Chloe and Sophia walked along the cliff hand in hand. It was cold, and the wind coming from the north nipped at their cheeks until they glowed bright red. On the ground, the dead grass was littered with patches of old snow. There were no trees along the ridge and no shelter, so one felt the elements full force. An occasional flake of snow drifted on the wind, and it seemed that the day could not decide what it wished to do. They walked down into a hollow a little out of the wind, and Sophia pointed out a bird flying out over the ocean in pursuit of a gull.
“What is it?” Chloe asked.
“A peregrine. It's after that gull.” They watched as the bird of prey dove repeatedly at the gull, each dive resulting in a narrow miss. Some bigger gulls came to the aid of their comrade, launching their own attacks against the now outnumbered peregrine. The peregrine made a few more attacks on the smaller bird before finally giving up and flying back toward the shore. Chloe knew the peregrine had just been outwitted out of its breakfast, but she breathed a sigh of relief on behalf of the gull all the same.
“Now look,” Sophia said, this time pointing inland. “A bald eagle!” Chloe watched the almost mythical bird as it soared above them, the wind under its wings.
“You know a lot about birds too, I see,” Chloe said, impressed with the girl’s knowledge.
“Windy taught me, and I put seed on the bird feeders outside the kitchen window. My favourites are the chickadees. I’m going to be an ornithologist when I grow up.”
“That’s a very big word for such a little girl. Do you know the song about chickadees?”
Sophia shook her head, so Chloe sang it for her. Sophia caught onto the simple little song quickly and soon was singing along happily as they walked up the other side of the hollow, the eagle soaring above their heads, their voices melting into the cold wind.
Just then a loud crack shattered the air. It came from close by, and even over the sound of the wind and the ocean, it was terrifying in its sudden loudness. Sophia screamed, and Chloe instinctively grabbed her and pulled her against her. Sophia’s scream was followed by another, the eerie tragic sound of something in pain.
Chloe looked in horror to see the magnificent eagle faltering in its flight. Sophia had her face pressed into Chloe’s coat, and Chloe held her there, not wanting her to see the fate of the falling bird. Sophia began to sob, and Chloe stroked her hair, trying to find a way to tell her what was happening.
At the same time, she looked for the killer. There was no way the shot could come from the direction of the water; the ocean, choked with broken pans of ice, was unnavigable. There would be no boats out there for a long time. She looked behind her along the length of the headland and the crooked line of the fence but saw nothing. She turned her eyes inland just in time to see a figure rise from behind a boulder in a small copse of stunted trees. She could not see any features from this distance but assumed by the size and clothing that it was a man. He wore a bright orange hunting cap with a dark jacket and pants. His gun was still raised toward the sky, his eye on the floundering bird as if he were about to fire again and finish off the job.
Chloe screamed at the man to stop, trying to make herself heard over the sound of the wind. She must have succeeded, because he turned and looked to where she stood at the edge of the hollow with Sophia clutching at her coat. Seemingly surprised that anyone else was out on the cold headlands, he brought the gun quickly down to his side. He took one last glance at the sky, turned, and ran away from the cliffs in the direction of the road.
Chloe turned her attention upwards and watched with sick apprehension as the bird continued to lose altitude. Again it cried and flapped its wings as if hoping to stop its plunge to the earth. Chloe prayed that the winds would carry it to the ground. If only it could land without being killed... If only the shot weren't fatal... If only it didn't land in the ocean where there was no hope of getting to it... Perhaps they could save the poor creature.
Chloe became aware that Sophia had dared to take her head out of Chloe’s coat. “What happened?” she cried, her voice trembling uncontrollably. “Who were you yelling at?” Sophia’s face was streaked with tears, her eyes wide with terror.
Chloe had to be honest with her. She could not see any way of protecting her from what happened. She pulled a tissue from her pocket and wiped the tears gently from Sophia’s face while she gathered the courage to tell her the awful news. She hated when children had to learn about the cruelty of adults.
“A man shot the eagle, and then he ran away.” She pointed up to where the bird thrashed in the air.
Sophia looked up and seeing the bird let out a terrible cry of anguish. “We have to save it!” she cried.
“I don’t know if we can,” Chloe said gently. “But we'll try. I just hope it doesn’t fall in the ocean.”
“It’s going that way," Sophia said, pointing along the edge of the cliff ahead of them. She pulled Chloe by the hand, and they hurried along the cliff, relieved that the bird was moving inland. The bird was now only about fifty feet in the air, still desperately flapping, and Chloe began to wonder if its goal was not to gain altitude but simply to slow its descent. Perhaps there was still hope.
They were now within yards of the bird, and Chloe stopped Sophia. “Let’s not scare it," she said quietly. "Let’s wait until it lands.”
