The Capture

to do the family flying for them and hunt as well. I tell you, I wouldn't give a pile of racdrops for such a life."

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

    Mrs. Rhiann

    They were on a border of scrub between the forest they had left behind and the desert that glimmered ahead in the distance. Twilight said they should take a rest and Soren, still irritated with Twilight's muttering about his and Gylfie's "coddled" upbringing, was determined now to prove himself as a hunter. So while Twilight and Gylfie tucked their heads under their wings for a quick nap, Soren flew off to find a vole or a mouse or perhaps even a rat.

    It was not, however, the heartbeat of a mouse that Soren heard, for it was much too slow, but it was a heartbeat. And between two beats did he hear something else as well? A soft whispering sound full of strange agony. Very few creatures have ever heard a snake weep. There are no tears but they weep nonetheless, and that is how Soren found Mrs. Plithiver. He alighted on an old moss-covered stump.
    There, nestled at the bottom of the stump where two roots poked up, he saw a pale coil glimmering in the light of the nearly full moon. He tipped his head over the edge.

    "Mrs. Rhiann.?" Soren blinked. He was incredulous.

    A tiny head lifted out of the coiled body. There were the two dents where eyes might have been. "Mrs.
    Rhiann.," Soren said again.

    "Mercy! It can't be."

    "Mrs. Rhiann. It's me, Soren."

    "Of course it is! Dear boy! Even an old blind snake like me would know that."

    This was incredible. She recognized him. All his worst waking dreams vanished. Mrs. Rhiann. uncoiled and began to crawl up the stump.

    Oh, it was a joyous reunion. They touched each others' faces gently, and had Mrs. Rhiann. possessed eyes, they would have shed tears of joy, but she insisted on slipping, slithering, and slinking her way across and over and under Soren's wings. "Be patient, dear. I want to get a sense of your plumage. Oh, my, you have fledged out beautifully. I bet you fly magnificently."

    "But Mrs. Rhiann., where are Mum and Da and Eglantine and Kludd?"

    "Don't mention that owl's name."

    "My brother?"

    "Yes, dear. He's the one who shoved you from the nest. I knew he was no good from the minute he hatched."

    "But you couldn't see him shove me. How did you know?"

    "I sensed it. We blind snakes can sense a lot. I knew you weren't on the rim of the hollow. You would have to be right on the rim to really fall out. You were just looking over the edge. You see, when he shoved you, I had been taking a snooze very close to Kludd's talons. I felt him stir. I felt the talons raise up and, well, sort of lurch. And then, of course, did he want me to go get help? No. He tried to stop me, blocked up my exit hole, but I found another all the same. Still, by the time I got back you had been snatched."

    Soren closed his eyes and remembered. It all came back. The awful moment. "You're right," Soren said quietly. "You're absolutely right. I was shoved."

    "Yes, and I sensed he might do the same to Eglantine. Your parents came back, of course, and they were devastated to find you gone. They gave Kludd strict instructions to mind Eglantine the next time they went hunting. But I knew what was coming. I was frantic when they went on another hunting expedition. I thought I'd have to get help. My friend Hilda worked for some Grass Owls in a tree in another part of the forest. They're a lovely family. I thought maybe they would give me some help. So I sneaked off when Kludd was asleep. Sound asleep, I thought. Well, do you know that by the time I came back Eglantine was gone as well."

    "Gone? Where? What did he say?"

    "Oh, it makes me tremble to even think of it. He said, 'You breathe a word of this, Rhiann., and you'll get what's coming to you.' Well, I couldn't imagine what he thought that was. So I said, 'Young fellow, that is no way to talk to your elders even though I am a servant.' And then ... oh, this is the hardest... he screeched, 'You know, Rhiann., I've suddenly developed a taste for snake,' and he swooped down on me."

    "Good Glaux!"

    "Oh, don't swear, dear boy. It doesn't become one of your station."

    "Mrs. Rhiann., what did you do?"

    "I went down a hole. I waited as long as I could for your parents to return, but I didn't hear anything except that awful Kludd. Well, there was a back way out of this hole and I thought if I wanted to survive I'd better leave. Imagine -- I couldn't even give notice to your parents. After all