Chapter 4
The Blue Parrot
Just a quick recap: while having lunch outdoors at a snack bar kiosk, Eddie was going to buy a drink but got his leather card case with his I.D. card stolen by something blue that swooped down from the sky and flew back up.
He stared in horror at his empty hand and screamed, "My card case!"
Both Viv and Lily sprang out of their chairs and immediately looked up.
"There!" Viv screamed, pointing north. "It's that parrot! Somebody, stop it!"
A nearby security guard heard yelling, followed where Viv pointed and saw the bird. Briefed on the parrot's mischief, the guard carried around a butterfly net while on patrol, although he didn't think he'd need to use it so soon. He quickly sprang into action, running after the parrot while holding the butterfly net high over his head.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Again and again, he swung the net. He swung it down, up, right and left. But the parrot was a master of flight and very evasive. It dodged each and every swing of the net by mere centimeters and then looped around the security guard before flying away.
Out of breath, the guard used the butterfly net for support while bent down.
"Oh no!" Lily cried. "It's getting away!"
"No!" Eddie screamed. He jumped up, knocking his chair down, and ran after the parrot as fast as he could, brushing past the security guard still recovering. Both he and the bird shrank out of view before anyone could stop them.
"We should go after him," said Viv.
"Sure," said Lily.
Together, the girls hurried past the security guard and headed down the way they last saw Eddie run. A tall teenage boy with dark, ebony skin and short, curled hair arrived at the snack bar just as they disappeared down the road. He took one look at the slightly crouching guard and asked the nearest kid what happened.
"It's that dang parrot again," said the blonde girl. "Snatched that kid's wallet right out of his hand and flew off. Headed that-a-way!"
The boy looked north where the girl pointed and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He thanked the girl and then walked away.
Meanwhile, Eddie and the girls followed the thieving parrot all the way to the castle. They circled left around the grand old building to a big grass courtyard behind it. The courtyard was boxed in by very tall hedges and had a couple of very tall trees. Lily spotted the parrot perched on a branch of the middle tree.
"There it is!" she shouted, pointing at the bird. Clutched beneath its talons was Eddie's card case.
Eddie stopped right under it and tried jumping up to grab it. But the branch the bird sat on was too high for him to reach. He quickly gave up and then tried climbing up the tree instead.
"Ow!" He threw himself against the tree trunk and tried to pull himself up, but the tree's bark was loose and was torn off beneath the weight of his fingers, and he fell back down onto the grass.
Viv reached her brother's side and asked, "You okay?"
"Do I look okay?" Eddie snapped.
"No, not really," his sister said.
Lily gasped. "Your hand's bleeding!"
Eddie's hands had been scratched up and turned into a pincushion by splintered tree bark.
"Never mind that," he snapped. "I need to get that card case back!"
Viv looked up at the bird and then at the tree her brother failed to climb.
"We should get help," she said. "There's no way any of us can reach that parrot without a ladder."
"Good idea," said Lily. "In that case, I'll - !"
"Ah!" Eddie cried out. He looked up in despair as the parrot suddenly spread its wings and took off, carrying his precious card case in its beak. It went high, high, high into the sky and disappeared over the hedges.
"Well, nothing we can do now," said Viv.
"No way!" Eddie groaned.
"We'll just have to let the admin office know what happened and order you a new I.D. card."
But then Eddie whined to his sister, "It's not just the I.D. card. That card case has Mom's picture in it! I can't lose that!"
"Eddie . . ."
One look at the boy's face was enough to tell Lily just how important that picture was to him.
She sighed and then spoke up.
"Eddie," she said. "Do you think you can keep a secret?"
Eddie looked up and, confused, said, "What?"
"I think I can get your things back," Lily said. "But before I can, I need you to promise you'll keep a secret for me."
"I'll do whatever you need me to if it means getting that picture back," Eddie said. "But just what's your plan?"
Lily exchanged a knowing glance with Viv who nodded back, and then replied, "Just watch."
She took a few steps away from the twins and then held her hand out. The blue jewels of her bracelet sparkled against the sun.
"Broomstick, please!"
The jewels shined bright and just like she requested, a broomstick appeared in her hand.
"Whoa!" Eddie cried out. "Where'd that broom come from? It just showed up out of nowhere!"
Viv grinned and said to her brother, "You ain't seen anything yet."
After mounting the broomstick, Lily kicked up and zoomed to the sky.
