Friend or Killer?

Chapter 7

Three days had passed. Each one brought in a new report of a vicious attack. But these ones were different. The animals who managed to see the attacker and survive were able to recount what they saw, though it was definitely overexaggerated. One old dog claimed that the creature could breathe fire while a cat claimed that it create a tornado with its gigantic wings. But there was one thing that each of the reports had in common. The attacker was a large bird with sharp claws. Some even claimed to see the red tail feathers. And there was one animal that the gang knew of that fit the descriptions well.

Her little black nose close to the ground, Gidget kept her attention focused on tracking her prey as she followed the scent. However, it was growing fainter and fainter. At last, it disappeared altogether when she hit a marshy area. Flicking some mud off of her paws, she muttered, "I lost it." Hearing a soft chuckle above her head, the fluffy white Pomeranian looked up to see Tiberius hanging upside down from a tree branch like a bat. Releasing his hold and landing gracefully on the ground, the old hawk pointed out, "You can't just give up when only one of your senses looses the trail. When tracking, you have to use all of your senses and your brain." He gestured towards the marshy earth, signaling for her to try again. Huffing, Gidget looked down.

That's when she saw the pawprints.

Realizing that she might still be able to get the squirrel that they had been following for quite some time, Gidget kept an eye on the small pawprints in the mud. Taking to the air, Tiberius followed close behind in the canopy of the trees. As she went along, the fluffy white Pomeranian noticed other signs that the squirrel had passed this way, such as a tuft of coarse gray fur. When she eventually lost the pawprints on some rocks, she surveyed the area. A small sound caused her ears to perk up. Pinpointing the source somewhere off to her left, she crept over and peered down from a large rock to find an open clearing. Sure enough, the squirrel was there, nibbling away on an acorn.

Watching the plump gray squirrel, Gidget saw a dark shadow pass over her. A moment later, the rodent was screaming in terror. It was too late though as Tiberius swooped down and caught his midday snack. Looking away from the blood and guts while her best friend swallowed his bites whole with ease, the fluffy white Pomeranian stared instead at the blue sky above. She smiled when she saw one cloud that looked like a little lion cub frolicking under the sun. Hearing footsteps, she glanced over to her right to find that Tiberius was done eating. Spitting out a bone, the hawk asked, "So, what do you want to do now?" Thinking for a moment, Gidget answered, "Maybe we can practice tracking a lit-" She stopped when she heard a twig snap in the distance.

The next thing Gidget knew, a rock went sailing through the air over her head and struck Tiberius right in the back, causing him to screech in pain.