Pugnuts Gets Lost - Part 1
It was a late spring morning - the kind that sets youngsters toward puddles, building dams in the spring runoff and running across fields of bent winter hay. The meadow smelled of winter mildew and spring mud but was solid enough to keep the pug’s little paws dry as they looked for adventure.
Pugnuts was exploring the fields across the lane toward the mouth of Surry Reach. This area was forbidden because it was too far from the house. Pugnella had told them about the danger of eagles, who preyed on rabbits and voles, and who wouldn't know the difference between a rabbit and a pug until it was too late. They were not to stray too far from the house without her to bark to keep the predators away. Once an eagle decided you were dinner, there was nothing you could do about it.
Pugnuts was following a small stream of melted snow and was not paying any attention. He didn’t mean to disobey his mother, he was just curious about where the water was going as it sent bits of leaves from last year twirling down the ditch. He was leaning over and looking at a leaf when a shadow suddenly darkened the light.
When he turned to look, a big yellow talon came from seemingly no where! The hard knock of the impact shocked him and he felt a very uncomfortable pressure around his neck. He opened his eyes and couldn’t believe what he saw. The steeple of the Surry church, the roof of the ice cream shop and the blue water of Surry Reach were quickly receding. He was flying, but it wasn’t fun at all! The buildings spun dizzily as the eagle spiraled up into the enormous blue sky and bright sun. Pugnut’s eyes hurt from the light and he could barely see his mother as she ran out into the field, calling his name. As the eagle turned west he heard his mother call Puuuuuugnuts… and then it faded and all he heard was the wind.
The eagle flew south toward Newberry Neck, a long spit of land that reached out toward Mt. Desert Island and Patten Bay.
Pugnuts was terrified and limp with fear. The wind whooshed through the huge eagle's wings and the eagle had no replies for his whimpers. The deadly silence told Pugnuts that a terrible fate was approaching.
“I’m going to get eaten, just like mom said”, Pugnuts moaned as they passed over a cloud. “I should have stayed closer to home.”
Then Pugnuts thought he heard a new noise. He opened one eye and saw a huge flock of seagulls chasing them!
Suddenly there was a loud screaming and squawking - a huge flock of seagulls was chasing them!
"Let him go!!! You've got a little puppy!!!! That's Pugnuts!!!" they cried.
The eagle ignored them and kept flying, spiraling higher and higher. He knew that the seagulls would not be able to catch up with him if he got high enough, and there were fledglings to be fed at his nest.
Back at the house, Pugnella collapsed on the doorstep. "My baby Pugnuts, why did you wander?" She kept looking up to see if maybe he was still there, but there was nothing but the big blue sky and the bright sun. Pugwiggly and Pugwaddly padded to the doorstep and knew something was wrong, but all Pugnella could do is shake her head and stare at the sky. The eagle and Pugnuts were gone!
As she laid there, a lone seagull flew down to the doorstep.
“Don’t worry, Pugnella,” the seagull cried, “We’re going to bring Pugnuts back to you”.
Pugnella looked at the pretty white and grey gull with a faint spark of hope. “What can a seagull do to stop an eagle?”
The seagull just looked at her and said, “Maybe not much, but we’ve got lots of seagulls, and we’re not going to let that eagle have Pugnuts for dinner!”
The seagull glanced longingly at the garbage bags in the shed, then gave a little hop and flew off to the south toward the rapidly growing flock that was forming in the distance.
Now anyone can tell you that seagulls always avoid eagles, because the big birds attack and eat them. Eagles aren’t wicked birds, but they are aloof and some would even say snobby. They like seagulls enough for dinner, but don’t like to chit-chat or pass the time of day with them. Seagulls, in contrast, are very sociable and sometimes even nosy - always into other people's businesses and gossiping.
Being so engaged with everything going on in Surry, the seagulls knew all about Pugnacious, Pugnella, Pugwiggly, Pugwaddly and Pugnuts. They had perched on the roof of the little house when the pugs were born, and kept a close watch on all of their comings and goings. Even though the seagulls were noisy and gossipy, they never meant any harm by it. They really liked being around people, particularly the hard working fishermen of Surry Village and the islands, who would throw delicious food for them to enjoy as they trailed their fishing lines in the water.
