by Matt Musson
Shad could not resist showing off his televistic memory.
“Like in Lawndale, Illinois?” Shad inquired.
Roc looked over kind of surprised, and then quietly he answered.
“Yes. Like Lawndale, Illinois”
The rest of us glared at Shad until he spilled the beans.
“Lawndale, Illinois. It was about 9 p.m. when two large birds appeared to a group of boys that were at playing in a residential back yard. The birds chased the boys. Two escaped unharmed, but the third boy, ten-year-old Kelley McColl, did not. One of the birds reportedly clamped his shoulder with its claws, and lifted McColl about two feet off the ground, carrying him some distance. McColl fought against the bird, which finally released him.”
“Discovery Channel – Qwest for the Thunderbird”, Shad added.
“The Discovery Channel was wrong,” Roc said. “There weren’t two birds. There were three. I talked to Kelley two days after the incident. He was sure there were three birds – two larger ones and one smaller one that stayed up in the tree.”
“Well how come the Discovery channel never said anything about a third bird?” asked Freddie.
“Because, the boys were afraid to tell people the whole story. It seems they originally spotted the smaller bird. And, Kelley was throwing a Nerf football at the poor thing. Suddenly, her parents showed up – and Kelley got the ride of his life.”
We chuckled at the thought of Kelley getting his just desserts from a family of giant thunderbirds.
“They didn’t hurt Kelley, but you should have seen the big bite someone took out of his football.”
Roc changed the subject.
“When did the great bird make her first appearance here in Granite Falls?”
“About a week ago,” Bog replied guiltily. ”Hum, then he showed up last Sunday evening and then again last night.”
“And you never saw her before last week?”
“No. I am pretty certain that last week was his first appearance in the area.”
“Good,” Roc said. “I’m not too late this time. She’ll be back.”
“Why are you so sure?” Toby asked. “Maybe he flew off? Maybe he headed south for the winter? What makes you so sure that the bird will be back?”
“Because,” Roc replied,” the white buffalo said so.”
Roc asked a few more questions. Then he thanked us for our help and asked directions to the grocery store. He was going to pick up a few things and then set up camp out at Memorial Point.
He got back into his old pickup truck. He started the thing up and headed off.
As he drove out of sight, Shad asked a question.
“Did he say that he talked to Kelley McColl two days after the incident?”
“Yeah,” said Thor. “What of it?”
“That bird sighting? It was October 23rd, 1972. That was over 35 years ago.”
Without saying a thing, we all watched Roc as he drove out of sight. Finally Toby broke the spell.
“Well, I guess he’s a lot older than he looks.”
*************
Chapter Sixteen – World’s Prettiest Bird Watcher
Along with all the newsmen, the t-shirt sellers, the party goers and the general crazies that were taking up temporary residence in Granite Falls, there were also legitimate members of the scientific community.
After the second sighting – there was an influx of Ornithology (the study of birds) Professors from major universities. Also, an entire documentary crew showed up from the Animal Planet. Even representatives from the World Wild Life Fund set up a tent of the corner of the town square. (Then they promptly pulled it down and moved to the other side of the square to be closer to a hard partying team from the San Diego Zoo.)
And, everywhere there were graduate science students.
Graduate Students are college students who have already finished a four year degree and are working toward a Master's Degree or a Doctorate. Graduate science students tend to be the poorest of poor students. Most are scraping by with part-time teaching positions and maybe a little research money if they are lucky. They wear jeans with holes, ragged shorts, old t-shirts and sandals. They drive in cars that look like you have to push them to get them started. If the Grad Students are male – they don't shave their cheeks. If they are female – they probably don't shave their legs. On the whole, they looked like they could use a good meal, a hot shower and trip to the GAP.
However, Robin Kestrel was different.
Oh, Robin was a poor graduate student alright. She was studying Zoology at the University of Illinois at Springfield, where she was working on her Master's Thesis on the Flight Characteristics of Gliding Birds. Robin specialized in Buzzards and Condors – and when she heard about the Giant Bird of Granite Falls, she packed up her things and drove to town in an old VW mini-bus that had seen its better days. It chugged along like the little train that could. A peeling Lawndale Motors sticker fluttered from the license plate frame.
I will never forget that first time I saw Robin walking down Main Street toward the Custard King, where we were sitting at a picnic table enjoying our cones. She was wearing a simple peach sundress that was a little frayed at the edges but gave off a clean peachy glow in the autumn sunshine. She had flat leather sandals on perfect little feet and each toenail was flawlessly pedicured with opalescent polish. Her long blond hair shone like silken wheat, cascading across her tanned shoulders. Her round eyes sparkled sky blue and her teeth shined. She had a round face with a small nose and a big smile.
I could not help thinking how much she looked like Reese Witherspoon’s prettier sister.
Her strawberry lip gloss shimmered in the afternoon sun as she shared a private joke with the African Grey Parrot that was sitting on her shoulder. I sat mesmerized as I watched her approaching. Something important was nibbling at my brain. But, I couldn’t think. All I could do was stare at the vision gliding toward me.
“Hey. I recognize that Bird!” Bogdon finally said.
