Astra by Naomi Foyle Read Free Book Online

the Owleons on them in the mornings.’
    Beyond the lawn a pinewood beckoned with raspy fingers. Between the trees was a row of brown hutches.
The Owleons
. The birds were invisible in the dark interiors, but Astra’s heart lurched in her chest and she made towards the verandah steps.
    ‘Not yet. The chicks are in here.’ Hokma strode past the frosted bathroom window to the door at the right end of the verandah where another wall jutted out at the back of the cabin.
    * * *
    Astra entered a swirl of shadows. Hokma flipped a switch and the living-room window blinds silently retracted, letting light spill into another large room, this one lined with plants and shelves and smelling of sage and liquorice tea. Oddly, the ceiling was higher in the middle of the room; that, Astra realised after a moment or two, was because there was a loft at either end, accessed by two sets of narrow steps running up the wall in an interesting V shape she instantly wanted to climb and jump between. The front loft, she quickly determined, held a futon and a lamp; she was standing beneath the other, beside a low-angled screendesk that faced out through the back window into the clearing. Some curious objects were lined up on the edge of the screendesk: several metal sticks displayed in a mug, and a row of bottles filled with blue, red and green water. These were even more interesting than the staircases and Astra was just going to ask Hokma about them when from the other side of the room came a faint scrabbling and scratching, then a strange wheezy
psh psh psh
.
    Beneath the front loft, a sofa and a comfy chair sat at angles to a handcrafted coffee table. The noises were coming from a large wooden box sitting on top of the table.
    ‘Yes, wake up, my pretties.’ Hokma crossed the big greeny-blue rag rug on the floor. ‘I’ve got a friend I want you to meet.’
    Astra followed and knelt beside Hokma. She put the bucket down carefully between them and peered over the edge of the box.
    ‘
Ohh!
’ she whispered, recoiling.
    There, blinking up at her, were three small balls of snowy-white fluff. Their wings were tiny, just little fingers of feathers, but what should have been the most adorable things she’d ever seen were disfigured by enormous hook-like beaks. It was a wonder the chicks could stand up, the beaks were so ridiculously big. They made the baby birds look like crabbedold men or ancient demons in fairytales: more than just old, a
million years
old.
    ‘Why are they so
ugly
?’ she blurted.
    ‘Ugly?’ Hokma smiled and offered her finger for the littlest bird to nip at. ‘You’ll hurt their feelings.’
    As if seeking protection from Astra’s disgust, the middle chick shuffled over and huddled against its bigger sibling. The tiny one was left stranded in the corner of the box. Like Mr Banzan, it didn’t seem to have a neck; its head simply emerged from its puffy body as if it were a tiny snowman. But then it stretched out a claw and turned towards her. Face-on, its beak curved like a crescent moon, its eyes were two onyx pools and its bewildered expression was framed by a heart-shaped ruff.
    In an instant, Astra’s heart was a puddle of love. ‘
Oooohh
,’ she cooed, ‘I’m
sorry
.’
    ‘Astra, meet Copper, Amber and Silver.’ Hokma pointed to the birds from biggest to smallest. ‘Amber’s a girl and Copper and Silver are boys. Normally it’s hard to tell with birds, but I Coded them, so I know.’
    Astra couldn’t take her eyes off Silver. ‘Why is he so
small
?’
    ‘Silver is the youngest. The eggs are laid several days apart, so if the parents can’t feed them, the oldest can eat the smaller ones and survive.’
    Astra’s hand flew to her mouth. ‘Copper’s not going to
eat
Silver, is he?’
    ‘Not if we feed them plenty of worms.’
    Hokma reached into the bucket, pinched a dead worm between her thumb and forefinger and dangled it over the box. When Copper seized the creature’s body in his beak, Hokma let it