The Death of Pie (31 page)

‘Things that the crows find, which they think people might like. For example, it could be a button or a pretty stone, or even just a scrap of brightly colored paper.'

‘Wow,' she said. ‘Anything else cool about Corvids?'

‘Why, yes; in many cases they can be taught to speak – just like parrots can. I read somewhere that they might even understand what they are saying. Alison, you might want to read up on them.'

‘Yeah, maybe,' Alison said.

Suddenly I realized that there was something especially odd about
this
flock of crows. ‘Hey, Alison, count the crows – please.'

‘Five. Big deal.'

‘Well, dear,' I said, ‘crows mate for life. This late in the year all the young crows will have found mates, so this means that one of those crows has recently lost its mate.'

‘
Really?
'

‘Really. See if you can guess which one it is.'

That is exactly what Alison did. For the next half hour we stood and watched, and then followed those birds around the top of the ridge, until Alison had sorted out who belonged to whom. Once she slipped over the edge of Lover's Leap, and might well have plunged to her death (given that she does not wear sturdy Christian underwear) had it not been for the lightning quick responses of Yours Truly.

In summation, one of the many traits that my daughter shares with me is that she is impetuous. When we came down from the mountain – er, ridge – that afternoon, we hightailed our hinnies into the town of Bedford and paid a visit to the Bedford County Library. One of the many traits that the Babester's daughter shares with him is that she is a collector. The following day she sweet-talked her father into driving her into Pittsburgh, where she was able to purchase a wide variety of bird-watching books.

We are grateful to all our many friends and family members who have assisted Alison on her road to emotional recovery. Also, we cannot emphasize enough just how important it was to have a good clinical therapist involved from the beginning. Personally, I would like to thank the Corvid family, in particular Fergie Fledging, who hopped into our lives the following spring.

As yet, that is another story.