Then it hit me. So did I. That was Rottweiler sitting on her shoulder.
Robin walked right up to our table and stopped.
“Are these your friends?” she asked the Parrot. Rottweiler whistled and shook his head.
Robin reached up to her shoulder and Rott stepped onto her hand. Robin brought him up to her mouth and whispered into his ear. The bird chuckled.
“Well, thanks for your help, Rottweiler.”
She lifted her hand and Rott took to the sky. He was heading back toward the clubhouse as Robin called after.
“I hope we can see each other again before I leave town.”
She turned back to our table, and I realized the frozen custard was dripping down my hand. But, I didn't care.
“Hello. I'm Robin Kestrel,” She said. “Which one of you fellas is Bogdon Peabody?”
For two full hours, the entire club sat on that bench completely enchanted. Robin asked questions about the Giant Bird and we gave her all the answers we knew and some we made up on the spot.
When she laughed it was like crystal sunshine.
I know that doesn’t make any sense – but that’s what it was like. And we did everything but put an ice cream cone up our nose just to hear her giggle. (Though Shad tried.)
She told us that she was really looking forward to seeing the Giant Bird of Granite Falls. We, of course, assured her that he was bound to be making another flight soon. In the meantime, we would happily show her around our little community.
Shad, who was particularly smitten tried to impress her.
“I know every bird in town,” he said. ”I’d be happy to introduce you.”
Robin laughed out loud. She told Shad she might just have to take him up on the offer. Then, she stood up and walked off as we just sat there and stared.
Robin was not completely out of sight before her spell began to wear off. Freddie reached up and
flicked Shad on his ear.
“I know every bird in town,” he teased.
Shad ducked – but he did not turn around. There was something that he just could not take his eyes off of.
************
Chapter Seventeen – Pow Wow With Wakinyan
The next afternoon after school – we wandered around town square looking for a certain VW mini-bus. But, since we had no luck tracking down Robin – we decided to go hunting for Roc.
We rode our mountain bikes out to Memorial Point searching for our visitor from out West. We found him camped with a teepee pitched next to the big stone circle that the Granite Falls Daughters of Pocahontas use for their Annual Powwow Campfire and Weenie Roast. We could see the remains of a bonfire smoldering in the fire pit. A thick smudge of smoke was rising from the center and blowing right onto the stone where Roc was sitting with his eyes closed.
Roc’s jeans and boots had been replaced with fringed leather pants and moccasins. The work shirt was gone. He was bare-chested – but a feathered cape hung down from his shoulders and his hands were stretched out from his sides. He had a headband with three different feathers sticking up from behind. There was a leather strip around his neck and a silver thunderbird talisman hung down across his chest.
We approached slowly and quietly. We did not want to interrupt. We caught the scent of cedar from the fire.
“It’s a cedar smoke bath,” Toby observed. “He is purifying himself.”
For a minute we stood and watched as Roc gave no indication that he was aware of our presence. But then he slowly lowered his arms and put his head down for an unheard benediction. Then, he stood up and turned around.
“Hello Rangers,” he said. “I’ve been expecting you. Let’s throw some more wood on the fire and break out the hot dogs. It’s time to celebrate.”
When it comes to food – you don’t have to ask us twice. We helped Roc open up a large blue ice chest and pull out packages of hotdogs and sodas. From a hamper came buns and chips and graham crackers, chocolate bars and marshmallows.
In no time, the fire was blazing, and we were scarfing down dogs and S’mores, and washing it down with plenty of ice cold coke.
Roc was smiling and laughing. He even started squirting soda at us first, and we were happy to return the favor.
When we finished eating, we cleaned up the leftovers as darkness fell over the camp. Without thinking about it, we naturally circled around the fire pit and Roc shared ancient stories and traditions. He told of a yellow haired warrior who fought a bear the size of a mountain and of the salmon that jumped over the moon. Roc also spoke of the Thunderbird, the ‘Wakinyan’. He told how it fought and killed the giant man eating reptiles that infested the plains and made room for the buffalo.
Finally, Roc sang a song of thanksgiving to the Great Spirit. The haunting melody flowed out into the darkness. As he sang, he stood up and walked around the fire. When he passed in front of Charlie, Roc stopped and leaned over. He pulled off his necklace and placed it over Charlie’s head.
“This is for you,” he said. “This is for bringing Wakinyan to town.”
Roc’s song and the party both ended. And, we all knew it was time to get on home. We thanked Roc for the occasion, and just before we started to pedal off I asked a final question.
“What were we celebrating, anyway?”
“It was my bachelor party,” Roc explained. “My bride is coming to town and I will meet her soon.”
Puzzled, we said a final good bye and switched on our head and tail lights. Together, the Granite Falls Rangers peddled quietly back to town.
************
Chapter Eighteen – Second Thoughts
The next day was our regularly scheduled official club meeting. And, it turned out that some of us were having second thoughts about sending Gull-ible out again.
“It’s getting too risky,” complained Toby. “The town is packed with telephoto lenses and high definition cameras. Just one lucky photograph and the jig will be up. Besides, Abraham Lincoln said it best. ‘You can’t fool all of the people all of the time.’”
