CHAPTER ELEVEN: NOT SUPPOSED TO BE TOGETHER

Margalo and Stuart continued to covertly meet together for the next several weeks. So far, they hadn't been bothered by either the Littles or the Adlers. As far as they knew, the only one that knew about the two of them was Snowbell, and they intended to keep it that way.

"Who knew that throwing a ball down a sidewalk like thing at a set of pins could be so fun," Margalo remarked as they returned from a bowling alley. Neither of them were really good, and Stuart had one ended up on top of the bowling ball and gone right down the lane and into the pins. Margalo had flown over to see if he was all right. Thankfully, he had been. Was he supposed to be bowling at all? Not really, but what Eleanor didn't know wouldn't hurt him. Well, maybe it did, here, with the bowling ball incident, but still.

"Yes, it's fun, even though we're so small. And you're better at it than I am, even though it's just your first time."

"How many times have you done it!"

"Let's see, counting this time here, three. First time I went, it was fine, though I didn't do well, but Mom was happy. Second time, I scored 25 points, but the ball ran over me once, I was taken to Dr. Beecher, and he recommended that I not bowl anymore. So, from then on, I just played around with the pool balls at the pool table whenever the family went bowling. Or I did until one time I got knocked into the pocket by an eight ball. Then Mom wouldn't let me do that anymore."

"We can do it now."

"You'd just beat me. You scored 48 in that bowling game "

"Well, my flight ability gives me the ability to twirl in the air, which gives me momentum with the ball. The pool stick, on the other talon, is better suited for someone with hands. You'll likely beat me."

The two played pool, and, like Margalo had predicted, he won, albeit narrowly. Margalo could still hit and aim pretty well, despite only having talons. Margalo, pleased that she had come so close, wanted a rematch. "Unfortunately, I didn't bring that much money. Only enough for two games of bowling and one game of pool. I suppose that I could have asked my mother for some extra money, but, well, we're not really supposed to be together. She would freak out if she knew I was friends with an eagle."

"You're right. For now, it's best if as few knew as possible. But I really hate hiding it."

"Me too. Now I know how Anakin and Padme and Romeo and Juliet felt."

"Who are they?"

Stuart spent some time explaining Star Wars and Romeo and Juliet to her. When he was done, she remarked "Fascinating, but such tragic tales. I hope we don't end up as tragic victims. And also, I couldn't help but think, with both your comparisons, you used to lovers."

"Yeah, I guess that wasn't the best comparison. I mean, a mouse and eagle in love with each other..." He trailed off, not wanting to express his secret that yes, he had started to wonder if they could be more than friends. He knew that Snowbell considered it a crazy idea, and even he himself was having many doubts.

"Well, I suppose for now, it's stretching it too far. We're good friends, but..." Margalo trailed off as well. She had been thinking, as they had fun that day, that maybe, just maybe, he might make a good boyfriend, at least from a theoretical point of view. Of course, getting their parents to go along and not creating such a scandal that every eagle flock from New York City to Nome Alaska knew about it and scorned her was asking a lot, even for her normal rebellious standards.

The two friends soon arrived at Stuart's house, where Stuart had timed things to make sure that the Littles weren't there when he returned with Margalo, so that they could play a video game together. "You may be able to do this better than playing pool. Talons are about as useful as fingers here."

"What is it we're doing?"

"It's called Super Mario Brothers 3."

"What is that?"

"It's a video game."

"What is that?"

"It's something fun, though Mom says I do it too much."

"Why would your mother be upset with you playing a game? My parents don't mind me playing games. I play rock toss, flight racing, and tree climb all the time."

"It's not one of those games. It's a one of a video console. And Mom says that too much of it will make me stupid."

"I have never heard of a game making someone stupid. Maybe your mother just never played it before and doesn't understand."

"You're right, she hasn't!" Stuart remarked, smiling at Margalo.

Five minutes later, as they were playing the game, Margalo remarked "This game is weird. Why did they have a plumber going around collecting mushrooms and fighting a turtle?"

"You don't like it?" Stuart asked, feeling disappointed. "It's fun. It's just a little odd."

"I suppose that it is."

"Hey Stuart, who's that?"

The mouse and eagle both froze. Stuart turned to see George staring at him. "Hey George, you're home early," he laughed nervously.

"We were playing baseball until Will sprained his ankle. He'll be ok, but we decided to end our game ". His eyes fell upon Margalo. "Is that an eagle?"

"I'm a bald eagle."

"Mom won't be happy that an eagle's in the house."

"She doesn't need to know."

"Why did you bring an eagle in here?"

