Page 86 of Play On

I can’t stop smiling from behind my phone. Noah and Luke hit it off straightaway, talking about falcons, and my guess is Noah loves that Luke is content to talk about birds with him rather than football, which he said is the only thing most people see in him.

“Ready?” Luke asks.

Noah nods. “Yeah.”

“Okay. Extend your arm out and hold it.”

Even though I’ve seen the falcon experience a zillion times before and have done it myself, I find myself eager to see this unfold for Noah.

He does as he’s told. Rex takes off, his wings expanding in flight, and Luke carefully places a piece of meat on Noah’s gloved hand.

Whoosh!Rex lands on Noah’s arm and the look of pure happiness on Noah’s face is contagious. He has the biggest smile, and his eyes are wide with amazement.

“Now bring your elbow down, but hold your hand up—great, just like that,” Luke instructs.

And now Rex is sitting on Noah’s hand. “I can’t believe this,” he says, his voice full of awe. “He’s incredible.”

Luke takes Rex from him and casts the falcon off, sending him flying. Rex expands his wings and circles back towards the aviary.

Noah watches him, not saying a word.

“Are you left speechless, Noah?” I tease.

He turns and looks at me. “That wasamazing.”

“Brilliant, isn’t it?” Luke says. “Come on, we’ll give it another go.”

Rex lands on Noah’s arms a few more times, and then Luke takes him back. “I’m going to put him back now. Would you like to see their mews?”

Noah furrows his brow.

“His enclosure. That’s what they are called,” Luke explains.

“Yeah, I would,” he says.

Luke leads us towards his falcon enclosures, and Noah is asking him questions the entire time we walk. “How did you get into this?”

“I grew up between the UK and Australia,” Luke says. “Mum and Dad were better apart than together. Mum is Australian, so I spent most of the year with her, but my dad is British, and he moved back home to Dorset when I was seven. I would spend every summer here, and one year, he took me on a falconry experience. The second that bird landed on my arm, I knew what I wanted to do. I was going to be a falconer.”

“I know that feeling,” Noah says. “It was the same with me and football.”

“You justknow,” Luke agrees.

Or sometimes you don’t,I think as anxiety creeps through me.

Here are two men who have known their purpose since they were kids. Who live and breathe for what they do and have already established themselves in their careers.

I have so much work to do,I think, feeling overwhelmed.I’m so behind.

“After that, I begged my dad every summer to take me on that falconry experience,” Luke continues. “As soon as I graduated, I moved permanently to the UK so I could learn under that same falconer. Joseph. He became like my second dad. I did odd jobs around Dorset and worked with him. He had all kinds of birds, so I learnt a lot. When Joseph retired last year, he gifted me two of his falcons. Then I struck out on my own, gathering upbusiness by offering to do falconry shows, and I got lucky when I came to Wintersmith Hall, because they gave me a space for my falcons, and hired me to oversee their aviary. Oh, and I live here, too. Got a great rate on a little cottage thanks to Nicholas.”

“Nice,” Noah says, grinning at him. “I’ll have to talk to Declan Hawkes about my contract. He didn’t throw in housing.”

I smile at that. I love when Noah shows his sense of humour.

“You hit Nicholas up when he wasn’t in a grumpy mood,” I tease Luke.

He chuckles at that. “Have you asked Nicholas what he thinks of Carl and Roy’s five o’clock wake-up calls?”

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