The Story of Tiberius

Chapter 64

"We usually meet here but he didn't show up this morning," Rosa explained as the siblings arrived at the clearing with the willow tree and small pond. A dreamy look entered her dark brown eyes as she added, "This is in fact where I first met him..." Tiberius made a face of disgust behind her back but quickly changed his expression when his little sister turned to him. "I saw that," she muttered, a frown on her face. Walking away to look for clues, Tiberius murmured, "I don't know what you're talking about..." He got a pinecone thrown at his head.

Walking around the perimeter of the clearing, Tiberius had his head close to the ground. He was trying to catch a scent of Rosa's true love Rufus. So far, he wasn't getting anything. Laying down in the middle of the clearing, Rosa sighed in defeat. "Tiberius, what are you doing? Our sense of smell is not that great, neither is our hearing," she pointed out. Looking over at his sister, the hawk muttered, "Are you forgetting who you're talking to? You said so yourself that I had better hearing and sense of smell than any hawk you ever met. Also, did you want my help or not?" Rosa kept her beak shut after that while her big brother returned to searching.

Passing by the base of an old beech tree, a familiar scent caught Tiberius's attention. It was a mixture of moldy mushrooms, onion grass and pine. There was also a faint trace of Rosa's scent in there. Knowing he had found the trail, the red tailed hawk muttered, "This way." Waiting for his sister to get over to his side, he led the way through the undergrowth. Like a bloodhound, he followed the scent, never once losing it. As he walked along its trail, Tiberius noticed that, though Rufus's scent seemed to grow stronger, it also seemed to be faint. It smelled about a day old, maybe even left from this morning. Before he could question it any longer, Tiberius caught a new scent.

Dog.

Motioning for Rosa to stay back, Tiberius pushed his way through some bushes to be greeted by the stench of death. Laying in a heap beside a rotting log was Rufus. Next to his talons was a half eaten pigeon. Cautiously approaching the scene, Tiberius bent his head down and sniffed the pigeon's corpse. Poison hit him right in the face. Glancing over at the immature red tail beside it, the hawk could smell the poison on him as well. Grief surprisingly swept over Tiberius as he quietly bowed his head in silence.

"Tiberius, did we..." Rosa's voice trailed off when she stepped through the undergrowth. Her dark brown eyes rested upon the dead body of Rufus. Perched on the rotting log, Tiberius gazed down at his sister. "Rosa, I'm... I'm so sorry..." he whispered. Tears streaming down her face, his little sister looked like she was going to fall at any second. Quietly padding over to her, the red tail wrapped his wing around her. Burying her face into her older brother's chest feathers, Rosa cried. Trying his best to soothe her, Tiberius sniffed the air again. He could still smell the trace of a dog, a male pitbull by the smell of it, in the area. Hopefully it was long gone.

But then again, Tiberius felt like they were being watched.