled. He looked back to Marahute. "I'm happy for ya girl, thank you for sharing this with us, but we have to go. We'll name them tomorrow." He walked to one of the walls in the cave and reached into a niche. He brought out a sling with a rope attached to each end.
Rose's eyelids were about to shut for good. Cody grabbed her hand and took her toward the edge of the cliff. He gave one rope to Arana and the other to Kiah.
Rose was starting to droop from exhaustion when Cody caught her and picked her up bridal style. He carried her to the makeshift hammock and laid her along the length. He nodded to the girls and they took off with the ropes in their claws, so Rose would sleep thru the flight while riding in the hammock. Cody leaped onto Lightning's back from the edge of the crevice. 'Wouldn't be too good if she fell off Aranas's back during the flight would it' he though to himself. He saluted Marahute and Goliath before flying off into the early morning.
As they landed at Cody's cabin, Cody slid of the soft feathers and thumped onto the hard ground. He turned to his partner and leaned his forehead on Lightning's beak. "Okay boy, I'll see you tomorrow, and I'll bring you something special for a treat" He told him. Lightning ran his beak thru Cody's hair in affection before taking off with Arana and Kiah, who had already placed Rose on the ground.
He watched them disappear into the clouds before going to find Rose still lying on the now flat hammock in a deep slumber. He picked her up again and carried her inside the house to her bed. He laid her down and tucked her in. He smiled as he moved her hair away from her face. Before he could stop himself he kissed her lightly on the lips. When he realized what he had done he shot his head back and waited to see if she was going to wake up. Thankfully she was a deep sleeper. He snuck out of the room before rubbing his eyes in frustration and going back outside to gather up the hammock and going back inside to sleep for another few hours.
Rose awoke and looked out the window to find that the sun was already high in the sky. She blinked and furrowed her brow in confusion. 'How did I get here?' she thought. She sat up in bed and thought back to a few hours ago. 'Arana had woken her up by tapping at her window. She looked outside to find Goliath and Lightning waiting for them. She got dressed and rushed to Cody to wake him up before going to greet Arana with a hug and showing her the necklace she made. Then after the eggs hatched she remembered being really tired, Cody had taken her hand…then...I can't remember.' As hard as she thought, she couldn't remember how she got home. Well now that I'm awake I might as well get something to eat. She was ravenous.She jumped out of bed and changed into a loose t-shirt and denim shorts. She trudged into the small kitchen and found the cereal and milk and chowed-down on Cheerios. Suddenly a low horn sounded. And Rose tilted her head to hear it better. It sounded off again. She finished her Cheerios quickly and rushed outside. She couldn't see what was making the noise. 'Cody might know.' she thought.
She ran to Cody's room and shook him awake. He opened his eyes and they widened when he focused on Rose. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" he yelled, as he tumbled out of the hammock, thinking of the kiss a few hours ago.
She looked at him with confusion. "What?" she asked. "Didn't mean to do what?"
Cody flicked his eyes back and forth. "Uhhh, I had a bad dream." He explained with an obvious fake smile.
Rose gave him an I-don't-believe-you look before shaking her head. The noise was still sounding."Can't you hear that?" she asked.
Cody listened and his eyes grew wide again. "Come on, we've got to go." He told her while pulling a red shirt over his head.
"What?" she asked again. "What's that sound? What's going on?" she asked while he shoved his feet in boots.
He grabbed her hand as he rushed out the door. She stopped him and ran to her room to grab her backpack and change into a white cami. She rushed back out and followed Cody out the door into the forest. As Rose ran after him she watched Cody look along the ground and shout names to rocks and trees. And before Rose's eyes, kookaburras, wombats and kangaroos were flying and running next to them. Finally they came to a clearing where a kangaroo was about to blow into a fallen trunk.
"What happened this time Faloo?" Cody asked the kangaroo.
If Rose hadn't seen him communicating with Marahute and the other forest creatures, she might have feinted when she heard Faloo begin to speak to Cody. As it was she managed to stand and listen to Faloo.
Faloo's face was grave "I'm sorry Cody, but early this morning Marahute and her newborns were captured. We think it's a relative of Mcleash's. I'm sorry I can't carry you but we think he took them to Mcleash's old lair. I've sent a message to the Rescue Aid Society. They're coming as soon as they can. Meanwhile Goliath is devastated and won't move from the nest." She paused "I know you're close to her, I think you're her only hope."
Cody fell to his knees in shock, Rose out her hand on his shoulder. Without any emotion, Cody reached thru the neck of his shirt to draw out an old dark gold feather. Which like Rose's was fashioned into a necklace. He looked at it for a little while then he put it back under his shirt. Cody blinked and stood back up. "Thanks for telling me Faloo. Alert me when Bianca and Bernard get here."
He turned to Rose "The Rescue Aid Society." He explained to her confusion. He nodded to Faloo and the other animals before he started toward a large rock out cropping. He gave 2 short but audible whistles. He turned to Rose again. "We could go back to the cabin for the jeep, but this is faster."
Rose shrugged. "I don't mind." She smiled as 2 golden shapes wheeled toward them. Rose had only been here 2 days, yet she felt as if she belonged here. She waved at Arana as she came thru the top of the trees. With a gust of wind both eagles landed.
Instead of looking proud and majestic, they looked tired and sad. Rose felt like crying as she looked at Arana, she knew Cody felt the same way with Lightning. They could both feel the sadness and loss from the kidnapping. But then Cody rubbed his watery eyes and smiled. "You ready to find your mom?" he asked his friend and partner. Lightning raised his head and gave an ear piercing scream to the sky. Arana did the same. Rose and Cody both climbed on at the same time. Rose patted Arana's back in signal. They began to rise from the ground in unison. When they reached the clouds, Cody looked around and pointed out the right way, a determined look on his face. As they sped thru the white hills, Rose wondered what was in store for them at the end of the flight. She decided to enjoy the ride and leave that thinking for when they got there.
