wasn’t going to budge an inch till I took off her hood, like she was royalty perched there on my arm.
I thought about it. Considered putting her back in the cage and heading home.
Didn’t though. Instead I pulled off the hood and threw her into the air.
She was straight up there feeling for currents, waiting to ride the air so’s she could save on her energy. A thing of beauty, she was, circling above me like she expected me to get out a chunk of meat and the lure.
When she ran out of patience, she headed out over the valley.
I watched her all the way.
That span of hers, bigger than a man, threw a shadow onto the ground like she was a bomber plane ready to drop.
Over the fence she went, right by the security hut and the man at the gate. I watched her shadow pass over the roof and saw her closing in.
By the time she swooped, there was nothing anyone could do.
She was going straight for the baby just like she’d been trained.
Cost me plenty replacing them plastic dolls we’d practiced on, but I didn’t mind.
Only thing I didn’t know was how good a grip she was going to get. Could take her real high with a good connect, might not even get her off the ground if her claws didn’t stick.
I held my breath as Philly closed in. Right between the parents she went and hit the target. Bull’s eye.
I could see them throwing their arms about and screaming, running about like headless chickens, but Philly was too high to notice.
Must have been a hundred feet in the air when the grip gave.
Oregon accelerated downwards like she was in a hurry to get back to her folks.
Philly took off with the blanket dangling like a flag, not that it was going to be much use to her out in the wilds.
I’d seen enough. Didn’t even wait for the kid to hit the ground.
Got behind the wheel and drove off with my eyes pointing straight ahead.
Sure, I didn’t feel good about what I’d done. No mother should have to grieve the way she was going to and no kid taken before their time. But there was nothing I could do. I needed paying back. My ma and pa and Paul needed paying back.
I guess after what happened we was just about even.
***
Ma only cries if she’s peeling onions. Didn’t so much as sniffle even when we discovered those McGregor kids all blown to pieces, but that night, when Paul appeared on the screen, I could feel her body sobbing like she was a car doing kangaroos.
Her hand looked like a glove of bones shaking at the end of her arm.
I tried to take hold.
She slapped me hard.
Didn’t hurt none, at least not on the outside, but it was enough to let me know that she was ashamed of herself.
***
All those days of filming and he was only in a couple of scenes.
Give him his due though. He served those customers like he’d been doing it all his life.
He stood tall. Like he might just walk out of the screen at any moment. Was worth all the dressing up and fancy talk we had to sit through before the movie.
Johnny Cupcake sat on the front row. Didn’t move a muscle the entire show. Not even when Paul stared right into the fucker’s eyes.
When the lights came up and we were waiting on the speeches, he passed a note over to one of them Creek twins. Reckon it were Mary, but couldn’t be sure.
Eve stood up on stage and called Johnny up.
The whole crowd stood and whooped and clapped like they was dying seals. Couldn’t blame them neither. Folk from the mountain don’t get out much, not like that.
He thanked everyone and said a few things about how we’d changed his life for ever. Then he winked down at someone near the front.
To see him, aged twenty years in only two, you had to wonder what had been going on in the man’s life. I confess I was glowing inside.
One thing for sure, he weren’t going to be getting any of those action
I thought about it. Considered putting her back in the cage and heading home.
Didn’t though. Instead I pulled off the hood and threw her into the air.
She was straight up there feeling for currents, waiting to ride the air so’s she could save on her energy. A thing of beauty, she was, circling above me like she expected me to get out a chunk of meat and the lure.
When she ran out of patience, she headed out over the valley.
I watched her all the way.
That span of hers, bigger than a man, threw a shadow onto the ground like she was a bomber plane ready to drop.
Over the fence she went, right by the security hut and the man at the gate. I watched her shadow pass over the roof and saw her closing in.
By the time she swooped, there was nothing anyone could do.
She was going straight for the baby just like she’d been trained.
Cost me plenty replacing them plastic dolls we’d practiced on, but I didn’t mind.
Only thing I didn’t know was how good a grip she was going to get. Could take her real high with a good connect, might not even get her off the ground if her claws didn’t stick.
I held my breath as Philly closed in. Right between the parents she went and hit the target. Bull’s eye.
I could see them throwing their arms about and screaming, running about like headless chickens, but Philly was too high to notice.
Must have been a hundred feet in the air when the grip gave.
Oregon accelerated downwards like she was in a hurry to get back to her folks.
Philly took off with the blanket dangling like a flag, not that it was going to be much use to her out in the wilds.
I’d seen enough. Didn’t even wait for the kid to hit the ground.
Got behind the wheel and drove off with my eyes pointing straight ahead.
Sure, I didn’t feel good about what I’d done. No mother should have to grieve the way she was going to and no kid taken before their time. But there was nothing I could do. I needed paying back. My ma and pa and Paul needed paying back.
I guess after what happened we was just about even.
***
Ma only cries if she’s peeling onions. Didn’t so much as sniffle even when we discovered those McGregor kids all blown to pieces, but that night, when Paul appeared on the screen, I could feel her body sobbing like she was a car doing kangaroos.
Her hand looked like a glove of bones shaking at the end of her arm.
I tried to take hold.
She slapped me hard.
Didn’t hurt none, at least not on the outside, but it was enough to let me know that she was ashamed of herself.
***
All those days of filming and he was only in a couple of scenes.
Give him his due though. He served those customers like he’d been doing it all his life.
He stood tall. Like he might just walk out of the screen at any moment. Was worth all the dressing up and fancy talk we had to sit through before the movie.
Johnny Cupcake sat on the front row. Didn’t move a muscle the entire show. Not even when Paul stared right into the fucker’s eyes.
When the lights came up and we were waiting on the speeches, he passed a note over to one of them Creek twins. Reckon it were Mary, but couldn’t be sure.
Eve stood up on stage and called Johnny up.
The whole crowd stood and whooped and clapped like they was dying seals. Couldn’t blame them neither. Folk from the mountain don’t get out much, not like that.
He thanked everyone and said a few things about how we’d changed his life for ever. Then he winked down at someone near the front.
To see him, aged twenty years in only two, you had to wonder what had been going on in the man’s life. I confess I was glowing inside.
One thing for sure, he weren’t going to be getting any of those action
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