Purrfect job EmIlY! Bump tp Jess

Wow Emily, that was quick and good!! TY Pawtastic job!Next up. . .JESS 

Key:  Blue: Mercer

           Red: Jess

           Green: Shea

           Purple: Rose

           Brown: Holly

          Teal: Jessie

           Pink: Emily

           Light Blue: Layla

It was a stifling hot and humid night. The bugs were buzzing seeking sustenance by alighting upon any uncovered crop of skin, the children were whining and everyone was gathered around the campfire hoping for some relief from the heat while they waited for their nightly creepy, skin crawling story! Suddenly . . . out of the darkness, hooting was heard. Several children jumped at the sound. A low moan came from the woods. What could it be? Where was the flashlight? Someone ran to the tent and grabbed one. She shined into the woods and saw.... a large, scruffy-feathered barn owl, unusually, lying on the ground with his silver wing bent in an unnatural position. Relief sighed from the campers, only to be replaced with pity. Greg, bearing the flashlight, was the first of many to mutter "poor guy." A low chuckle came from the fire. Greg turned in disgust to see who could have possibly found it funny. His scowl melted into an expression of insult and confusion as he realized the snicker came from Mr. Parker, the scout leader. He was slumped towards the fire on a fat log, his black beard illuminated from the orange glow. Mr. Parker's voice was aged with the strain of frequent volume use, and occasionally it broke mid-sentence, doing nothing but mortifying and twisting his mood crabbily.

   "You're going to need to see a bit more of the world if you find an injured barn owl a tragedy," he said, but with no hint of acid or mock. Greg look dumbfounded at his scout leader, and then risked a quick glance at Sarah, his best friend. She looked hurt as well, but, like the others, kept her mouth shut. Without a word, he put the flashlight on a stump and marched toward the owl, confidently but carefully. Mr. Parker simply watched in interest. It was only when Greg's shoes were almost touching the tips of the owl's feathers did he realize he had no idea how to care for an injured bird or if he should even touch it. Blood rushed to his cheeks. How could he embarrass himself after his bold action?

   Thankfully, Henry, a fifteen year old scout abruptly stood and grabbed the used picnic basket. He upturned it and the apple cores, napkins, and other eating-accessories tumbled to the uneven light of the grass. He crouched down next to Greg and the owl and helped the younger scout transfer the bird to the basket, padded soft with plaid cloth. Speaking in a whisper, Henry scolded Greg "Be prepared next time you confront Parker, Greg." as much as he tried to sound angry and dominant, Henry just didn't have it in him, and the sentence came out as more of a compassionate warning. Henry really did admire Greg's courage, and often looked out for, him.

 Mr. Parker, his hazel eyes firmly watching his rebellious campers couldn't fight a small smile twitching at the corners of his lips. When the two boys gently placed the basket in cover from the many predators of the wild and in sight, Sarah finally spoke up to the tense situation. She was a natural peace- maker. Her voice was gentle and diplomatic when she said..... Mr. Parker, we know you have a lot more experience in life so we really would be grateful for your advice in this situation. Mr. Parker stood up and moved closer to Henry and Greg and the picnic basket. He leaned down and gazed at the barn owl..."well troupe...I think our little guest is okay for the present....we should take turns watching him during the night ...we don't want him to try to escape and injure himself further...in the morning, we will take him to the Wildlife Rescue Sanctuary....now, Sarah, would you like to take the first hour of watch...." Sarah replied "Of course, I'd be pleased to, may I start now?”

 Mr. Parker replied; “In a little bit.”

 "Well," Sarah added,   “may I please go get some water? I will be right back.”

Mr. parker replied; “Sure.”