“Okay,” Sophia said, her voice little above a whisper. They stood watching as the bird tumbled the last few feet, landing with a dull, painful thud. As Chloe and Sophia cautiously approached, the bird tried to stumble to its feet. Chloe could see blood streaking its side and one wing extended awkwardly from its body. It watched their approach warily, its black eyes under the white hood of feathers fixed on them with suspicion. “It’s okay,” Sophia cooed softly. “We’re going to help you.”
Sophia’s voice seemed to calm the bird, and it stopped struggling. Instead it drew its wings against its heaving sides, rolled onto its side, and looked at them as if to say I trust you. But despite this seeming show of trust, Chloe approached the bird with caution, afraid the bird might lash out at her with its large curved beak or sharp talons.
“I’m going to wrap my coat around it and carry it back to the house. We'll have to take it to a veterinarian immediately.”
“Will it live?” Sophia asked in a hushed tone.
“I don’t know,” Chloe answered gently as she removed her coat, the cold wind instantly penetrating her sweater in icy gusts. “I hope so.” Carefully she placed her coat over the bird’s back and neck. It didn’t move. Very slowly, Chloe lifted it and finished wrapping her coat around its sharp claws. She held it against her, finding it to be more awkward than heavy. The bird stayed quiet, the only movement its laboured breathing. Chloe knew the bird was in critical condition. “Go tell Windy what happened, and tell her to get a car ready. We have to get it to the vet quick!”
“But Windy doesn’t drive,” Sophia protested.
Chloe hesitated, Gaelan’s words echoing in her mind. I do not wish to be bothered… But she had no choice. “Ask Windy to get Gaelan then,” she said firmly.
Sophia looked like she had a moment’s hesitation as well, but a glance at the bird seemed to give her courage and she took off in a run toward the house.
* * *
Unable to concentrate, Gaelan put down his pen and went to the window. Windy had brought his lunch in on a tray, but except for the coffee it sat cold and untouched. He scanned the cliffs, but Chloe and Sophia were nowhere in sight. Windy told him they were going out for a walk when she brought him his lunch. He had made the necessary calls, and they supported Choe's story. He wondered now if he could start trusting her and let himself explore his feelings for her.
Just then he saw Sophia come tearing along the cliff, her hair flying out behind her. She stumbled and almost fell but did not moderate her breakneck pace. Gaelan could see this was not a game. She was not running for fun. Something was wrong. He scanned the cliffs. There was no sign of Chloe, and Gaelan felt a cold c
lutch of fear at his heart. Had she been hurt? Where was she?
Without getting his coat, he ran out of the house using the door that faced the cliffs. He rushed out to meet Sophia, and she came straight into his arms. In the unfamiliar gesture he held the girl and, looking into her terrified eyes, demanded to know what happened. “Where’s Chloe?”
Sophia was so winded and frightened she could hardly speak and, wrenching herself away from Gaelan, pointed down the fence line in the direction she had just arrived from.
“Is Chloe hurt?” he demanded. Where the hell was she? He imagined her at the foot of the cliffs, her body smashed against the rocks.
“Get the car!” Sophia finally gasped. “We gotta get the car!”
Gaelan tried to interpret Sophia’s word’s. Did Chloe need the car to get to the hospital?
“Show me where she is, Sophia!” he barked and started to run along the cliff as Sophia struggled to keep up. Just as he was about to scoop her into his arms, he saw Chloe emerge from a hollow in the headland. He stopped and watched her, a sense of relief flooding through him.
He soon noticed she was coatless and carrying a large bundle in front of her. He stopped and watched her approach, relief very quickly giving way to anger. He was angry with himself for jumping to conclusions so quickly, and he was angry that this woman whom he had known for a couple of days could have such an effect on him.
“What’s that Chloe’s carrying?” he asked Sophia.
“It’s a bald eagle,” she said, finally regaining her breath. “A man shot it.”
Now Gaelan was angry for another reason. Really angry. “Christ,” he swore, not caring that Sophia heard him.
“We have to get the car. It has to go to the vet!”
Leaving Sophia behind, Gaelan strode across the headland, and without saying a thing to Chloe, took the bird out of her arms. He laid it on the ground and unwrapped the coat.
The bird had been shot alright, and looking at it, so close to death, Gaelan felt almost blinded by fury. How could anyone possibly justify killing a bald eagle? Not only was it a magnificent animal, the entire species had only recently made it back from the brink of extinction.
“Take Sophia back to the house,” he ordered Chloe, wrapping up the bird again and lifting its near-still body in his arms. “I’m going to take the bird to the vet."
“I want to come to!” Sophia cried, clearly close to tears.
“No, Sophia,” he said sternly. “Go with Chloe.”
