The Defender. Lindsay McKenna

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СКАЧАТЬ It was like being slapped in the face. Hard. Katie had closed her eyes, fortunately, and had turned her head away to protect her sight.

      She’d stood firm and quiet, which allowed Sam to flap his wings around her face in order to regain his equilibrium. He was no worse for wear, but Katie still bore a shallow cut across her temple from the incident. She’d gone into the emergency room afterward and Dr. Jordana McPherson had put in three stitches. Jordana had assured her there would be no lasting scar. It wasn’t unusual to have scars on one’s face or upper arms from an eagle. It was just part of the business of caring for these magnificent animals. Katie was more than willing to take the risk because they gave her a sense of freedom she never felt otherwise. A cut every now and then was a price worth paying.

      “You can’t even see where the doctor sewed you up,” Donna said, giving Sam a look of pride. “I think after being cooped up for three days, he had extra energy to burn off.”

      Chuckling, Katie walked with Donna toward her black truck. “Yeah, he’s full of himself for sure.”

      Donna held out her right arm covered with a bright red cotton sleeve. “I’ve shown you my battle scars.”

      “And I hope I never get the kind you have.”

      Donna had, at one time, worked with a golden eagle who was eventually returned to the wild. One day, another falconer had accidentally left the cage door unlocked and the eagle had escaped his mew after being startled by a nearby truck backfiring. He’d launched off his perch and flown out the door, frightened and disoriented. Seeing Donna, who had nursed him for three months and who represented safety to him, he’d immediately flown over to her. Only, she’d had no protective gauntlet on her lower arm to save her from the puncture wounds the eagle inflicted. To this day, when Donna rolled up her sleeves, Katie could see the puncture indentations left by the eagle’s talons.

      Donna balanced Sam easily on her left glove. The eagle was sated, looking around with his piercing yellow gaze. She touched his breast. “Crop’s full. He’s a happy raptor.”

      Katie could see the slight bulge where Sam’s crop lay beneath the shining bronze feathers of his wide upper breast. “Yep, if he could smile, he would.”

      They both chuckled.

      Once they reached the pickup, Katie unlocked the rear and opened up the cab. She had a special perch built on a swing arm for the eagle. The wood was thick and sturdy, covered with plastic outdoor carpeting. The material enabled the raptor to hold securely to the perch so he would not slip off. Katie locked the perch in place and moved to the side of the truck bed.

      Donna placed her glove near the perch and tapped her fingers on it. Sam quickly hopped from her glove to the perch. Releasing the jesses so that they were no longer wrapped around her glove, Donna murmured, “Okay, I think he’s ready to go home.”

      Katie gently closed the door to the cab. Eagles were so large they couldn’t fit inside a bird box to travel. Special considerations had to be made for these raptors due to their size and weight. The women removed their food pouches and placed them behind the seats. Katie climbed in, shut the door and slid the key into the ignition.

      Donna closed her door and pulled on her seat belt. “That was a great flight this morning! Sam really flew high and wide. I really think despite some of his wing bones being fractured, he’s getting stronger with age and maturity.”

      “I think so too, but you have more experience with eagles than I do.” Katie slowly moved the truck to a flat, smooth dirt road that would lead them out of the elk enclosure. Soon, they would be on the highway, heading north toward the Elk Horn Ranch.

      “You have two years of experience under your belt,” Donna said with a smile. “I’m really going to miss working with you, Katie. I know this area is in good hands when I leave. You’ll do fine.”

      “I know, Donna, but I’ll miss you on so many levels. I finally put an ad in the newspaper for a full-time falconer. I can’t rely on volunteers to come and help me fly the raptors every morning.” Katie glanced over at the tall, attractive woman who had been the best of the many foster mothers she’d had. “But I know your mom needs you now.”

      The older woman patted Katie’s shoulder. “Hey, I’m only a phone call or email away. We’ll stay in close touch, I promise.” Her mouth curved gently and her voice lowered. “Katie, you’ve matured into a lovely young woman. I don’t want to leave either, but parental duties hit all of us sooner or later. You’re now the falconer for this area. And if you run into something you don’t know, call me?”

      Halting the truck at the stop sign, Katie looked both ways. The highway was clear of cars. “I know, but you not only rescued me from screwing up the rest of my life, you taught me how to become a raptor rehabilitator, Donna. I feel in some ways, you’re the mother I never had.”

      Donna’s smile dissolved. She kept her hand on Katie’s shoulder for a moment. “Well, let me tell you this, Katie girl. Your mother gave you up at birth and I know you’ve never met her. I know you want to and I hope, for your sake, you do find her. In the end, you have me, and I love you very much. I won’t abandon you, Katie. That’s a promise.”

      Donna’s lowered voice moved through Katie. She dearly loved her raptor mentor. And in so many ways, over the last ten years, Donna had, indeed, saved her life. “You’re my mother incognito,” she teased, her voice hoarse. Fighting back sudden and unexpected tears, Katie kept her eyes on the road. “And I don’t care what you say, you’ve been more of a mother to me than my biological mother ever was.”

      Gently, Donna rubbed her shoulder, trying to ease the pain she heard in Katie’s voice. “I know. I remember when the state social worker called me in desperation. You were acting out, you were rebellious. She begged me to be your foster mom. She thought working with the raptors might help stabilize you.” Donna removed her hand, her voice wispy. “I remember the first morning you showed up. You were always skipping out of school, always in trouble with your teachers and the principal. You had dyed your hair red and yellow. You came into my raptor facility with a chip on your shoulder. All I had to do was ask you to put on the glove and a miracle happened.”

      After giving Donna a warm glance, Katie concentrated on driving up the long hill. “I was snotty to you at first. You ignored my antics and brought out Fred, your red-tailed hawk, and put him on my glove.” Fred had died several years later, but he’d been a wonderful training raptor for Katie.

      “Yes, and your attitude melted away.”

      Shaking her head, Katie said in a softened tone, “You saved my life, Donna. When Fred perched on my glove and looked at me, I felt my heart blow open like an explosion. I felt Fred. Feeling his energy changed me forever.”

      “Raptors are miraculous,” Donna agreed. “That’s why I was happy you bonded with Fred. In days, you turned from a rebellious teen into a beautiful young woman. All thanks to the birds.”

      “And to you. Without your love and you training me to work with raptors, I don’t know how I might have ended up, Donna. I got a high-school diploma. Every other foster family I’d been in thought I’d always be a dropout.”

      “Raptors are angels in disguise.” Donna smiled fondly. “They are earthly angels come to improve our lives and make us better human beings.”

      Katie drove alertly, remaining within the speed limit. As they broached the hill, she saw the Teton Range rising out of the plain on her left. The mountains shone in the morning СКАЧАТЬ