Chapter 5 - Plumage and Paranoia

At breakfast, Tanya is browsing her notebook, thinking of the recent strange events.
Mom and Dad are also having breakfast at the kitchen table.

Tanya is wondering whether she should tell her parents about the state of Gunnar's house (and about their obvious absence from it). After all it is their friend... but they will ask me why I was there... and I cannot tell them we sneaked in following Majsan...

She decides for a casual, "Mom, what was that thing on the fridge the other day, about Gunnar and Lena's vacation?" She asks it while crunching cereals. "Where did they go?"

When Robbie gets home, Freddie on her shoulder, she finds to her surprise and delight the delivery van that Tyra drives standing by the side of the house. "Freddie, come and meet Tyra. She's Emilia's mom and really cool!" she tells the pigeon. Then she pauses. "Wait, maybe it'd be better if you just watch. Adults can be weird around weird stuff. Not that you're weird, just unusual." Great, now she's already beginning to verbally embarrass herself in front of a pigeon. "How about you sit over on that roof and then you can watch," she suggests.

She then hurries over to find Tyra moving crates that the Åströms have laid out into her vehicle. "Hey Tyra!" Robbie exclaims happily. "I didn't know you were coming today." Usually, she has all the dates marked in her calendar, but in all the excitement around Freddie and the strange birds, she must have forgotten.

Tyra looks up from her work and smiles when she recognizes Robbie. "Roberta," she says. Tyra is a tall woman. She has broad shoulders and strong, muscular arms under her rolled up sleeves, but she still always manages to look beautiful and feminine like Emilia. Robbie is pretty jealous of her for that, because all that Robbie's muscles make her look like is a wardrobe. "Your parents said you weren't home."

"I wasn't. I just got home," Robbie says as she immediately picks up a crate to help her friend. She likes talking to Tyra while helping her work. "I was actually hanging out with Emilia. She's really cool."

She rolls her eyes, having clocked where this is going.
A little more sharply than she intended, she replies, "Well that's just great, Mom and Dad! Glad you are getting the itch to write fiction too! Must run in the family after all! " Her tone is heavily sarcastic.

Calm down, girl... You're gonna stir up more trouble than is worth... Why are you so prickly? she asks herself.

She widens her eyes, gasping horrified at Mom. "You did WHAT????"

She stands up and steps away from the kitchen table. "I am NOT going. I hate swimming and I HATE Izzy! All I could learn from her is how to be a shallow idiot!!! I can find my own friends, thank you very much... as a matter of fact, I just made a new one, without YOUR HELP, Mom!"

She storms off, wanting to get out of there before tearing up. "Swim team..."

She grabs her notebook and coat and gets out of the house before they can call her back.

She walks through the woods to let the fresh air work its magic. But after twenty minutes, her mood is still foul. She is furious at Mom's meddling in her life and at Dad's dismissing her writing at every opportunity.

Without Tanya consciously realising, her feet start leading her towards Professor Hedstrom's house.

"I think Emilia is the prettiest girl in school," Robbie admits. It's not a thought she would have so easily shared with anyone else, including her parents. "But we only became friends the other day, when we were in detention together because that was when we met the birds." She wonders whether she should try to explain the whole situation to Tyra, but decides that it's probably best to keep it between the kids for now. "We are investigating a mystery together!" she instead just says. "But it's not only us. My friend Tanya is also part of it." As she and Tyra are lifting a heavy crate together, Robbie says, "Tanya is the smart one and Emilia is the pretty one." She thinks for a moment. "I guess that makes me the strong one. But I wish I could also be the pretty one, like Emilia."

Tyra's compliments make Robbie smile happily. Somehow, whenever her parents insist that she is a very beautiful girl, Robbie never believes that they actually mean it. But Tyra has a way of complimenting Robbie that always feels sincere. "Thank you," she says a bit sheepishly. "And yes, it is a bit of an adventure, but I can't tell you about it. It's only for our group." She grins at the woman, enjoying the idea of being a bit mysterious for a change. "And I guess I know what you mean," she acknowledges Tyra's comments about everyone's unique qualities, even if she isn't entirely sure.

As they continue moving everything into Tyra's vehicle, Robbie then moves on to simpler topics, just talking about her grades at school, or how she doesn't like gym class or which teacher said something funny the other day...

Tanya makes her conventional knock at Professor's Hedstrom's window.

The scholar's voice answers from within.

"In the study, come on in."


