The Capture

all gizzard!

    I seen better lizards.

    One-two-three-four,

    You're goin down, won't ask for more.

    Five-six-seven-eight,

    You ain't better than fish bait...

    Nine-ten -eleven-twelve,

    I'm gonna send you straight to hell.

    The air was laced with Twilight's taunts. From the corner of his eye, Soren saw Jutt trying to jab at Twilight. But Twilight was as fast as his smart-talking beak. He dodged, he feinted with his jabs, seeming to aim for one place, then stabbing at another, and all the while yammering away in his hooting singsong taunts. First at Jatt, then Jutt. He would lure them in close for a strike and then strike back faster. His talons became a blur. Soren had never seen anything as fast and as light as the immense Great Gray Owl.

    Soren tried to keep his focus on closing in on 47-2 before, indeed, she caught up with Gylfie. Suddenly, however, Soren felt something strike him from behind. He flipped in the air and came down on his back.
    Jatt, much bigger, loomed like a monster owl above him. One ear tuft had been torn off completely The owl was in a mad frenzy. "I'll kill you! Kill you! I'll rip out your eyes!"

    Just as the sharp beak began to come toward him, Soren felt the air stir and a shadow slide across them.
    Then, miraculously, the huge weight that had pinned him down lifted. Still lying on his back, he blinked in utter amazement as he saw the ^vl rise above him -- not in free flight but in the talons of the most immense bird he had ever seen. Its white head glistened in the light cast from the crescent moon that was now directly overhead.

    On the ground to the left, another bird, also with a white head, stalked about the lifeless forms of Jutt and 47-2.

    Then Gylfie and Digger walked up. "I've never seen anything like it," Digger said. "Who are they? Who are these white-headed birds?"

    "Eagles," Twilight spoke softly with great reverence. "Bald eagles."

    "Hortense's eagles!" Soren and Gylfie both said at once.

    "Hortense?" said Mrs. Plithiver as she crawled out of her hole. "Who's Hortense?"

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Horten se's Eagles

    My name is Streak," said the smaller eagle, "and this is my mate, Zan. She is mute and cannot speak."
    Zan nodded to the four owls and dipped her beak almost to the desert floor. "Her tongue," Streak continued, "was torn out by the evil ones."

    "The evil ones?" Soren said. "Jatt and Jutt?"

    "And Spoorn and Skench, and the wicked creatures of St. Aggie's. I dare not call them birds!"

    "Was Zan the one who tried to rescue Hortense's egg?"

    Zan bobbed her head excitedly.

    "Yes, indeed, and she did rescue it but it was on that mission that she lost her tongue," Streak explained.

    Soren turned to Zan. "We saw you that terrible day. We saw what happened. You are both so brave to have helped Hortense."

    "Hortense was the brave one. There was never an owl quite like Hortense. Do you know that in Ambala nearly

    every other newly hatched owl chick is being named Hortense, even if it's male?"

    "Oh, my goodness!" Gylfie sighed. "And she hated the name so much. At least, that's what she told us."

    "Well, a hero is known by one name now in the Kingdom of Ambala and that name is Hortense."

    "What are you doing here in Kuneer?" Twilight asked.

    "We fly patrol over Kuneer," Streak said, nodding at Digger. "We have a great liking for these desert creatures. While we were out hunting once, one of our little ones tried to fly before she was really ready. You know young ones. It's the one thing we always tell them not to do -- don't try to fly too soon, never leave the nest when Da and Mum are away, and, bless my beak, don't a few always go and try it?
    She got a far piece but didn't know how to land and broke a small wing bone. One of these strange little owls, the ones that burrow in the sand, found our little Fiona and tucked her into their hole, fed her, coddled her, took the best care of her till her bone mended and she could fly. They found out where she came from and brought her back to us. Zan and I have always believed that there is more goodness than evil in the world. But you know, you still got to work at it. So that's what Zan and I do, now that all the little ones are gone. We work at it -- doing good, that is."

    Soren, Gylfie, Digger, and Twilight looked at the two large birds in wonder.

    "I don't know how to thank you," Digger said.

    Zan made a few nodding movements with her head that Streak observed carefully. "My dear mate says -
    - you see, I