Saturday

Bleary eyed and groggy, Ty awoke alone in the darkened room, a harsh fluorescent light seeping in under the door. Uncertain of his whereabouts, he sat up, racked his brain, surveyed his surroundings for clues. He sighed, almost gratefully, when he remembered. A few days ago, he had taken to sleeping on Mirna's camping cot in the supply room just outside of Celina's office. He decided that it was just easier than going home in the middle of the night. Safer given his state of utter exhaustion and the distinct possibility of falling asleep behind the wheel.

Since the raptors had arrived, every person at the rescue was putting in ungodly hours. First and foremost was the round the clock care for the birds, desperately trying to keep them alive. On top of that, was a steady stream of inquiries, calls, emails, visitors pouring in from animal groups, concerned citizens, city officials, media and the like.

The initial press conference generated promises of donations and volunteers, some that actually came to fruition. Regardless, with those came more work, endless follow-up, intense scrutiny, higher visibility, and undue pressure to succeed. Mirna called it the "double edged sword", Celina, "a cloud with a silver lining", Dr. Francis, "a necessary evil." Ty simply called it "a pain in the ass".

As the fog lifted from his head, he stretched, arching his back, twisting his torso, popping his spine. "Ahh." He said in relief.

Rising, he quickly put on his jeans, slipped his socked feet into his scuffed boots, pulled his t-shirt over his head. He buttoned his fly.

His fingers felt the silver rodeo buckle, its coolness, its grooves, as he cinched his belt. He smiled thinking of him. Jack Bartlett had won the buckle at the Williams Lake Stampede during the rodeoing heyday of his youth. After Ty's sole attempt to ride a bull at the Hudson rodeo and to impress her had failed, Jack bestowed it to him. He remembered asking why. In Jack's way, he talked first about what the buckle meant to him, impressing his own father, catching the eye of the pretty woman who would become his wife. He said that Ty had earned it, that it took a certain amount of guts to ride a bull, that Ty gotten his granddaughter home safe and sound after the accident. His smile faded, a twinge of emptiness in his chest ensued as he thought of her. Amy. He pushed the thought away but the emptiness remained.

Sullen, he left the cramped room, headed straight for the coffee maker.

"Hey." Celina surveyed him, his three day old beard, his rumpled clothing, his unkempt hair, his brooding disposition. Without hesitation, she poured him a cup of fresh black coffee, handed it to him. "It's strong."

He nodded as he accepted the cup, took a large gulp, then another before he tilted his head back, upended the cup, draining it. "Thanks." He murmured.

"How did it go last night?" She asked somewhat apprehensively, afraid for the worst.

Before he answered, he poured himself another cup, took another swig. "Five are ready for release today."

"Good." She was relieved. "So, 5:30 at Fraser River Estuary?"

"Yeah. But let's keep media to a minimum. I don't want to scare them any more than they already are."

"Will do." Then she asked about the others.

"Most will be ready in few days." He said without much enthusiasm.

"Good." She scrutinized his face. "So why aren't you more pleased?"

"I guess I'm worried about the eagle pair. He's still in a real bad way." He explained. "But. She's ready to go."

Accepting his answer, she tried to encourage him. "He'll recover, I can just feel it. Then we can release them together."

He just nodded.

"By the way. I brought apples. Honeycrisp." She offered knowing that those were his favorites. "Nature's toothbrush." She added.

She pointed to the counter. Apples were heaped in the basket, lined with a white paper napkin.

The coiled basket itself was vintage, handmade of cedar root strips tightly woven into a traditional Coastal Salish First Nation tribe design. The coil was so strong, so tight, that the basket could actually hold water. A bear was incorporated into the design as well, stitched into the weave with cherry bark and various native grasses. In First Nation symbolism, the bear was considered the protector of the entire animal kingdom. The bear also represented strength, learned humility, motherhood, kinship and teaching. The basket was one of the first items that Mirna and Celina bought for the rescue, for its beauty, its function, but mostly for what it symbolized.