“Maybe,” Charlie countered. “But the United States Congress has proved over and over that all you need to do is fool 51%.”
Toby thought for a minute and then he took a different track.
“Okay. I’m just not sure it is right for us to keep deceiving people. Some of these people have traveled a long way and all we have to show them for their trouble is a plastic bird. Is it fair to Roc? Is it fair to Robin?”
“But, what about the people of Granite Falls?” Bogdon countered. “The motels are full and the stores are jammed. People are flocking to our little town – and they are bringing lots of money with them. Do you know I actually saw one of those TV news reporters pay $5 for a fifty cent cup of coffee?”
We discussed Gull-ible’s pros and cons for quite a while that afternoon. Everyone made good points. And we finally came to a conclusion: we had squeezed just about all the juice out of this orange. It was time to get out of the Thunderbird business. But, we decided to let Gull-ible make one last farewell flight.
We were just finishing up our meeting when…
“Knock, knock. Anyone home?”
Someone was outside the clubhouse!
And when I say they were outside the clubhouse I don’t mean that they were standing on the ground below the clubhouse. This voice was coming from outside the window and from within the tree branches.
We stuck our heads outside and there to our amazement sat Robin. She was sitting on one of the large oak limbs that was a primary support for our shelter. She was wearing the same dress that she had on the last time we saw her. In the broken sunlight that filtered through the oak leaves, she was somehow more radiant than before. She dangled her bare feet over the side. Twenty feet below we could see her leather sandals neatly stacked side by side.
She seemed completely at ease in the mighty oak. Rottweiler was perched on her left hand and she was feeding him sunflower seeds one by one with her right.
“Robin, what are you doing out there?” Toby inquired.
“Rottweiler and I were just having a little talk. And, I came by to see you guys, too. What’s new and exciting? Have you spotted any Thunderbirds lately?”
Shad had the goofiest look on his face. And, almost in a trance he spilled the beans.
“Oh he’s not real,” said the mooning love puppy.
“What?”
We panicked. Luckily Toby thinks fast.
“Ah… Charlie has a new Thunderbird, but it’s not real. A friend of ours gave it to him yesterday. Show her Charlie.”
While Charlie removed the talisman from around his neck, the rest of us gave a huge sigh of relief. Except for Shad, who gave a yelp when Freddie frogged him in the arm for being stupid.
Charlie held out the silver bird. Robin swung her legs up on the branch and in one swift motion she popped up on her feet. With her legs still together, she cupped her feet around the large limb below. Then she hopped towards us without any sign of fear – and without ever looking down.
She took the item from Charlie and studied it intently.
“Wakinyan,” she whispered to nobody in particular. Turning back to Charlie she asked, “can I borrow this? I promise you’ll get it back.”
“Sure”, said Charlie. (Yeah, like he would ever say ‘no’ to Robin.)
Robin smiled at us.
“I just came by to say Thank You. You boys have played a big part in helping me locate the Thunderbird. I dare say that I could not have done it without you.”
That made us all feel pretty guilty and I am sure we looked it. Finally Toby spoke.
“You know Robin; we really hope you have not made this trip for nothing. I mean, it would be a shame if you did not get see a real bird.”
“What do you mean?” she asked raising one inquisitive eyebrow.
“Well things are not always what they seem,” explained Toby.
Robin chuckled.
“No. They really aren’t,” she agreed smiling. “But don’t worry guys. Things have a way of working out.”
Toby had to clear his conscience. “You know we never meant to deceive anyone. We just wanted to have an adventure.”
Robin ‘hopped’ over to Toby and bent down. She reached out and took his face in her hands.
“Don’t be too hard on yourself, Toby. When this adventure is over you will realize that God always has a greater plan. There is a reason the Thunderbird came to Granite Falls.”
She stood back up and addressed us all. “You may also find out that not everyone is as… Well, let’s just say they aren’t as ‘Gull-ible’ as you think they are.”
“Can you excuse us for a minute?” Charlie asked.
We all ducked inside for a quick conference.
Charlie was in a panic.
“She knows,” he said.
“Of course she knows,” Toby replied. “I have an idea that she’s known from the very start.”
“Well, how did she find out?” asked Charlie.
“I bet Rott told her,” Freddie chimed in.
We all scowled at Freddie. But he countered,”hey, don’t look at me. Rott’s the one with the big mouth.”
“What now?” I asked.
“Just be cool,” Charlie answered. ”We need to act like nothing’s wrong.”
The conference was over and we stuck our heads back out the window. But Robin was gone! The tree limb was vacant.
With a sense of dread we leaned out the window and looked down, expecting to see a crumpled body in a peach sundress.
Instead, there she was, standing on the ground slipping her sandals on. She looked up and waved.
“I’ve got to go guys. There is so much to do. I have an idea that I’ll be leaving soon.”
“Will we see you again?” Shad asked mournfully.
“Oh, I’m pretty sure you will see me one last time.”
“Be well,” she added. And, Robin turned and walked away.
************
Chapter Nineteen – Gull-ible’s Grand Finale
That night was windy and then it rained for several days. This was not the kind of weather we needed for Gull-ible’s farewell flight.