Tanya walks in (the prof keeps the front door unlocked) and makes her way to the scholar's den. A cozy room filled with books and journals, a calming place of knowledge and letters that Tanya loved from the moment she set eyes on.
The book spines pad the room from sounds and texture it in leathery colours, promising literary treasures untold, hidden within.

The Professor is part of the very fabric of this magical place, the core of the magic. Always with a book on his lap, inhabiting his reading armchair like a wizened alchemist, each wrinkle and line on his face a motherload of knowledge in Tanya's imagination.

Tanya moves some books from a nearby chair, placing them carefully on a desk.
Touching the books makes her remember.

"Oh! Professor... I forgot to bring you the Strindberg book you asked me! I got it from the library, then left it home!"

She sits down, shaking her head, "too many things are on my mind, that is the trouble... And my parents are NOT helping! My mom had the nerve to sign me up to a stupid swimming team without asking me! Just because this dull, brain-dead Izzy girl goes there, and they want me to be friends with her..."

She realises she's been venting and apologises.
" I am sorry... That's all boring teenage stuff. "

"I do hope you are right, Professor..." she says, already somewhat comforted by the scholar's reassuring tone.

She then perks up, "my friends and I noticed something strange is happening to the birds, around here. Have you ever heard of experiments to make birds talk, Professor? We spotted a group of pigeons that can speak! It sounds impossible, but... they do! We even captured two. They all have a little cut, and wait... we saw one bird dissected, it had this electronic thing inside."

She shows the Professor the microchip she pocketed at Gunnar's house.

"Oh, the pigeons are at war with the larger birds, and they are building this massive communal nest on a a cliff in Spånviken..."

"Oh. I'm always at the Library, but I didn't think of researching this chip... " she comments, surprised at the suggestion.
She springs up on her feet. "Thank you Professor Hedstrom! I will do as you say, and keep you informed on what we find out!"

She rushes to the door with the eagerness of youth, then turns to say, "you'll have to tell me everything about the strange occurrences around here!" before running outside the Professor's house, and heading to Robbie's farm to tell them the new lead the Professor suggested.

During lunch, Robbie can't stop herself from repeatedly looking over to Emilia and trying to catch her eyes and smile at her. She doesn't go so far as to wave at her, though. She can imagine Emilia not appreciating that.

When Izzy comes over to them, Robbie is worried that it was her glances over to Emilia's table that drew the bully's attention. She's initially not sure how to react but then she remembers her talk with Tyra the previous day and it emboldens her.
When Izzy taunts them, Robbie turns to Tanya and asks, "Did you hear something? I thought I heard something but it was probably just the wind."

She'd been trying to ignore Tanya and Robbie, try and not show she'd been talking to them, but through lunch she couldn't help but glance across occasionally. She hadn't even managed to thank Robbie yet for protecting her from the dog, unsure how to bring it up. At one point she catches Robbie doing the same and quickly looks down at her foodz, trying not to go red.

As the conversation turns and Izzy gets up a pit forms in her stomach. While everyone watches on she just stares at her food, hoping a hole will open and swallow her up.

She goes cold as several words her mother would be ashamed she knew go through her head as she's called out by Izzy.

She looks up but can't meet Tanya or Robbie eyes. 'I... Maybe... ' She goes to back Izzy up as usual. Izzy was her friend. She was popular. The others were outcasts. It was a clear choice... But then the image of Izzy just shrugging and walking away walks through her mind, followed by Robbie getting in front of her from the dog, and her gaze drops again.

'... They're not doing anyone any harm Izzy...we're the ones causing a scene... Let's just eat lunch... ' She half mumbles.

As Izzy walks away, Tanya makes an exaggerated TV presenter voice. "And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, was Izzy! she's so dumb, she makes you dizzy!"

Then turns to Robbie, "I saw Professor Hedstrom yesterday. He thinks we should research the chip we found at Gunnar's, at the library. There might be something we can find out, there. What do you say? You'll love it there... Maybe Emilia will want to come along too... Have you seen how she rebuked Izzy? I think she's ready to change sides..."

Robbie is watching Emilia, impressed by her standing up to Izzy. It may objectively not have been the most impressive of standing up, but to Robbie, it was pretty impressive. When Tanya speaks up, Robbie takes a moment to begin paying attention to her, but then she breaks into a giggle at Tanya's TV presenter joke. "That was a good one, Tanya!" she exclaims, though the comment feels a bit dorky once it's out of her mouth. Hopefully Emilia didn't hear it.

She nods to Tanya's library suggestion. "Let's ask Emilia," she suggests, then she looks around. "But maybe not in here. I bet she still doesn't want to be seen with us." That thought puts a bit of a damper on her admiration of Emilia's refusal of going along with Izzy this time. But overall, it was still a nice moment.

