Page 5 of Ladybird

Chapter 2

SHREWSBURY CASTLE

“Watch out, Robin,” Regina Blake spoke to her brother who had been the new lord of Shrewsbury Castle for the last three years now. “I’ve been working with Cloud and he’s learned a new skill.”

Regina was not only the noble daughter of Madoc and Abbey Blake, but she’d been a falconer for many years now. Her love of birds, that she’d gotten from her father, led her to end up training falcons and hawks. She even joined the men on hunting trips and helped out to catch game with her birds of prey.

“The only thing that bird is good at is eating,” scoffed Robin. “When you moved your birds here when you took up residence and I agreed, I didn’t know how costly they’d be.” Robin was her older and only brother. He was three years her senior, her age being twenty-one now. Regina’s older sister, Martine, who married David the innkeeper, now lived at Blake Castle with their Uncle Corbett and Aunt Devon. Regina’s younger sister, Dorothy, or Dot as she now liked to be called, was visiting from their parents’ home in Blackmore and had been Regina’s best friend her entire life.

“Robin, stop complaining,” said Dot with a smile on her face. The girl was always smiling. “You should be happy that Regina moved her birds to your mews. She is the best falconer around.”

“Thank you for your confidence and praise, Sister,” said Regina, glad to have someone on her side. “Robin, if I must remind you, I was the one who talked Father into building a pigeon coop for you so you can now receive and send messages back and forth with your carrier pigeons like the rest of our family. You should be thanking me for moving in with you instead of complaining.” She held up her left hand with her young goshawk, Cloud, perched atop the leather falconer’s glove. She loved every one of her birds and cared for them as if they were her children. Cloud was the youngest and had been taking to his training so well that it made her more than pleased.

Their father, Madoc, used to raise and race carrier pigeons back when he was a thief. Before he even knew he was a noble. Because of him, all the family members, even the MacKeefes in Scotland, were able to send and receive quick messages back and forth using the talent of those little birds.

“Yes, Regina, I am grateful,” Robin ground out. “However, I’m not sure Father likes the fact that your birds of prey have taken down several of his pigeons now, including one of his favorite doves.”

“Don’t blame my birds for that.” Regina scooped a piece of raw meat out of the food bag at her side and fed it to Cloud. The goshawk eagerly gobbled it down. She’d been building trust with her newest bird by taking it with her everywhere she went and giving it lots of treats. The sun lit up the bird’s colors of brown and white mottling on its back. Its cream colored underparts and the wavy bands on its tail revealed it was still a young goshawk. “If you would stop letting the pigeons out of the coop to fly when you know I am training my birds, it would stop happening.”

“You are always training, it seems,” remarked Robin.

“Well, that is my job,” she responded.

“That’s why she is so good at it,” added her sister.

“Father is at the coop right now, Regina,” Robin told her. “Mayhap you should put that bird away until he leaves to head back home.”

“Not until after I show you Cloud’s new skill.” Regina looked over to the end of the open field where her apprentice, Roger stood waiting for her signal. Roger had been the apprentice of Shrewsbury’s last master falconer, Cassian, who was now retired but still helped out in the mews. When Regina moved into Shrewsbury Castle with her brother and his wife, Cassian was forced to step down when she took over the position of Master Falconer. Roger continued as her apprentice instead. “All right, I’m ready, Roger,” she called out, holding the bird up higher in the air. “Get ready, Cloud. This is your big chance to prove that you’ll be the great hunting bird I know you will be.”

Roger was near a row of hedges. He held the end of a string that had a lure attached to the end. The lure was a fake rabbit that Regina had made out of an old shoe. She’d tied real rabbit fur around it. Roger started to run and pulled the string with the lure behind him. The fake rabbit bounced over the ground after him, symbolizing a real rabbit hopping away.

“Go get it,” she told her bird, sending Cloud from his perch on her arm. The bird focused on the pretend rabbit, flying with lightning speed to the lure. It dove down and clutched the lure tightly in his talons. Regina had filled the shoe with rocks for weight, so the bird couldn’t lift it and fly at the same time yet. That was the first step of the training. Cloud called out to her proudly, clutching the lure and hopping with it, trying to bring the fake kill back to his master.

“Good boy,” Regina called out, at the same time giving Roger a wave, happy with the way things had gone. She beamed with pride, feeling like the parent of a skilled and talented child. “Did you see that? Did you see how he caught the lure?” Regina walked across the field toward the bird. Dot and Robin followed.

“Yes, that was great,” said Robin sounding perturbed and as if this didn’t interest him in the least.

“Cloud will be a valuable hunting bird,” agreed Dot, keeping up at Regina’s side. “Mayhap someday I can learn to be a falconer too.”

“Nay, Dot,” growled Robin. “We need at least one woman in our family to become a real lady. You’d be better off spending your time in the ladies solar stitching instead of in the hot and smelly mews like your sister.”

“Robin, how can you even say that? Dot can do whatever she pleases,” scolded Regina. “Besides, being a falconer does not make me less of a lady. I think it makes me a stronger and more talented woman.” She approached the bird and held out her arm, luring him back to her with another piece of meat. Cloud looked up and spread his majestic wings, releasing the lure and then flying to her, landing once again on her outstretched arm.

“Nay, our brother is right,” said Dot shyly. “I do like birds, but what I enjoy even more is singing like a bird. Mayhap I’ll be an entertainer someday.” She stood a bit taller and prouder.

“Good for you. You do that,” said Regina, running a finger over the bird’s head.

“Here comes Father,” announced Robin, squinting his eyes in the bright sun and gazing across the training field. “Something seems wrong.”

“Children,” said Madoc, approaching at a run. He held a scrap of paper in his hand. Madoc’s long dark hair had begun to show signs of graying lately. Still, Regina thought of her father as one of the handsomest men she’d ever known.

“What is it, Father?” Robin ran to meet him and they conversed softly before approaching the girls. By the looks on their faces, Regina realized it was of utmost importance. And it didn’t seem to be pleasant.

“Roger, please take Cloud back to the mews for now and check on the rest of the birds to make sure they have what they need.” Regina handed the goshawk over to her apprentice who took the bird with a gloved hand as well. The boy was tall and skinny and about the same age as Regina.

“Yes, my lady,” Roger said with a nod and did as instructed. As soon as he left, her father spoke.

“While I was caring for the flock at the coop, one of my flyers came in unexpectedly with a message.