So Sarah ran off to get water. She hoped the little owl would be okay. Sarah skipped rapidly away from the group. When she returned, she wiped her forehead from the sweat that accumulated from her running and she pulled her shiny pink belt tight. Sarah noticed, as she ran her fingers through her hair that it  was a bit unkempt but, quickly forgot all about that as she started to gab with the boys once again.  The boys talked with Sarah for almost an hour until everyone realized that something was wrong. The owl was not where he should have been, safely by the picnic basket. Everyone started to panic, Cathy walked up to Sarah. She was the natural at making people feel really bad, and always looked like someone who should be in a mall shopping. "Hey Sarah, bet'cha feel really bad now, right?" and walked away, leaving Sarah and the others temporally speechless. When the silences finally broke, Greg was the first to speak. "The nerve of her, she isn't out here watching the owl." Sarah sat down with tears shimmering in her eyes about to fall when Mr. Parker came out and... Mr. Parker came out and said "Cathy, please come back here. There is no reason to speak so unkindly to Sarah. She and Greg and everyone already feel as bad as they can. Since you obviously feel you know more about how to protect our little owl, I'm assigning you to be Sarah's partner and lead the hunt for him". "Oh, all right, if you say so Mr. Parker, but I don't think it's fair for me to be stuck with Sarah." "That's quite enough, said Mr. Parker....just then Cathy said "Fine. But I won't be happy."

Sarah felt someone put something in her jacket pocket. She reached in her pocket, and it was a note. It said: "Teal Hive How" and at the end it said;
"A Clove Thy." It had a little drawing of an owl in the corner. She handed the paper to Mr. Parker who quickly scanned it and gave her a skeptical look. "Passing notes?" he guessed flatly.

"No, not at all!" Sarah assured. Mr. Parker glanced at Cathy, already sitting by the fire again and re-applying her makeup. She batted her eyelashes in the direction of a trio of boys playing cards, who saw her and exchanged confused and slightly horrified glances. Sarah continued. "Someone put this in my pocket just now, I thought maybe you might know what it meant..." she trailed off hopefully. Mr. Parker grunted and crumpled the note before handing it back to her. He gazed at the flames of the fire as if he thought that were a better location for it.

"Whatever it was, it's not worth wasting time over. Probably some prank," His voice broke twice and he grumbled. He was about to turn away and be done with the matter when he pursed his lips and sighed. In a gentler voice he said "I'm sorry Cathy is picking on you. You kids are driving me insane with your mindless bickering! Life's too short. I want you two to lay off each other and let it go," he patted her shoulder awkwardly. "Be safe. I'm sure we'll find the owl in the morning." he started off towards his trademark log when Sarah called to him.

"Mr. Parker?"

He turned. "Yeah?" 

"I just want you to know that you're... well ,you're a really good counselor. I'm glad you're with us."

A small twitch of a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, but Mr. Parker said nothing as he walked back toward the fire, shadows folding him into the night.

* * *

Of course, Sarah couldn't sleep. The night crept on. The campfire had long died and the coals were glowing in vain attempt to keep the heat alive. There was no doubt: being in the woods at night scared Sarah, but she worried more about the owl. Did someone take him? Maybe he flew away. She doubted it. And what was that note about? The words made no sense, but what about the owl picture? Sighing, she turned in her bed roll and then decided it was useless trying to rest.

Sarah crawled out of her tent and lumbered to the edge of the woods where she left the water canteen and took a swig. If it were up to her, she would be out there with a flashlight right now looking for the poor bird. But that meant having to take Cathy along, and she didn't quite have the nerve to crawl into Cathy's snug little tent, wake her up, and drag her out. She'd probably just bonk her head on the tent's frame and send her beauty curlers spiraling. Sarah snickered quietly.

"What's so funny?" said a familiar voice. Sarah jumped and turned to see Greg smiling at her, looking quite amused.

She let out a sigh and smiled "Nothing," she replied, relieved. "What are you doing up?"

He shrugged. "Nice night. Didn't want to be cooped up under a canvas tent when the stars are this beautiful."

Sarah looked up for the first time and noticed how the constellations twinkled, but she knew her friend too well for him to fool her, and she met his eyes again with a suspicious look.

"Greg." she chided, her gaze stern.

"What?" he said innocently.

"Greg..." she prompted a, smile touching her eyes.

"What??" he repeated more agitated this time. Then he understood what she suspected and held up his hands, palms forward. "I'm innocent! No pranks, see?"

Just then, the leaves rustled behind them and twigs snapped.

"Hey Greg wait up, man." Henry bounded through the woods up to them holding a mysterious, dark, clumpy object in his hand. "Oh, hey Sarah," he smiled and walked up to give her a one-armed hug with his free hand.