Without giving much notice to the basket, Ty grabbed an apple, its roundness, streaked with red and gold. He took a huge bite, crunching its sweetness, a bit of juice dribbled down his lip. His tongue licked away the fruit drops, before the corners of his mouth upturned almost imperceptibly. "Hmm. Thanks."

She smiled back. "Hey. Should I call Dr. Francis and let him know it's a go?"

"Yeah. See if he can meet us here at 4 or so. We'll need to do final checks and load them into crates. Call Bonnie Vogle too. Have her meet us there."

"Will do."

"Thanks Celina. You are the best." He turned to leave, glanced back. "Hey. Did you reach Michael?" He asked.

"Sure did. He got me in touch with the UCVM Development Office..." she paused, looked up, as she tried to remember the name..."a Megan Robinson, I think. Anyhow. She had some good leads, a couple of venues for Mirna to present."

"Good." He sighed. "Well. Got to get back to work."

He headed to the avian room, pleased when he saw Chip in the large bird pen with the five soon to released eagles. Wearing heavy gloves, he held a large majestic eagle nestled under his left armpit, his hand holding the raptor's bright yellow legs just above the talons. The eagle was devouring raw chunks of meat being offered by Chip with long metal tongs.

Putting on heavy gloves himself, Ty stood in front of the cage of the ailing male eagle. He glanced at the log on the clip board attached to door, then at the bird. The weak raptor was lying awkwardly in the corner, his head limp, his eyes unfocused. He opened the door, gently extracted the bird from the cage.

"Hey there fella." Ty spoke quietly.

Chip exited the pen, closing the door behind him.

"Hey Ty."

"Morning Chip. You're here early." Ty did not look up.

"Yeah. Got here at 5. Wanted to feed those five before things got too busy." He said as he updated the log on each bird.

"Thanks man. I can always count on you." He said absently as he stroked the eagle, focused on the excrement in the eagle's cage. "Mute looks a bit better. Urine is still cloudy, but clearer. What do you think?"

Chip walked up beside him, leaned in, sniffed. "Yeah. It still stinks."

"Yeah... do you mind? We need to test that."

"No problem." Ty stepped aside as Chip removed the cage liner placing it on the lab table, sprayed the cage with bleach, then replaced the liner.

"Thanks." Holding the bird firmly, Ty skillfully pried open its beak, inserted the syringe, pushed the plunger at a steady rate, releasing the blended food into its crop. "That's a good boy."

"Hey. Ty?" Chip looked at his mentor as Ty focused on his work.

"Hey. Chip?" He absently mimicked Chip's tone as he held the bird, checked its vitals.

"Well. Um. You know, I've been working a lot, especially with the eagles and all. Like coming early, staying late..." Chip laid the foundation of his argument.

"Yes, you have. We could not have done it without you." He smiled, hoping that was enough.

"Thanks. Um. Look. Dad says I should ask you again. Um. I really, really hoped that I could go. Help release them. To see them fly away...please."

Ty inhaled deeply. "Chip, we've been over this already. I need you to stay, take care of the remaining five. This guy especially still needs a ton of care." He tried to catch his eye, persuade him. "I thought you understood. We just don't have anyone else with your skill."

"Yeah." He sighed, then muttered under his breath. "Bet I would be going if I was cute, perky."

"What!?" Ty's head snapped back, uncertain if he had heard correctly. "Chip!"

"Just forget it." Chip sniped back. He turned, walked out grumbling something about taking the rest of the day off.

"Chip...?! Wait. Come on!" Ty tried to get his attention, but the high schooler ignored him, just kept walking. Ty watched him leave the room, unable to follow with the bird in his arms.

"Damn." Ty swore louder than intended.

She walked in. "Trouble in paradise?"

"Hey Mirna." He muttered as he put the eagle in its cage.