As the seagull flock gathered, out over Newberry Neck, the eagle was gaining distance. The seagulls knew if they didn't do something quickly, Pugnuts would be lost.
Heathcliff, the largest of the seagulls, put on an extra burst of speed and flew directly in front of the eagle. Unable to avoid the sudden appearance of the smaller bird, the eagle flew right into him.
Smack! Feathers flew, and the angry eagle whipped his sharp beak around and lacerated Heathcliff's leg. The eagle gave a high pitched cry and wheeled away, Pugnuts dangling limply from his talons.
PFFT! Another seagull hit the eagle from above, buffeting the enormous black wings. It was Eggbert! Heathcliff came back from below, feathers falling from his injured leg, and he managed to peck the eagle's talon hard enough to cause the big claw to twitch.
The eagle, annoyed by Heathcliff's pecking, decided that he had enough - seagulls had never dared to attack an eagle, and he was not about to allow that lack of respect! The two seagulls' attack had slowed him down and the rest of the flock of seagulls was fast approaching.
Sensing that he might have made a mistake in picking up the pug, the eagle decided to lighten his load to fly away faster - not that he was afraid of the seagulls, mind you, but this rabble was an affront to his dignity. Turning toward Morgan Bay and Blue Hill, the Eagle opened his talon and let go of Pugnuts, almost a mile above the ground!
"Ha!" he thought, "Save your pug puppy now if you want him! Maybe my family feels more like seagull tonight!"
The pug fell, tumbling head over heels, faster and faster toward the narrow spit of land. Pugnuts was terrified! He could see the blue water of Patten Bay and Morgan Bay rushing up on either side of the land, and the beautiful mountains of Acadia National Park seemed so close he could touch them.
Pugnuts cried out in pain. The cold wind was burning his big brown eyes.
"Help!" Pugnuts cried, his stomach feeling weightless as he fell. "Help, Help!!"
The cold wind flapped his ears as Pugnuts continued to fall. “Hellllp!”
The seagulls gathered in a large flock behind the Eagle to keep him from seeing where the pug was falling while some of the younger ones tried to save the little pug puppy.
Feathers Meriweather, a one year old brown and white seagull, flew up from below and matched speed with Pugnuts' fall.
"Hallo, Pugnuts!" Feathers shouted. "What are you doing out here? Don't you know pugs can't fly?"
Pugnuts was terrified, and couldn't say anything, and even if he could, he wouldn't know what to say to a seagull. He didn't know where he was, didn't know why this seagull knew his name, and was scared, cold and falling out of the sky.
Then all of a sudden Pugnuts was flying again! Feathers had swooped below him and caught him on his back!
The flock of seagulls still surrounded the eagle as he retreated, and more were coming to help.
Down on the ground, Moira O'Neill had just come out of her house by the Carrying Place beach and saw the huge cloud of seagulls.
"I wonder what's going on? What's gotten into those seagulls?" She wondered, shading her eyes as she looked up from the beach.
Linda Greenlaw was out on her boat in the cove wondering the same thing. People walking on the beach looked at the spectacle- it was like nothing anyone had ever seen - hundreds of seagulls swooping and crying, and in the distance, an eagle was flying away from them!
Feathers was having trouble keeping Pugnuts balanced on his back as he flew. Pugnuts had never ridden a bird before, and as he scrambled to balance on the bird's back, both of them knew it was a losing proposition. It was only a matter of seconds before Pugnuts would fall off.
Feathers called out to another fledgling flying next to him. "Get the first class into a ladder formation!"
(The ladder formation, while well known to seagulls, is a cipher to everyone else- they position themselves in formation, one below the other in order to spot fish. Feathers and his first cohort of fledglings had just learned the formation and had been practicing it out over Contention Cove that morning.)
As Feather's friend Flappy moved into position Pugnuts lost his balance and tumbled out into the air.
"HEELLP!" Pugnuts cried, "I'm falling again"
"Ooof", Pugnuts woofed out as he landed on Flappy's back.