Stuart and Margalo spent the next several minutes explaining. When they were done, George said "Well, she seems safe to me. But Mom might be paranoid."

"Mom and Dad don't need to know. And you can serve as a lookout for us when she comes over from now on. Make sure that we don't get caught."

"I suppose. I wonder what Margalo's parents think of this."

"They don't, as the don't know about it. And there's no reason to tell them," Margalo said.

"You two are going to get caught eventually."

"Well, so far, you're the only one that knows, well, beside Snowbell, and he's not going to tell anyone," Stuart said.

"So, are you and Margalo going to just meet in secret until you turn 18?"

"No, we'll get around to telling our parents, eventually."

The door knob began to turn. "Mom and Dad are home early! Margalo needs to hide! I'll pretend that I'm playing video games with you!" George cried.

Margalo hid in the closest place she could find, a closet, as the door opened. "Stuart, we're home!" Eleanor called.

"Mom, you're back early," Stuart said, trying to act as though he wasn't alarmed at almost being discovered with Margalo. "George got home early, and we were playing video games."

Frederick put into the closet. Margalo hid behind some large costs and, thankfully, wasn't noticed by him. She sighed with relief when he closed the closet.

Margalo found a mothball in one of the coats. It had attracted her attention and she had thought it was a candy like the ones Stuart had given her. She quickly realized that it wasn't a candy and spat it out in disgust. She wondered why the Littles had that stuff in their closet.

"Do you two have your homework done?" Mrs. Little asked Stuart and George.

"Oops!" The two boys cried.

"You two know not to play games until you're done with all of your homework!" Eleanor scolded.

What is homework? Margalo wondered.

Stuart and George went into their room, pretending to be going to do their homework. However, once they had closed the door, George whispered to Stuart "What are we going to do about Margalo? Mom will freak out if she sees her. She might think that she'll try and eat you."

"We need to find some excuse to carry something out of the closet. We can put Margalo inside of it and carry her in here."

"How about saying we need to get something out of there for a school project?"

"What would be big enough to merit a bag that could fit Margalo inside of it?"

"What if we said we needed a fan?"

"There are other fans in the house. How do we find an excuse to use the closet one?"

"It's a high-powered one. We can say that we need strong gusts to test the resilience of a structure that we are building."

"What should we say that we're building?"

"A model of the Pishkin Building."

Thankfully, Eleanor and Fredrick bought the story and they were about to move Margalo from the closet to their room. They stealthily let Margalo out the window. "Hope to see you again soon," Margalo said to Stuart before flying off.

A few moments later, Frederick asked, from the other side of the door, "How's the work going on your Pishkin Building model and it withstanding a small tornado?" he asked

"Unfortunately, it wasn't as strong as we thought. It got blown down," Stuart replied, sounding disappointed.

"Well, you two need to try harder. You are not to play video games until I see that your building can stay up."

Stuart and George sighed. While their lie had been bought, they would now need to spend hours making a model of the Pishkin Building for a fake school project. No video games for them today!

Margalo, meanwhile, sought out her friend Clarisse. She was gone longer than she had told her parents she'd be gone. She'd need some excuse as to where she was. She would claim to be with Clarisse, someone she knew would be willing to lie to her parents, thus giving her an alibi.

"Hello Clarisse. I need a favor. I've been out longer than I told Mom and Dad I would be. I'm going to claim that I've been with you. You can be my alibi," she said as she landed beside her.

"You out with your mouse friend?" Clarisse asked, her voice full of disdain.

"Mouse friend?" Margalo asked, trying to conceal her alarm.

"I saw you talking to him. That mouse you pretended to eat."

"I don't know what you're talking-"

"Don't play dumb!"

"Ok, fine!" Margalo sighed in defeat. "He saved my life. I would have been killed by fishing line if it weren't for him."

"A mouse saved your life? Doesn't he know how many mice you've sent to the next world?"

"He does, but still likes me anyway."

"You two make an odd couple!"

"Oh, we're not a couple. Don't be ridiculous! We're just friends."

"A mouse and an eagle aren't supposed to be together."

"Please don't tell anyone!"

"I won't. But I must say, you two are playing with fire! If Landen found out-"

"You can help be my lookout. Stuart has his brother George, a human-"

"He has a human for a brother?"

"It's a long story. But anyway, will you cover for me?"

"I will," Clarisse sighed. "But be sure that Rambert Falcon doesn't find out. If he gets it into his head that you've chosen a mouse over him, he'll turn your mouse friend into a pellet and falcon peeoop."

'He won't find out, if we do this right. Nobody will know that we're together."

"For your sake, as well as the mouse's, I hope you're right."