Chapter 16 – Daniel and Deke
The two geese enter the maze of tall grass with Daniel leading the way.
“How far does this go?” he asked Deke who laughed behind him.
They finally emerged into the open pool of water and floated, circling each other quietly.
“So how have you been, my friend?” Daniel asked.
“Pretty good,” Deke answered. “You, on the other wing, look tired.”
“I am. I never expected that you not being in charge of The Flock would be so hard.”
“We knew it might be, remember,” Deke swam toward his friend.
“I remember. I just thought it would be me be having a problem getting along, not you.”
Deke shook his head and swam around the larger white goose. He came to a stop in front of him. “We can never plan for what happens in life. We just have to live it the best we can.”
“See,” Daniel chuckled. “That’s what I miss, your little quips.”
Deke chuckled and then stopped. He looked directly into Daniel’s eyes and asked him, “Why did you come on this Quest, Daniel?”
“It was simple. I just simply missed my best friend and I wanted to see him again.”
Behind them, a commotion sounded. Geese were shouting and the cry of an eagle sounded loud and clear. Deke and Daniel jetted through the grass as quickly as they could swim and when they emerged, they spied a streak of red crashing in the water. Five geese were taking turns attacking it with quick darts with their beaks, jabbing and stabbing at it. The eagle was rising high above them and suddenly started to dive toward the center of the colliding water. As it neared the water, the geese cleared the area leaving the soggy red form exposed. The eagle’s talons stretched wide and snapped on the wet, red fox and rose into the air. As it disappeared overhead and into the woods, Deke and Daniel continued to the group of geese who gathering around one of them.
“I am fine,” Drifter said. “It just scared me.”
“You should have been more careful!” Liza said to him as she swam around him looking for any signs of an injury.
“What happened?” Deke asked them.
“Oh, the idiot went over there by himself and got too close to the edge…”
“And the enemy jumped at him,” Jake said. “Mattias must have seen it because he hit it in mid-air.”
“I got lucky,” Mattias said.
“No, you didn’t get lucky,” Ack observed. “You were vigilant. Like we should all be, Drifter!”
“He looks ok,” Liza said as she stopped her swim around him.
“Thanks guys,” Drifter said. “Why does it always happen to me?”
They all remained silent, drifting, and looking around at each other. Falling from the sky, Protector returned to a nearby branch. Simeone also returned and perched beside the bigger bird.
“Where have you been?” Protector asked Simeone.
“I left when that animal dived at Drifter,” Simeone replied.
They all laughed. Again, they settled into a quiet silence as the water birds simply floated while the two birds in the tree watched them. The Bright Light was presenting them with a beautiful day as a slight breeze softly rustled the new green leaves on the trees.
“I am glad everyone is okay and that you protected each other. I guess we should go home,” Deke broke the silence. “I think Ki might be missing us.”
“So you have decided,” Liza said to him.
“Yes, I have.”
“Good,” Drifter said. “I was getting bored.”
“Who is going to lead us home?” Ack asked.
“Who else?” Daniel answered. “It has to be Deke.”
The small brown goose chuckled and started to swim around them. He gave a side glance to Protector who spread his wings and rose from the branch. As Deke finished his circle around them, he started swimming toward the open water flapping his wings and rose into the air. Behind him Daniel and Liza flew to his left and right, followed by Ack and Jake and then Mattias and Drifter. Finally the sparrow flew at a short distance behind them all. With the eagle soaring high above, the entire group of birds flew in a complete circle around Deke’s hatchling home and turned toward the Bright Light to head to the waters of The Flock.
To be continued…
My First Stories 