Chapter 5 - Plumage and Paranoia

Emilia looks at Robbie with a incredulous look on her face. 'Go to the place pmbirds have been attacking things?' Even with padded clothing it seemed dangerous. Though Robbie had protected her before...

"If we don't find out what's going on, then Freddie and his friends will always be in danger from the other birds. And who knows what animals will get experimented on next?" Robbie points out to Emilia. "It might be dangerous. But I bet I can find some safety jacket from my dad that you can wear. And do you still have your helmet? I think I still have mine somewhere, but I'm not sure. I didn't like that unit at all." Robbie had been really good at ice hockey, but it had only made her more aware of how much bigger she is than all the other girls.
She looks at Emilia nervously and adds, "And I'll make sure you're safe, okay?" It had felt kind of good to step in to protect her from the dog. It might be a bit more difficult with birds, but she's willing to try.

At first, Robbie is laughing when the birds attack Izzy and she falls over, but when Robbie sees Izzy's head smack against the ground and the slow, dizzy way she's trying to get up, that laughter very quickly stops. "What do we do?" she asks, glancing at the men ready to intervene. "Should we help her?" Izzy obviously wouldn't help them. She probably wouldn't even help Emilia, Robbie thinks. But shouldn't they be better than her?

'I' ll need to look. It may have been chucked when my family moved She and her Mum had had to downsize a lot.

At another declaration of protection her cheeks redden and she looks away rubbing the back of her neck. 'Right. Thanks. Look umm, about that dog.. She starts, only for the commotion to start outside.

At the sight of Izzy she immeadiatly ducks back inside the library, carefully peeking around the door to try and still see what is happening. As Izzy falls she freezes, panic overcoming her like with the dog.

Robbie's words snap her back out of it, though she doesn't directly answer a hand goes to her belt. 'Shiny, they like shiny things.'

Think more about stopping someone get hurt than who and the specifics she steps out again as she pulls out her collection of keyring and start to shake them hoping to get the light to reflect.

Hey! Over here' She yells at the bird trying to get it's attention.. Without thinking what to do once it is redirected to her.

Everything happens so quickly. Suddenly, Emilia is out on the street, challenging the big, scary bird, but this time, Robbie has no chance to come in and play protector because... Oskar beats her to it. It all makes very little sense to Robbie as it happens so quickly, but then the birds flee and it seems they're all safe.
"You did it!" she exclaims, running up next to Emilia. She has the impulse to hug the other girl. If she was Tanya, Robbie would definitely do it without hesitation. But this is Emilia. She just stops close in front of her and asks, "Are you okay?"

As the hawk screeches towards her Emilia freezes again, not thinking that part through. Then suddenly tehre is a jar and its gon. She looks to her side afor some reason expecting to see Robbie, only for her face to fall slightly to see Oskar instead. Though that wasn't fair he still had saved her.

'Uh, thanks. Oskar rig..?' She starts, before looking around locking eyes with Izzy and her veins go cold, not quiet reacting despite hearing Robbie run up towards her. Then the construction workers surround the other girl and Emilia is freed. She glances to Robbie. [b]'Umm yeah. I uh.. I need to get out of here. Now.... Please? Even as she speaks she grabs Robbie's sleeve and tugs it to follow as she goes to start moving looking to Tanya silently asking her to follow as well.

Robbie follows Emilia, letting her lead the way. As they're hurrying towards Tanya, when Emilia's grip on Robbie's sleeve slips, Robbie then instinctively and without thinking reaches out and takes Emilia's hand to keep them connected. "Tanya, let's get out of here," she tells her friend as they approach her.

How is this possible? It's like that old American movie I saw on TV...
Tanya snaps of of her state of incredulous shock when the two girls approach her. She has witnessed the attack and Emilia's brave action as if it were a movie on a screen.

"What? Oh... Yes, let's go... We should go somewhere covered. My house? It's not far, and we can at least get the one helmet. "
If the others agree, she'll lead the way.

