Page 55 of Chaos and Crowns

By the time the fighting fowl came to a halt in a wide swath of snowy grass, they were far ahead of Odelle and Antony.

“I don’t understand, Pags has always been friendly with other birds.” Antony panted as they struggled to catch up. The birds now circled each other, flapping their wings and posturing.

Odelle didn’t have enough breath to point out that Pags was likely not extremely experienced with other birds if he never left the Sanctuary. Instead, she settled for saying “Chicago geese aren’t just any birds.”

As they reached the open patch where Pags and the goose had landed, Odelle and Antony were forced to push through a gaggle of runners and pedestrians who had paused to spectate the unusual standoff, phones in hand.

“Pags! Pags!” Antony shouted, waving his arms as if to draw the birds’ attention away from each other to no avail. He moved forward, about to physically insert himself between the animals, but Odelle grabbed his arm.

“Are you crazy? They’ll pluck your eyes out!” Odelle admonished.

“Pags would never hurt me,” Antony argued, tugging lightly against her grip, but she held fast.

“Maybe he wouldn’t, but I wouldn’t assume the same for the goose.”

As if to prove her point, the black and gray bird coiled back its long neck before lunging with a snap of its bill, pulling out a tuft of Pags feathers in a viper-like strike. The gathered crowd gasped collectively.

Odelle glanced around and saw a fallen tree branch on the ground. She darted over and picked it up, finding it to have many twigs fanning out from the larger branch, a handful of shriveling stubborn leaves clinging on despite fall having long since passed. Satisfied, she inched towards the birds, branch in tow. When she saw an opening, she shoved the branch between Pags and the goose, forming a twiggy barrier and forcing both to back away a few inches. Antony took the opportunity to leap forward, grabbing Pags under the wings and hauling him away.

Odelle had to give Antony credit, the peacock was quite domesticated, as it allowed him to tuck him under his arm with minimal fussing. As the goose turned its beady gaze on Odelle, she froze. She would have thought that facing down the Shadow creatures would make an angry bird seem far less intimidating by comparison. Something about the black glassy eyed stare the goose fixed her with though made her heart hammer.

She lowered the stick she held to the ground, taking pains to avoid any jerky or sudden movements. The goose hissed once more, revealing a red tongue, bright against its black bill, but it didn’t advance. Once she dropped the branch, Odelle began to inch away, trying to exude as non-threatening an aura as possible. She wanted to turn and run, but she knew better than to show her back to an angry animal. The last time she had retreated from an angry lakeshore goose that way, it had chased her off the path and into the water, much to the amusement of onlookers.

When she was a few steps away, the goose gave one final honk, as if to celebrate its show of dominance and turned away to pluck at the withered grass poking out from the frozen snow. Odelle’s shoulders slumped with relief. Antony stepped up beside her, Pags still held firmly at his side, tailfeathers so long that they nearly dragged on the ground.

“The geese are so lovely, I had no idea they could be so vicious,” he said mournfully.

“You have no idea,” Odelle said as she led them back to the paved path. “They’re the bane of all lakeshore runners.”

“They certainly gave Pags a thorough scare,” Antony agreed, stroking the cerulean feathers on the side of the peacock’s face with his free hand. Pags seemed to relish in the attention, leaning into the touch and letting out a soft trill.

“Why don’t we get him back to the Sanctuary?” Odelle suggested. If she had thought she could use a mimosa when she first met Antony in the park, now she was dying for one.

* * *

When Odelle’s phone buzzed with a message from Nora a while later, she was extraordinarily glad to have a fizzy beverage in her hand.

Looks like you did get on the news again, if not in the way you hoped for.

Below the message was a link to a video clip.

Odelle opened it and turned her phone so Antony could see it also as they ate their brunch. Antony was once again demolishing a plate of waffles, but he had now discovered they could be made with chocolate chips. The satisfaction on his face indicated that his world had been forever changed.

“Today, lakefront runners witnessed a shocking occurrence, documented in this video from one of our viewers,” Amy Biderman’s voice played through Odelle’s phone as a jerky phone video showed on the screen. The clip may not have been as high quality as a field camera, but the garish coloring of the peacock was unmistakable. The footage showed Pags and the goose circling around each other and posturing like feathery gladiators. Thankfully, the video cut off just as Odelle and Antony stepped into the frame, recognizable only from the bright glints of copper and platinum hair.

“Viewers are speculating on how a peacock came to be loose in the city,” Amy Biderman continued, image changing to a wide polished news desk. “Lincoln Park Zoo has confirmed that none of their animals are on the loose, although we are still awaiting confirmation from several other zoos. What a surprise for those runners!” Biderman commented, turning towards her co-anchor as the short special-interest piece ended.

Odelle set down her phone and shoveled a too-large bite of eggs benedict into her mouth.

“Not quite what I hoped for when I said I wanted to get back into television,” she griped around a mouthful of hollandaise sauce. “Seems like a stupid end segment for a national news channel too. I know it’s filmed locally, but still.”

“Isn’t that the same lady from the broadcast during the signal outage?” Antony asked, gesturing to her phone with a syrupy forkful.

“Amy Biderman,” Odelle confirmed, “She’s been my professional idol for years, but it’s been hard to like her recently. Kicking me when I’m down with this clip, although she wouldn’t know that. But also the way she handled all the local broadcasts going down. Saying it was a cyber terrorist attack, it’s almost like she wanted people to…”

Odelle froze, mind whirring for a few moments before she realized she had stopped chewing. Swallowing her mouthful, she mused, “It seems odd that the television signals were sabotaged in a way that her channel was the only Chicago-based station still on the air. And she acted so out of character. I’ve been watching her broadcasts for years and she’s never been a fearmonger. In fact, I’ve always admired her for her level-headedness.”

“You don’t think—” Antony started but broke off as Odelle could practically see the gears turning in his head.