-- Lunch Room --

Once they're done with their lunch, Robbie takes out a block of paper from her backpack. She writes out a small note, then tears it out and folds it as small as she can make it before putting the rest of the block away.
Robbie and Tanya then put their trays away and head out. As they pass the table where Emilia is sitting next to Izzy, Robbie sneakily passes the note to Emilia before hurrying outside.

---

-- Stenhamra Library --

Seeing Oskar talk excitedly to Tanya, it takes Robbie a moment to interpret the expression on his face and his eagerness to appear smart and knowledgeable to her, but when she does, her eyes widen for a moment before she begins giggling.
She wonders whether Tanya is maybe also interested in Oskar and so she decides not to intervene and to instead just watch how Tanya will react.

"Oskar. Hi... And, hi Oskar's new bug, " she says.

God... Last thing I needed today. One part of her admires that Oskar is so passionate about something that isn't sports, unlike most boys at school. But she also finds him quite a handful. She knows Oskar doesn't have a lot of friends. Neither have you, stupid.
So she speaks to the boy politely, but doesn't want to encourage his... childish infatuation.

"this is my friend Robbie. Oskar is an insect expert. Say, Oskar are you also interested in birds, by any chance?"

"I have a bird," Robbie says, now that Tanya pulled her into the conversation. "A pigeon." Then she thinks for a moment before adding, "Well, technically I have a lot of birds. Chickens and geese who live on the farm with me."
She meets Tanya's eyes and nods to the library. "We were going to check the library," she reminds her. Then she giggles again briefly. "Or do you want me to go in and leave you two alone for a bit?"

The rest of lunch Emilia stays quiet just eating, paranoia already going through her mind as the conversation at their table is muted. As RObbie brushes past her and passes the note she tense it rapidly going in a pocket.

She doesn't dare open it for the rest of the day. In lessons every time she can hear the others whispering to each other she worries its about her, about her being seen with the others, or Izzy getting mad she stepped out of lie. She can barely focus on her lessons.

When she fine gets free of school and reads the note the paranoia she rapidly scrunches it up again. The paranoia is still there.. and the last bit wasn't helping things. It wasn't like she did much.. she could barely speak.

She could just ignore it. Go find out where others were hanging out, try and pretend everything was normal, return to the status quo, forget all about talking birds.

Robbie would disappointed. Tanya would probably just stay she had been proven right. She lets out a sigh and starts to head to the library, taken care to pick a less used route, not wanting to risk being seen. Hopefully none of their classmates would actually be there.

Once she gets inside to looks for a small corner to sequester herself away in surprised she's beaten the other two as she starts to look through books.

Sighing, Tanya resigns herself to be shadowed by Oskar. There isn't a way to shake him off, when he's like this. The only hope is that, once inside the library, he will respect the silence rule. Maybe she will be able to divert him to the Entomology shelves..

She eyes Robbie, glaring her as if to say are you out of your mind?
"Come on, you can come in the library with Robbie and I, but you have to be quiet."

Entering the library together with Oskar and Tanya, Robbie decides to split off from them and give them space. Also, Oskar's babbling makes it really hard to focus on anything else, like research. She wanders around the library for a bit and after a moment finds Emilia sitting in a quiet corner with some newspapers.
She walks over to her and then leans over her shoulder to peek at what she's reading. "Hey," she says in a quiet, library-appropriate tone. "Did you find anything?"

"That was lucky... Come on, while he's distracted!" she tells Robbie, dragging her to another section of the library.

She looks for the Electronics shelves in the Science department, pulling out the chip to show Robbie. "Let's start by looking here, we want any book that shows something like this component in illustrations, schematics or photos..."

As they search, she whispers to Robbie.
"Oskar is a little odd... But I feel a bit bad that nobody talks to him at school... That doesn't mean I like him... in that way!"

"Plus, he's not that different from me. I'm also odd and unpopular, at school," she adds.

Entering the library together with Oskar and Tanya, Robbie is worried they won't get much work done. Oskar's babbling makes it really hard to focus on anything else, like research. But Emilia manages to get rid of him by pointing him to the convenient bug display.
Tanya leads the way deeper into the library and picks out some books on electronics as she talks quietly to Robbie. "I wasn't sure," Robbie admits when Tanya makes her feelings on Oskar clear. "I just didn't want to get in the way in case you did like him." She glances around the library and spots a familiar head of hair, bent over some newspapers in a hidden away corner of the library. "But now I know for next time." She glances at the books Tanya picked out, then says, "I'll be right back!"

