Молли Фитц - Legal Seagull

“Be right back,” I told the flock as I settled into his passenger seat. He’d turned on the seat heater for me on his way over, knowing I’d appreciate having it toasty warm when I got in.

As soon as the door clicked shut behind me, Charles spoke in a hasty whisper. His eyes reflected concern, worry—not anger or irritation. “Don’t you have to leave early tomorrow morning on your road trip? Why are you taking this on now?”

He was right, of course. The timing was dreadful, but what could I do? “I didn’t have much of a choice,” I answered in a small voice even though I’d hoped it would come out confident to allay his doubts.

“There’s always a choice. Whatever squabble these seagulls have they can solve themselves. You need to be well-rested so that you can focus on your trip and driving safely. Nothing they need could be more important than that.”

I loved that Charles always had my best interests at heart, no matter how inconvenient they were for him. Unfortunately he didn’t have the whole story yet. I didn’t either, and of course it was fully possible Bravo had lied to get me here.

Still, I had a chance—maybe a small one, maybe a big one—to finally fill the fissure in my heart that had opened wide when Pringle revealed our family’s hidden past. A part of me was missing, and these birds potentially knew how to find her. I needed to take the chance, not just for me but also my mother. She’d never known her true biological parents, and she deserved to meet the one that was still alive, to find out why she’d been shucked off under a strange veil of secrecy in the first place.

I swallowed hard, then finally raised my eyes to meet his. “They said they know where my grandmother is,” I revealed, then let out a slow, shaky breath.

He cocked his head to the side, clearly confused by this proclamation of mine. “Yeah, she’s back home preparing for the trip. Probably baking her fourth batch of cookies for the day.”

I held his eyes, placed a hand on his shoulder, and tried again. “No, the other one.”

“Your biological grandmother?” He gasped, unable to keep his voice down any longer. “But nobody knows what happened to her or where to find her.”

I motioned my chin toward the window. “They say that they do.”

“And you believe them?” Charles raised one skeptical brow. I couldn’t tell whether he thought I was crazy for choosing to trust them when his brief encounter with the gulls had already proven they played by their own set of rules. But I’d already made my mind up. Now it was time to choose my attitude. I could pout and question everything—or I could make the best of it, no matter how awkward.

“I think I do,” I answered after a brief hesitation. “But even if I’m wrong about this, I still have to try.”

He grabbed my hand and gave it a kiss. A giant smile lit his handsome face as he let my hand go and turned toward the driver-side door. “Then let’s go help some seagulls.”

Chapter Five

I clutched tight to Charles’s hand as Alpha and the rest of Flock 82 led us around the back of the strip mall and into the brambles behind the pavement. Once clear of the overgrowth, we reached a clearing filled with an oversized patch of dead grass that had likely only just been exposed again after months being covered in snow.

Alpha stopped and signaled for the rest of us to do the same. “Now that we have a bit more privacy, let us begin,” the leader gull announced, then flew up to perch on my shoulder.

Charles flinched but remained in place at my side, although now with a death grip on my hand.

“Go ahead. Tell us what you need,” I said with a very slight nod, not wanting to startle the wielder of the sharp beak that was currently far too close to my face for comfort.

Alpha turned his head at an odd angle to stare at my face, bringing that weapon-like beak even closer. “As I mentioned earlier, this is a most urgent matter. Flock 84 has declared war, and we have ten days to secure a peaceful resolution before that declaration becomes official. We want to avoid war at all costs, because—”

“Hang on,” I mumbled. “I need to be able to translate for Charles.”

Alpha let out an irritated cluck but waited for me to share what I’d learned so far.

“Okay,” I said once the other human was caught up. “Just pause every couple sentences as you keep going.”

The bird shook out his feathers, clamping his talons into my shoulder a bit too firmly in an effort to keep his balance as he did so. “Like I was saying, we want to avoid war at all costs, because Flock 84 is much larger and better equipped for battle.”

“What does a war between seagulls entail?” I asked, trying not to laugh as I pictured a pair of angry white birds fighting over a fast-food wrapper. It was a scene I had witnessed more times than I could count, growing up on the Bay.

“Silence.” Alpha gave me a sharp peck on my collar bone. He hadn’t applied much force, but it still really, really hurt.

I shook him off my shoulder and rubbed at the sore spot above my chest.

As I did that, Charles jumped into protective boyfriend mode. “If you hurt her again, I’ll end your war before it even begins by feeding all of you to my cats!”

A panicked caw rose up, and several of the gulls took flight in an attempt to add some distance between themselves and this new guy who was aligned with their biggest predator.

“If we must respect you, then you must respect us,” the gull told me. “You laughed at the thought of dozens in my flock getting slaughtered.”

I knew instantly that he was right. I’d been far too insensitive given that lives were on the line. “I’m sorry,” I said, my voice ringing out in the night like a bell. “Please do go on. We want to help however we can.”

“We have ten days to seek a peaceful resolution, and it’s up to us—the flock under attack—to declare the governing law. We chose human law, and that’s where you and your foul-mouthed little friend come in.”

I translated for Charles, leaving out the insult.

“Why would they choose human law?” he asked with a scrunched brow.

It was a good question. I wanted to know that, too.

“As I’m sure my second has already informed you, we keep tabs on you humans. Especially those of you who are gifted with the voice. All birds watch, but 82 watches closest of all. We knew we could reach out to you, a human with the voice and legal expertise. 84 will have a hard time finding someone to defend them within the allotted waiting period. Let alone to build a case.”

“Makes sense, but what are you fighting for?” I asked, hoping his answer would be the final piece needed to make sense of the flock’s needs and how Charles and I fit into it all.

“Land,” he said simply.

When he didn’t elaborate, Bravo spoke up. “Our neighboring flock, number 83, went missing several weeks ago. Assuming they’d abandoned their territory, we moved in to secure it for 82. But then 84 got it into their bird brains that the land should be theirs since they have a larger population.”

“Why do you think it should go to 82?” I asked, not letting it slip that I thought the warring flock had sound logic here.

Alpha narrowed his eyes at me—at least I think he did. It was kind of hard to tell with birds since their eyes were set on either side of their head instead of straight above their beaks. “Because we were here first. Also, 83’s former land sits nicely with ours.”

“Here?” I asked with a squeak as Alpha flew back to claim his place atop my shoulder. This couldn’t possibly be about some strip mall on the shady side of Dewdrop Springs. The rental prices here were practically free because so few ever wanted to step foot anywhere near this beaten-up town.