Chapter 26: Pterano's Evidence
A few hours later, Mr. Threehorn called for yet another meeting, and agreeably but exasperatedly, Grandma and Grandpa Longneck, Tria, Mama Swimmer, and Mama Flyer arrived, standing in the same spot of the Great Valley where they had met for so many times before. Mr. Threehorn was pacing back and forth and obsessively brooding, evidently still furious about the Troy fiasco.
"If you're going to ask us to go out again, Mr. Threehorn, the answer is still no," Mama Flyer told Mr. Threehorn.
Mr. Threehorn growled, but he ignored her and abruptly glared at Grandpa and Grandma Longneck. "You longnecks don't know when to be quiet! Thanks to your loud calls, you caused a suitor of Cera's to walk off!"
"Topsy, Troy would've never worked," Tria told him calmly. "He would've found out that Cera was friends with members of other species anyway. And once he knew that, he would've left her in an instant. Then of course there were Troy's expectations… Cera's the last girl I can imagine who'd be happy following his orders and massaging his ego, don't you think? A relationship between them would've never worked."
Mr. Threehorn growled but did not answer. Then he turned to Grandma and Grandpa Longneck again. "So?" Mr. Threehorn demanded. "Got your grandson his girl yet?"
Grandma and Grandpa Longneck looked at each other nervously.
"Don't pressure them, Topsy. Give them some time to think it over," Tria told him gently.
"Well, let me know when the good news comes," Mr. Threehorn growled, and he stormed away. Tria nodded sadly at Grandma and Grandpa Longneck, and they understood that despite her best efforts, her husband was too difficult to reason with.
"He's sure taking this seriously," Mama Swimmer sighed.
Tria nodded. "I just wish there's some way I could help calm him down…"
"What do you two think of this?" Grandma Longneck asked Mama Swimmer and Mama Flyer softly.
"Well, I for one wouldn't want Petrie to be pressured into marriage," Mama Flyer replied.
Mama Swimmer nodded in agreement. "Personally, I don't understand why the species principle is so important to him. I mean, I know that's always the way we've done things, but…sometimes there can be exceptions. I mean, look at Spike. He's not a swimmer like the rest of our family, but he's still a part of it and I love him just as if he was my own child."
"That's true," Mama Flyer nodded. "I wouldn't mind someone who's not a flyer in our herd…I mean, look at how well Ducky and Spike have worked for you. It might take a little time to get adjusted to, but I'm sure everything would eventually work out."
But then, Mama Swimmer looked at Mama Flyer seriously. "Ms. Flyer…I've got to tell you something."
"Sure, Ms. Swimmer," Mama Flyer told her.
"It's about…Ducky," Mama Swimmer began slowly. "She's been acting very strange recently. I've been seeing her going through incredible mood swings. Sometimes I've seen her really giggly…but other times I've seen her very depressed. And these mood swings always seem to have something to do with Petrie. She's been really giggly whenever she sees him, and I've heard her talking about how she misses him to Spike. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself but…I feel that Ducky is in love with him."
Mama Flyer looked at Mama Swimmer curiously, before saying, "Do you know what? I've been suspecting the same thing on my end. Petrie always seems to be so worked up whenever I mention Ducky's name, and sometimes, he seems to be too scared to do anything but to shiver and hide in a corner. And that usually happens when Ducky is nearby or when she wants to see him. So…I think that if they actually talk to each other about how they feel…"
"They will find that they're in love with each other," Mama Swimmer told Mama Flyer, who nodded. "I've thought about this for a while. I mean, it hasn't really happened before in our family, but… neither has adopting a spiketail, and without hesitation I would say that was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I must say I was uncomfortable with this idea at first, but now that I've thought about it… it makes more sense than I thought. I'm sure that they'd take good care of each other, and I know that being with Petrie will make Ducky happy, and if it makes her happy, then I'll be happy too."
Mama Flyer looked at Mama Swimmer, and smiled. "I know just how you're feeling…it took me some time to get used to the idea too, but when I think about it, the two of them seem to have been very close to each other for a long time. My only concern is that…some of the other Great Valley residents might not appreciate their love and would give them a hard time." With that, Mama Swimmer and Mama Flyer turned and looked at Tria, who looked at them understandingly.
"Oh Topsy," Tria sighed. "Well, you see, it'll be hard for him to tolerate your children falling in love with each other because…we have a similar situation on our end."
Grandpa Longneck nodded. "We were going to betroth Littlefoot to Ali, but she refused to marry him, and instead, she explained to us, to our great surprise, that…Littlefoot is deeply in love with Cera."
"Cera's in love with Littlefoot too," Tria explained. "And unfortunately, Topsy is suspicious. That's why he's been talking about the search party and leaving the Great Valley and finding these suitors, to let him control Cera and separate her from Littlefoot. I don't think he'll tolerate your children's love until he accepts ours, and knowing Topsy, that could take a very long time."
