Chapter 8: Percival

Garett turned away from Raul, so that his friend could have a moment alone with the condor.

As Garett walked in the direction of a kiosk, a mature-looking bird flew down from a tree and sat on his shoulder. His eagle powers immediately told him that the bird could talk, so he walked even further away from Raul, who was chatting to the eagle.

“Hello, birdy, are you happy here?” Garett asked straight away because he did not want to waste time with formalities.

“Hello to you too,” the bird answered in the voice of an elderly man. “A beautiful day, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is,” Garett agreed. “So, are you really happy to be here?” he repeated.

“How can I be happy, when I’m all cooped up like this?” the bird replied.

“What do you mean?” Garett responded, pretending to be very naïve. “This is a vast and beautiful place, with more than enough space to fly and soar around.”

“Don’t be silly,” the bird replied. “Some of us come from better places than this. Even working at Percival’s family home was better than this,” the bird murmured.

Garett was intrigued as well as shocked. This was definitely not the voice of some distressed young girl who had been abducted. It very much sounded like a man who had once worked in Percival’s home in human form. Or could it be a bird that had worked there as an entertainer?

“Just who are you then?” he asked the bird, while he kept looking over his shoulder to see if anyone was approaching. “I was a butler at Percival’s family home for over twenty years before they paid me off and packed me off to the old-age home,” the bird said in an aggrieved tone. “I gave them excellent service,” he added.

“Alright, then,” Garett said thoughtfully. “I’m really happy to hear that. I understand that you are very unhappy now, but could you please tell me your name and about how you ended up here, instead of the old-age home?”

“I cannot tell you my name, for the sake of my own safety,” the bird responded. “There is a lot more going on here than you would expect.”

The bird then told his story to Garett, while Raul was distracting Graham.

Afterwards, when they were on their way out of the bird sanctuary, Garett could not wait to tell Raul about what he had heard.

“Oh, my word, Raul!” he exclaimed.

“What were you doing under that tree?” Raul asked. “It seemed as you were in a deep conversation with that bird, because you really stood there for a long time, inspecting flowers, that’s why I didn’t interrupt,” Raul whispered.

Raul knew that Garett sometimes identified animals which were actually humans. It was a rare skill which was prevalent amongst shape shifters.

“I knew you would give me a chance to do some investigating. Thanks, Pal,” Garett responded, as he gave Raul a pat on the shoulder.

“So you did find evidence of what you suspected?” Raul asked in a soft tone of voice.

“I found out that Percival is really wicked and greedy,” Garett said with a furious expression on his face.

Percival and Raul have been attending the same schools since early childhood and they had always been friends, even though Percival was two years older. Percival was the son of Reese’s friend, Jayden and so their children often had sleepovers at one another’s homes.

“You know, that guy gets me really pissed off sometimes, but I don’t think he is actually evil enough to charm people into bird,” Raul responded to Garett’s statement.

“You are not looking at the situation objectively,” Garett insisted. “This bird told me the truth and it’s something which cannot be ignored, Raul.”

“Percival’s mother passed away when he was nine years old, as you know and so he became bitter and angry, but the only harsh things he does involve the hunting of rabbits.”

“Well, remember how upset you become when he wants to force you to be tough enough and hunt animals yourself in the bush?” Garett asked, in an objective tone. “According to him, he wants you to become as tough as he is.”

Percival once told Raul that he wanted him to become an excellent marksman, but Raul did not always understand Percival and he sometimes wondered about his sanity. He still couldn’t imagine him being outright evil, though.

“We have to get out of here first, before we can discuss anything further,” Raul stated in a low tone of voice.

“Alright then. Let’s get home and do our homework,” Garett responded. “Your place or mine?”

“We can go to my place today,” Raul responded, as they reached the exit gates.

They then walked on to their cars and looked around to see if anyone looked at them suspiciously.

Raul paused at his vehicle and faced Garett, before opening the door.

“Well, Percival is sometimes temperamental and he is very opposed to the Light-bearers, I know,” he said as he rubbed his hair in confusion. “He has also always been suspicious of Melinda. So, I suppose that does make him somewhat unpredictable,” he admitted.

“Oh, he is quite impulsive and irresponsible sometimes,” Garett agreed. “Let’s get going before it gets even later then,” he said before taking a last look at the bird sanctuary and walking to his own vehicle.

As he drove home, Raul thought about Percival again. He recalled that at a ballet show one afternoon, he had asked Percival to change his attitude for the sake of peace, because he took everything too seriously and loved arguing. He was also too hard on his twin brothers because he often challenged them to beat him at chess or with hunting. They hated every minute of it, so he called them Sissies.

Oh, man,” Percival had responded in an irritated tone. “You are being brainwashed by Melinda and she is making you weak. You need to become tough and brave. Just for once, stop believing in dreams and romance.”

“Oh, who are you trying to fool?” Raul had joked in return. “Look where you are, Percival! You are attending a ballet show about a romantic fairytale and so that means that you are romantic at heart, no matter who much you protest,” Raul had laughed, as he poked Percival in the ribs. They were sitting next to each other in the ballet theatre hall.

This was how Raul knew Percival and he was quite accustomed to the boy’s contradictory attitudes.

*

Later on, at Raul’s home, he and Garett sat in the library, because there were no distractions like television sets there. They had decided to focus on their homework only.

After about half an hour, Garett could not contain himself any longer.

“We have to talk about our expedition,” he whispered.

“Alright,” Raul whispered back. “We will have to wait for Melinda though, because she is coming to watch a movie with me later.”

“Great, because this is intriguing as well as very serious,” Garett insisted. “Do you know what that bird actually said to me while you were busy chatting to that eagle in the sanctuary?” he asked in a whisper.

“You can tell me later,” Raul replied, because he felt that his studies were now very important to him, in light of what he had heard his father confess. He wanted to become well educated enough one day and become financially independent. He had decided last night, as he travelled home from Garett’s home, that he didn’t want to depend on his father as an adult one day, just in case he was expected to make compromises with the wolf clan.

“Alright, but before someone else comes in here, let me at least tell you the most important part,” Garett suggested.

“Okay then, tell me quickly,” Raul said with a quick glance at the door. “Let’s hope my dad doesn’t need any books.” He didn’t want to dampen Garett’s excitement, but Raul really did not think it was safe to discuss these matters in the study.

Garett sat sideways, so that he could keep an eye on the door.

“You see, that bird says that some of the birds inside of the sanctuary want to turn against Percival and begin to conspire against him by spying on him, but they cannot sneak out.”

“Then how will they do it?” Raul asked with sudden interest. “Do you think they could be the girls who went missing a year ago?”

“I can go back there and then sense who they are and then I can begin to communicate with them somehow,” Garett suggested. “The other birds are afraid, even though they sing well for entertainment’s sake. They just pretend to be happy and try hard to please Percival.”

“It sounds so strange, even though I should be used to strange things happening around me by now,” Raul responded, deeply in thought.

“This bird that I spoke to says that Graham is a secret overseer of the place,” Garett whispered. “He keeps Percival up to date on developments inside the bird sanctuary, because Percival becomes suspicious of the birds and even his own friends sometimes.”

“And you say this informant bird used to work for Percival’s family and so he’s reluctant to give his name?” Raul asked curiously.