Willodeen

After the group consults the notes Willodeen took about screechers in the wild, they’re still not sure what to feed the baby. Mae and Birdie finally decide to try making something the screecher might like. Connor needs to get home before it gets too late, but before he goes, he names the baby Quinby after a dog he had who howled at night like a screecher. Connor wishes them luck, which Willodeen is grateful for because she “knew we would need it” (143).

Over the next two days, Willodeen, Mae, and Birdie have no luck getting Quinby to eat. Willodeen is scared the baby won’t survive, but Mae and Birdie argue that if anyone can save the baby, it’s her. Willodeen argues she doesn’t know anything about magic screechers, to which Mae quips she “expect[s] they eat same as the regular ones” (146).

Willodeen pores over her notes again and comes up with a few new ideas to try. She heads out to forage, noting how the weather is unseasonably warm for fall and that the dry winds are stronger than usual. On her way to forage, she runs into Connor and his father.