She quickly moves over to Emilia and then leans over her shoulder to peek at what she's reading. "Hey," she says in a quiet, library-appropriate tone. "Did you find anything?"

Emilia gives a yelp of surprise and turns to to hit whoever has snuck up on her with the paper, pausing just before contact before realise its Robbie.

'Robbie.. Don't do that.. I mean hi...I.. you startled me.' She looks sheepish as she lowers her 'deadly' weapon.

'I..did find something but. ..not sure you guys want to know'

Robbie is startled right back by Emilia's reaction. "Sorry," she replies, looking down at the ground. "I didn't mean to sneak up on you but... it's a library, you know, and... you have to be quiet, and..." She decides it's safer to look at the paper than at Emilia's face.
"Why, what did you find out?" she asks. "Also I'm happy you came."

'...didn't have anything else to do..' Emilia mumble looking away before trying to focus on the paper.

'That dog.. it wasn't the only one...I don't know if it s Freddie or the nasty birds.. probably the nastier ones actually, but they're dangerous..'

"Right, yes, that makes sense," Robbie sheepishly replies to Emilia's reason for being here. She clears her throat. "That's not good. Freddy's friends might be in danger!" she then says. She points over to where she last saw Tanya. "Uhm, Tanya is over there, trying to find something out about this microchip. We should tell her what you found out."

'Well it seems based around a certain area.. except the dog I guess.' Were they spreading out? That would be bad.

'Right. Yeah, maybe she's also found something...just don't go startling her as well. You were surprisingly quiet for your... I mean...Right Tanya. Pigeons.' She goes to walk over the bookworm. As she does so she spots Oskar looking at the big books and noticeably duck her head not wanting to be recognised by anyone else from school.

For your size. Emilia doesn't have to finish the sentence for Robbie to know exactly what she was going to say. It stings to be reminded of her looks, especially by someone as pretty as Emilia, but Robbie tries not to show it. "Maybe the mean birds just came to our school because Freddie and his friends were there, to get them back to the nest," Robbie suggests, keeping her voice even.
She's glad when they reach Tanya and this time makes sure not to startle her by clearing her throat first. "Hey, look who I found," she then says.

"Oh! Amazing, you made it!" she tells Emilia.

She then points at the book where she found the info and shares what she knows.
"What could this mean? Whoever is running the experiments is scavenging the ship for parts?"

'Nothing better to do..' Emilia mutters the lie again. She wasn't going to admit she was beginning to enjoy hanging with the pair, or grown a soft spot for pigeons.

'Wait., Skarholmen.. That's where there's been bird attack. Not of people but like the dog. She shows Tanya the newspaper article ' So maybe you are right but they're useibg the birds to scavenge? . Freddy likes shiny things, maybe the others birds do?

"But why would some magnetrine have microchips that you can put into birds?" Robbie asks. "That doesn't really make sense. But it's still the best place to investigate. But we can't take Freddie, because he would be in danger from the bigger birds there. And we should also get some protection to bring along. I don't want to suddenly get attacked by lots of birds. That sounds dangerous. Maybe at least some padded clothes. My parents have some, I think."

"Hey, remember in fourth grade, when they made us do Ice Hockey at school? Oh, how I HATED it... But I think I still have the helmet at home... do you? I mean, it will be a little tight, but should fit?"

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.

---

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

Robbie gets her dad to drive her to the ferry the next morning, which he's happy to do. She spots Emilia waiting by the dock in a thick jacket and baseball hat and Tanya jogging towards it from another direction. "Look, that's Emilia," Robbie points out to her father after waving through the window to Tanya. "Isn't she pretty? I wish I looked like her."

Mr. Åström chuckles. "I'm sure she is, but it's hard to say with that cap all the way down in her face." He parks the car near Emilia, then turns to Robbie and says, "But she's nowhere near as pretty as you, pumpkin."

Robbie just shrugs unconvinced. He's her dad so he has to say something like that. "Thanks for driving me," she says, leaning forward to hug him around the seat. She gets out of the car with her huge hiking backpack at the same time as Tanya arrives. Her father waves at both his daughter's friends from inside the car, then drives back towards Kungsberga. "Hey Tanya, hey Emilia!" she greets the others excitedly, hugging Tanya for a moment, then turning to Emilia to do the same. She freezes and stops before touching the other girl, though and instead just gives her an awkward wave. "Ready to board the ferry?" she asks them both.

Emilia freezes briefly uncertain how to react as Robbie seems to go toward her, before just returning the wave just as awkwardly.