"What's going on with Chip? I saw him leave in a snit."

He removed his gloves, raked his fingers through his hair as he inhaled, exhaled wearily. "I don't know."

"Ty?"

"Well, okay. You know that some of the eagles will be released today."

"Yeah..."

"Yeah. Well. Chip wants to go to the release."

She nodded slowly several times, puckered her lips. "Sounds like a reasonable request. He has worked hard through all this."

"Yeah. But, someone needs to stay here." He explained.

"True. And that someone is Chip?"

Ty nodded.

"Makes sense. And, our volunteer? Is she staying with Chip?"

He shook his head No.

Then Mirna went right to the heart of the matter. "So, she is going with you to the release? But not Chip?"

He did not respond.

She put her readers on her head, rubbed her eyes with her thumb and forefinger. "Ty. What in the world were you thinking when you invited her? How do you think that looks to Chip?"

"I didn't invite her. She just asked if she could go..." he shrugged his shoulders. "What could I have said when she asked?"

"You could have said No."

Suddenly the hairs on the back of his neck stood up, his stomach turned over, his chest tightened, he felt like he had just been sucker punched by a ghost of his past. He swallowed hard, color drained from his face.

Mirna noticed his reaction, his shift. "Ty? You okay?"

"Um. Yeah." He said as he stood there, hanging his head. "Just tired I guess."

She frowned, added. "Okay. After the release, you go straight home. Alone. Get some sleep."

He nodded.

"But, before that, you need to fix this."

"Mirna, I can't go back on my word now. She's a volunteer." He explained, trying to take the high road.

"Are her feelings more important than Chip's?"

"No. I just thought Chip would be mature enough to understand..."

"Really? Did you now?" She chuckled cynically. "Oh Ty. Come on. Would you understand if I took a new volunteer with me on my next mission but not you?"

Ty sighed, shook his head, No.

"Thought so." She sighed, then added in an empathic tone. "So is there more at play here...between you and her."

"No. There's nothing at play. I swear." As he denied it, beads of sweat formed on his temples, upper lip, under his ragged mustache.

She could see his discomfort, opted not to press any further. "Look. I don't care if you are friends outside of work. That might actually be good for you. But. Bottom line. If she goes, Chip goes. He deserves that."

"Okay, fine. Chip will go. I will stay here myself."

"Absolutely not. You are going. You are going to lead the release. You are going to deal with the press." She patted his shoulder. "But. Most importantly, you are going to make this right. Understand?"

He nodded.

"Ty. We have a very small practice here, operating on a shoestring budget. Our greatest assets are employees, our work family. And that includes Chip. We must look out for each other, support each other, instill trust, operate as a whole. When that unravels, we can't carry water. Donations, volunteers are great, but they are useless if we don't have a strong family. Got it?" She gave him one last look, then turned on her heel and left the room.

"Fuck." He sat down wearily a stool, put his elbows on the lab table, his head in his hands. Her words stuck, like an annoying song that kept playing over and over in his ear. "You could have said No."

He took out his phone, called Chip's cell phone. After one ring, his call was disconnected. "Rrgghh." Ty grimaced in frustration, then sent him a text.

"Hey Chip. Need you to help with the eagle release. Be here no later than 4 today."

No more than five seconds later, he received a text from Chip.

"FUCK OFF." Chip texted complete with a middle finger emoji.

Ty slammed his phone on the table, then said something unintelligible. Realizing what he had just done, he sighed, looked at his phone's screen, expecting to find a new crack. Finding none, he exhaled, texted Chip.

"Come on Chip. Cut me a break."

"No way."

"I need you."

"Too bad."

"Chip. I am a bonehead. I am sorry."

Silence, no response.

"Please."

Several minutes later, Chip sent another text. "Okay bonehead. Beg for forgiveness in person ...on your knees. And, I'll consider it."