As he hurried to the garage for his car, he saw Chloe lean down and comfort the girl. He swore again. He could have done that! It wouldn’t have hurt just to say a few reassuring words to the poor child, so obviously upset. But as usual, he seemed incapable of expressing anything other than impatience with her. It was just that he was incensed over the bird as well. And then of course there was the scare he had when he thought it was Chloe who was hurt. Funny, he had been so afraid she’d been injuried, and yet when he found out she was fine, he didn't say a single word to her.
Once in the car, the bird lying still on the seat beside him, he phoned directory assistance on his cell and got the number of the veterinarian in Puffin’s Cove. The vet expressed his dismay and said he would be ready when he arrived. Gaelan then phoned the police and the game warden and told them to call his house and ask for Chloe. He did not know whether Chloe had seen the killer or not, but he hoped she’d seen something that would help catch the bastard.
When Gaelan finally arrived with the bird, the vet was not hopeful about its chances, but still he told Gaelan, as he hooked up an intravenous, that he would do what he could. He would remove the bullet and stop the bleeding and hope for the best. He suggested Gaelan call back in a few hours to see how it was doing.
Gaelan decided to wait in town, preferring not to deal with an upset Sophia. He would let Chloe do that, since she was already much better at it than he ever was. He did call Windy on his cell to give her the news before going into the Stinky Cod Pub, a bar that smelled not of codfish but beer. The owner was a burly American named John who had fallen in love with Newfoundland after a vacation to the province twenty years earlier. He’d bought the bar when it was a bankrupt fish market and never tired of telling tourists how when he bought it, it did indeed stink of fish.
It was too early in the season for tourists, and the few patrons were locals. They greeted Gaelan by name. "Looks like we're going to have some weather," they said. The pub was decorated to appeal to the tourists, and the walls were hung with fishing nets, lobster traps, mounted fish, and old advertising signs. But despite the kitschy décor, it was still a favourite of the locals, and the same people were likely to be sitting in it on any given day.
Gaelan sat down at the bar. “What can I get you?” John asked out of habit as he pulled from the shelf the single malt scotch he kept in stock especially for Gaelan. He poured Gaelan a generous shot and put the bottle on the bar next to his glass. They exchanged the usual observations on island politics and the crazy weather before John excused himself and went back into the kitchen.
Gaelan opened a newspaper and stared at the headlines, but all he could see there was Chloe’s face and all he could remember was the incredible relief he felt as he saw her come up the rise with the bird under her arm.
He took a long drink from his scotch. He couldn’t deny it any longer. What he had feared most had come true. In the moment he’d glimpsed Chloe and saw that she was safe, he’d felt something dangerously close to love. And it hadn’t gone away.
Maybe it was love. What else could it be? It was more than the fire he had felt when he kissed her. It went beyond that. At the moment he knew she was safe, he wanted to take her into his arms and keep her there forever.
So much for my resolve, he thought with a sigh. Determined never to fall in love again, he had done just that in less than a week. He drew his fingers through his thick hair, then sat for a moment with his head in his hands, eyes closed, contemplating the enormity of the mess he had gotten himself into.
It was not that he distrusted Chloe anymore. She was not after his money - and he suddenly felt like a fool. With all his education, he was really just another male chauvinist who thought all women were manipulative and greedy.
He remembered standing outside the classroom listening to Chloe teach Sophia, knowing without a doubt Chloe was the best thing that had ever happened to the child. Better than him, better than her own mother.
But God, she must have thought he was a monster, the way he treated Sophia. How could he expect a woman so obviously fond of children to love a man who couldn’t stand to be called Daddy? Would Chloe understand if he told her the whole story? Everything from the beginning? Colleen, his brother, Sophia. The whole sordid mess.
He lifted his head from his hands and poured another himself another glass of scotch. How could he expect anyone to understand the mess he had got himself into? He could hardly understand it himself. Worse yet, he couldn’t begin to imagine how he could extricate himself from it. Over the years, it had become such a web of lies and deceit that he wasn’t sure himself anymore where the truth lay.
One of the men at the tables came over and asked if he was done with the newspaper, and Gaelan folded it before handing it to him. A few more people came into the bar, and Gaelan realised it was the after-work crowd, here for a pint to unwind from the day's frustrations.
Sooner or later, someone was going to sit down and start talking to him, and he didn’t think he could tolerate any more small talk right now. But then the thought of going home and having to deal with Chloe and Sophia was also beyond his capabilities. He did not know how he could look Chloe in the eye right now. Not until he at least attempted to straighten out his life.
He pulled out his cell and called over to the vet’s office. He hadn’t completely forgotten about the bird, and he was relieved that its condition had stabilised. He asked the vet to do him a favour and call his house to pass on the news. He knew Chloe and Sophia would
be relieved and found himself feeling a rush of pride that the two of them had rescued the bird. Without their intervention, the bird definitely would have perished.
The Billionaire's Secrets Page 7