Hunter's Choice (20 page)

Jessamine

I was a little nervous. Okay I was a lot
nervous. We were at Railroad Bridge Park in Sequim. The park was home to the
Dungeness Audubon Center and it was sunny and epically beautiful and way more
crowded than I expected it to be.

Piper cheeped from my shoulder and I took in a
deep breath and exhaled slowly. Hunter rounded the corner and stopped when he
saw my face. His expression softened and he dragged me into his arms.

“You’ll do fine.” He murmured into my hair. I
nodded a little too stiffly against his shoulder and he chuckled. Hi voice took
on a soothing almost hypnotic tone,

“Aaron’s going to do all the talking, it’s
just you and my brethren. Just you and the owls.” He kissed me and I relaxed
against him.

It was going to be okay. I knew that. I
swallowed hard and took a step back. He held out a finger to Piper and she
stepped up. I nodded and went to the dog carrier that held Dawn, our Barn Owl
and most fit flier. I pulled on my glove and extracted her making sure her
jesses were secure around her ankles. She flapped her wings in a bit of
indignation before settling comfortably on my gloved hand.

I took her out from behind the Audubon
society’s building and out to the perch we had designated for her. I set her on
it and secured her jesses and stepped back. Hunter put Piper into a little cage
that Aaron had found at a garage sale. It was as big as one of the dog carriers
and made from an ornate brass-like metal. It reminded me of something out of
the Victorian era with its three sweeping domes, surmounted by another to
create a tower as wide as it was tall.

We’d cleaned it thoroughly and had decided
that it would be perfect for little Piper to be part of the lecture. Northern
Pygmy Owls weren’t caught very often and were even more rarely seen in the
wild. Same with the Saw-Whet.

We had little Fallon with us too. We decided
that she was fit for release and that it would make a good finish to the day
out here today. We could talk about Saw-Whets, she could meet her namesake and
when the lecture was through, we would drive over to John’s and let her go. In
celebration, John had a barbeque planned for us.

It was shaping up to be a really busy day.

I looked around for Aaron and saw him striding
towards me and Hunter, a pretty, athletic blonde girl striding alongside him. I
nudged Hunter who looked up and smiled.

“Not as pretty as my girl by half.” He
murmured and I laughed.

“Hey Hunter! Hey Jess!” Aaron called when they
drew close.

I waved, smiling brightly.

“Fallon, this is Jessamine Connors and Hunter
Grayson. Jess runs the owl haven where I volunteer.” Aaron said by way of
explanation.

“Hi!” Fallon greeted and shook my hand. I
waved enthusiastically with the other.

“Hello Fallon, nice to meet you.” Hunter shook
her hand.

“Aaron’s told me all about you guys.” She
laughed.

I brought out my notepad.

If Charlie were here, he would ask you what
lies Aaron has been telling.

She read the note and laughed.

“Where is Charlie?” Aaron asked.

Taking care of the birds back at the house.
He’ll meet us here before people start milling around and drive over to John’s
after this for the BBQ. Fallon’s coming right?
I
asked.

“Uh…” she sounded uncertain and Aaron smiled.

“If she wants to.” He said.

“Yeah,” she finally agreed, smiling. “Thanks,
that’d be really great!” up close she was even prettier.

Tall and willowy, with fair hair and sparkling
blue eyes, she looked like she belonged on the cover of a magazine, not here in
Railroad Bridge Park. I liked her instantly.

She was quiet and shy and didn’t really seem
to rely on her looks. She was a very down to earth girl, in her manner of
dress. While most teen girls dressed more to impress the opposite sex, Fallon
wore jeans, sturdy sneakers and her high school’s hooded sweatshirt which was
purple with yellow lettering. It had the school’s mascot, a wolf, on the front
and the back read ‘Lead, follow or get out of the way!’ when she turned to get
a good look at Piper.