"Ooof, Ooof, Ooof" he woofed as he fell off Flappy's back onto Screechy's back, and on down the ladder of fledgling seagulls now flying in formation.
"Ooof, Ooof, woof, woof," gasped Pugnuts, as he had the air knocked out of his lungs on the way down.
Their feathers popped out of their pinions as the young seagulls bounced Pugnuts toward a soft landing. There was a big cloud of them trailing behind the group as they flew, but the brave young seagulls didn’t complain a bit.
Feathers Meriweather circled down to the bottom of the ladder just as Pugnuts came tumbling down and caught him as they approached the treetops.
Just when they thought Pugnuts was safe, the eagle re-appeared!
He had changed his mind and decided he wanted to have a taste of pug after all, and to teach these seagulls a lesson. He swooped toward Feathers and Pugnuts as they headed toward a birch tree leaning over the swamp. Pugnuts gave a little yip as Feathers bounced him off his back onto the tip of the tree. The slender birch bent under the weight, and with a swish of branches, almost as if the birch tree knew what it was doing, it deposited the pug on a mossy tussock, amongst some swamp cabbage. The leaves quickly covered up the little pug who had fallen into a swoon.
Pugnuts had disappeared!
Uninjured but exhausted from the ordeal, Pugnuts lay under the swamp cabbage - not a trace of the pug was to be seen from the air or on the ground.
Heathcliff, spots of blood trailing back onto his formerly pristine white feathers, turned with the rest of the seagulls to head back to Surry village. Other seagulls headed to Ellsworth, Bar Harbor, Blue Hill and even Swan's Island to tell the tale of the heroism of Heathcliff, Eggbert, Feathers Meriweather, Flappy, Screechy and all the other seagulls who had bravely fought the eagle to save Pugnuts. Little did they know that their actions that day would eventually become legend, with book deals and even movie rights for the major players, but that story is for another book and another time.
Back at the house, Pugnella was inconsolable. Several neighbors had gathered to see what was going on. As they were trying to figure out what to do next, Dale Sprinkle pointed up in to the air. "Look," he shouted, "The seagulls!"
A huge flock of seagulls was flying in a wedge formation to the boatyard next to the Pugnella and Pugnacious’s house. As the seagulls approached, several seasoned old souls warily opened up umbrellas as a precaution. In a precise formation that seemed almost military, the seagulls swooped over the reach and landed on the rocks opposite the little pug's house and all over the field. Heathcliff waited until they were settled and then alighted on the path leading up to the Findlay family's little cottage.
"Pugnuts is alive!" he cawed, and even though the villagers couldn't understand what he was saying, they thought it must have been good news, since Pugnella and Pugnacious jumped up and ran over to him.
"We fought a big battle with the eagle and made him let go of Pugnuts," Heathcliff continued, "and we managed to get him safely to ground out beyond the Carrying Place on Newbury Neck. The eagle was angry but flew away when he couldn't find Pugnuts, but we need to organize a ground search party as soon as possible before he comes back!"
It was only 10:00 in the morning so there was plenty of time to send out a search party.
"I'll get my car", said one villager
"I'll gather the dogs" said Shadow, a noble looking black Labrador who had rushed over. "We'll find Pugnuts in no time, Pugnella!"
By 10:30 the search party was organized. The children at the Surry Elementary School were busy making "Lost" posters just in case they didn't find Pugnuts, and a long caravan of cars began making its way out Newberry Neck. They all parked at the Carrying Place beach and followed the seagulls on foot as they flew to where they had deposited Pugnuts.
"Here it is, Here it is," cawed Feathers Meriweather, "Just look under the swamp cabbage!"
Nash approached, walking through the water and algae to the mossy tussock. He pushed aside the lush green leaves of the swamp cabbage, and looked. He sniffed at where the moss was crushed and could even see the outline of a little pug's body where it had lain, but Pugnuts wasn't there.
Then Feather’s gasped. Laying on the ground next to the tussock was a giant black and white feather!
The little pug had vanished!
(To be continued)