In the early morning light, Mattias was floating in the middle of the pond paddling quietly, his wings tucked tightly next to his body. He was a little chilly as a breeze slightly ruffled his feathers and he bent his neck to rest his head on his chest. Other groups of geese swam around him on their way to various spots on the water leaving him alone. He was looking at the horizon watching the Bright Light as it rose into the sky when he noticed a huge bird zoom overhead, its shadow quickly passed over him. He followed it as it halted and grasped a branch near the cave where the leadership of The Flock were housed. He was sure it was Protector, the huge eagle with the white feathered head that he had met when he was part of the seven. A Sentry approached the eagle and then went inside the cave. Two geese emerged from the cave; the Sentry returned to his post, but the second large white goose swam to the eagle. Mattias rose his head to its fullest height to watch the encounter. He wished he could hear the conversation, but it had become apparent to him that something was happening.
“What is it, honey?” a quiet voice interrupted his witness of the event before him.
“Good morning, High,” Mattias responded quietly without stopping his observation of the birds close to the cave. “Do you see what’s going on?”
High, a small brown goose with her white under-tail turned her attention in the direction of her mate’s gaze. “That’s Protector and Ack.”
“I believe so,” Mattias agree with her. “I wonder what is going on?”
***
Drifter was on the water at the farthest end of the pond from the cave. A group of geese were surrounding him, and he was in his element, preaching to them about the joy of Flight.
“We could go higher, you know, if we can learn to ride and glide on the warm air the Bright Light sends us,” Drifter was saying. “we could fly as high as eagles.”
“Like that one,” a small blue-gray goose with a bright pink bill said.
The entire group followed the bird’s gaze to the tree beside the cave.
“Who do you think that is, Drifter?”
“Oh, I know who that is,” he responded to the question. “It is Protector. I wonder what is going on?”
“Me, too,” another voice rose from behind him caused him to turn and look. Liza had silently paddled through the group from the rear and stopped beside Drifter. They watched the scene unfold as the Sentry entered the cave.
***
It was a little later in the day and the Bright Light was almost directly over the cave. Directly in the middle of the water, a group of four geese huddled together. They were turned inward in order to see and talk to each other.
“Any guesses as to what is going on?” the largest of the group was asking.
“Mattias, do you really want to know?” the small brown goose on his right asked him.
“High, you really don’t want to know?” the not-as-small snow-white goose across from her asked.
“No, I don’t,” High answered Drifter. “I am afraid.”
“Afraid of what?” the other female asked her.
“Liza, I just don’t know,” High explained. “I have a bad feeling.”
“Really?” Drifter laughed. “I have a good feeling about it. It isn’t everyday Protector goes inside the cave.”
“Still,” Liza wondered. “I wish I knew what was going on.”
“What do you think is going on?” Mattias asked her. “Danger?”
“Nah,” Drifter answered instead. “The Sentries would put up the alarm right away. I rarely think about danger.”
“I do,” High stated.
“You have a good reason to be more aware, Mama-to-be,” Drifter teased back.
“Knock it off,” Mattias scolded his friend on his right.
“Yessir, Dad-to-be,” Drifter laughed back.
“Still, I wish I knew,” Liza repeated.
The four geese repositioned themselves to line up to face the cave and together, they drifted. As they watched, a large white goose emerged from the cave and looked around the water. Its gaze paused on them for a moment then continued looking around itself. Satisfied, the bird moved to the left of the group that was watching the goose. It swam into the grass partially hidden from their view.
“What is Ack up to?” Drifter asked the geese around him.
At that point, Ack emerged from the grass with a smaller blackish-brown, white-collared goose and they were headed for the group of four.
“I have a bad feeling about this,” High muttered.
“Not me,” Drifter said.
“I guess we are going to find out what is going on,” Liza remarked.
The water beneath them began to rise and fall a little faster as the two geese swam closer to them.
“Hello, Gang,” Ack started the conversation. The goose beside him remained silent.
“Hello back,” Mattias spoke for the group. “What’s going on?”
“Oh, something interesting,” Ack continued, laughing.
“What could Protector bring to you guys that is interesting?” High asked skeptically.
“Well, guess what? You are being invited to find out. Follow me,” Ack said and turned toward the cave.
“All right!” Drifter excitedly exclaimed as he began to follow the large white goose. High and Mattias fell in line behind the first two geese. Liza hung back, paddled toward the white collared goose who turned with her to follow the others.
“Do you know what’s going on, Jake?” Liza quietly asked.
“No, not any more than what you just heard,” he responded. “I said no way, but he said I would want to know about it, so I followed him.”
The group remained silent. When they were closer to the entrance, Ack turned around and asked them to wait. He continued inside and the others floated just outside. Two Sentries stood on the ground on either side of the entrance and neither one looked directly at them as they constantly moved their heads from side to side watching for any movement beyond them.
Another large white goose emerged from the cave. It was Petra who nodded for them to follow him inside. Drifter started inside first, then High and Mattias followed by Liza and finally Jake. Petra led them toward the beach. On a tree root bending down above it, Protector was perched, with his wings tucked by his sides. Petra walked up on the beach and the others followed him. The Wist were already there, sitting in a semi-circle and Petra went to sit beside them. Ack was standing waiting for them to join him and when they did, he urged them to sit, too. Beneath the eagle, Ki and Daniel sat quietly waiting for everyone to settle down. The light inside the cave was dim. The waves on the water quietly washing onto the edge of the beach and that was the only sound that was heard. Daniel rose to his feet and took a few steps forward.
“We would like you to go on a Quest for us,” he told them. “It will be an interesting adventure if you choose to participate.”
“Oh, I am in,” Drifter said right away.
“Not me,” High said almost as quickly as Drifter. “I am getting heavy with eggs and I do not want to lose them.”
“Honey,” Mattias said to his mate. “We don’t even know what the Quest is for yet.”
“I found Deke,” Protector announced to everyone.
He got the reaction he wanted as they all grew quiet.
“Yes,” Ki stood and approached them. “Deke has been seen and we would like you to go and convince him to come back to us.”
“What do you mean convince?” Liza asked.
“Apparently, he thinks he would be a distraction to me,” Ki answered her.
“How come he thinks that?” Jake asked.
“I don’t know,” Protector answered. “But that is what he said.”
“Maybe, we should leave him alone,” Liza offered an opinion.
“We discussed that,” Daniel approached her. “Do you think that is best for him?”
“Actually, no,” Liza replied. “He has a lot of knowledge that could be helpful to all of us.”
“I would like to have him around,” Ki agreed.
Miriam moved a bit and the eyes of all of the geese turned their attention to her. Besides Daniel, she has been part of The Wist the longest, and when she spoke, they listened.
“I think he needs to be safe and we can keep him safe,” she quietly said causing the rest to nod their heads in agreement.
“So who’s in?” Ki asked them.
To be continued…
My First Stories 