Free NO ORDINARY OWL by Lauraine Snelling and Kathleen Damp Wright

Maybe it was the branch the owls had been sitting on when they’d been hit?
    Remembering the blood and the pathetic sounds the little owls had made that Saturday reignited Esther’s determination. No more messing around. She and Aneta would find that—that Awful Person. Mr. Beake would be happy, the Squad would help the owls fly again, and the last mission—here her throat prickled—would be a fantastic victory.
    Next to “there’s always a clue,” another of Imogene’s favorite sayings was, “If you get down, look up!” Well, they were up and looking. Pulling out the monocular, she peered right. The long driveway to the mansion and forest to the right of that. As she peered toward the left, she noted a cluster of buildings—almost a straight line out from where the birds fell.
    She pointed. “Look, Aneta. There’s a farm over there. Funny, I ’ve never seen it from the road when we ride to Uncle Dave’s ranch. It must be right before that last curve to the ranch.” Rolling the top dial, she zoomed in and out but could see nothing more clearly.
    “Maybe they have a clue!” Placing her hands carefully, Aneta stepped onto a branch that took her closer to the spikes of the fence. “Maybe someone saw something.” Another couple of sidesteps took her to the branch that protruded straight from the main trunk of the tree and hung out over onto Beake property about six feet off the ground. The metal spikes were now behind and underneath her. Those spikes made Esther think of the Middle Ages and weapons of warfare. No way did she want to fall on those spikes.
    “Be careful, Aneta!” Esther narrowed her eyes. “Maybe that’s where that Awful Person lives.” The fastest way to get there was…Glancing down, she gulped. She didn’t want to think about the fastest way to get there.
    “Here I go!” As gracefully as a ballerina, Aneta dropped onto the piney ground. “Come on, Esther!”
    Esther edged her right foot out on to the same branch. Leaned her weight onto it. Tucked the monocular in her side pocket. The branch swayed slightly. She removed her foot.
I can’t do it
.
    “Hurry, Esther. We must do our part. Once we have our clue, we can tell Sunny and Vee. Then the Squad will be together on this!”
    “Let me just think for a minute—don’t rush me.” Esther reviewed the situation. She could slide back down the tree and lose more skin on her legs and elbows. Then she could ride on her bike with bleeding arms and legs down the road to where the turnoff had to be for this bunch of buildings.
    Or they could wait until Sunny and Vee came back out on their bicycles, Aneta could walk out the gate, and they could all ride down the road to the turnoff. She could already imagine Vee’s upraised eyebrows at that turtle-slow plan. She moved several more steps out on the branch until she was the same distance Aneta had been when she jumped. Sunny would flat out ask why she didn’t just—
    Jump.
    While Aneta continued to wait, Esther’s eyes flickered back and forth as though seeing each choice. If she jumped, she could sprain her ankle and then they wouldn’t be able to investigate the buildings. If she jumped, she could die and then that would be the end of the last S.A.V.E. Squad mission. If she—
    “Esther!” Aneta was finally sounding impatient. Aneta who was
never
impatient.
    Esther jumped. The ground came up to meet her. It hadn’t been that far. All she had to do was land like Aneta told her—like a frog and then roll into a somersault if she hit the ground really hard.
    Like a frog.
    Somersault.
    But what was this? Her body was falling
backward
a little. This was not good. She windmilled her arms. Backward was where greedy spikes of the fence waited. In another second, the neck of her hoodie shot to her chin, gagging her. Her hood! It was snagged on what could only be one or more of the spikes. Her backside bumped the fence, and there she hung, clawing frantically at the neck of her