Wild Wings

Unaware of the bird, an 11-year-old boy named Callum McGregor lives in rural Scotland with his parents and older brother, Graham. His two best friends are named Rob and Euan. On a cold March afternoon, the boys are out riding their bikes when they notice a girl named Iona fishing in the loch. They are amazed to see her catching a trout with her bare hands. Rob charges forward and accuses Iona of poaching. She protests that she wasn’t using a fishing rod. The land belongs to Callum’s family, so Rob appeals to Callum to prohibit her from keeping the fish. Rob then grabs a secret notebook that Iona is trying to hide. In the scuffle, it falls into the loch, and Iona leaps to the opposite bank and disappears, minus her shoes and coat.

Callum and Euan object to Rob’s rude behavior, but Rob says, “[m]y dad lost his business because of her ma. […] She stole every last bit of his money and ran off. She wouldn’t dare put a foot in Scotland again” (7). Iona has just returned to the area and now lives with her grandfather. He is nicknamed Mad Old McNair and is believed to have a mental illness. The boys ride home into the freezing sunset, but Callum returns to give Iona her coat and shoes. She tells him to meet her tomorrow by the banks of the loch to see something remarkable. She swears Callum to secrecy about it.

At home that night, Callum’s parents make a fuss because he arrives so late. Since Iona has insisted that they keep their meeting a secret, he says that he was out riding bikes with his friends. Callum’s brother Graham is angry because he was out looking for his little brother and will now be late for a concert he planned to attend that night.

The next day, Callum dodges a trip to town with his parents so that he can meet Iona by the loch. Iona leads him to an ancient tree in a clearing, which was once struck by lightning. Iona leads Callum to climb to the upper branches, where she has constructed a treehouse viewing platform. Callum thinks that this is her secret until she points out something even more remarkable in the distance. On a small island in the middle of the loch, the two children spy a large bird’s nest that looks like a pile of sticks in the top branches of a tree. “I saw the secret hidden in our valley. No one else knew about it. Not Mum and Dad, or Graham, or Rob and Euan. Just me and Iona” (27).

something prehistoric about it, like a beast of a lost world, too big for this landscape.” (28). Iona explains that she’s been watching the bird build a nest for the past week. It’s a male hoping to attract a mate. When the bird flies off to hunt, the children climb down the tree, and Iona shows Callum how to tickle a trout on the belly and catch it with bare hands. Iona announces that a female osprey will arrive within a day. She challenges Callum to meet her the following afternoon to keep watch.

The next day is Sunday, and Callum finds himself dragged off to church with his parents. Afterward, he tells them that he plans to play football with his two friends. Instead, he meets Iona in the treehouse and brings binoculars to get a closer look at the osprey. When the female doesn’t appear, Callum grows impatient and plans to leave, but Iona says that he must think like a bird. She closes her eyes, spreads her arms, and pretends to fly, announcing that the female is on her way. Iona encourages Callum to do the same. Feeling silly, he complies, and they see a bird in the distance. The male watches the new bird approach and rises into the air, gripping a fish in his talons. He tries to get the female’s attention. She lands on the nest and accepts the fish. “Iona leaned into me and nudged me. ‘Look, she likes him.’ I nodded and for some reason felt my face burn bright red” (42-43)

The next morning at breakfast, Graham tells the family that he saw Callum by the loch with a girl on Sunday. Callum informs them that it was Iona McNair and wonders why Rob hates the McNair family so much. His mother says that she went to school with Fiona McNair, Iona’s mother. She admits, “[i]t’s true that a lot of money went missing the day Fiona left. […] But truth be told, Rob’s dad was never much of a businessman anyway” (45). Callum says that Iona told him that her mother is a famous dancer in London now. Graham suggests that Fiona is an exotic dancer rather than a celebrity stage performer.

The next morning, Rob proudly shows off a new mountain bike to his friends. He just received it as a birthday present. As the boys walk toward the school building, Iona hands Callum a picture that she drew the night before. Rob grabs it and shows it to the whole class. Callum says, “I looked at the paper. Iona had painted two ospreys. One was sitting in the nest and the other was flying, wings outspread, bringing a fish. She had signed it: ‘To Callum, from, Iona. XXX’” (55-56). Rob says that both Iona and her grandfather are “crazy.” Caving to peer pressure, Callum agrees.

Later, Callum is surprised to find Iona in his class. People start giggling when they see her. At lunch, nobody wants to socialize with her. The students assume that Iona is as eccentric as her grandfather. When he realizes that Iona forgot her lunch, Callum sneaks her a sandwich during afternoon recess. He also volunteers to be her library partner. As they go through wildlife books, Iona points out that Callum’s farm has a marten (an animal in the weasel family) den on it.

Eager to try out his new bike, Rob leads his friends to a steep hill called Death Drop. Callum crashes while making the descent. Rob flies over him and collides with Euan, who is fishing on the banks. Rob and Callum sit down to watch while Euan lands a trout. Callum thinks that it’s been a month since he first met Iona on that very spot. He hasn’t seen her much since the episode at school. Suddenly, she appears from the woods and drags Callum away with her. She has been crying and tells him that she thinks that the female osprey is dead.

When Callum protests that he can’t go with her, Iona grabs his bike and rides off. He then takes Rob’s bike to follow her. He is shocked by the sight that awaits him. “Hanging below one of the branches of the nest tree was the osprey, slowly turning as if held by invisible thread. She spun in midair, upside down, like a gruesome ballet dancer” (69). The bird’s talons are entangled in fishing line, and she can’t break free. She is also positioned too high on an upper limb for the children to reach her easily. After much deliberation, Iona reluctantly decides that they need to find help.