Sarah chuckled. "Hey Henry, I saw you what? Three hours ago? But I'll take a hug anyway!" she smiled a blushed slightly. Greg was starting to look very guilty. "What's that in your hand?"

"Oh this?" Henry said, a little shamefaced "See, Greg and I found this beehive that had honey dripping all over the place. So, he kind of convinced me to grab a handful so that we can.... smother it-"

"Henry!" Greg said loudly, though careful not to wake anyone up.

Sarah just shook her head and gave a mock look of disappointment. "Who's the victim?"

"Three guesses," said Greg.

"You guys... c'mon, she really doesn't deserve that entire honeycomb,"

Greg’s smile melted away leaving his expression grim and upset. "Cathy's a bully, Sarah. She never stops picking on you,"

"The whole family's ridiculous," Henry declared with the same grim tone. Greg looked at him in surprised confusion.

"You've met her family?"

Henry winked at Sarah "I dated her sister, remember? She's a pistol, that one. There was this one time she tried to kiss me and-"

"Henry!" Greg scolded "Too much information!!" he made a disgusted sound and Henry laughed and gave him a playful punch on the shoulder.

 "I'm just pulling your leg, buddy!” Greg rolled his eyes.

Honey drizzled down poor Henry's fingers and some plopped to the grass at his shoe. Henry sighed and plucked a leaf off the nearest tree in a pathetic attempt to wipe the sticky goo off his forearm.

"Thank you both," Sarah said, jokes aside, "but you don't need to do this. Please, Mr. Parker told me today to let it go and I think he's right." Both Greg and Henry nodded in agreement. Henry patted Sarah on the back, unfortunately with the sticky hand.

"I'm proud of you. It takes a lot of strength to rise above Cathy like that." he said. "It's getting late, though. We’d better get to bed before Mr. Parker wakes up. With our luck, he’ll be banging the frying pan the second we fall asleep! But Parker’ll get suspicious if he sees our honeycomb. Let me just dispose of the evidence..." Henry licked a drop of honey off his thumb and trotted off into the woods.

Sarah took the opportunity to complain about the note in her pocket to Greg, her best friend. He frowned when he inspected it, as lost as she was. They thought to themselves for a moment before Greg had an idea. “Maybe…,” he began, “no. Never mind.”

“What is it, Greg?”

“I don’t know. I was just thinking maybe, since the owl is gone, and then you found this note…maybe someone took it and was trying to tell you. Like, in the same way you would take an apple from the grocery store and leave an IOU on the counter or something,”

Sarah combed through this for a moment, then protested, “But someone physically shoved it in my pocket. Surely they would’ve just left the note where the basket was before anyone saw them,” she mused. Then she saw that the conversation was getting her friend down.

Greg sighed and slumped down to the ground, Sarah following. "Don't worry, Greg, we'll find the owl." Sarah said sympathetically.

Greg just nodded. He was deep in thought. His concerns seemed to stretch beyond his bird, but Sarah didn’t ask. The two kids sat in silence, listening to the frogs and crickets (and Mr. Parker's thunderous snore) as they awaited the return of their companion.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the dark shadows of the woods, Henry's heart skipped a beat. His imagination was getting the best of him; his mind playing tricks. Every step he took made him paranoid, but he took a deep breath and remembered all his training. He thought about other things. He worried about Sarah being picked on. He felt, as the oldest of the small group, that he was responsible to defend them. He thought about earning his next badge, and the small nod of approval he looked forward to from his father. Henry was only fifteen, but he was emotionally strong and mature for his age. He had been raised by a strict family. He had been "brought up right", as they say, and always looked out for others. He thought about his family - his mom and sister baking cookies, his dog barking at a squirrel scurrying up the tree - and that made the path just a little bit brighter. But his mind was distracted. Cautiously walking along, Henry heard a twig crack. It was followed by a muffled scream. Slowly, cautiously, he turned to see a small, thin, pale girl with a waterfall of hair, the color of moonlight, glowing in front of her face. She was lying on the ground holding her ankle. Henry rushed to her side. He knelt down. “Are you ok?” he asked.

