Fallen Angel
Page 20
to hear more and have her mind taken off the situation's injustices.
Jennifer smiled and nodded. “Yes, she returned a couple of days later. Poor Kyato, Kira’s not the most obedient of young girls.”
“I know how he feels,” Ed muttered. Donna frowned at him.
“The real breakthrough was made about a month later with my hairbrush believe it or not,” Jennifer said.
“Your hairbrush?” Ninah said.
“Yep. You see, I came up with this idea to start imitating the pair to see what would happen, so Marko and I started to wash at the same rock pool at around the same time they did, and to do it in a manner similar to their own. I’d do it slowly and delicately at the pool’s edge and I made Marko jump into the middle and splash about. Of course this got their attention and the pair came to watch, from a fair distance mind you. They didn’t seem bothered by us using the pool, they merely waited until we’d finished and had left, before bathing themselves.
On about the fourth time I decided to take my hairbrush, and after bathing, sat on a rock and proceeded to brush my hair. Well this was too much for Kira and she flew down to watch me, standing only a few meters away. Kyato didn’t like that one bit and he too landed a short distance away, ready to intercede should I try anything threatening, but doing nothing aside from that. He certainly kept his eye on Marko though, and there could have been something territorial in that.”
“Maybe that or he just pegged me as a male and therefore a greater threat,” Marko added.
“Why didn’t you film all this?” Ed asked.
“I guess I’m camera shy,” Jennifer said.
“Besides, like our winged friends, we were both completely naked,” Marko put in. Ed nodded in comprehension, blushing slightly.
“Anyway,” Jennifer continued, “I offered the brush to Kira and, after a few seconds and a couple of unsure glances at her mate, she cautiously approached and took it.”
“You should have seen Kyato, up on the balls of his feet, wings spread. Heaven help you if you’d made any sudden moves Jen,” Marko said.
Jennifer shrugged. “I had no intention of it. Kira took the brush and went over to the water's edge and started to do her hair while looking at her reflection. When she’d finished she came back to return the brush but I gestured for her to keep it. You should have seen her smile.
That was all it took. Kira started to bathe at the same time we did, always with Kyato watching over her of course. I showed her how to plait her hair and tie through a ribbon. She practiced on my hair, or just sat brushing it and letting me brush hers. Real young girl stuff, but she enjoyed it. I did too actually, it was a kind of female bonding thing.”
“Kyato never joined in?” Ed asked
“No, he was always on guard. Pretty soon Kira started to visit our camp during the day, sometimes with Kyato, sometimes even alone. I think she liked to get away from her mate’s protectiveness occasionally, I’m sure Kyato didn’t know where she was at those times. She never let anyone but me near her, and she always wanted to play with my hair. One time, one of the other girls and I showed her some makeup from what little we had, she certainly liked that and hell knows what Kyato thought when she flew back that time. Here, we’ve got some footage, watch.”
The screen lit up to show the camp once more, though obviously someone was holding the camera this time. It must have been about midday and Dr Hatfield and Marko were visible along with several other men and women, all sitting or standing about as Kira wandered around between them, totally unconcerned and uninhibited by her nakedness. However, by the red-faced looks on some of the camp’s young men, it obviously affected them.
Kira poked her nose into their tents and boxes of gear before going and kneeling down in front of Jennifer who’d sat on the ground herself. Although everyone seemed relaxed, it was obvious they all moved with deliberate and exaggerated slowness and care, lest any sudden move startle her.
”What’s she doing with you now?” Ed asked.
“This became almost a daily ritual, like her bath at the pool. She’d fly over the camp and only land if I were there. She’d walk around a bit, checking out anything new and seeing if anything had been moved, then she’d sit down with me and we’d do each other’s hair. I can’t be sure but I think she missed other female companionship.”
“Where’s Kyato?” Donna asked.
“Oh, he’s around. He never entered the camp while we were there but she was always in his sight. He’d stand a short distance away or circle high overhead, watching patiently while Kira did what she wanted. I think he realized we meant her no harm, but he took no chances just the same.”