I gave a low whistle to get Aaron’s attention.
He turned and I jerked my head toward the truck.

“Sorry!” he said sheepishly and went in that
direction. Hunter laughed and put his hands on my shoulders, massaging. Fallon
was still looking at little Rosie, then moved on to look up at Dawn on her
perch. She was about to get a little too close when Hunter spoke up from behind
me.

“I wouldn’t get too close.” He said kindly and
she was about to ask why when Dawn opened her wings and ruffled her feathers.
Fallon jumped back with a yelp.

“She was so still! I didn’t think she was
real!” she exclaimed. Aaron was coming up with the carrier that held Fallon the
little Saw-Whet and the carrier that held Odin. I looked up at hunter and he
let me go. I smiled. He really did know me.

I went forward and pulled on my gloves and
took Odin’s carrier. I brought out the crotchety old man and secured him to his
perch by his jesses. There was no way he’d be coming off it, glove training
hadn’t really been his thing, in fact four orange traffic cones went around his
perch establishing a decent perimeter. They were the tall tube kind with the
black rubber base and the loop at the top. Through the loops we strung caution
tape and made a diamond around the bird. A very clear indication to stay back
and to look but to go no closer.

Aaron was telling Fallon about the little
Fallon and Hunter and I exchanged smiles at the delighted sound that came from the
girl as she peered into the front grate on the carrier. Aaron was proudly
pulling on a pair of gloves to transfer the little rescue owl into another
birdcage that looked like it should be an antique but really was a find at a
local pet store. It was little Piper’s old cage for when we used to loan her to
Jaye to take on her school lectures.

Jaye was setting up on the opposite end of the
field. Rows of moveable aluminum bleachers on wheels had been set up to one
side with an expanse of grass between us for the lecture and demonstrations to
take place. I could make out Jaye’s slight form moving between her hawks,
falcons and eagle perches and portable enclosures.

Hunter and Charlie would be building a
collapsible enclosure for Odin for these events. For now, the traffic cones,
caution tape and Charlie standing sentry would have to do. People were starting
to arrive so I made an effort to get a move on and get the rest of what we had
to offer out. We had two tables, one with general information on the owl haven,
what to do if people found an injured owl and a place to receive donations.

The other table was all Aaron’s baby. He had
it set up to help people dissect their own owl pellet. We had two five gallon
buckets of them standing by, a couple boxes of surgical gloves and the other
trappings to get the job done and several giant trash cans line up complete
with trash bags for cleanup.

Hunter, Aaron, Charlie and I all wore black
tee-shirts with a lifelike three quarter’s full moon on the back, an owl
silhouetted against it on open wing beside bold white letters proclaiming
‘Moonchild’s Owl Haven’ across the back and smaller where the pocket would be
on the breast. They looked good and had been a gift from my animal hospital for
the occasion. 

I looked around nervously for Charlie as I
brought down the last carrier, a Barred owl named Butterfinger.

Not my idea. Barred owls were the most common
owl found out here next to the Barn owl except right now Moonchild’s didn’t
have any, Butterfinger was on loan from Jaye and the Northwest Raptor center.
He was a mild mannered bird and went on the final perch between Dawn and Odin.

We had briefly toyed with the idea of having
Hunter fill in, but had dismissed it as being folly and dangerous. Too many
people would miss Hunter the human and wonder why he wasn’t present seeing as
we had been inseparable since his ‘arrival.’ I asked him if he ever missed flying
or his owl form and he had confessed to me that he sometimes went out on a
short flight while I’d been sleeping. At first I didn’t quite know how to feel
about that but had decided that it was something that was Hunter’s and Hunter’s
alone, that we all needed a little alone time and that it wasn’t something I
could share in anyways so why shouldn’t that be his?

