The birds of The Quest were flying swiftly just above the trees. Daniel was leading the group, flying toward the rising of the Bright Light.
“Where are we going?” Mattias screamed at Daniel from his position from the far right of the formation.
“I told you,” Daniel turned his head toward Mattias as he started to flap harder and edging slightly in front of the rest.
He heard Drifter laugh and he smiled. I hope Deke is there, he thought to himself, otherwise Deke might be lost to them forever. He decided it might be easier for everyone to fly higher, so he stretched out his wings and spread out his tail feathers to slow down. He slowly raised his head, flapped his wings again and started to angle into a slow rise. All of the birds in the formation, except the sparrow, mimicked his movement and they slowly rose in the sky. The trees moved farther away and began to look like patches of green far below them. The eagle flew from the rear to the front of the formation, stalled and glided next to goose leading the group.
“So, what’s up?” Protector asked as he floated next to the white goose at the head of the formation. “You do know, this pace is going to zap all of the energy from our bodies, especially from Simeone.”
“I wasn’t thinking,” Daniel admitted. “I was thinking but not about us. I was thinking about Deke.”
Oh, I get it,” Protector agreed. “But you haven’t told us anything. I think we should know a little more like how far away this place might be.”
“You are right. Can you find a spot for us to talk down there?” Daniel looked at the eagle. “Thanks.”
Protector nodded and flap his huge wings once and moved in front of Daniel. He looked below and slightly ahead of them trying to spot a small body of water. He saw a possibility ahead of them and, knowing Drifter would love this, he lowered his left shoulder and dove down. As he expected, he heard a cry of joy, as they plummeted downward.
The geese circled Daniel and the other two birds looked down from their positions in nearby trees as Daniel began to speak, “I am sorry for taking off that way, but I am excited. I was thinking that Deke may have gone to the place hatched and where the Flock was before he brought it to where we call home now. It is a little farther toward where the Bright Light rises every morning than where we are now. I am thinking he is thinking that we wouldn’t think that he would go there.”
“Is that what you think?” Drifter said and laughed.
“That is a lot of thinking,” Ack laughed with Drifter.
“It is,” Daniela agreed. “Let’s eat a little and try again, shall we?”
Once again, the birds were in flight much higher in the sky as they allowed the wind to push them. Daniel was again in the lead with Protector flying on his left. He had told the eagle when he spied their current home to look for a large U-shaped body of water and to let him know. The Bright Light was high above them when the eagle slightly turned left, and he looked at Daniel.
“There is The Flock to your right,” Protector called out and the geese turned their heads to look in that direction. From way up here, all they could see is the long wedge of shimmering blue edge up to a ring of trees that they knew was the plateau that hid the cave.
“It shouldn’t be too much farther,” Daniel reassured them, and he nodded toward Protector.
Almost immediately, Protector start a slow descent and the others followed him. As Daniel had told them, they could see a clearing among a group of tall trees covered in needles that was a large crescent of water. The eagle led them in a large le around the area and as they looked at the scene below them, they began to realize how large an area it was. The body of water was shaped in a large U and it was completely surrounded with trees and from the air, it looked like there wasn’t any beach area to speak of.
“Why would a flock live her?” Ack asked.
“There is a great food source here. Lots of fish,” Daniel explained.
“Lots of fish,” Protector agreed with Daniel.
“But from a safety aspect,” Liza observed. “There seems to be little border land anywhere. Our enemies could hide right up to the side of the water.”
“There is tall grass around some of the border,” Mattias added. “But I don’t know if I would go there because they are right by the trees.”
“Nonetheless,” Daniel said. “This is where Deke was raised. Protector do you see him anywhere?”
“No,” the eagle responded. “If he is here, he would have seen us by now and is probably hiding.”
“Okay,” Daniel said, “We will settle over there and you continued to go around the edge of the water looking for him. When you come back, we’ll talk.”
The eagle separated from the sparrow and the geese and to start his scouting mission. The geese landed quietly on the water and swam toward the edge of the water into the shade of the surrounding trees. Simeone found a perch in a tree above them.
“Interesting place,” Jake said as they gathered together.
“It is true about food,” Drifter dipped his head beneath the surface of the water and rose up with a fish in his beak. He swallowed and laughed.
“It is about the only thing I like about the place,” Daniel remarked. “The Flock back then was pretty big, too. Not as big as it is now but big.”
“Where did they nest?” Liza asked. “It looks like the grasses aren’t very thick to hide a nest.”
“You are right. It was done, of course, but we lost a lot of hatchlings to enemies because the grass was right on the edges of the water,” Daniel explained. “There was quite a bit of complaining to the Leader, but he liked the food.”
The birds fell silent after the comment and floated on the water. A slight breeze filtered through the trees causing the branch Simeone grasped to bob up and down and tiny ripples pushed the geese away from the edge of the water. A huge shape swooped over them casting a quick shadow over them as the eagle landed on a larger branch above the sparrow.
“I found him,” Protector announced to the group of birds that surrounded him.
“Did you talk to him?” Liza asked him.
“No.”
“Did he see you?’’ Mattias asked swimming closer to the eagle above him.
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Take us to him,” Daniel told him.
“Okay,” Protector said as he spread his wings and flew into the air.
Following close behind him, five geese and a sparrow hurried to catch up.
To be continued…
My First Stories 