"Deal." Ty was desperate, willing to do anything to get back in good graces, mostly Mirna's but Chip's too. "Where can I meet you?"

"Out front. On the bench."

The last text made Ty laugh. Outside, he took a seat next to Chip on the black bench. "Look Chip. I am really sor..."

"On your knees." Chip demanded.

"Really?"

"Absolutely." Chip smiled, enjoying the game.

Ty got down on his knees, on the sidewalk, offered his apology. "Chip. Please forgive me. Please come with me to the release." He pleaded.

"Fine." Chip was quick to forgive his mentor.

"Thank you." Ty's climbed back onto the bench. "Chip, I am sorry. I wasn't thinking.."

Chip laughed. "Ty. You were thinking...you were thinking about Kerry and her amazing boobs."

"No. It isn't like that."

Chip just looked at him. "Ty. I have eyes too. I saw when Kerry walked in to volunteer." He smiled appreciatively. "And, I saw your jaw hit the ground and your eyes pop out. Come on man."

"Okay, okay. But, it's not what you think. I just didn't expect to see her ever again. Especially at the Rescue."

"Whatever. I get that she's pretty and all. But, I mean. Why did you pick her instead of me? She's useless."

"Come on Chip. She's not useless."

"Yeah. Right. All she does is hang all over you, follow you around like a puppy, flirt, bat her eyelashes." He sighed.

"Chip, you are exaggerating."

Chip rolled his eyes. "Whatever. So then. Explain why you picked her to go. And, not me." He demanded.

Ty shrugged. "She asked to go." He responded honestly.

"Seriously Ty? That's it? You could have said No."

The phrase went right to Ty's gut, another sucker punch. He looked away, his gaze set on nothing.

He sighed. "You are right. I should have said No."

Chip raised his eyebrows. "But you didn't."

"Nothing is going on between us. Why does everyone think that?"

"Ha. Right!"

"Okay. Here's the truth. Remember when that female eagle took a chunk out of my hand?"

"Who could forget? All that blood. That was cool."

"No, it wasn't cool. It was stupid. I should have been wearing gloves."

"Whatever. Go on."

"Yeah. Well. After that, I saw Dr. Cody who gave me some meds to prevent an infection. On the way home, I went to Roscoe's for a beer and dinner. That's where I met Kerry."

"Ah. This is going to be juicy."

"Actually, that's where things went south. I drank too much beer, which interacted with the antibiotics. I ended up passing out on the bathroom floor. Celina and James had to carry me out of there, like a sack of garbage, and take me home."

Chip started laughing. "Serious? Momma C had to rescue you from the john? Were you covered in barf, piss and crap?"

"Honestly, I do not remember." Ty admitted solemnly.

"Oh. That bad?" Chip wasn't laughing any more.

"Yeah." He sighed. "So when Kerry showed up here on Wednesday, I was surprised, and honestly, embarrassed over the whole episode at Roscoe's... So, really, there's nothing between us. I swear."

"I hear you. But, I'm not so sure that she believes that."

"You are imaging things."

"I don't think so."

Ty ignored him, stuck out his hand to Chip. "Are we good then?"

Chip shook it. "Yeah. We're good." He responded, as he stood. "Guess I better get back to work."

"Thanks Chip." Ty stood, patted his shoulder. "I have a couple of calls to make. I'll be in shortly."

Ty sat on the bench, delaying the calls that he didn't want to make. Instead, he watched with muted interest, a old man shuffling slowly down the sidewalk, a golden retriever with a white muzzle by his side. The dog stopped, squatted, and after some time, pooped on the sidewalk. The man bent down, scooped up the waste with a mutt mitt, tied the bag, then shuffled on, out of sight.

Scrolling through his contacts, he placed the call.

"What do you want?" Paul answered surly.