'Well if any of us aren't it's a bit late now...' She is still clearly uncertain about going to the place with murder birds.

"Let's go, and I can wear this stuff once on the ferry. Better not travel on the open deck, though... In case some birds get strange ideas."

As the group reaches the edge of the water by Skärholmen, Robbie puts down her backpack. She's sweating a bit, both from the warm weather and from the long walk, but she's holding up pretty well. She's used to exhausting work and is in pretty good physical condition, despite her extra weight. "Tanya, I know you found your protective gear yesterday, so I didn't pack anything for you. But Emilia, I didn't know if you had anything, so I brought extra stuff for you, to keep you safe from the birds." She opens her backpack and pulls out the hockey jacket and helmet as well as the chainsaw gear. Both are too big for Emilia, but both should offer decent protection. "You can pick one of them and I'll take the other," she says. "My mom also made us sandwiches. We can eat those while we figure out how to best get across. Do you think we might be able to find something like a boat?"

Emilia is regretting the jumper as she walks and is mumbling under her breath, like with the forest the other day. As they reached a stop she wants to slump to the ground to rest, but is wary of much and insects so just stands there breathing heavily.

As the protective gear comes out she goes red slightly '..thanks. Umm.. I probably couldn't wear the chain.. you're far strong than me. Its probably heavy.' . The hockey stuff likely wouldn't be much better for weight, but she'd rather wear it than not. As the sandwiches follow the gear there is a ting of jealousy at Robbie's Mum being able to make not just her but all of them food but she tries to squash it.

'..Boat would be could. Don't like the look of that water'

"Definitely a boat - or anything that floats to get us across... we're not swimming with all this padding on, and it would be freezing once we're out of the water..."

She starts looking around for something suitable.

Oh no... she thinks seeing her plan has some pretty major flaws. Only one thing for it...

She carefully lies flat on her belly across the raft, then positions herself so her feet can kick the water. She sighs at the thought of getting her shoes and feet wet, but still submerges her lower legs in the cold water, and starts kicking to propel the raft closer to her friends.

Seeing she does not progress, she calls ashore "hey, girls?? I have found a raft of sorts... but I am kind of stranded??"

Robbie doesn't even notice right away that Tanya has disappeared to look for a boat for them. She's just eating her lunch and telling Emilia about the games she's teaching Freddie, when she suddenly hears some splashing from the direction of where the magnetrine ship is. She turns and spots Tanya floating on some weird kind of raft, paddling awkwardly with her feet. "Tanya, what are you doing?" Robbie shouts, jumping to her feet and running to the edge of the water. "Why are you going over alone? Wait for us!" She hasn't quite realized the mess Tanya has gotten herself in.At least not until Tanya begins calling for help. "I need to get her back out!" Robbie says to Emilia. "Here, take my jacket. I'll go swim after her."

Emilia listens to Robbie's stories with a bemused looked on her face. She didn't quiet get some of it but it was clear the farm girl was enthusiastic about Freddie. A smile starts to form on her lips as she watches her talk, ony half paying attention.

The realisation that Tanya is floating away snaps her out of it and she scrabbles to her feet, only just about taking in what's happening as a jacket is dropped in her arms.

'Wait is that the best idea?' She starts to ask as she looks around. They needed to help Tanya, but she was still uncertain abou someone swimming in the water

Robbie hesitates. "Well, what do you propose?" she asks. There's clear worry about her friend in her tone as she keeps looking over to Tanya. "It might be dangerous over there. We can't let Tanya just float over by herself." She looks around again, letting her eyes move over the scrap strewn about. "Do you think we can find another boat, like what she's sitting on? But we have to hurry."

'I..' Emilia flounders as she looks around, not seeing an immediate solution. '..fine but.. be careful. Please?

Robbie tries to smile reassuringly at Emilia. "Are you worried about me?" she asks. Her tone sounds a bit like this is the setup to some clever line, like for a one-liner like in a movie. But Robbie doesn't have any smart line to say, so she just says, "You, uhm, don't have to be. I'm a really good swimmer."
She also hands Emilia her helmet and then, after a moment to think about it, she also takes off her shirt, while leaving her undershirt on. She doesn't want to get anything soaked that she can avoid. But she doesn't take off her pants. Even though she's not looking forward to them getting wet, she also really doesn't want Emilia to see her chubby legs.

Kind of prepared, she then jumps into the water, trying to get to Tanya and then get her and her boat back to the shore where Emilia is waiting.

Emilia face is once again red. 'I just..don't want to be left alone.. I mean its the middle of no.... just go get her already.' She grumbles.