After the library, Robbie accepts Tanya's suggestion to come to her place. Whether with Emilia as well or just Tanya, Robbie hangs out there a bit and the girls unwind for a while before Robbie has to go home for her farm chores. She arrives a bit late, but not too late for her parents to accept her excuse that she lost track of time while hanging out with Tanya. For the next hour, Robbie is busy doing her regular work on the farm. Then, as soon as she's done, she heads into the shed to search for supplies for the next day. She finds the thick jacket that her dad wears when he works with his chainsaw. The material is made to resist against the bite of a chainsaw, so it should protect even agaisnt a bird like the one at the library that attacked Izzy. She also finds her dad's helmet, and when she searches on the attic of the farmhouse, she discovers her old ice hockey gear. Both her dad's clothes and her own will be too big for Emilia, but they'd still protect her if she needs it, so Robbie packs both jackets and helmets into a large hiking backpack. Tanya said she still has her own gear. She also packs her mom's umbrella as a weapon, though more to scare off birds than to actually attack them with it.

Running down into the kitchen where her parents are working together on making dinner, Robbie asks, "Mom, dad! Tanya and Emilia and I are going on a trip to Munsö tomorrow. Can you pack us lunch and hot chocolate for the road?"

Robbie's mother looks up from the vegetables she's cutting. "Who was Emilia again?"

"She's my friend," Robbie says. "Tyra's daughter."

"Tyra. You mean Mrs. Åberg?" Robbie's father asks. "I didn't know she had a daughter. Well, it's nice you're making more friends. I think we can manage to prepare you something to take on your little excursion."

Robbie runs up to him and gives him a hug. "You're the best!" she tells him. Then she hugs her mother as well for good measure before running out of the house again.

Until dinnertime, she plays outside with Freddie, teaching him to fetch and showing him around the farm. After dinner, she takes him up into her room, which she has prepared for him. She has put out a soup plate with water as a bird bath like he requested. There's a little perch on her nightstand for him to sleep, and some paper towels laid out in one corner as a toilet for him. It's not technically a larger cage as he requested, but it still seems like a fair deal, Robbie finds. Her parents just can't find out that Robbie is keeping a technically wild pigeon in her bedroom.
She goes to bed early and after reading Freddie a bedtime story, falls asleep quickly, eagerly awaiting the next day. She is a bit nervous about the potential danger, but more than that, she is excited to spend some more time with her two friends.

Bringing Robbie home with her helps Tanya suppress her anger and resentment at her parents' - and especially her mother's - infuriating trespassing of boundaries. Having Robbie there makes it easier to contain her rage and bad mood.

The girls spend time rummaging in the crammed eaves of Tanya's home, giggling and commenting every object they find. Eventually, the hockey helmet they were looking for is found, as well as some padded elements that could work well as protection, if strapped on arms, legs and torso.

As Robbie leaves, Tanya hides the found protections under her bed, not wanting to trigger a third degree centered on why she would need an armor of sort. She remains fairly silent at dinner, with her parents, then spends the rest of the evening in her room, sinking her teeth into one of the books she borrowed at the library, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.

The morning after, Tanya finds a big old rucksack where she puts the padded protections and helmet found the day before.

She rushes towards the ferry pier, concerned that she will be late and miss the boat, but also casting nervous glances at the skies and jumping at every sound of seagulls.

As Robbie grabs her hand Emilia just gives it an instinctive squeeze, finding reassurance in the grip as she's caught up in panic and need to get away. If they go fast enough maybe when Izzy asks her about it later she could blame the knock on the head, as cruel as that sounded.

By the time she gets to Tanya's she's calmed down slightly, but still on edge, making her excuses quickly to leave and leave the other two alone to hang out.

Back at he own house she looks around unsure what really to pack. As she though the helmet had been chucked in the move. She'd never got on with the sport anyway. Her moth did keep a heavy torch near the bed however, both for a light and as a weapon against intruders. She makes a note to grab it in the morning before meeting up.

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The next day she arrives at the pier, wearing a heavy jumper, and a baseball hat, though whether its for protection or more to hide who she is even she's not sure