Brilliant but a loner, Dr. Paul Bourne was the rescue's night veterinarian. He joined Mirna and Celina in 1995. First in his vet class at Michigan State University and an exceptional clinician, he nevertheless failed miserably in private practice. Many practices actually. Socially awkward, he did not hide his hatred of humans including Ty. The sole exception was Celina.

"Paul. It's Ty. You have a choice."

"Leave me alone. I just got in bed."

"Emergency. Either you come in three hours earlier today. Double pay."

"No way."

"Or you hold the press conference for the eagle release. No extra pay. Your choice."

There was silence on the other end. Then Ty heard a click in his ear. Paul had hung up. He tried to calm himself by breathing deeply in and out as he waited.

After what seemed like an eternity, but was actually five or so minutes, Ty's cell phone rang. It was Paul.

"Double time for my whole shift, out of your pocket, I come at 4. I leave at 4." The line went dead. Ty smiled.

Next he called Kerry's cell phone which went directly to voicemail. "Hey Kerry. It's Ty. Call me."

He frowned, then went inside.

Celina was waiting for him inside the door, smiling.

"He called you, didn't he?" She nodded. He grinned, hugged her. "You are a miracle worker. Thank you."

She laughed. "Hey. What about Kerry?"

"Still working on it."

At a quarter past ten, Ty was alone in the avian room, hunched over the lab table, going over his checklist for the release. She came up behind him, put her hands on his shoulders, began to knead, rub. He stiffened. She whispered in his ear. "Hey there. You called?"

He pulled away, looked up, chastised her. "Kerry. You are late."

She grinned as she slid into the stool next to him. "Just a little. I didn't want to miss the hawk release."

"You mean eagles?"

"Yeah. That's what I meant." She laughed at herself.

"About that...um.." he stumbled over his words.

"Oh. I have great news. Dad's coming. He all excited and wants to meet you. The press are going to be there, right? He's going to donate to the rescue." Her words came out fast, excited.

His eyes opened wide. "Um. Well, that is great news..."

"So, he wants me to ride with him. I hope you don't mind."

"Well, that makes sense." He was relieved.

"Yeah. I didn't want dad going alone anyhow." She paused. "So. You called?" She asked, hopefully.

"Yeah that. You were late. I was just checking to see when you were coming in." He tried to sound stern. "We have a lot of work to do before the release."

"Oh. I was hoping maybe...you know, that you called about something else."

He shook his head, No.

"Um." She asked sweetly, batting her eyelashes. "Hey. Wanna celebrate after the release?

"I can't." He said honestly. "I gotta go home, get some sleep tonight. I have to be here at 4 to relieve Paul." Then he added. "Mirna's orders."

"Awww." She pouted, disappointed. "I guess I understand. You have been working hard. Maybe after you rest up?" She put her hand in his knee.

He looked at her hand, then stood up, stepped back. "Not sure when that would be. There's so much to do." He picked up his checklist.

"Well, I can help you. What's next on our agenda?" She stressed the word "our".

Chip walked in, saw her sitting, looking up at him, shook his head then turned to leave.

Ty saw him out of the corner of his eye. "Hey Chip." Ty called to him. "Could you come here?"

Both Kerry and Ty watched as Chip walked back into the room. "What do you need?"

"Kerry wants to help. Could you show her what needs to be done?" He smiled at Chip.

"Sure." He brightened.

"But.." Kerry stuttered, as she looked at Ty slightly bewildered.

He cut her off. "Thanks Kerry. You have been such a big help. Really. You will be in good hands with Chip."

"Come on Kerry. We got to put the crates together." He said happily as he led her away.

At precisely at four, Dr. Francis entered the rescue. Immediately Celina greeted him with a hug.

"Thank you for coming Dr. Francis." She gushed.

"Celina. I would not miss it for the world."

"Come on back. Mirna is in her office." She smiled taking his arm. "She's looking forward to seeing you."

After the two greeted each other, Celina left the two friends to chat, closing the door behind her.

"So, Mirna, you didn't tell me about Namibia." The older vet eased back into the chair next to hers.