Tanya thanks Robbie for her rescue, feeling pretty dumb for not having thought of paddles, instead of trying to punt their raft with a stick.

As the gull flies above, Tanya tries to hide from it, sinking down low among the reeds and bushes.

Thinking that she has been spotted, she retreats in a panic, hiding as best as she can...

Once they reach land, Robbie tries to sneak along with her friends...

Emilia sneaks alongside the ither two, clear nervous about the bird.

Robbie stares down at the piece of wood in her hand. She wouldn't have figured herself for such a fighter, but she seems to have taken the role of protector for her two friends. And somehow, that feels kind of good. She helps Tanya to her feet, then fusses over the bleeding spots where the gull pecked her for a moment before realizing they're better off hidden in the shadow of the ship and she grabs Tanya's hand and pulls her over to Emilia. "I didn't bring any band-aids or anything," Robbie says with regret in her tone. "I didnt think of it. How are you feeling, Tanya?"

Tanya is shaken, and takes a moment to catch her breath after that huge gull attacked her. That was SO scary... I never realized just HOW LARGE those birds are...

"I... I think I am OK. Wow, good job you're here Robbie. You're by far the bravest... That bully of a bird would have injured me a lot more, if you hadn't come to the rescue..." She looks at her cuts and shivers at the thought of what could have been.

She empties water from her sneakers. Not enough to have dried feet, but it'll have to do. She puts them back on and tries a tentative, squelching step.
"I lost my helmet, but I think I can carry on?" She looks at Robbie's piece of wood, "maybe Emilia and I should also find some... weapon? At least to scare it off if it comes back..."

She looks around to find something to use.

'maybe if we find a bit of metal we can rig a make shift helmet ?' what was she saying, that was stupid.

'I' ve got a weapon. Kinda of' She pulls out the heavy torch from her bag and gives it a test swing.

"I also brought something!" Robbie says. She drops the piece of wood into Tanya's hands and then pulls out the umbrella from her backpack. It looks like a terrible excuse for a weapon compared to Emilia's flashlight (which already isn't the best kind of weapon), but it's bright and colorful and maybe could scare off the birds if she opens it at them. Or so she thinks at least. "Do you want my helmet?" Robbie asks Tanya, already taking it off. She's not sure she likes the idea of going further without any helmet, but Tanya is already injured and looks pretty rattled, so it seems like a fair offer for her to make.

"You keep it: you're the best fighter, we need you in shining armor!"

Robbie laughs and blushes a bit, feeling slightly embarrassed by that comment, but she puts her helmet back on. "I'm not a knight in shining armor or anything," she deflects, but there is a small, proud smile on her lips. "But we should keep going."

'You're definitely iteky the strongest so it suits y.. . I mean.. Wel you're more in soggy armour at the moment anyway' She was wondering if she should had suggests she remove the wet shirt first when she gave her clothes back. That may have been too embarrassing though.

'We should move quickly, then we can get back and get you dry.

Robbie looks down at the way her pants cling uncomfortably to her legs. Her wet undershirt isn't visible through the other shirt and jacket, but it's not any more comfortable. But it was worth it to rescue Tanya. "This is a bit gross," she agrees. "But at least it's a warm day. I bet if I didn't have to wear this armor, I would dry pretty quickly."
She decides to let her friends take the lead and to just follow, umbrella at the ready in case any of them gets attacked again.

Tanya grabs the driftwood and starts circling around the wreck of the huge vehicle, looking for openings. She is still shaky, casting scared glances at the birds nesting on the wreck.

She notices the metal beam blocking the Entrance, and tries to push it to see how heavy it is.

'That looks like a good place to grip? If you move it that way Robbie, maybe Tanya could get a hold there and help?

"That might actually work... Clever Emilia!" she says, following her instructions to help Robbie.

Robbie tries to pull at the beam, but her efforts are ineffectual, at least until Emilia points her to a different place to grip. She puts her hand there and immediately gets a much better grip, then waits for Tanya to get in position as well. "Thanks, Emmy!" she tells the girl without really thinking about it. And when she does start to think about what she just said, she puts in a lot of effort to just focus on pulling at the beam to remove it instead. Why did you have to call her that, you big dumb idiot?

"We did it!" Robbie cheers briefly before peeking into the ship. It looks kind of creepy...

It's probably a good thing Emilia is actively helping or holding anything because she would have dropped it from surprise at the nickname and is turns the now familiar red as she just watches the others do the work.

'Yeah like that. Well done guys.' She comes out of it as the door is cleared, and she starts to follow.