We finished setting up and when we were done
we had the two cages. One set higher than the other on two round tables that
were garage sale finds. So we had Piper the Northern Pygmy, Fallon the
Saw-Whet, then Dawn our Barn Owl, Butterfinger the Barred Owl, Odin, our Great
Horned Owl and in the only collapsible enclosure we’d managed to build in time,
Winter, the Snowy Owl looked pretty pissed off and disgruntled.

I smiled, we’d reasoned that Odin was used to
people, even if he was grumpy and bit, but Winter was wild and due for release
in the next week or two, so Winter got the enclosure and Odin got Charlie. Odin
was on the losing end of that deal.

Charlie was striding across the grass at a
good clip and I smiled. People were in their seats and Jaye was taking to the
field to introduce. Hunter called to Aaron who came up even with me. I glimpsed
Fallon’s blonde head as she took a front row seat and I smiled at Aaron. He
winked at me and we headed for the field so Jaye could introduce us.

Success or failure, we were here and in it to
win it. I took in a deep breath and with a smile plastered to my face turned
and waved at the crowd.

I didn’t need to worry. Aaron was a natural
crowd pleaser. Jaye went first with her falcons and then it was up to me and
Aaron. I pulled on my glove, took Dawn to hand and we strode out.

Aaron had devised a demonstration a long time
ago with Dawn, putting clickers inaudible to the human ear out in the grass for
her to demonstrate an owl’s exceptional hearing. We put Dawn through her paces
and my pretty girl didn’t disappoint. There was ohing and awing and applause
and we returned to our end of the small field. Aaron did all the talking, I did
all of the handling and everything worked out perfectly, far better than I
expected. I was suddenly excited about future opportunities to teach. The fake
smile I’d plastered on in the beginning morphing into a genuine one within a
matter of minutes.

Jaye went out next, and we traded off between
us for the better part of two hours, educating and demonstrating, telling our
specific birds stories and about conservation efforts. Finally we returned to
our respective ends of the field and birds, safe, fed, calm and secure people
started wandering over for a question and answer session.

I had my whiteboard at the ready and Charlie
stood near Odin and fielded questions about him like a pro, he was extremely
patient when it came to the kids, and I was surprised at how patient he was
with the adults. Hunter answered questions about Butterfinger and Dawn while
Fallon stood between Piper and Fallon with a clipboard of information Aaron had
given her. Aaron was elbow deep in curious kids and teens dissecting pellets
and explaining about owl feeding habits while I manned the information table.
Very little talking to be done there with all the literature we had available.

The day wore on, John had shown up and was
helping keep an eye on the birds, looking for any signs of stress, making sure
people kept their distance and I appreciated it. When all was said and done,
Charlie would be taking the residents back to the haven while the furniture and
Fallon, our release bird, went with us to Johns.

Jaye came back to collect Butterfinger and
tried to thank us for coming when it should be us thanking her for allowing us
to come. She had, after all, arranged the whole thing with the park and Audubon
society. I expressed my gratitude, we hugged and with waves and smiles parted
ways. She had her own fly babies to get home and settled.

Hunter kissed me and said he was headed to the
house with Charlie to help get everyone cared for. I kissed him back and
nodded, grateful. We packed everything up, discarded our trash correctly and
tried to leave our space better than we’d found it.

It had been a long and very successful day for
the owl haven. We’d raised two hundred dollars in donations which was enough to
buy the materials we couldn’t have donated for the aviary project in the back
that Hunter and Charlie wanted to undertake.

I got in my truck, kissed Hunter a final time
through the window, and with Aaron and Fallon behind me, followed John’s Jeep
to his house.

Jessamine

I carried little Fallon in her cat carrier
around the back of the house and on to John’s big back deck. Aaron and Fallon
followed carrying a cooler full of food I’d prepared for the occasion. John was
in charge of the meat. I had spent a chunk of last night fixing a pasta salad,
a potato salad, a fruit platter or two and three cherry pies to bring. John
fired up the gas grill and let it sit to get hot.

