Guardians of Ga'Hoole 03 - The Rescue

Dewlap was the Burrowing Owl who was head of the Ga’Hoolology chaw, generally thought to be the most boring chaw in the entire tree. It was devoted to understanding the physiology and natural processes of the great tree where they lived, which sustained their lives. And even if you were not in a particular chaw, you were still required to take classes in that subject.
    “Oh, racdrops!” Twilight slapped the air with his feathers, causing a hearty gust to sweep through the hollow. “Dewlap gave me a flint mop for acting up in class the other day. I completely forgot.” Twilight was always getting into trouble in Ga’Hoolology. It was easy as it was so boring. In fact, the other owls lived for Twilight’s antics during that class. He was the only source of relief from boredom. “I was supposed to go help her bury pellets at tween time.”Tween time was the time between the last drop of sun and the first shadows of the evening.
    “Well, she started snooping around and found all of you gone,” Primrose said.
    “Do they know where we were?” Soren asked.
    Gylfie shrugged. “I don’t know. But the four of us are to report immediately to Boron and Barran.” Gylfie paused. “In the parliament.”
    “Oh, Glaux! In front of everyone?” Digger said. There were in all eleven owls who made up the governing body of the Great Ga’Hoole Tree known as the parliament. They decided to which chaws the new owls, after a period of general training and education, would be assigned. They planned the precise dates on which the milkberries would be harvested. They were in charge of all missions of diplomacy, war, and, most important, support to owls or groups of owls in need. They supervised all the many ceremonies and festivals of the great tree and settled all arguments. They also decided on appropriate “flint mops,” as they were called, since there was no real word for “punish” or “punishment” in the language of the owls of Ga’Hoole. Owls were never struck, hit, bitten, locked up, or given less food. They did not even believe in taking away privileges such as attending parties or festivities or banquets. What they did believe in was the flint mop. Flint stone wasthe most valuable tool the owls of Ga’Hoole had. It was with their flint stones that they ignited their fires. The word flint had, over the years, become a synonym for anything of great value. To say something was flinty or had flint meant it had real worth. Therefore to be a flint mopper was to be someone who scorned the value of something. And if you scorned the value of something, you were required to pay back what you had taken away. Thus, the term for the payback came to be known as a “flint mop” as well. A flint mop was as close as owls came to the word punishment. And the flint mop in Twilight’s case was helping Dewlap, the Ga’Hoolology ryb, bury pellets which nourished the roots of the tree.
    “So we have to go to the parliament right now?” Soren asked.
    “Right now.” Gylfie nodded. “And I don’t think we should be late.”
    “Enter!” It was the loud resonant hoot of Boron through the bark doors of the parliament hollow. This hollow was one of the few that had actual doors, for the business of the parliament was often top secret. Although Twilight, Soren, Gylfie, and Digger had, in fact, discovered a place deep within the tangled roots of the tree where something strange happened to the timber of the trunkjust above and the voices of the parliament owls could be heard. Sometimes the four owls listened in. Had this been found out it might be considered worse than what they had done now. Although Soren was still not sure what they had done that was so bad. Yes, they had gone away during the harvest festival—but was that really all that bad? It was bad if it had been found out where they had gone perhaps, but the only one who could really be considered a flint mopper was Twilight, who had completely forgotten to do his flint mop.
    Only three owls of the parliament were perched on the white birch branch that had been bent into a half circle. There was Boron, his mate, Barran, and Dewlap. He supposed he should be relieved that there were just three and not the entire parliament. And, insofar that the only other owl present besides the monarchs was Dewlap, this might mean that indeed the worst error was Twilight’s forgetting his flint mop.
    “Young’uns,” Barran began. “It was brought to our attention by the good