“No, Milford doesn’t have a fake wing or a prosthetic,” he said drily. He was clearly lying. “Those wouldn’t work on an owl. Hell, they only work on people after lots of physical therapy. This isn’t How to Train Your Owl, you know?” he scoffed. “Anyway, I’m part of the Park Ranger Adolescent Training program, or P.R.A.T., a rather unfortunate acronym. Today we’ll be . . .”
Leila squinted, staring at him and back up at the owl, ignoring whatever he was going on about. She’d seen him yesterday. She was sure of it. It was the same owl, flying up and crashing down to the ground. He was the guy the voices were pointing her towards, and she had to figure out why.
“What’s How to Train Your Owl?” Mikey asked.
“It’s a movie reference.” Britt said, giving him a shove. “Well, a book and a movie. And a TV series, too. How did you get this far in life?”
“Oh, shut up,” Mikey muttered.
Leila turned to Britt and Mikey, who were smiling at each other.
“I’ll be taking you on your tour of the, the . . . Wait, where are we going today, anyway?” Landon asked, and pulled a small, black notepad out of his pocket. He flipped it open. His face scrunched up in irritation. He ripped out the piece of paper, crumpled it up, and lifted it up to the owl, who took it in his beak and tossed it away. The bit of paper fell on the ground, and Shawn scrambled to pick it back up. Landon flipped the notepad shut with an audible slap.
“The Shofuso house.” He sighed and shook his head. “Can I make some recommendations? Specifically one? Who wants to see more little guys like this one?” He nodded his head towards Milford, and a few hands shot up in the air amongst the group.
“Can we see more guys like him?” Sarika asked, whispering in Leila’s ear. Leila jumped. Sarika had appeared seemingly out of nowhere, a cup of coffee in her hand, steam still rising from the holes in the lid.
“Where did you even come from?” Leila whispered back.
“I walked.” Sarika shrugged. “There’s a place called Mugshots not far from here. Hopped the bus, hung out there for a while, and strolled over. You have got to log on to the board, by the way. There’s all this drama—”
“So does that sound good to everyone?” Landon asked, a little too loudly. Leila looked up, and he was staring straight at her. She gulped and looked at Sarika, who in turn just kicked her.
“Yeah, sounds fine?” Leila ventured.
“Mm. Fine is right.” Sarika poked Leila, who nudged her away.
“Great!” Landon exclaimed, clapping his hands together. “Then let’s go.”
They started walking away from the parking lot and into the woods. Leila looked around for Britt and Mikey, spotting them at the head of the swell of students. They were chatting to one another excitedly. She made a note to introduce Sarika to them later. Jon had said to try to meet some new people, make some new friends. Shawn was definitely out of the running, and there was obviously something else going on with him. She didn’t need that drama.
“So?” Sarika asked, nudging Leila as the two of them walked, taking small sips from her coffee. “Who is that? Catch me up.”
Leila shrugged. There were still some things she couldn’t tell Sarika. Not yet. The voices, their instructions. For now, Landon was just some guy with a bird.
“Some park ranger in training,” she whispered back. “I’m pretty sure he’s the guy I saw when I crashed my bike.”
“Really?”
“I mean, unless there’s some other local park ranger trying to teach an owl to fly.”
Landon turned and looked back at her again, wearing the expression of a teacher who was waiting for his class to be quiet. Leila looked away, pretending to stare at nothing in the trees around her, though it was hard to keep her eyes away from him. He obviously took a lot of care in his appearance, his uniform was crisp and well ironed. She stared at him as he spoke to the students up front and frowned as the students fiddled with their smartphones and took selfies. He looked up from the students and made eye contact with Leila again, and she jumped back with a jolt before realizing he was looking at someone behind her. He stopped and crossed his arms as Shawn angrily bounded up the trail, brushing by Sarika and Leila.
“I’m sorry, but this isn’t what we had planned today,” Shawn said, standing next to Landon. “We have plans at the Shofuso house, and they are going to be waiting for us.”
“This is better, trust me,” Landon said, turning back around.
Shawn reached out and grabbed Landon’s shoulder. Landon spun back around, his eyes boring into Shawn. He stood practically a foot taller than him, and Milford fluttered his single wing angrily.
“Don’t touch me again,” Landon said. “You don’t know me.”
“What, are you going to hit me?” Shawn smirked. “We have plans. You can’t just take everyone away and—”
Landon ignored him and headed back up the trail. Shawn reached out and grabbed his shoulder again, and Landon spun around, glaring down at Shawn.
“I’m not going to hit you. But if you touch me again, we’ll certainly have some words.” Landon crossed his arms.
“Oh please,” Shawn said. “My dad could get you fired.”
Landon took a step forward.
“Your dad? How cute. Look, I don’t get paid,” Landon grinned. “So, go ahead. Run to your pops. Say what you want to say. I’m not here for the money. I’m here for the park. For the animals. For the trees. What are you here for?”
“For the trees?” Shawn spat. “Who the hell are you, the Lorax?”
“Seriously? Is that really all you’ve got? That’s your comeback?”
A beat of silence followed, interrupted only by the sounds of the neighboring trees. A soft rustling whispered through the leaves, and a cool breeze danced around Leila’s neck.
Now you see?
Leila jumped, and looked at Sarika.
He’s here. For us. For you.
“It’s happening.” Leila whispered, closing her eyes. She felt Sarika grab her hand, and she closed her eyes and started to whisper to herself as the voices pressed. She pushed herself to get centered. To be here. To focus.
“Outside. Trees. Rocks.”
You can trust him. Go to him. Tell him of what you hear.
“Ground. Soil. Wind.”
“Leila,” Shawn’s voice said.
Leila opened her eyes, and Shawn was standing right in front of her with Landon behind him. “You understand, right?” Shawn asked. “You still up for the tea house? I think you’ll—”
“Get away from me,” Leila snapped, pushing Shawn out of the way. She stumbled a little into the brush, her head hammering as the voices grew louder.
He wears the colors of the caretakers.
An arm quickly wrapped around her, and she glanced up to see Sarika helping her gain her balance again.
“Are you okay?” Shawn burst in.
“Alright, what’s happening over here?” Landon walked over and looked over at Shawn, his eyes narrowing. “Is he bothering you two?” He reached for a walkie-talkie on his belt. “Do I need to call someone?”
“No,” Shawn said, walking away. “No, it’s fine. Go look at your old bird cages that should have been torn down a long time ago.”
“Wait, are we seeing the Raptor Trust?” Leila asked, looking up at Landon. As the voices faded away, she remembered what Jon had been rambling about in the kitchen the day before. Apparently, Fairmount Park had a raptor habitat that was in danger of losing funding. If Landon was taking the group there, the place that she’d rode by when she saw him flying that owl around, maybe he could answer some questions for her. Maybe she could even help Jon out with a bit more background for his future articles. “That actually sounds kind of awesome.”
She exhaled and gave a reassuring nod to Sarika. The voices had faded.
“I wouldn’t trust them with a parakeet!” Shawn shouted, his back still turned as he walked away. “You all do you. I’m out of here.”