"She can fly!?" Eddie cried out. "Seriously? She can fly on a magic broom? Is that magic? Real magic? Like in the movies?"
The twins watched as she flew over the hedges and disappeared the same way the parrot went. She quickly spotted the parrot making its way to the woodland at the north and steered her broomstick after it.
The parrot must have sensed her approach because when she got close enough and made a grab for the card case, it suddenly veered right. Lily's missed swipe pulled her down and she nearly fell off her broom. After righting herself back up with a spin, Lily spotted the parrot turning again to the direction of the woodland and flew after it.
Down below, the Waller twins ran out of the courtyard, spotted her chasing the parrot north and followed.
Lily tried again to grab the card case when she got close enough, but the parrot again dodged, this time going left. She and parrot circled around each other once, twice, and thrice. And then the parrot dove down, followed closely by the girl. They went straight back up and then zigzagged left and right.
"Hold still!" Lily shouted.
The parrot squawked back, as if to say, "Make me!"
Again and again, they danced around each other, going up, down, and side to side. Lily got close to the parrot many times, but the parrot would always narrowly evade her hand.
"Come on!" Viv cheered. "You can do it, Lily!"
"Get it, Lily!" shouted Eddie. "Don't let it get away!"
The twins were on a patch of grass behind an old, box-shaped building watching Lily and the parrot fly in a circle before shooting straight up to the sun.
Lily's eyes stung against the sun's sharp glare, but she stubbornly pressed on with her gaze locked onto the black leather square pinched between the parrot's claws right beneath its tail feathers.
"Come on," Lily muttered to herself. "Come on!"
Closer and closer, she inched towards the parrot. She reached out for the card case, stretching her hand and fingers as far as she could. The tips of her fingers just barely brushed against the edge of the card case.
"Come on! REACH!"
And then she did it. She grabbed hold of the card case, clutched it tight and yanked it out of the parrot's talons. The surface of the case was torn, but the more important things inside it should still be okay.
"Got it!" Lily cried out triumphantly.
She turned to flee before the parrot could snatch the card case again, but then -
"NO! MINE!"
Hearing what sounded like lots of deep-voiced men screaming at the same time, Lily looked back over her shoulder and shrieked when a sudden gust of wind blew her away.
She spun five times, hugging the broomstick tight and close to herself while urging it to stop. Even when it finally did, the world around her still spun a while longer, but she could see clearly enough to see what had become of the blue parrot. And what she saw made her gasp.
What was once a normal-sized parrot, was now at least three times bigger than Lily.
Faster than she could blink, the parrot lunged at her and snatched the leather card case out of her hand with its curved beak. Lily looked at the card case in the giant parrot's beak and then at her own empty hand, blinking in astonishment.
"MINE!" the parrot roared again through its clenched beak. "WANT IT, CHALLENGE ME!"
"Eek!" Lily shrieked.
The parrot flapped its wings a couple of times, slamming her with an even stronger gust of wind than before. She went spinning down, down, down to the ground.
"Lily!" Viv cried out in horror when she saw her roommate falling.
She and her brother ran while keeping their eyes on the falling girl. They were joined by a tall, older black boy who had come rushing to the rescue.
But just before Lily could hit the ground, light shined from her bracelet's jewels and formed a bubble around her. Her fall slowed to a gentle drift down into the arms of the awaiting trio. After they put Lily down, the bubble around her popped and the gang huddled over her with concern on their faces.
"Lily, are you okay?" asked Viv.
Lily numbly nodded yes. She was dazed, but otherwise unscathed.
When she found enough energy, she turned her gaze to Eddie and hoarsely said, "Sorry. I had the case, but then the parrot - !"
"I know," Eddie said, unable to hide his disappointment. "I saw the whole thing."
"Where . . . ?" Lily asked.
"Gone," Viv answered as she helped Lily up to her feet. "The parrot flew away while you were falling."
"Back to its nest at the northern forest area, I reckon," said the older boy. "Everyone who's seen the parrot said it always flew that way."
Everyone stared at the older boy.
"Sorry, but who are you?" asked Lily.
The boy gave a friendly smile and said, "The name's Oliver, age fifteen. My hobbies are solving mysteries and helping people, usually both at the same time. And before you ask, yes, I saw everything, Miss I-Fly-On-A-Magic-Broom. If you don't mind, I'd love for you to tell me all about that."
Lily exchanged a glance with Viv, then rolled her eyes over at Eddie and sighed. It hasn't been one day and already, not one, but TWO people discovered her major secret.
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