When the man that Robbie doesn't recognize threatens their group, she takes a protective step forward. "Don't threaten my friends!" she tells him in as firm a voice as she can muster in this creepy situation. Then she glances back at the other girls. "What now?" she asks. "I bet that machine is responsible for the bird attacks."

Emilia places a hand on Robbie's back as she steps up next to her to whisper in her ear. 'Protect Tanya, go for the machine. I'll distract him.' She tries to sound confident but in reality she is still try and to take everything in.

'Wait, we' re not trespassing. Not intentionally. We.. We're inspired by your work.. ' She starts, hoping to catch and keep his attention.

"Mister Gunnar? What's going on? It's me, Viktor and Anna Berg's daughter, Tanya. Remember? You are scaring us... You wouldn't hurt us, would you?"

Tanya feels a shiver down her spine at Gunnar's response. He is crazy... And dangerous!

She immediately crouches down to offer a smaller target, and her eyes start frantically observing the machine and its surroundings.
Come on Tanya... Any machine needs a power source. Look for cables... Battery compartments... Maybe a generator...

You useless idiot! Your friends need you, you are in danger, and what do you do?? You get stranded on a raft, attacked by a gull, and now can't help?? Get your act together, Tanya Berg!

As Tanya runs to look at the machine Emilia stands firm trying tto look eyes with Gunnar.

'We' re nit. We wouldn't be able to use it like you. We found your birds though, and were fascinated by them, and did what we could to find the mastermind of such a thing. They're amazing.

We just wanted to learn more. Why, what genius would be able to do this, and if there was a way we could help? '

As Emilia is talking to the crazed man, Robbie positions herself somewhere between her friends. She swings her umbrella at the rampaging birds or flaps it open at them to scare them off. It looks utterly ridiculous, but she hopes it will buy her friends some time...As the birds are flapping around and she is fighting them off, they begin to turn to her. Robbie feels them peck at her and she's pretty sure they're drawing some blood where she's not protected by her armor.

Of course Robbie is glad that they managed to solve the whole issue of the evil, controlled birds and their attacks, but when the three girls return to the ferry and with it to Svartsölandet and Kungsberga, she's hurting from the bird attacks and crying from the fear she felt as the whole swarm had suddenly set upon her - as well as then from embarrassment at crying in the first place.
She splits off from the others as soon as she is able to and returns to the farm. As much as Robbie would like to talk to no one more than to her, Tyra isn't there. She won't be again for two days. And so Robbie has to seek comfort from her own mother, who treats her wounds and makes her hot chocolate and soothes her nerves, but who does not at all believe Robbie's story. She figures that Robbie and her friends were just wandering around a bit when one of those violent swarms of seagulls they had spoken about on the radio attacked them. And everything else is just her daughter's overeager imagination.

Over the next few days, Robbie tries to listen to the radio to figure out if there are any news, but there was no mention of Gunnar or the strange situation with the birds at all, not even that the bird attacks stopped. The reporting on those attacks just stopped along with them.
Freddie one day lies sick on Robbie's pillow. When she tells her parents about it, the two initially don't much care about some pigeon, but seeing how upset their daughter is, tears in her eyes, Robbie's father agrees to take Freddie to the vet. He returns some time later, empty-handed. He doesn't tell Robbie what happened to Freddie, but she never sees him again after that, and she spends many evenings crying and missing her silly, avian friend.

---

After their strange bird adventure, Robbie starts to have the feeling that Emilia actually likes hanging around with her and Tanya. Not where anyone would see them, of course, but they meet more often in their shared hideout and sometimes play boardgames there. Or they talk for a bit whenever they run into each other in school, at least as long as none of the other popular kids are around.
After some time of this, Robbie suddenly has an idea. It probably isn't a very good idea, and Emilia is unlikely to agree, but after school one afternoon, she approaches Emilia and asks, "Would you like to come to the farm today? You can meet the animals. And we can spend some time together. I think that would be nice." She isn't quite sure why her cheeks are turning so red as she asks that.
To her surprise, Emilia agrees.

