The Jewel of the Amazon

Trouble

"There they are," Josè stated. "Those two birds alone are worth a fortune. The species is a rare find."

"But, Josè," the other interrupted. "We snagged one in Rio. What do we need these two for?"

Josè whacked the top of his partner's head. "Idiot. Were you not listening? These birds are hard to come by; therefore, they're worth a lot of money.

"Ok, but boss, one got away," he pointed out to Josè.

"One is plenty." Josè pressed a button, and up came the snare.

---------------

"Jewel! Wait! Help me!" Roberto cried out.

Jewel turned around and looked for Roberto, staring in horror at the snare he'd been caught up in. "Roberto!" she returned. "Hold on, I'm coming!"

As fast as she could fly, Jewel hurried back to try to break the trap. There seemed to be no hope for Roberto, however, for there was no part of the snare that could be broken by Jewel's beak. "Look for some sort of string or something at the top, Jewel," Roberto told her.

Snap. Roberto looked down and saw the humans approaching. "Hurry, Jewel!"

She searched everywhere, but this thing was so alien to her that she didn't know what to do. The trap wasn't made of vine that could be chewed through, and there was no string at the top; only wire. She shot Roberto a desperate look, for there was no way to save him. Then she felt a hand grasping her foot.

"Come here, pretty birdie," the helper said.

"Let go of me!" Jewel shouted as she clawed his hand with the other foot.

"Ouch!" he cried. "That bird attacked me!"

Jewel flew straight for his face, scratching him across his eye and all over both sides of his face, before flying away to get help.

"Forget that bird," ordered Josè. "Grab this one for now."