Scientific Fantasies (Wattys2015)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

All was quiet as she walked along the corridors, her shoes in her hand. She would carry them until she was in the car, making sure that she wouldn't wake anyone. They all knew that she was going out to test the falcon, for she'd told them that, but that didn't mean that they needed to be wakened this early in the morning. Creeping into her lab, she saw that Talon was already awake, close to slipping out of his chains. She sighed, and released him before turning to her desk, rummaging through the mess for the notes she needed to take to keep up the appearance of testing him. Finding them at last, she stuffed them into her lab coat pocket, and turned back to him, watching him closely, trying and failing to hold back an enormous yawn.

"Ready?"

He shrugged, tucking his wings more securely at his back. She knew that he was unsure of this. "I have to be."

It wasn't worth getting into an argument with him about it. She just sighed, and slid the hood over his eyes, ignoring the way he stiffened, and re chained his wrists, not as tightly as she'd done them before. Despite knowing that he could very easily slip out, he followed her obediently as she led him through the hallways to where she kept her car, and pushed him into the small enclosure in the boot. He curled in the corner as she'd expected him to, and neither of them spoke while she secured the chain and the door, making sure that it wasn't going to come loose or open while she was driving.

With all her preparations finally done, Natalia pulled her boots on, and began the long drive to the Peppers'  farm. But about half an hour into the trip, she pulled over behind some dense trees, making sure the car couldn't be seen, and let Talon out of the cage in the boot. He favoured her with a dark glare, but he still didn't speak as he curled on the front seat. His wings were still pressed flat against his back, and she didn't try to talk to him. He was still too unsure and stressed. The rest of the two-hour trip was done in silence, as she'd suspected it would be, but she didn't try to breach the silence even once. She had her own thoughts to occupy her while she drove.

The sun was only just rising as she pulled into the farm driveway, but she could see evidence that David and Maria were awake. The chickens had been let out of the coop, and the three or four horses that they owned had their heads down, intent on finishing the sweet hay that had been given to them. Talon shot out of the car almost before it stopped, his wings half spread as he searched for Bella. She wasn't long in coming, flying low and silent before she tackled him. But still neither of them made a sound. Bella clung to him, and Natalia caught a shine of a tear before she turned her head away, going up the stairs into the house.

As she'd known, breakfast was being served, and Maria sent her a warm greeting. "Natalia, honey. You're just in time for breakfast. Come sit down." David just grunted from behind his newspaper, making Natalia smile as she slid into a chair.

"Thank you," she said. "How has the morning been so far?"

"Good, good. No frost, which is good. But it'll be coming soon. We're past July, after all. It's frost season. You had no trouble on the roads?"

Natalia laughed as she ate half her egg in one go. "Of course not."

"Don't speak with your mouth full." David sent her a cheeky glance as his wife rapped his knuckles with the wooden spoon.

"You're not one to talk," she scolded warmly. "No reading at the table. Eat up. There's work to be done."

There was very little talk as they both obeyed, and soon all the plates were clear, all the food gone. As Maria cleared the table, brushing aside Natalia's offers to help, she spoke over her shoulder. "And the boy? Has he eaten?"

"No," Natalia admitted. "But he doesn't eat much. At least, I don't see him eating that often."

"Alright then. Bella knows where food is if they get hungry. How long are you staying?"