A Nest for Celeste by Henry Cole Read Free Book Online

to tell Cornelius.
    “Thanks for listening,” she said. “I didn’t mean to go on and on. My plan now is to get you out of this cage…. But in the meantime, can I bring you anything? Something special that you like to eat perhaps?”
    Cornelius replied excitedly. “Something like dogwood berries? The dogwood berries are beginning to ripen, and I haven’t had one since last fall. I noticed a dogwood tree in the yard, just next to this house, with red and green berries all over it. Dogwood berries would be lovely!”
    “That should be simple enough,” said Celeste.
    “You could do that?”
    “I’ll see what I can do. I can try finding some once it gets a little darker outside.”
    “Wonderful. Being in this cage is a nightmare!You’ve given me…well…a little glimmer of hope.”
    The wood thrush then lifted his head and let loose a startlingly clear warble that resonated throughout the room. The beauty of it made Celeste’s chest give a tiny heave; and she felt a pang, and an ache so intense that her heart skipped and trembled. She clutched at it with her paw.
    The lilting birdsong ended, and the room was still.
    “I don’t know which I like better,” Celeste whispered, “your beautiful song, or just after.”
    The thrush smiled.
    “Do that for Joseph,” Celeste stated firmly. “Sing just like that. Promise me.”
    Cornelius shrugged his wings, then nodded.

 
     
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Outside
    T he stagnant air sat unmoving around the plantation. The oppressive heat seemed even hotter because of the persistent drone of cicadas in the treetops. Celeste looked out over the garden from her vantage point on the bedroom windowsill. She could see a dark bank of clouds far off to the west, still miles away but moving toward the plantation. If she wanted to find Cornelius some dogwood berries—and shehad said that she would try—she’d have to do it soon; she did not want to be caught out in a storm.
    She remembered when Ellis once spoke of a tunnel, a little-used passage that led from under the floorboards through the stone foundation of the house to the outside beyond the cellar. Maybe she could use this passageway to locate the dogwood tree. She bid Cornelius good-bye and set off.
    The early evening provided enough shadows to hide Celeste. From Joseph’s room she warily made her way down the two flights of stairs and to the dining room without being discovered. She saw no sign of the cat; perhaps the heat of the day had sent it to doze on the front porch.
    Her old home under the floorboards seemed even dustier and darker than she remembered. Her remaining baskets lay in a jumble. She picked the largest and strongestone, throwing it over her shoulder.

    She checked all along the tunnel under the sideboard. Finally she discovered a small entryway. It led to a crevice between the cool stones of the house’s foundation. Up ahead, she saw daylight.
    She poked out her nose and then emerged from the house into a tangle of shrubbery, feeling thankful that she was hidden.
    Her eyes widened at the scene around her. She suddenly realized how alone and vulnerable she was without the protection of Joseph’s shirt pocket. The forest of plants, the sounds, even the red clay soil under her toes seemed foreign to her. Each of her senses prickled with excitement.
    She looked up between the branches of an azalea bush. Steely gray cloud formations were now blocking what was left of a pink streak of sunset, and she heard deep rumblings of thunder. There were shouts near the barns and fields, warnings and commands: A storm was coming and all things needed to be secured. Celeste heard the whinnies of horses as they were hurried into the barn, along with wagons of cotton and flax.
    The barn! Now to find the dogwood tree.
    Her eyes moved from the barn to the split-rail fence that surrounded a pen, and she could see, even from this distance, a large hog lying there.She hurried through the yard and across the lane to the pen.
    The