The Raptor Rescue Read online

  They hurried back to the main building. Violet glanced all around as she ran. “I hope he’s close by, but it’s scary to think of an injured eagle around here. He might attack someone who gets too close.”

  “Pierce wouldn’t hurt anyone,” Benny said.

  “Maybe not on purpose,” Violet said. “But if he’s hurt and scared, he might fight. Even if we find him, we’ll have to let someone more experienced catch him.”

  They entered the main building. Carmen and Daisy were studying a piece of paper. “I’m sure I already signed this invoice,” Carmen said.

  Daisy shrugged. “I don’t have a record of that. Maybe it got lost in all the stacks of paper.” She looked over at the children.

  “Bad news,” Henry said. “Pierce is not in his enclosure.”

  “He escaped!” Benny shouted.

  “Oh dear,” Carmen said.

  “I’ll get the gloves and a net.” Daisy headed for the supplies on a nearby shelf.

  “We should have food for him,” Benny said as he patted his stomach. “That works for me. If I’m ever lost, bring food that smells good. I’ll come running!”

  Daisy grinned. “That’s exactly how we capture eagles in the wild. You get a trap that looks like a fish. When the eagle grabs it, padded loops catch the eagle’s feet.”

  “Are you going to try that now?” Violet asked.

  Daisy shook her head. “Pierce is somewhat used to people. He’s been fed here. Plus he’s still recovering from the stick that went through his wing. He won’t be able to fly away. I hope I can get close enough to catch him.”

  “If that doesn’t work, or if we can’t find him, we’ll put out a trap.” Carmen grabbed a pair of the long leather gloves. “You children can look for Pierce, but let one of us catch him. Don’t get too close if you see him.”

  Carmen was quiet for a moment. “How did this happen?” she asked at last.

  “The enclosure door was open,” Henry said. “The padlock is on the door, but it wasn’t hooked to the doorframe.”

  Carmen groaned. “Who could have opened the door? I checked all the buildings last night. I’m sure the door was locked then.”

  “You know, this wouldn’t happen if we installed those automatic doors,” Daisy said. “I’ve been telling you—”

  “Not now, Daisy,” Carmen said with a sigh.

  The women left the building, still arguing.

  “We can’t catch Pierce,” Henry said. “Let’s look for clues.”

  First they walked around the buildings. They didn’t see any way to get to Pierce’s enclosure without going through one of the buildings to reach the courtyard.

  “Those buildings are locked day and night,” said Henry. “But the staff have keys. The volunteers borrow keys when they need to work in one of the buildings. Someone could have copied a key and come back at night.”

  “Unless they got an emergency call, no one should be here at night,” Jessie said.

  Henry nodded as he examined the enclosure door. “Look. The door isn’t damaged. None of the wires are bent. The saboteur didn’t have to break in. They were able to open the lock. It uses a key, so it’s not like they could guess a combination number.”

  “That means they left the door open on purpose,” Jessie said.

  “Someone intentionally risked Pierce’s safety.” Violet could hardly believe it. “Why would they do that?”

  “That’s a good question,” Henry said. “Also, who is doing it? We need to find out fast before a raptor or a visitor is hurt.”

  “I’m worried about Pierce,” Benny said. “He can’t hunt on his own. He must be hungry.”

  “Don’t worry, Benny. Eagles don’t have to eat as often as we do,” Jessie said. “They may not eat every day in the wild.”

  “That’s awful,” Benny said. “I’m glad I’m a human so I can eat every day.”

  They looked for more clues. They couldn’t find footprints on the concrete of the courtyard. All they could find was a single eagle feather. That wasn’t much of a clue, since it probably fell off Pierce when he got away.

  They heard voices approaching. The building door opened.

  Daisy walked in with an eagle perched on her arm. It had a hood over its head.

  “Pierce!” Benny said.

  Daisy signaled for Benny to be quiet. “He’s fine, but we need to keep him calm.” She spoke in a soft murmur. “The hood helps with that, but let’s not have any loud noises.”