"Oh Joe. I swear every trip is better than the last. Namibia was no different." Mirna exhaled with complete joy. "You would have loved it."

"Well don't hold back on me now." Dr. Francis was eager to hear every detail, to relive her experience through her words. "What's it like there? Namibia?"

She's shook her head, still in disbelief. "Joe. The desert is so unforgiving, relentless sun, stifling heat, dry, dusty air. It's unfathomable that anything can survive. So little vegetation, so little water. Yet here are these incredibly athletic, incredibly beautiful horses, running wild, for the most part healthy. It's just so unimaginable, but just so inspiring." Her eyes danced, her lips smiled as she began retelling her story.

"Nature is miraculous in every way." His face mimic hers, delighted by her story. "Go on."

"Go on?" She laughed. "Funny thing is...I'm not sure how much longer than we can."

"What do you mean?" He asked, leaning toward her a bit more.

"You know. It always comes back to it, the thing I could care less about." She said wistfully.

"Funding?"

"Yes, funding, money, hard, cold cash, of course. Something we have so very little of."

"Why don't you take in more domestics? Cats, dogs, the tame ones." He suggested.

"We do. But, if we focus on just that, I'd lose Ty, probably Paul. They'd be bored. Then what?"

"Have faith." He smiled. "You have Celina."

She nodded. "Yes, I do."

In a wide open field at Fraser River Estuary, Chip and Ty lined up, several feet apart, the five crates each containing an eagle, each facing east by 5:30.

As Mirna, Dr. Francis and Bonnie stood off to the side, greeting city officials, dignitaries, regular citizens, Chip positioned the rescue's podium, on the south side of the crates. Celina greeted the press from two news stations and a local newspaper, directing them as they set-up their equipment for the best view of the podium and the release.

Pacing back and forth, on the far side of the crates, Ty grew sweaty and nervous as he practiced his speech scrawled on note cards.

"What are you doing?" Chip interrupted him. "You look like a chicken running around with its head cut off over here." He chuckled.

"Practicing my speech. What do you think?" Ty shot back, clearly stressed.

"Don't bite my head off." Chip complained.

"Sorry. I'm just nervous that I'll forget something or say something stupid."

"Why? You know what happened. Just tell the story." Chip shrugged his shoulder.

"Easy for you to say. You don't have to stand in front of all those people and talk." Ty grimaced as he said it.

"That's why you get paid the big bucks." Chip said sarcastically.

"Yeah right." He groaned, then held up his cards. "That's why I wrote these. But, now I can barely read my own scratch." Ty wiped the moisture from his forehead.

"We have five eagles. Pick one. Tell their story."

Ty looked at Chip, shook his head, put the note cards in his back pocket. "Thanks man. You know you are smarter than you look."

"Ha Ha. Funny guy." Just then Chip caught sight of him walking into the crowd. "Hey. Look. There's my dad. Gotta go." He said as he jogged off.

At at 6:00 sharp, Ty stood in front of the gathering of people and media, many more than he expected. He cleared his throat, then called for their attention as he stood next to the podium, the microphone pointed toward him.

With cameras rolling, Ty held the recovered eagle in his left arm, his hand holding its bright yellow legs, one ringed with a silver band. With his other hand, he slowly stroked the bird's breast feathers, calming the bird, but mostly, calming himself.

He started shakily, his voice a bit tense, his demeanor unsure as he welcomed them and introduced himself. His voice became stronger, his nerves steadied as he introduced his mentor, Mirna, her credentials, praised her for her vision, her work. He saw her nod, smile appreciatively as the clapping followed.