"Humph! If ever!" a voice grunted, and out from the forest, Mr. Threehorn came charging out. The other parents gasped and looked at each other in horror, realizing that he must have listened in on their whole conversation. "So," he growled in a triumphant voice, leering at the other parents. "I should've known that all of you were conspiring against me all this time. Let me tell you this Tria, we're through. First you mess everything up with Troy by asking him all those tough questions. Then you join in with the other parents and talk about Cera behind my back. You're trying to sabotage my goals for Cera, so you can't be my wife."
Tria looked stunned and hurt, but determinedly replied, "It's about time Topsy, for you to learn that you cannot control Cera and that she has a heart of her own. And besides, you told me that you wanted Cera to marry someone who is brave and caring and faithful…doesn't that sound like Littlefoot to you?"
"No! That longneck does not have the heart of a threehorn!" Mr. Threehorn roared.
"Why not?" Tria asked stubbornly.
"Because…well, I mean…because, he's not a threehorn! You can't have the heart of a threehorn if you're not a threehorn! That's just…that's just impossible!" Mr. Threehorn roared.
"Why, Topsy?" Tria asked persistently.
Mr. Threehorn glared at Tria and growled, "Enough! I don't know what I've done to make you all mad at me, but I would like it if you would show me some respect and stop conspiring against me!"
Mama Swimmer, Mama Flyer, Grandma Longneck and Grandpa Longneck looked seriously at Mr. Threehorn.
"Nobody's conspiring against you, Mr. Threehorn," Grandpa Longneck told him calmly.
"We've only just figured out that… Littlefoot and Cera and Ducky and Petrie are in love with each other," Grandma Longneck explained.
"Impossible!" Mr. Threehorn roared, stomping the ground with such force that a small earthshake formed. "My Cera is not in love with a longneck! You are out of your minds, all of you!"
"You can try to deny it," Grandpa Longneck argued, "But we've thought about this carefully and we are now convinced that we are all parents or guardians of a child who is in love with somebody from a different herd."
Mr. Threehorn growled fiercely, but he was interrupted by a shadow flying above them.
"What's this?" Mr. Threehorn growled.
Looking up, the parents gasped as they saw a familiar flyer approaching them.
"Pterano…" Mama Flyer muttered softly.
"Good day," Pterano told them as he reached the ground, dropping a half of a pink leaf from his mouth onto the ground and clutching something that none of the adults could make out.
"You're not welcome here, beakbrain!" Mr. Threehorn shouted. "Get out of our valley now!"
"Tut-tut. Rude as ever, Threehorn," Pterano replied exasperatedly as he put the other half of the pink leaf down and Mr. Threehorn grimaced. "Let me remind you though that my time in exile is over. I assure you that I normally wouldn't want to be in a place where I'm not wanted…but I have a message…from the children."
The parents instantly gasped and began to whisper to each other hurriedly.
"Where are they?" Mr. Threehorn roared. "I need to take Cera away right now!"
"Why should I tell you?" Pterano answered coolly, causing Mr. Threehorn to growl in rage. "Anyway, they're probably far away from where I last saw them, so even if I told you, it would be pointless trying to find them. You shouldn't leave anyways, for the children have asked me to warn you that the Great Valley is in danger from an eggstealer attack."
The parents looked at each other and began to murmur instantly. "Hold on there," Mr. Threehorn interrupted. "How can we trust Pterano on this one? And why would eggstealers be attacking our valley? It makes no sense. Besides, where's the proof?"
"You have to trust my word about the eggstealers…take it or leave it," Pterano said calmly. None of the parents responded, though Mr. Threehorn snorted skeptically.
"They also asked me to show you a couple of things…" Pterano continued, and with that, Pterano indicated the half of the leaf nearer the parents, which was now crumpled and worn.
"And also," Pterano told the parents, who looked confusedly at the leaf. "They asked me to show you this." And then Pterano lifted up his feet, revealing the baby clubtail, who was curled up on the ground, cooing happily.
The parents gasped in shock, and then looked softly at the baby clubtail.
"Aww…what a cutie," Mama Swimmer smiled.
"Could it be?" Mama Flyer asked thoughtfully.
"The clubtails will be delighted about this!" Grandma Longneck exclaimed.
"They'll have even more to be delighted about," Pterano explained. "All seven eggs in both of their clutches have hatched and their other children are safe with your children."
"That means…the sharptooth didn't eat any of them!" Mama Swimmer gasped.
"Yes, that's right," Pterano told them. "That's what the children wanted to tell you."
The parents feverishly began to talk to each other, except Mr. Threehorn, who still looked at Pterano skeptically. "Wait a second. How can you be sure these aren't different hatchlings?" he asked Pterano skeptically.