“Did Kira show any interest in the other men at your camp?” Donna asked, trying to make it sound like innocent curiosity.
Jennifer smiled at her in a way that showed she knew exactly what lay at the root of Donna’s question. “No, not in that way, but she wouldn’t. You see, she’s mated already. We believe that they act far more instinctively in this matter than we do and like eagles, they mate for life.”
“You mean it’s just instinct, there’s no intimacy between them at all?” Donna asked.
“No, you misunderstand, I was only referring to their seemingly instinctual monogamy. They’re incredibly intimate with each other, and they mate, or I should say make love, the same way we do. That being the case, and for the sake of privacy, we just didn’t see the need to put it on the tape,” Jennifer stated firmly.
“Why are you making this tape?” Ed asked.
“Once finished, we hope to get it to someone in power or maybe one of the rights movements in the hope of getting Kira released and reunited with her mate.”
“But?” Ed prompted her.
“But, our mutual friends in grey have some damn powerful contacts and they’ve so far quashed all attempts we’ve made.”
“What about the press?” Felicity asked.
“We thought about it but hoped to avoid it. This pair seems to be unique so far as there have been no sightings or reports of any more like them. If they’re to have a normal unhampered life, it lies in keeping their existence a secret,” Marko said. The Blairs nodded at this. “We may have to tell them yet if we can’t secure Kira’s release in any other way, or God forbid, they get their hands on Kyato as well. His continued freedom is the only really hard, undeniable evidence that they exist at all. If Carlisle gets him too, neither will ever be seen again, of that I’m sure.”
They all sat in silent contemplation for a while until Donna asked, “What’s going on now?” indicating the TV where the tape had run on.
On the screen, the camera was jerking around, looking up and scanning along the top of the canyon wall. “Okay,” Jennifer said. ”This was taken about a month ago, further up the canyon. We’re just below their nest, if you look carefully you can see where it is, just under that overhang there.” She got up and pointed to it on the screen. “We knew the nest was there but originally decided not to approach it or even get close to it, lest we scare them off. However we thought we should risk a closer look because three weeks before this was shot, Kira disappeared.”
“What?” the Blairs asked in unision.
“She stopped coming to the camp and we didn’t see her at the pool or anywhere around. Kyato was about, we saw him from time to time, but not as often. He seemed much less active and spent more time around the nest. It was also around this time he started killing the goats.”
Marko took up the tale. “We wondered if maybe she’d injured herself or fallen sick, so we decided to risk a climb up to the nest and see if there was anything we could do, if needed. That’s what we’re doing now,” he gestured at the screen.
“You climbed all the way up there?” Donna asked incredulously.
Marko smiled. “Being able to climb is pretty much mandatory in our line of work. We all climb, and have our own equipment, though only I made this one. I took a pack with some fruit and medica
l supplies as well as some broad-spectrum antibiotic tablets, and I also had a small camera mounted on my helmet.”
They watched as Marko started up the cliff, the rope trailing down to the belayer below him. Then the view changed to his helmet camera. When he was a quarter of the way up, Kyato shot out and down to the same level. He fluttered about Marko for a minute before latching on to the cliff wall beside him. Kyato was clearly agitated and they could hear Marko’s rapid heavy breathing over the pickup. He stared angrily at Marko for a second before diving off again. Seen from below Kyato free fell before letting his wings catch him, then shot back up to the nest where Kira was now peering cautiously over the edge.
“For a second I thought he was going to pull me right off the wall,” Marko told the Blairs. “I’d never been so scared in my entire life!”
Marko resumed his climb and Kyato checked him out twice more, obviously becoming more agitated the closer Marko got to the nest, yet he did nothing to harm him. Once he stopped to quickly have a look at the rope, carabineers and cams that were securing Marko to the cliff wall.
The view switched back to Marko as he finally made it to the ledge below the overhang and pulled himself up. He panned the camera around. In the furthest corner, Kyato stood in a fighting crouch, ready to spring. His wings were spread out in either an instinctual display intended to intimidate, or in an effort to