  Carmen followed Daisy into the courtyard. “We’ll have the vet examine Pierce during her regular rounds. Dr. Lauren will make sure he’s fine.”

  Daisy went to the enclosure door and swung it open. She gently removed the hood from the eagle’s head. Pierce gave a cry and hopped down onto a branch in the enclosure.

  Daisy closed the door and locked the padlock. She turned toward the group.

  “You found him really fast,” Henry said.

  “He hadn’t gone far.” Daisy crossed her arms, still encased in her heavy green gloves. “We got lucky this time. But what about the next time? We need the security doors. I know money is tight, but doesn’t the safety of the raptors come first?”

  Carmen’s shoulders slumped. “Fine. Get me some prices, and I’ll see about working it into the next budget. That’s assuming we don’t get closed down or lose all our funding before then.”

  Carmen headed back into the main building. Daisy followed her.

  The children stayed in the courtyard, looking at Pierce. “I’m glad he’s back,” Benny said.

  “It was lucky that Daisy found him so quickly,” Violet said. “And she caught him! She’s really good with raptors.”

  “We need to find the saboteur fast,” Henry said, “before a raptor gets hurt.”

  “You’re right,” Jessie said. “We might not be so lucky next time.”

  Questions and Answers

  The veterinarian came that afternoon. She said two of the children could go with her as she checked her patients, but Benny was too young. They all loved animals, but Violet really loved them, so Jessie said Violet could go with Henry.

  Daisy wanted to write up a budget for the electronic door system, so Jessie volunteered to take over the phones and greet people who came in. Meanwhile, Benny sat at another desk, having a snack and watching the eagle cam.

  Jessie had time between phone calls to update her notes. She retrieved the volunteer schedule and compared it to the days when problems had occurred. She finished and closed her notebook. They had some clues and some suspects, but they still didn’t know who was causing problems or why. They needed more information.

  The door opened and Sebastian came in. His eyebrows went up when he saw only Jessie and Benny in the room.

  “May I help you?” Jessie asked.

  “I’m worried about the owl I brought in,” Sebastian said.

  “I saw her this morning,” said Jessie. “She’s doing well. The veterinarian is checking on the raptors right now. If Hoots needs anything, Dr. Lauren will take care of it.”

  Sebastian shoved his hands in his pockets and scowled. “You make it sound good, but what about the eagle that escaped?”

  Jessie was about to explain how Daisy and Carmen were planning to fix the door problem when a question came to her mind. “How do you know about that?” she asked.

  Sebastian shrugged. “I don’t like the idea that the raptors can just get out whenever they want. If they’re injured, they need to be contained. They shouldn’t be trying to fly. Someone could find the injured bird and hurt it worse.”

  “I understand,” Jessie said. Sebastian had not answered her question though. Before she could follow up, the door opened again, and Faisal Raad entered.

  “As soon as I heard about the eagle escaping, I rushed over,” Sebastian went on. “I didn’t rescue that owl for it to be hurt here or let go too soon.”

  “What’s that?” Faisal pulled out his little notebook. “Tell me about this eagle escaping. And an owl
was hurt here?”

  “It wasn’t!” Jessie stood up. She was still shorter than both of the men, but at least they weren’t looming over her. “The owl is fine. It was injured before it came here. Now it’s getting treatment. And Pierce is back in his enclosure.”

  Faisal glanced up from his notebook. “Pierce…that’s the eagle that had the stick piercing its wing. Clever name. So it did get out last night?”

  “That’s what I heard,” Sebastian told Faisal. “I love raptors. I was so excited to rescue that owl, but now I’m not sure I was right to bring it here. I want to make sure the center is safe, and I’m not getting any answers!”

  The door opened once more. Now what? Jessie thought. She sat down in relief when she saw Dr. Lauren with Henry and Violet.

  “Dr. Lauren, this man is worried about Hoots.” Jessie pointed at Sebastian. “He brought in the owl and wants to make sure she’s okay.”