Her voice, strong and bold, did not match her frail body.  “I’m fine. My ankle is twisted. It got stuck in the hole over there,” she said as she waved behind her. “Who are you?” she quizzed.

“I’m Henry, I’m with the scouts. I’ll take you back to our camp so my scout leader can look at your ankle.”ť Henry helped the girl up and put his arm around her to support her as she tried to walk. As they headed to the camp, Henry asked,”Who are you and what are you doing out here alone?”

She replied, “I’m Melody and I’m from Owl Land....I am a Protector, and I have been searching for a missing owl whose father is the Ruler of Owl Land. His name is Blodeuwedd. My responsibility is to follow him as he is the heir and must be protected. "How did you get here", asked Henry. "I travel through a special time portal that only we from Owl Land may pass through", said Melody. "We found an owl when we first arrived here...we have been trying to take care of it but it disappeared and then someone left a message in Sarah's pocket," asked Henry.... "What did it say, asked Melody?" "It said: Teal Hive How - A Clove Thy", and it had a little drawing of an owl in the corner, said Henry. Melody's eyes grew large with fear...."Oh no, she said....that means we must find Blodeuwedd....because he has been followed through the portal by Maldorf the evil Under Lord of Owl Land. We know he is a fox with a human body. His mission, to find Blodeuwedd, was deferred by the breakdown of Axlejax, the machine that controls the portal openings. Now that it has been repaired, we can expect many more breeds of Seekers from Maldorf’s “Underworld” to appear through the portal. It is so important that we locate Blodeuwedd before more from the underworld appear, do you understand the urgency of this mission, Henry and what have you done with the note found in Sarah’s pocket?”.

“Sarah has it, back at the camp.” Henry looked down at the dead grass and broken twigs on the ground. Meanwhile, Greg and Sarah sat anxiously waiting for Henry to return.

Sensing Sarah’s concern that something terrible had had happened to Henry, he turned to her saying, “Don’t worry. Henry will be alright. I bet he’s already coming back to camp as we speak.”

At Greg’s last word, something was coming out of the forest behind them. Sarah covered her mouth, even though she couldn’t find her voice to scream. Her eyes were scared and worried. Greg stepped slightly in front of Sarah, as if to protect her from whatever came from the woods, because she was one of his closest friends. Out of the shadowy woods and into the ghostly moonlight that there now was because of the clouds, stepped Henry with the beautiful girl limping by his side. Sarah took off running towards them and grabbed the girl’s other arm and helped her over to the logs around the campfire. Greg strolled over to where the others sat and took a seat himself. In whispered voices, Henry and the girl started explaining everything to Sarah and Greg.

“And so that is why we must find Blodeuwedd before Maldorf does. The fate of our land is counting on Blodeuwedd’s return and I can’t do much with this ankle as it is,” exclaimed Melody.

“That's why we need Mr. Parker to…” begun Henry but Greg cut him off before he could finish.

“You can’t have him look at it now. What are you going to say? You can’t very well say, ‘Hello Mr. Parker. Can you look at Melody’s ankle? I found her in the woods when I went to dispose of the honeycomb Greg and I found and were going to put in Cathy’s tent because she is always picking on Sarah. Oh and by the way, Melody’s from Owl Land and she is a Protector in search of Blodeuwedd, you know, the owl we found, and she must find him before Maldorf because Blodeuwedd is royal.’ Yes, that will definitely not get any of us in trouble and I’m positive he’ll believe us and not think we’ve all gone mad!”

“No Greg, I wasn’t going to tell him that. Thanks for the sarcasm,” Henry said in a huff as he stormed to Mr. Parker’s tent, taking a deep breath before speaking louder.

“Mr. Parker. Are you awake? There is someone injured.”

“Errr… yes, huh… coming.” His voice sounded like he was sleepwalking, but when he got out of the tent to where Henry was, he looked awake.

“Who is injured?”

“Melody, sir. I think her ankle is twisted.”

“Melody? We don’t have a Melody in our troop. Where did she come from and why are all these people out of bed?”

“I heard a noise outside. I went to investigate. Greg woke up when he heard me leave the tent. Sarah heard me pass her tent and she came to see what I was doing. Greg and Sarah tried to follow me but couldn't see where I went. All they knew was that I went and when I came back, I had Melody, who was limping because of her ankle. They confronted me and Greg yelled at me for being so stupid. She was just a few feet into the woods. I could see camp.”

