Buzzards, Hawks and Ravens

(Account of Six Friend’s Life in the “Dark” Age)

by

Ruwen Rouhs 

Chapter 3

Birds Die in Cages

The sun was already down; in the dusk, the cold wind from the mountain ridge made Ruwen shiver. He had to hurry home to get his share of dinner. Halfway home, a timid meow made Ruwen stop. Was there a stray kitten trapped high in the apple trees across the high fence? He tried to locate precisely where the sad sound was coming from. He rose to tiptoes to have a better look into the garden. He couldn't see details; it was too dark already. At the age of ten, he was still a midget compared to Bastian. During the 2 years he lived in Cumberville, his new brother had grown to 5 foot 1 inch, while he had stalled at about 4 foot tall. He had to fetch Bastian. Together they could surely rescue the poor mite, if only they could it.

In the moonlight, the boys they had work hard to scramble over the fence. They had to be quiet as a mouse because the garden belonged to that jerk, Tanko. This crooked man was the worst thug of the village. Not only was he strong, but Tanko was also devious, and unpredictable. Furthermore, he was also an exhibitionist who loved to scare little girls as well as boys. The gossip was that Tanko was even into fucking goats. Bastian pushed Ruwen over the fence and then followed. They checked all the trees, but no kitten was found. The meow persisted. It seemed to come out of a low shed. Did Tanko hide a kitten there? For what purpose? What did he want with the kitten?

"The door is locked; we have to break the lock."

"Let's try tomorrow while Tanko is out. It's just too dark now."

Later Ruwen tossed and turned in the small bed he shared with Bastian. He had fallen asleep late and woke up in the dead of the night, trembling like a leaf. A dream made him wake up; that terrible dream that haunted him nearly every week. In the dream he was back home in the burning, overrun city. His brain replayed every terrifying moment; the assaults of the marauders, the crying of his sister, the despair of his raped mother.. In the dream he wanted to run, but someone pinned him down. He was trapped. He tried desperately to jerk himself free. Just when he was about to break away he recognized who was holding him so tightly. It was Bastian. His brother was spooning him, comforting him. His last thought before he drifted back into sleep was, "I have to rescue that poor creature in the shed."

Ruwen watched Tanko’s homestead, especially the shed, from behind some wild shrubbery. Tanko headed out of the house, into the barn, then to the stable and back again. He shooed away the chickens, kicked his watchdog and cursed the bleating goats. He was whistling, then muttering to himself. Coming from the chicken coop, he carried a struggling poult to the shed, Did want to feed the chick to the prisoner? Tanko unlocked the shed and entered. Ruwen was still wondering when Tanko started cursing, "Damned creature! You bloody vulture! You want to get killed?" Furious, he bolted out of the shed and left his farm.

Ruwen slipped into the shed. In the dirty, cluttered shed, full of dust and full of cobwebs, his eyes had to accustom to the low light. There was no kitten. He started to meow to lure the animal, but there was no answer. Ruwen became even more worried. He opened the door to allow more light to enter. Now he could see a small wooden box, with a wicker lid, sitting on a heap of planks. Through the wide wicker grid he caught sight of a handful of feathers with two yellow eyes peering over a pointed peak. It was not a kitten; it was a young bird. He lifted the wicker.

The bird started hissing and ruffled up its feathers. Ruwen tried to touch it, speaking soothingly to the fledgling. But it answered with its sharp beak. It was a small raptor! It still carried white down on the shoulders, but the pinions had already grown to about the length of half a finger. Ruwen removed his shirt, put it over the bird then grabbed it carefully. Ruwen had never handled a raptor before, but he was familiar with doves and chickens. He did know that if you turn a bird over on its back with its head covered it became immobile. With the bird wrapped in his shirt, he dashed away through the gate of the farm. It was a close thing. When he was just out of sight, he could hear Tanko swearing loudly, When he found the door of his shed wide open and the birdcage empty.

 "You are late Ruwen! My goats are hungry and their udders are full of milk! Hurry up boy, there is a lot work ahead! Where is your shirt? Lost it?"