  Dr. Lauren drew Sebastian aside and spoke with him. Henry and Violet joined Jessie by the desk.

  Faisal grinned at them. “This place is great for my career. I was afraid the story would be over in one day, but it looks like there’s more.”

  “I don’t know of anything wrong right now,” Jessie said.

  “But an eagle did escape, right?” Faisal asked.

  Jessie hesitated. Carmen wouldn’t want the news getting out, but Jessie couldn’t lie about it. Finally she nodded. “He’s fine now though.”

  “Pierce didn’t go far,” Henry said. “The problem was solved quickly. It was really impressive. Everyone got busy as soon as we found the cage door open. They brought him back only a few minutes later.”

  “That’s not very dramatic,” Faisal said. “I bet the capture was exciting though. That huge beak and those sharp claws! Who caught the bird? Was it Daisy? Is that why she’s not at the desk today? Is she in the hospital after the bird attacked her?”

  “No!” All four children spoke at once. Henry nodded at Jessie to continue.

  Jessie took a deep breath. “Actually, Daisy is working with Carmen on a plan to get electronic doors. They think that will be better security for the birds. It depends on funding though. So you see, everyone is doing the very best they can.”

  “Maybe you could write a nice story about the center,” Violet said. “You could help them get more funding so they can take even better care of the birds.”

  “We’ll see,” said Faisal. He checked the time. “I’d better run if I want to get this story in tomorrow’s paper. Tell Daisy to call me and tell me all about the exciting capture.”

  The children stood for a minute, watching him go. “He’s only worried about himself,” Jessie said.

  “I guess he’s only doing his job,” Henry said. “But it looks like the center is going to get more bad publicity. We should tell Carmen, but maybe later. She has enough to worry about.”

  After Sebastian left, Dr. Lauren went back to talk to Carmen. After a little while, Carmen and Daisy came out to the reception area.

  Jessie told them about the reporter. “I told him you were trying to get funding for the new doors,” she said. “I hope that’s okay. I wanted to show that the center is doing everything it can to keep the birds safe.”

  “Excellent,” Daisy said.

  “As long as we can actually find a way to pay for it,” Carmen said. “I don’t want to make promises we can’t keep.”

  Daisy took her place behind the desk. “I’ll bet the publicity brings in more funding. You’ll see.”

  “I hope so.” Carmen smiled at the children. “It’s a little early, but why don’t we head back to my house? Daisy, do you mind closing up? I’m worn out.”

  “You can count on me,” Daisy said.

  They picked up some groceries on the way to Carmen’s house. The children helped prepare dinner. The meal was tasty, but Carmen still looked tired and sad.

  Violet wanted to cheer her up. “The Raptor Research Center is amazing. Grandfather said you’ve been there since the beginning. How did you get started in raptor rescue?”

  Carmen smiled. “I guess you could say it started way back when I was a kid. I found an injured bird in my yard. It wasn’t a raptor, but a swallow that had crashed into the window. I nursed it back to health. Finally it was able to fly away. Seeing that bird take off and soar through the sky…”

  Carmen gave a happy sigh. “It changed something in me. I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I started studying birds. I read about them, and I looked for them. My father gave me a small pair of binoculars. I started bird-watching in my yard, at the park, on vacation. When I was old enough, I volunteered with a group that rescued falcons and hawks.”

  “That must be when you decided you wanted to rescue raptors,” Jessie said.

  Carmen nodded. “I like other birds too, but raptors really need our help. They have low rates of reproduction. That means they don’t have very many babies. Some species breed after one or two years, but other species have to be at least three years old. Large eagles may not breed until they’re over four years old. Birds with low rates of reproduction are at higher risk of extinction.”

  “That means they might die out soon,” Benny said. “We don’t want that to happen.”

  “That’s right,” Carmen said. “Raptors are predators, so they’re at the top of the food web.”

  “I remember learning about the food web,” Jessie said. “It shows how all the living things in an ecosystem are connected. If raptors are at the top of the food web, it means they eat a lot of other animals. Other animals don’t eat them.”