Henry felt so ashamed of himself for lying like that, especially to an adult. Mr. Parker seemed to buy the story. Sarah and Greg had been talking to Melody. They acted like they had known each other months, not minutes, Sarah more than Greg. Henry looked at the two girls, comparing them. They both had the same silky color of hair. Sarah was just as pale as Melody and just as small and thin as her too. The resemblance between them was so much that Henry almost thought that they could be sisters. Henry pulled Greg aside as Mr. Parker leaned down to examine Melody’s ankle and said: "I think her ankle is broken."

 “Yeah, I think so too but, Parker’s already working on it, she’ll be fine. Henry... you gotta tell me you’re joking, man, I mean seriously…’Owl Land?” Sounds like a ruddy theme park,” he gave him a skeptical look. Henry shrugged his shoulders, frustrated.
“I don’t know Greg. What did you expect me to do, leave Melody in the wilderness just because her story is hard to believe?”
“That’s not what I said, Henry, and you know it. But, I’m beginning to worry that I’m the only one having trouble believing all this. Are you honestly that gullible?”
“I think I’m in shock.”
Greg gave a humorless laugh “Gee, you think?”
“Just stick with me. We know for a fact we need to get Melody better. That’s our first step. After that we’ll….we’ll see where it goes. Please stick with me, Greg. I need you here,”
Greg had his arms folded across his chest and he tried to stay irritated while he couldn’t help looking troubled. He eyed Henry for a long moment before releasing a deep sigh.
“Okay.” he said heavily, “I’m here for you,”
Henry smiled. “Alright, now where’s the nearest bedroll for Melody?”
“Where’s the nearest psychiatric ward?” Greg mumbled under his breath.
Henry was just about to embark on a search for an extra shelter for Melody when Mr. Parker yelled,
“Henry! Greg! Over here where I can see you!” his voice broke once and he cursed.
Melody was all mended and Sarah knelt with Mr. Parker to aid him however she could. Mr. Parker bit his lip and looked over his work. “You two’ve got thirty seconds to explain what’s going on here,” he said without looking up. Henry stuttered.
“Mr. P- sir, I…I already told you-”
“I know what you told me, Henry. Now I’m awake and I want the truth,”
A pause. Henry gave Mr. Parker a pleading look. Mr. Parker’s eyes were like stone, glancing from kid to kid. He shook his head slowly.
“Maybe I don’t want to know,” he grumbled. “But Melanie-”
“Melody,” she corrected.
“Melody, you can’t camp with us, I’m afraid. It’s against troop rules. We’re going to have to do something in the morning…which seems to be upon us,” he gazed above the treetops and saw the eastern horizon blush pink, pushing the twinkling stars further and further into the heavens. Parker cursed yet again. “I have to wake the others in ten minutes. This should be fun,” and he tumbled up to his feet. With a groan he said “Henry, I swear, next time you get googly-eyed for a pretty girl in the woods…” he trailed off after his frying pan/alarm clock.
Suddenly, Greg’s ears buzzed. He felt a vibration. He turned his head toward the woods and whimpered.
“Greg…?” Sarah called timidly.
A thunderous howl came from the woods. Everyone jumped.
“What the heck was that?” Greg said shakily. Melody got to her feet, a smile on her face. “What are you smiling about???” asked Greg, appalled.
“That’s my uncle,” she said, beaming.
“Your uncle??” said everyone.
Greg threw his arms up in the air “That’s it. I’m out.”
“Greg, the wolf is not my uncle. It’s his pet. And…how did you know that howl was coming? Oh never mind. I need to go see him, guys. Uncle Jerome probably came to help and he’s worried about me.” She started to jog to the tree line when Henry caught her arm.
“Wait, let me come with you,”
“You can’t, you’ve already been in trouble for leaving once. If you go again your counselor will call of the camping trip because of you, and we can’t have that,”
“But…you’re still healing. I can’t let you go in there alone,”
Melody was about to protest when a very unexpected voice said.
“I’ll go,”
It was Greg.