"Careful, don't break them," Robbie reminds Emilia as the smaller girl reaches into the chicken coop and plucks out the four eggs in there. She places them in the little box Robbie brought for that purpose. "We can eat those, if you want. My mom can boil or fry them up for us. But first, we have more work ahead of us."
When Emilia realized that Robbie intended for her to actually help with her chores, the girl at first was indignant, but she agreed eventually. However, Robbie had to give her some clothes to wear so she wouldn't ruin her own. Both of the girls at first felt awkward when Emilia stepped out of the bathroom wearing one of Robbie's far too large for her shirts, but by now, Emilia doesn't even seem to notice it anymore, and Robbie thinks that Emilia actually looks kind of cute in it - a thought that makes Robbie blush furiously every time she thinks it.
But after the eggs are safely stored away, Robbie begins showing Emilia how to take the old hay from the chicken coop and to replace it with fresh one. It's not very difficult work - Robbie doesn't want to scare Emilia off on her first day as a farm hand, after all - but the girls chat excitedly the whole time and are having fun, so their work goes not nearly as fast and efficiently as it usually does when Robbie works on her own. Not that Robbie cares about that right now.
In fact, Robbie finds herself so caught up in spending time with Emilia, that she completely misses what is usually the highlight of any day on which it happens. Behind the girls, Tyra's transport drives onto the farm and parks in its usual spot. Emilia's mother steps out and is just about to call out for Robbie, who usually always helps her, when she spots her own daughter in the chicken pen with Robbie, the two girls laughing as hay flies about them.
Tyra doesn't say anything. She just regards the two with a curious expression for a moment, then turns silently to her own work.

Tanya gets out of the confrontation pretty beaten up. It takes her a while to calm down from the shocking attacks, and has to be really creative to hide most of her cuts by wearing baggy garments.

There is shock in her parents as well, as she tells them the story of Gunnar and his experiments, especially as the details of her tale start to match with those of the official narrative from the aftermath. For Tanya, the fact that a known 'friend' would try to harm her is quite unsettling. Maybe her parents didn't know Gunnar all that well...

For a long while after the attacks, Tanya stays indoors, wary of any bird. She almost develops a phobia of the damn things.
As her cuts heal, though, she finds her courage and starts going out more comfortably. But still, she rushes from an indoor place to another...

On the plus side, she manages to use her trauma to convince her mother to sign her off the swimming team. So maybe... a blessing in disguise?

Her books, Professor Hedstrom and her friendship with Robbie and Emilia help her recovery. Her friends stood up for her, helping her as she made a mess on that island. She feels she can trust them.

As they manage to get away from the birds Emilia is overcome with emotion. Did we do it... we did it. right? She lets out a laugh of joy and before thinking hugs Robbie, and then goes to hunt Tanya before freezing and letting go and mumbling an apology, and how they should head back.

----

She learns to be more relaxed around the girls as the day move on, and the hugs no longer become awkward as she meets them in secluded places and hang out. There is still that nagging feeling though of being torn between two groups. At school she would still pander to Izzy, to stay safe, but the guilt in her stomach grows, as does her frustration at how boring the others are. Talking about shopping, clothes, boys...the last one she would definitely rather do anything but. Hanging out with Tanya and Robbie, it was different. It was fun. Maybe it was they fact they talked about actual interest things, their shared experience... or the fact she didn't have to pretend anything.

Still the worry, the fear of what would happen if her 'friends' found out kept her in line. At least for a while. Izzy didn't bring up the day of the bird attack, may it was the knock to the head, she thought it was imagine, and Emilia was grateful.

It was the day at the farm. The first of many. The realisation that Robbie knew her Mum, knew the truth and never outed her, despite the way she had been treated her...that was what finally made her decision.

It was couple of days later, in the canteen. Mari and Dana were arguing over which boy in their year was the best looking and Emilia was doing her best not to get drawn in when Izzy once again decided to cause trouble, approaching Tanya and Robbie. Going on about them being weirdos, and then starting to turn on Tanya about her leaving the swimming team...something inside EMiilia snaps..

'You know what's weird Izzy? You're obsession abut these two and bothering them.' She stands up as she calls across to her. As most go quiet realising something is going down she grits a her teeth trying to stay calm. Her eye land briefly on Robbie, also watching, and her her resolve is steeled.

'No-one else cares. So what if they like birds, or other stuff. Just give it a rest for once. Hell, the stuff they like is more interesting than you most the time.' She picks up her food and walks over bumping a shoulder with the bully as she walks past her to sit down next to Robbie.

Like last time Izzy didn't seem to know how to react to thing not going her way, to the open defiance, and growled out some more inuslts before going back to the table.

In the following days the old friend group were divided on whether Emilia had truth to her words, or was now just another weirdo she found herself having to seek comfort from Tanya and Robbie, including moment of clinging to the taller girl trying not to panic as rumours and gossip circulated.

Then as they do the school found something else to gossip about, and moved on. She was able to publicly be with the pair, though sometime with a stink eye from Izzy, who otherwise refused to speak wit her anymore. Finally, a weight was lifted.