  “Isn’t it good to be at the top of the food web?” Benny asked.

  “It’s not really good or bad,” Carmen said. “Usually, animals that get eaten reproduce quickly. They start having babies early and they have a lot of them. Rabbits can have several litters of babies in one year. Each litter can have up to fifteen babies. A single rabbit can have over a hundred babies in one year!”

  Benny’s eyes opened wide. “Wow! That’s a lot of baby bunnies.”

  “Nature is well balanced on its own,” Carmen said. “Animals at the top of the food web don’t have many babies. They don’t usually need to because they don’t get eaten. Animals that get eaten have lots of babies. That way some of them are likely to survive. Things stay in balance. But people have thrown off the balance. We don’t eat raptors, but we do kill them.”

  “But you said it’s illegal to kill raptors,” Violet said.

  “It is illegal to hunt them,” Carmen said. “But it’s not illegal to drive on the highway and have a hawk hit your car. It’s not illegal to put up a building and have a falcon fly into it. We harm them simply because of the way we live in the world. Half of raptor species are declining around the world. Almost twenty percent are threatened with extinction.”

  Carmen sat up straighter. “But we can save some of them. Some species are threatened or endangered. Of course we want to save every member of those species. Other raptor species, like great horned owls, are common. But I want to help them just as much as species that are endangered, simply because they’re so wonderful.”

  “They are wonderful,” Violet said. “I think what you do is amazing.”

  “Thank you. And thank you for your help this week too.” Carmen covered a yawn. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to read a bit and go to bed early. I’m worn out. You’re welcome to watch TV.”

  “Don’t worry about us.” Henry pushed back his chair and stood up. “Don’t worry about the dishes either. We’ll take care of them.”

  The children washed the dishes and tidied the kitchen. Then they headed to one of the guest rooms.

  “We need to find a way to help Carmen and the Raptor Rehab Center,” Violet said. “She’s been doing this for so long. She must feel like her dream is falling apart now.”

  Jessie pulled out her notebook. “Let’s look at our suspects. First, Sebastian Hawkins. He brought in the owl, but he doesn’t trust the center. Why? What does he ha
ve against the place? And how did he know the eagle had escaped today? I think he might be involved.”

  “How would he get in at night though?” Henry asked. “I’m not sure about Daisy. She caught Pierce awfully quickly. Was that just luck, or did she know something about where he went? She has keys and knows everything about the center. She’d know when the place was going to be empty.”

  Violet wrinkled her nose. “Daisy really seems to love the birds and the rescue center. She has all these big ideas and plans. She wants to make the place better. Why would she cause trouble? If she closes down the Raptor Rehab Center, she’ll lose her job. I think she caught Pierce so easily because she’s good at her job.”

  Jessie frowned as she made notes. “Carmen isn’t as excited about making changes. She loves the place, but she seems tired from all the work. Maybe she should let Daisy do more. Daisy has more energy.”

  Benny sat on the edge of the bed, bouncing slightly. “Don’t forget the reporter. He came in twice this week at exactly the wrong time. How did he know about the problems? Maybe he’s behind them. Maybe he’s causing the problems to make a good story.”

  “They’re all possible suspects,” Henry said. “I talked with Dr. Lauren today. I don’t think she’s involved. She only goes there when a staff member is present, so she doesn’t have keys. I don’t think she’d gain anything from causing problems either.”

  Jessie looked up from her notebook. “I looked over the list of volunteers today. None of them were scheduled on both days, when the cards were changed and when Pierce escaped. Most of them volunteer once a week at most.”

  “That was smart,” Henry said. “Of course, if someone made a copy of the key and came in at night, the schedule wouldn’t show that. Still, I think we have three main suspects.”

  “Now we have to figure out which one it is,” Benny said.

  Caught on Camera

  Benny yawned. “My brain is tired of thinking. Can we watch the eagle cam? I like to say good night to Pierce before bed.”

  “I’ll bring it up on my phone,” Henry said.