Page 334 of Nobody's Girl

“Okay, let’s bring them down,” I whisper to Alyssa.

We drop our arms slowly. The birds come in to land, running up to us and stopping just in front of us. I turn us to face the group of men.

“Time to put on a show,” I say quietly. “Raise your arm, pointing to just over their heads.”

She does as I say. The birds run past us, right at the men, then pull up to fly inches over their heads. Their majestic ten-foot wingspans and the wind they create blow the cowboy hat off of the sheriff’s head.

“Shit,” one of the guys shouts as he ducks down.

“They’re huge!” The sheriff says, with excitement in his voice.

“So, you see, Sheriff Hardy, that’s what we’ve been hiding. A pair of escaped California Condors. This is Leo. He’s here to pick them up and take them back to the wildlife park they escaped from,” Kyle tells them as Leo walks up to the group.

“Hi, guys. They’re pretty cool, huh?” Leo says.

“I’ve never seen birds that big,” the other guy tells Leo.

“I bet you haven’t. They aren’t found in this area. These two accidently missed out on getting their wings clipped and ended up taking off one night. We’ve been missing them for about a month. We were sure they would never make it out on their own,” Leo tells them.

“Why was it so secretive?” the sheriff asks him.

“I have to be truthful with you. It was my doing. I’ve been covering up their absence, hoping to find them. I met Kat and Koby a while back when they came to a training seminar. I called them and many other trainers to help me find the birds,” he answers.

“So you made them keep it a secret that they’d found them?” the sheriff asks him.

Leo nods his head yes. “I would lose my job if the truth came out. I had to make up a reason to come all the way down here. It took me several days to get the time off and drive here with a cage to take them back home with. I hope you don’t turn me in. I didn’t want to tell anyone I didn’t have to about this. But these guys tell me you have their friend’s wife in custody.”

“I had to do whatever it took to get to the bottom of this. I live here, you know?” the sheriff says.

Alyssa and I drop our hands, bringing in the birds once again. They come in just over their heads. They land, then come to us, stopping in front of us. We turn to walk back into the barn and the birds follow us. Once in the barn, I turn to the birds.

“Thank you for helping us out,” I tell them.

“Time to go back home, Lucy and Ricky,” Alyssa tells them as we walk to the door of the cage. The birds walk into the cage, then turn around to look at us.

As I close the door to the cage, Alyssa says, “I hate that we have to send them back into captivity.”

“It’s for a good cause, Alyssa. The conservation program is bringing them back from near extinction. Ricky and Lucy are helping to increase the California Condor population,” I explain.

She takes a deep breath and sighs. “Bye, guys.”

I hold my hand out to them. They both come to touch my hand with their bumpy faces. My mate touches them too, wishing them a safe journey.

Leo comes back into the barn. “I think it worked, guys. They all just left to go to the jail.”

I smile at him, then Alyssa walks to him, giving him a hug. “I can’t thank you enough, Leo. We’re going to come see you at work soon.”

I shake his hand and laugh. “Thanks so much for all of your help. You are a great actor.”

“I guess those acting lessons paid off after all,” Leo tells us.

“When you get back, you’ll find that The Phoenix Foundation has given a generous grant to your California Condor Program, as well as a generous grant to you for all of your help,” I tell him.

“That’s really not necessary, guys,” he says. “I’d do anything to keep your secret.”

I smile at him. “Your protection is greatly appreciated by us. Please accept our gifts to you. It would make us happy.”

“Thank you, I will,” Leo says, then closes up the wooden door on the bird’s crate.