But Baxter merely introduced himself in a very polite way and assured her that the worst was over. “Can you fly down Miss Mourning Dove?” he asked.
Mona was pleased and impressed that he had addressed her correctly, not as a morning dove as so many mistakenly did. “I don’t think so. I’m afraid my feathers are stuck together.”
Baxter paused for just a moment before saying, “Jump. I’ll catch you.”
A boxturtle may not seem like the best choice to catch you, should you fall. But something about Baxter gave Mona the confidence that she needed to make the leap.
What choice did she have, after all? So leap she did. Mona was moaning the whole way down. It was sort of a whoop whoooo whooooooing sound. It was a longer lasting fall than you might expect because no sooner had she jumped than Mona’s wings became unstuck, though not fully functional. She was flapping for all she was worth and down below Baxter was kind of weaving back and forth trying to stay under where she’d land.
At the last second, a flurry of flapping from Mona changed her direction and Baxter, lunging to compensate, went head over heels onto his back.
6.