Chapter 3

Chapter 3 The next morning, Dink rang Ruth Rose's doorbell. She came to the door wearing a green jogging suit. Even her sneakers and headband were green. "You look like a bush," Dink said. Ruth Rose grinned and yelled into the house, "MOM, I'M LEAVING!" She and Dink headed up Woody Street to pick up Josh. They were going back to the falcons' nest

to look for clues. Josh lived at the end of Farm Lane, in a big yellow house. Behind the house stood a white barn. Josh was shooting baskets at a hoop nailed to the barn door. He was dressed in a camouflage shirt and pants. "Geez," Dink said, "why didn't you guys tell me you were going disguised as trees!" The three kids hurried down River Road, then took a bike path into the woods. Just before they reached the clearing, Josh stopped. A man wearing jeans and a flannel shirt was standing under the falcons' tree, looking up into the branches. The kids looked at each other, then stepped into the clearing. The man turned around. He had wavy black hair, a tanned face, and blue eyes. "Hi there," the man said. "What are you kids up to?" "We were just hiking," Josh said cautiously. The man smiled. "Wait a minute. Your voice is awfully familiar. Are you the guy who called my office yesterday about the missing falcons?" Josh grinned. "Yeah, that was me," he said. Josh introduced himself. "And these are my friends,

Dink and Ruth Rose." "Very nice to meet you," the man said. "My name's Curt. Look, guys, I know you want to help, but the best thing you can do is to stay away from here. The adult falcons won't come back if they see or smell you kids." "But we came back to look for clues," Josh said. "I thought a person might have taken the falcons." Curt looked surprised. "A person? Well, it's possible, I suppose. But I doubt it. I've been over

this whole area, and I didn't find a single clue, human or otherwise." The kids followed Curt as he walked away from the tree. "The DEP appreciates your phone call," Curt said, "but leave the rest to us. I have a feeling we'll wrap this up soon." At the trail, Curt turned right. "Thanks again!" he said. He waved and began jogging down the path. The kids headed down the trail in the other direction. Suddenly Josh stopped. "Listen!" he said. "What?" Ruth Rose said. "I heard something." Josh knelt next to a patch of tangled weeds. Slowly he parted the stalks with his fingers. A brown bird was hunched in the weeds. It had a sharp beak and shiny black eyes. "It's a young peregrine falcon!" Josh said. "He must be from the nest!" The bird was trembling. It opened its beak and made cack-cack-cack noises at Josh. Its shiny eyes never left Josh's face. "The poor thing looks scared," Ruth Rose said.

Josh took off his T-shirt and carefully draped it over the bird. "He won't be so scared if he can't see us," Josh explained. He held the bundle against his chest. "What should we do with it?" Dink asked. "We can't leave him here," Josh said. "Something will eat him." "Let's take him to Mrs. Wong!" Ruth Rose said.

The kids hurried down the path. Josh smoothed the bird's feathers and spoke to it in a soothing voice. "Hey what's this?" Josh said. He gently stretched out one of the falcon's legs. Wrapped around the leg was a narrow metal band.