Aaron and Fallon immediately set to work
setting up the food on a side table while I set little Fallon on the porch
railing far away from all the human activity to settle. John handed me a bottle
of Finn River cider and clinked the neck of his bottle against my own.

“You did good out there today Jess. Take a
load off and relax.” He gave me a crooked grin and I smiled in return.

I dropped into one of the eight seats round
his huge back patio table gratefully. The sun was going down and he went around
the perimeter of the deck lighting citronella Tiki torches. He then lit three
citronella candles in the center of his table. Fallon and Aaron came over and
sat down and we all let out a comfortable sigh at once, then laughed.

“I think we did good Jess. What about you?”
Aaron asked I beamed at him and nodded.

Fallon’s phone made a sound like crickets in
her pocket and she pulled it out. She frowned at the screen.

“Something wrong?” John asked. She grimaced.

“No, it’s fine.” She put the phone away after
tapping out a short message. It chirped before she even got it into her pocket.
It chirped four more times in the next two minutes.

Parents?
I wrote.

“Boyfriend.” She grimaced, “He always wants to
know where I’m at.” She heaved a sigh and pulled out her phone, coloring in
embarrassment at whatever was there. Aaron was as stone faced as I’d ever seen
him, I smiled at him tremulously proud of his self-control and put pen to
whiteboard.

Sounds pretty controlling. Are you okay?

Fallon opened her mouth but her phone started
ringing. John’s eyebrows went up.

“Sorry, I uh, I should probably take this.”
She answered the phone with a meek “Hello?” and an angry male voice came
through the speaker by her ear. She got up abruptly to go around the side of
the house and Aaron made to stand too. I put out my hand and gestured for him
to sit down.

Fallon hadn’t seen and was stepping off the
deck. When she’d passed me I’d heard swearing coming from the phone. I frowned.

Not that I didn’t believe you, but from
what I just heard coming from that phone, it’s confirmed. Fallon’s boyfriend is
a dickweed.

John laughed at my sign directed toward Aaron
and Aaron scowled.

“So what are we going to do about it?” he
asked.

“Hey now wait a minute.” John said putting
down his cider, “What makes you think you two should be getting involved?” John
asked.

John, when you were seventeen would you
call your girlfriend a “fucking bitch” and threated to slap her like the nasty
ho she is? Because that is what I just heard come out of that phone in that
lovely girl’s direction.

I scowled at him and he swore.

“Son of a bitch, what’re parents teaching kids
these days?” he looked at Aaron.

“Don’t look at me, I wasn’t exactly a model
citizen until Charlie and Jess got a hold of me. My mom didn’t raise me to be a
punk, she couldn’t help that she had to hold two jobs at the time to make ends
meet.” He sniffed.

“I blame my dead beat dad. I don’t know what
Jordan’s excuse is.”

It doesn’t matter. What does matter is that
Fallon is better than that. What we need to do is make her understand that she
is beautiful and smart and lovely and deserves so much better than what he’s
offering.

Both boy and man looked thoughtful for a
while, I erased my message just as I heard Fallon’s soft tread coming up behind
me, I turned to see her come up on the deck, Hunter and Charlie behind her.
Hunter had her phone in his hand and I smiled, I looked to Fallon and got up,
tucking her under my arm and whisked her into the house and into the bathroom.

Okay. I’m only going to say one thing on
this matter…

“Okay,” she said tremulously, she quailed as I
ran the tap.

Your boyfriend isn’t much of a boyfriend.
No man should talk to a woman the way I heard him talk to you through that
phone. You deserve better than that and he doesn’t deserve to breathe the same
air as you.

“He’s not always like that…” she started and I
raised my hand, palm out to halt her.

I said I was only going to say one thing
and I did, and now I want you to think about this, I mean really think about
this: Where do you see yourself in five years?

“Graduating college.” She said without missing
a beat.

Okay, now I have to ask, do you see Jordan
graduating college with you?

