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.The talons could rip the flesh from a person's face and Vivid had personally witnessed how efficiently the hooked beak could tear at the flesh of prey.She'd also seen him play this game with the girls before—they called it "Duck!" But Hector didn't seem to be playing.The cries were different, angry-sounding, as if the bird was agitated or upset, and Vivid couldn't remember him attacking anyone this way, ever.Hector had ceased his assaults and now soared high above, calling with a skin-chilling cry that, to Vivid's ears, sounded very similar to the keening sent up last night by Maddie's dogs.She thought that if she were a character in one of Nate's myths, she'd conclude that the hawk's strange behavior somehow related to the disappearance of the girls, but in real life there were no magic ravens offering guidance.Or were there?Vivid ran into the house and grabbed Maddie's shotgun.She fished out a handful of cartridges from the tin on the edge of a book-filled shelf and fed some into the gun.The rest she stuffed into the pocket of her shirt.She could hear her mother stirring on the settee behind her."Trabrasera? What's the matter, have the girls been found?"In rapid Castilian, Vivid explained the situation.Francesca moved to the broken window and tried to peer up into the sky."Hector is here?""Yes, and I'm praying he knows where the girls are.Somehow, I don't know how, but you must get word to Nate.I don't know where I'm going, but I'm going."They spent a precious minute discussing how Vivid could mark her trail, then Vivid ran to get her coat and gloves.She was halfway out the door when her mother called, "Take some of the dogs!""Good idea, Mama.I'm going to hitch Michigan and the wagon, you bring the hounds out front."Vivid had no idea how her mother did it, but by the time Vivid and Michigan were ready, Francesca came out of the house with all but one of the hounds.She even had Blue.Her mother asked, "Do you have anything in the wagon that belongs to either of the girls? Preferably something they've worn fairly recently?"Vivid climbed back into the wagon bed to see.She tossed aside tools, tarp-covered blankets, a cot, canteens, and other miscellaneous items, but found nothing.Then she remembered.Quickly she went back to the bench, stuck her hand beneath, and groped blindly until she found Magic's blue bonnet and handed it to her mother."It's all I have."She watched her mother let each of the dogs sniff the bonnet in turn.Francesca saved Blue for last and let him get a good smell of the bonnet's wide strings.Her mother said, "I don't know if this will help them, but I don't know what else to do."They were now ready to leave.Hector had been soaring in the sky overhead while Vivid was hitching up the wagon, but now he stood perched high on a branch of a nearby leaf-barren tree, observing the proceedings.Her mother called up to him and then extended her covered arm.At the command, Hector flew down just as he'd been trained to do, and landed as gently as his large curved talons would allow.She kissed him on his golden curved beak, and speaking in Castilian, told the bird, "Bring back my granddaughters Magic and Satin and I'll buy you rabbits for the rest of your life."She flung him into the sky and the strong wings propelled him up.Vivid slapped the reins against Michigan's back and they rolled out.Vivid had many worries as she followed Hector's flight.Chief among them, could she control the dogs, would she be able to handle the reins for what might possibly be a long ride, and had she lost her mind.That had to be the reason that she was out following a bird.But at this point, she'd follow an inchworm if she thought it would lead her to the girls.High above them, Hector continued to soar.Every so often, he'd fly a distance ahead, then circle back until he flew directly overhead again.Vivid swore he was leading her.She periodically checked his position to make certain they were proceeding in the direction he seemed to want her to go, and listened to his impatient-sounding calls.At one point, she shouted up to the sky, "I'm going as fast as I can."The dogs, on the other hand, were as silent as assassins.Every few hundred yards, Blue, accompanied by two or three of the others, would peel away from the main party and, with noses down, sniff bases of trees and the leaf covered ground adjacent to the road.They'd investigate for a few moments and then, as if satisfied, head back and join the wagon.The only unconcerned animal in Vivid's party appeared to be Michigan.For the mule, it was just another drive.Vivid had been stopping periodically to mark their trail by tying pieces of bandages to a roadside tree.If Nate was following he'd be able to find her.They were traveling west, she thought.Her gloved hands were beginning to hurt from gripping the reins for the past hour.She dearly hoped they'd reach some type of destination soon because she didn't believe she'd be able to drive for much longer.She could now see the river flowing swiftly on her right.She'd only been to this wooded stretch of the Grove once, and at the time she'd been lost, so she had no idea where Hector would lead from here.About a half-hour later, the bird flew off as had been his pattern.Vivid expected him to circle back as before but he kept going.When he was no longer in sight, she began to worry [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]