After dinner, Renee Jennings went downstairs to feed the little bird.
She noticed Inky would occasionally glance at her while eating, looking like it had sothing on its mind.
"Inky, what’s wrong?" Renee Jennings approached it and gently tapped its head with a finger. "Is tonight’s dinner not to your liking?"
"That’s not it, Renee." Inky shook its head and quickly explained, "The dinner you prepared is delicious. Robin likes it a lot."
Renee Jennings blinked and said with a smile, "But you don’t seem to have much of an appetite. Is sothing troubling you?"
Inky began slowly, "Renee, Robin has a question."
"What is it?"
"Are humans... terrifying?"
Renee Jennings was taken aback by the question. She frowned slightly. "Why the sudden question?"
Inky said, "Robin heard from a friend that in the early morning, one human buried another human in the ground. Robin doesn’t know if that’s allowed or not."
Renee Jennings: "..."
’That is highly illegal.’
She imdiately pressed for more details. "Inky, which friend told you this? Where are they now? Is there any way I could et them?"
"They live pretty far from here," Inky replied, then added with so hesitation, "And... they’re very afraid of humans."
Renee quickly said, "Then I won’t interact with them directly. Could you ask them a few questions for ?"
Inky blinked its small, beady eyes. "Renee, is this urgent?"
"Yes, extrely urgent." Renee Jennings nodded. ’After all, a life is on the line.’ "What else did your friend tell you?"
Inky answered honestly, "Robin’s friend just said a human buried another human. That humans are terrifying... to actually harm their own kind."
In fact, it had told its friend that not all humans were that terrifying—that the Renee it knew was a very, very good person.
But its friend had retorted that it was foolish to dare to trust a human.
Renee Jennings frowned and fell silent.
She hadn’t expected Inky’s friend to be so hostile toward humans.
’But if soone was really buried, she couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.’
"Has your friend been hurt by humans before?" Renee Jennings asked.
"They never told Robin. When Robin t them, they already hated humans." Inky didn’t know the full story either.
Renee Jennings asked another question, "What kind of bird is your friend?"
Inky: "It’s an owl."
"I see." Renee Jennings pursed her lips, her tone becoming more pleading. "Then could I trouble you to ask your owl friend where they saw the person being buried?"
"No problem." Inky readily agreed. Anything was fine, as long as it didn’t have to arrange for its friend to et Renee Jennings.
Renee Jennings had two questions for Inky to ask.
First, the location of the burial.
Second, any distinguishing features of the person who did the burying.
She didn’t dare ask too many questions, worried Inky wouldn’t rember them all.
"Okay, Renee," Inky said earnestly. "Robin rembers. Robin will go find my friend after dinner."
Renee Jennings said gratefully, "Thank you for your trouble, Inky. I’ll wait at ho for your news tonight."
Inky replied, "See you tonight, Renee."
**
Midnight.
Renee Jennings waited in the living room for Inky’s return.
It brought news from its owl friend, but its feathers were a ss, and she could faintly make out a trace of blood.
"What happened to you?" Renee Jennings frowned, a worried expression on her face. "You’re hurt! I’ll take you to the vet!"
"No, no!" Inky said quickly. "Robin is fine."
"How did this happen?"
"Robin just fell by accident." In truth, it had gotten into a fight with its friend.
Inky had found its owl friend and asked the two questions.
The mont the owl heard the questions, it stared at Inky vigilantly. "Did a human tell you to ask this? Inky, why are you colluding with humans?"
"Renee is a good friend to Robin," Inky told the owl. "Not all humans are as bad as you think. There are good humans, too, like Renee!"
"Renee, Renee!" The owl swooped over and pecked it. "All you talk about is Renee! You’ve beco a human’s puppet!"
"Robin doesn’t care! Renee is good to Robin, so Robin must be good to Renee!" Inky’s trust in Renee Jennings didn’t waver in the slightest. "Baldy, please, just tell Robin where that human was buried."
"I’m not telling!" Baldy the Owl turned its head away angrily. "I refuse to let you help a human!"
"You—" Inky was getting angry too. It flew up and pecked Baldy the Owl on the head. "You rotten Baldy!"
"Oh, so that’s how it is, Inky! You’d turn on for a human!" Baldy the Owl grew even angrier. "I’m going to teach you a lesson today!"
A swallow is no match for an owl. Inky was quickly overwheld by Baldy the Owl.
Even so, Baldy the Owl had gone easy on it.
If it had really wanted to harm Inky, the little swallow would have been dead already.
Baldy the Owl looked at Inky’s ssy, ruffled feathers, then used its beak to preen its own neat plumage before asking smugly, "Do you still dare to say you and Renee are good friends?"
"Robin and Renee *are* good friends!" Inky retorted stubbornly, and indeed, that’s what it truly believed.
"You—" Baldy the Owl was exasperated, but finally relented. "Fine, I’ll tell you! But if you get hurt by a human in the future, I won’t be the one to avenge you."
"Thank you, Baldy." Before leaving, Inky not only expressed its thanks but also added, "If you ever et Renee, you’ll definitely like her too."
"Shut up!" Baldy the Owl snapped. "I would never like a terrifying, nasty human!"
Of course, Inky didn’t tell Renee Jennings any of this.
It claid it had been distracted while flying and accidentally scraped itself on a branch.
"Let clean the wound for you." Renee Jennings took out a first-aid kit she had bought specially for pets, and she also smoothed out Inky’s feathers.
After a mont’s thought, she suggested, "Why don’t you stay here for a few days? You can go back out once your wound is a little better. I have a little nest you can sleep in."
"Wouldn’t that be too much trouble?" Inky asked, though it thought it was an excellent idea.
It had never stayed in a human’s ho before.
"Of course not," Renee Jennings said, getting up to open a storage cabinet. "Besides, you got hurt helping . It’s only right that I take care of you."
She took out a small bird’s nest she had bought online and held it up. "You can stay in this tonight."
"Thank you, Renee," Inky said sincerely. ’If only Baldy could et Renee,’ it thought, ’he’d definitely like her.’
"ACHOO—!" In a corner of the forest, Baldy the Owl sneezed and grumbled, "That fool Inky must be bad-mouthing !"
Renee Jennings set up Inky’s new nest, then instructed her other pets, "No bullying Inky. Help take good care of it."
Hearing this, Inky felt a warm glow inside, thinking that this little injury was nothing at all.
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