By the time he introduced Dr. Francis, his experience, his involvement, he had hit his stride, his delivery was smooth, he began to relax, smile earnestly. After Bonnie's introduction, her role, he introduced the eagle. "You may not recognized Freedom, here in my arms, he was the poisoned eagle that I held at our first press conference. As you may recall, he was intensely ill, listless, weak. He was near death, when Bonnie Vogle and the Vancouver Bird Rescue rescued him from the landfill. It was there that he and nine other majestic birds, nine eagles and one red tail hawk, were poisoned from eating the carcass of a euthanized hog illegally dumped at the landfill. Over the last week, the Vancouver Animal Rescue has worked tirelessly around the clock to restore these ten raptors to health. Today, we gather to release these five regal birds, including Freedom, back into the wild, back to where they belong, back to soar again gracefully in the skies above us."

The audience clapped.

"Before we release these creatures, I'd like to thank others for their intense dedication to this noble mission. First, Dr. Paul Bourne, the Vancouver Animal Rescue vet who has spent every night with these birds. He cannot be here today as he devoting himself to the care of the other five recovering birds as I speak."

When the clasping stopped, he continued.

"Next, I'd like to thank Ms. Celina Gomez." He pointed to her. "You have all worked with Celina over the years. She is the incredible miracle worker that keeps the Vancouver Animal Rescue afloat, it's mission alive, even when donations and volunteers are few and far between. She is the heart and soul of the rescue, an ever gracious lady, a lifeline for all that know her. Thank you!" He grinned at her as she blushed but waved.

Applause rose, then tapered off.

Then he pointed to Kerry standing with her father. "Just like Ms. Kerry Nichols, over there, who has volunteered many hours with the Rescue, please see Celina if you'd like to donate or volunteer!" Then he added. "Thank you Kerry." Kerry grinned as her father hugged her.

When the clapping died down, he continued. "I want to remind you that we have five more birds that are in desperate need of care, just like Freedom. All donations and volunteers are welcomed."

The eagle grew a bit restless in Ty's arms, rose up, tried to flap his wings. As Ty tried to calm him, Kerry's dad stepped up next to the podium, grabbed the microphone and turned to face the crowd. "Hi. I'm Blake Nichols, owner of Nichols Fine Furniture. Like my beautiful daughter Kerry over there, I'd like to donate to the Vancouver Animal Rescue...I'd like to donate ten thousand dollars! And, I challenge other businesses to do the same!"

Cheers rose up. He grinned as he held up a check as the press zoomed in on him. He handed the microphone to Ty, then walked over to Celina and handed her the check, clearly soaking in the applause.

Ty regained his stride, grinning ear to ear. "Well, that was fantastic! Thank you to Mr. Nichols and Nichols Fine Furniture for their very generous gift. Let's give him another round of applause!"

Once things settled down, Ty continued. "Before we release the eagles, I need my assistant, Mr. Chip Boyer, to join me."

Chip jogged up and stood next to Ty, stone faced.

"Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to Mr. Chip Boyer. Chip has worked so very hard through this ordeal. He has come in to work early, left late, and has done every job, no matter how menial, no matter how difficult, no matter how disgusting. And he does these things willingly, with a can do attitude and without complaint." Ty paused for effect. "Well mostly without complaint."

Chip laughed.

Then Ty got serious. "One day soon, Chip will be an amazing vet. Words cannot adequately express the true depth of my gratitude."

Chip was clearly moved. Not sure what to do, he bowed to the crowd evoking another round of applause and laughs. His dad beamed with pride, close to tears.

"So, Chip, let's release these birds!" One by one, Chip opened the door to each crate. One by one, each eagle stepped out crate, looked around cautiously, took a few steps with flapping wings, took to flight, into the sky.

With only Freedom remaining, Ty invited Mirna, Celina, Dr. Francis, Bonnie and Kerry to join Chip and himself. They all huddle around Ty, cameras flashing, as he released Freedom from his arm, then watched him fly away until he could no longer be seen.

Happy Saturday! Hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Tell me your thoughts. As always!

SBR

PS. Thanks to LifeIn3D for all the insight and advice. :) And to all of you who post reviews and send PMs.