"I am sorry, Aunty; but look," and Ruwen displayed the bird - still on its back, scanning the new environment with scared eyes.

"Where did you get this lovely creature? Did you rob him from his mother? I tell you, that's an ugly sin!"

"Never aunty!" and the boy told her the story.

"You did right! But now you have to assume the responsibility for the fledgling. You have to feed it, to clean up its droppings; you even have to teach it to fly!"

"I can look after his well-being and I know Bastian will help! But I can't teach him how to fly; I am no bird!"

"But you can! Touch his spirit; do it with your spirit! Teach his spirit to fly as I taught you to soar above all desires. Touch its spirit and as an adult bird he will soar above land and sea. These birds are the guardians of our valley and our mountains; they are the keepers."

In the evening, on his way home, Ruwen tried to avoid Tanko; but in vain! The thug almost waylaid him and a gasping Ruwen just made it to his own door as Tanko caught up.

"You offspring of a gypsy and a whore, you lousy thief, you …! Where did you hide my bird? You stole it; you raided my home, you grandson of a witch!" He seized Ruwen's shoulders and kicked him through the now open door. The scared boy collapsed at his foster mother’s feet. Muriel was furious and smashed a rolling bin she had handy, right over Tanko's head. Hearing the noisy encounter, Klas came running from the barn, followed by the twins armed with muckrakes and hay forks.

"Dammed bugger, what has this little boy done to you? Built like a brick shit house and you’re just brave enough to beat up small boys."

"Ask that cheeky monkey, he knows! He deserves more than a beating! Robbing a dirt-poor man!"

Now the sobbing Ruwen started to accuse Tanko furiously, "He is the thief! He is the robber! He must have raided the buzzard's nest!" "He plucked that baby buzzard from its mother's heart, that bloody thug!"

"Stop accusing me; it's my right to catch as many wild birds as suits me! No damned witch-boy has the right to give me advice! Pass the bird back to me, or pay for it; 4 pence! Hand over the bird or the money."

Much to Tanko’s surprise, Ruwen took a small purse off his belt and started counting. Pence, halfpence, quarters, even a rappen. But he only had 3 and a half pence, the whole of his savings of 2 years. His shoulders slumped. But he never thought of Bastian. His blood brother raced up the stairs, ransacked his treasury and came back with the needed coins.

"Here is your ransom! Now get lost Tanko; never touch my brother again! I swear, you will pay a hundred times for heisting a fledgling of the guardians of the valley!"

*.*.*

During the last two years the four boys had grown. The twins had grown into strong but lanky lads already half a head taller than Klas. They still looked identical; nobody could tell these blond giants apart. There was only one mark that made the boys distinguishable. Bendrich had a birthmark at his left buttock, close to the cleft. Only the boys, and naturally the parents, knew this secret. This brown mark was so suspicious looking that the others made a joke out of it.

"Hey, poor Bendrich, did you forget to clean your ass properly?" one of the brothers asked insinuatingly. Bendrich, not a fool at all, rubbed the mole with his index finger and offered the fingertip to his offender saying maliciously, "Smell! Can you smell the delicious honey of our outhouse?" This always ended with a lot of laughter and teasing.

Bastian was nearly a head taller than Ruwen, and already sporting his first pubes. But his face was still soft and gentle like that of an angel. All four girls were smaller, spitting images of their mother, soft bodied but strong, always smiling and chatting, despite the hard work of the house and farm. All four had long, blond, braided hair and freckled, snub noses. Eileen, Ruwen's sister, stayed small like her brother despite the constant efforts of her new mother to cram her. Because of her dark curly hair, she stood out against the other village girls.