"Topsy, no one would be able to tell for sure except the clubtails themselves," Tria told him. "The only way we'll be able to tell for certain is to have the clubtails take a look at the baby, for they and they alone can determine if it's their child. Until then, we've got to go with our hearts to determine whether this clubtail baby belongs to our clubtails or not."
"If you ask me, the baby sure looks like it could be the clubtails' child," Mama Swimmer told them.
Mr. Threehorn growled, "All clubtails look the same! And even if this child does belong to them, this doesn't explain that longneck's injury."
"Ah! That's where the leaf comes in. Now look at it closely," Pterano suggested. "That'll tell you everything. Now I'm out of time, I've got to find the search party, give the little clubtail back to its parents, and get everyone to come back before it's too late. Besides, you wouldn't believe my word anyway. The only way that you'd understand is if you figure it out for yourselves," Pterano told them, and without another word, he scooped up the clubtail and the other half of the leaf and flew off. The parents then gathered around their half of the leaf and looked at it confusedly.
"I wonder what the children are trying to tell us about," Mama Flyer sighed thoughtfully.
"Forget it, it's just Pterano's nonsense," Mr. Threehorn snapped irritably.
But then, Grandma Longneck bent down and smelled the leaf. "This leaf smells like a longneck," she told everyone. "It distinctly smells like my relatives… so it must have come from someone in their herd."
There was a large amount of murmuring among the crowd. "But why can that be?" Mama Swimmer asked, but nobody could come up with a possible explanation.
"I'll fly over and get Ali to come quickly," Mama Flyer suggested. "Since she comes from your cousin's herd, she might be able to identify the smell better than we can."
Mama Flyer flew off, leaving the others to examine the leaf. Then abruptly, they heard footsteps running over to them. Mama Swimmer and Tria looked down to find that Tricia had squirmed her way in between them, looking curiously at all the parents. "What have you grownups been up to all day?" Tricia asked curiously. Then she saw the leaf, and licked her lips. "Mmm! That leaf looks really good!"
"Tricia, don't!" Tria gasped, but it was too late. Tricia reached out to take a small bite out of the leaf, but as soon as her tongue touched the leaf, she grimaced and gasped, "Pleh!"
"What's wrong, Tricia?" Tria asked.
"It takes like salt!" she groaned. "But not only that…it tastes kinda like sweet bubbles!"
"Sweet bubbles?" the grownups looked at each other. "Are you sure, Tricia?" Tria asked.
"Yeah, I have that taste in my mouth," Tricia answered.
Just then, Mama Flyer returned, with Ali by her side. "So…this must be the leaf," Ali muttered slowly. The grownups made way for Ali to put her head down and sniff the leaf. "This leaf smells like…Mia!"
"This is strange," Grandpa Longneck sighed. "It's a pink leaf that tastes like sweet bubbles, is very salty, and smells like Mia. I've never heard of anything like that before," he said.
"It's because you're using your imagination too much," Mr. Threehorn growled, though everyone else ignored him.
"That's funny…sweet bubbles aren't usually that pale of a pink," Mama Flyer said slowly. "They're usually a darker pink, or red or a purple shade…"
"Yes," Mama Swimmer responded, "But…what if this leaf went in the water? That explains why it looks so damaged and faded, and why it would taste salty. And if so… the color would've been weakened in the big water… and so this leaf originally would've been a reddish shade!"
The parents pondered that thought for some time. "So…this leaf tastes like sweet bubbles, even though sweet bubbles don't come in leaf form," Mama Flyer began. "This means…the taste must have been applied to the leaf."
"Why would the sweet bubbles be applied to the leaf?" Mama Swimmer continued. "Because somebody wanted to dye the leaf a reddish shade."
"And why would someone want to dye the leaf a reddish shade?" Grandma Longneck continued. "Maybe…it's because someone wanted to make it look like they were bleeding…"
And then it all clicked. "That someone…must be Mia!" Ali gasped. Then she turned and asked, "Is this only half of the leaf?"
"Yes," Grandpa Longneck answered uncertainly.
"That fits!" Ali exclaimed. "Mia looked to have an injury twice the size of that leaf half on her neck! And I saw Cam and Mia leave, and Mia was able to walk just fine! If she was really bitten, it wouldn't make sense for her to be able to walk out on us like that, would it?"
Everyone else gasped, knowing that Ali was right.
"So…the children were right all along," Grandpa Longneck sighed. "Assuming that the babies are indeed the clubtails' children, it appears that the sharptooth didn't eat the clubtail eggs or attack Mia at all."
"Well well well, it's about time you sapsuckers figured it out," came a voice from above. The parents, Ali, and Tricia gasped in shock, as they saw a huge mob of eggstealers was surrounding them from the cliffs above.