She chewed her bottom lip.

“No,” she admitted finally.

I gave her my most solemn look and her
shoulders slumped.

Wash your face sweetie, dry those tears,
we’re going back out there, we’re not letting this ruin the night. You’re going
to set little Fallon free and we’re all going to celebrate.

She smiled and did as she was told, I handed
her a towel and she dried her face and hands.

“Aaron said you were tough.” She said. I
smiled and held out my arm. She laughed and linked arms with me and we went out
onto the back deck to a bunch of sour faces that lightened and smiled when we
came outside.

Aaron, I think Fallon should do the honors
of setting little Fallon free don’t you?

It was getting darker and he had to squint to
read my sign. He grinned broadly and nodded.

“C’mere Fallon, put these on.” He said and I
went to Hunter who still wore a dark expression. John and Charlie had their heads
together. Hunter drew me to him and kissed the top of my head.

“Planted some seeds did you?” he asked and I
nodded, watching the two teenagers.

“Charlie and I found her crying at the end of
the drive on her phone, begging for the boy on the other end of the line to
stop yelling at her. I took it away told the boy he was a prat and shut the
phone off, but not before calling her mother and giving her your number in case
she wished to reach Fallon.” He kissed the top of my head again absently. The
girl in question had the gloves on and was listening to Aaron’s careful
instructions on how to catch the bird in the carrier.

“Her mother was concerned, she’s had her
suspicions about the nature of her daughter’s relationship with the boy. She
said she was glad I put a stop to this episode and that she has tried speaking
to Fallon before, but perhaps if Fallon will not listen to her, she may listen
to us.” I nodded and smiled, jerking my chin in the direction of the girl who
had the little Saw-Whet carefully clutched between her gloved hands.

Hunter pulled me back into the warmth of his
chest and rocked me a bit. He kissed the top of my head and I smiled, he
couldn’t seem to stop doing it. I asked him,

Still have her phone?

“Yes.”

Good, don’t give it back until she’s ready
to go home. She’s earned a douche canoe free night.

Hunter laughed softly. We watched Fallon open
her hands, the bird got to up on her feet and blinked but made no move to fly
just yet.

“Hold still, she’ll go when she’s ready.”
Aaron urged. Fallon laughed nervously and I more than half hoped that Aaron
would win the girl. They made a cute couple.

“Uh Aaron, she’s not flying away…” Fallon
said, but just as she opened her mouth to say more little Fallon fluttered her
wings and took off into the trees.

I blinked back tears.

“You been doing this twenty years now Jess,
ever since you was nine and you still cry every time!” Charlie remarked and
there was laughter. I dashed at my eyes and sniffed and waved a hand at him to
bugger off. He chuckled.

“Got a beer for this ‘ol Indian?” Charlie
asked John.

John got one out of the cooler next to the
grill and handed it to Charlie who looked over the bottle with admiration.

“Good boy.” He said and cracked it open with
his bottle opening key chain.

“I’m not a dog Charlie, Hunter you want a
beer?” he turned and Hunter smiled.

“Have any warm?” he asked.

“Warm beer?” John asked.

It’s an English thing… 
I wrote. Hunter and I had this conversation a while ago. I still
declared him disgusting for it.

“Sorry man, I put it all in the cooler.” He
pulled out two and handed them to Hunter.

“I only drink one at a time.” Hunter laughed.

“Yeah but at least your second one can be
warm.” John made a face.

“Appreciated.”

“Jess you make pie?” Charlie asked. I held up
three fingers.

“Good woman just like your aunt Margie except
without the drama.” He grunted and took a pull off his beer. I slapped his
shoulder. He loved Margie as much as me and Dave but he had a point too.

Steaks sizzled as John threw them on the grill
and the smell of cooking meat wafted through the air. I smiled and cuddled back
into Hunter. Fallon was smiling and listening to Aaron, all traces of sadness
gone.

It was a good day.