Recently, Geroldt and Bendrich restricted their wanking competition to the first days of the week. They had discovered girls and at the same time a new sport, a really age-based fun, which needed all their brains and a lot of their potency. They needed all their brains to trick the girls. The game was thrilling and fun at the same time; and the fun wasn't over after the date. The game was very simple. Both of the twins tried to impress a different girl. That was pretty easy, as both were great looking and quite appealing. At the Friday night dance, each of them did his best to get a girl hot and into the hay. On the Saturday night date, however, they switched girls. Not one of the girls ever got suspicious that they were fooling around with the other twin that second night because ... well, because they looked and behaved nearly identically. After returning from their nightly adventures, the rascals compared the assets and shortcomings of the girls - roaring with laughter. If only one of them was lucky enough to get a girl, they switched during the date and impressed the girl with their stamina.

The twins didn't want to share all of their secrets with their smaller brothers any more. Therefore, they fixed the small storage room in the rear corner of the attic into a room for Bastian and Ruwen. The small lodging could accommodate only the small bed, a chest, a table and a chair, but had ample crannies for their treasures behind some loose planks. Both boys preferred it to their former bedroom; because it was theirs alone, and because of its window overlooking the garden, and what was even more important, because that window offered a means to slip away unnoticed.

*.*.*

Ruwen went to bed exhausted. This day was a very stressful day; in the morning the dangerous rescue of the fledgling, followed by the first attempts to become friends with the frightened bird and, in the evening, the fight with this thug, Tanko, and now a new bedroom. He slumped onto the mattress and was asleep in no time. Bastian found his snoring blood brother sound asleep. He slipped under the cover and snuggled down at Ruwen's back. Lately they had discovered humping. Both liked humping each other belly-to-belly, belly-to-bum and they enjoyed the friction of their sensitive pricks. Spooning Ruwen, Bastian started humping involuntarily.

"Hey randy baby, stop it! I am so tired!"

"Oh come on peewee, we have to celebrate the first night in our own room! Come on, let's make out!"

Bastian attacked Ruwen joyfully, tickling him until he squirmed and turned over on his back. Bastian lifted himself and then belly-to-belly they started grinding and humping. Bastian got more and more frantic, increased his grinding speed then stopped humping suddenly. Five to six hot spurts of spunk creamed Ruwen's belly! An exhausted Bastian rolled off and breathed heavily. He just had had his first wet climax.

Ruwen was excited. He stirred the warm puddles with the tip of his index finger and put it to his nose. Bastian's spunk smelled nice. It smelled much sweeter than the semen of the twins that he had smelled often enough. Curiously, he licked his fingertip with his tongue. It didn't taste strong. Actually, it nearly had no taste at all. But it was so smooth. He turned over to Bastian.

"Hey bro, you are my big brother now; congratulations! Do you want to smell your own spunk? Want to taste it? It's nice!"

Scooping up more semen, he touched Bastian's lips with his spunky finger and the big boy started to suck the digit like a baby would. Again dipping his index finger into the puddle, Ruwen began to draw a big character onto Bastian's chest, a straight long line from the throat down to the navel and a short one beginning at the lower end of first one. Ruwen repeated his drawing several times then asked, "Do you know the letter?"

"It's not a B like in my name; it's not an R like in yours. Do it again!" Ruwen repeated his drawing. But Bastian didn't get its meaning.

"Should I tell you? Come closer my big boy!"

Then, putting his mouth to Bastian's right ear he whispered, "It's an L! Do you know words starting with L? I'll tell you! It’s L like in I LIKE YOU, it’s L like in I LOVE YOU!"

*.*.*

Ruwen raced down the narrow road and cut the corner into the doorway of Aliah's barn. He was breathing heavily. Today he was late, very late indeed, and his aunt was surely waiting impatiently. He and Bastian had overslept, but he didn't regret it, because they had enjoyed the first undisturbed night in their own tiny retreat without the noisy and ever joking twins. He didn't even mind the bawling out from Klas, as they hadn't shown up in time for feeding the cows. He nearly tripped entering the doorway and lost the small wooden box he was clutching to his breast. Geroldt had given this box to him this morning.

 "It's my present for your birdie. Do not open it until you're there! It's dangerous!"

Ruwen was curious, because something was chirping inside. He crossed the barn in a hurry. In the shut-down hen house, he stopped in front of the fledgling sitting on a roost.

"Hey birdie, how are you today? Are you fine? Do you remember me? I got a name for you. You are my Buzzie, because you're a young buzzard!"

The bird retreated to the far end of the roost and started hissing anxiously. It looked haggard and his wings dangled down weakly. Ruwen approached the bird cautiously.

"Don't be afraid. It's I, not Tanko! This is a present of the twins, just for you alone!"

He opened the box. It contained a perfect present for a young, weak and hungry raptor. Five neat hairless, chirping mice were huddling in the box. Ruwen had a soft heart, so he really was sorry for the little creatures, but Buzzie needed food. He took one of the nestlings by its tail and swayed it in front of Buzzie's eyes. The bird focussed on the prey, caught it with one fell swoop of his sharp beak, and down the mouse went; headfirst into its stomach.

"Well done Buzzie! Will we be friends now?" But the bird didn't answer; it was busy digesting his breakfast.

Ruwen was worried about the bird's health. To distract himself from worry, he busied himself with cleaning the goat's house, milking the goats and helping Aliah to prepare cheese from curdled milk. Suddenly a wailing meow reminded him of the bird. Buzzie seemed to have recovered somewhat and its feathers were shining. This time it didn't turn away at the sight of Ruwen. It actually approached the boy; its head cocked sideways and downwards, with its beak pointing upwards, and started begging. This looked hilarious.

"Hey Buzzie, you are a dangerous raptor and not a sweet little sparrow. Stop it. Here is your mouse."

The poor nestling vanished headfirst into Buzzie's gullet in no time, only its wriggling tail was seen poking out of the beak for a short moment.

Later on that day, one young villager after another turned up to marvel at the bird. Bastian arrived first, then two more of his friends. Finally, Eileen came around with her best girl friend, accompanied by both of her stepbrothers. Even after two years, the even-tempered and sturdy boys cared for their new sister like a piece of gold and jealously tried to scare away any other boys. The miller's sons brought dead mice as chow for the bird. Mice were an easy catch for the two, as there was no shortage of these rodents in the mill. Ruwen decided he would have to stay on good term with the boys to get enough live food for the bird. Buzzie, however, was scared of so many visitors and tried to hide from view in a corner. To the great disappointment of the lads, the hungry bird accepted their food, but only from Eileen. Apparently, it did recognized the girl as Ruwen's sister.

The raptor only accepted Ruwen, Bastian and Eileen as friends. To their big surprise, they were allowed to fondle the fledgling. It even begged for petting by moving close and producing a heart-wrenching meowing. It particularly loved putting down its head and stretching its neck upwards, and having them gently stroke the feathers of its neck in the wrong direction, towards its head.

Buzzie showed tremendous growth spurts. In only two weeks, it lost its baby down and its wing and tail feathers grew to full lengths. Ruwen decided he should give the bird the best possible chance to become a wild-flying bird like its parents.

"Bastian, let's build him an aerie in the big pear tree in the orchard behind our house, so we can watch Buzzie's flying progress from the window of our room".

"Great, but do you think he will learn flying without the help of his parents? None of us has wings!"

"Aliah told me to use my spirit to teach him flying. We both have to use our spirit, and then he will fly."

Ruwen was right. About two week later Buzzie spread his wings in the up-draught of the mountain ridge, caught the ascending wind and started his first gliding flight as a guardian of the valley. Ruwen and Bastian embraced each other and started an excited dance.

*.*.*

AUTHOR NOTE

I would like to express a special thank to Anthony and Paul for doing a great job by correcting all the wrong expressions and especially to B. who revised the language used by a non native English writer.

Comments, reviews, questions and complaints are welcomed. Please send them to ruwenrouhs@hotmail.de or use the feedback form. And I would like to add, thanks for reading.

Copyright Notice - Copyright © 2007

The author copyrights this story and retains all rights. This work may not be duplicated in any form – physical, electronic, audio, or otherwise – without the author's expressed permission. All applicable copyright laws apply.

Ruwen Rouhs