Page 20 of The Prince's Castaway Baby

CHAPTER 10

BILLIE

“Billie! Billie! Billie!” Jens yells my name about a hundred times as he bursts into the cabin, startling me.

I sent him out earlier to find some firewood because I just wanted a bit of quiet space to myself for a change. Fortunately, he’s eager to please, so he bounded away without complaint, leaving me to sit and think in silence, and to catch my breath before he starts being irritating again.

“What is it?” I snap at him, looking up from my computer. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah — no, it’s perfect! I was out finding wood, and trying to find sticks like you showed me, you know, not too flimsy, not too long, not too damp?—”

“Please, Jens,” I sigh. “Get to the point.”

“Oh, yeah, right. Well, anyway, I was by the woodpecker nest, and I heard them singing, and I looked up and I just wanted to get a glimpse of the eggs because I still can’t believe how small they are, but the eggs are gone.”

“Gone?” I gasp, my heart sinking. These red-chested woodpeckers are an endangered species, and we were so excited to find a nest the other day. As far as I know, this is the last island in the world where you can find them, and losing a nest would be a heartbreak.

He shakes his head, looking more like a puppy than ever as his hair flops about in a light-chestnut arc around his head. “No! They’re gone because there are babies! Hatchlings? Pecklings? What do you call baby birds?”

“Who cares?” I say, cutting him off before he can keep rambling. “Let’s go!”

I slam my laptop shut and jump to my feet, scrambling to grab my camera. I sling it around my neck, then leap towards the door, Jens following close behind.

We run out into the woods as fast as we can, only slowing down so we can be quiet as we approach the nest. We’ve been keeping an eye on this nest for a couple of days, but nothing had happened so far.

I’ve been trying not to get my hopes up, but as I told Jens yesterday, if I can get a shot of these baby birds, this will be some of the first photos of these babies ever taken.

Plus, there haven’t been many good photos of the woodpeckers themselves in recent years at all. The privilege of taking any at all has made this trip well worth it.

Quietly, we approach the tree where we found the nest. I have no idea how Jens managed to get close enough to see hatchlings without disturbing anything, but I believe him that he saw something. He’s just as invested in all this as I am now, anddespite the fact that he’s definitely keeping secrets from me, I don’t think he’s a liar.

I signal to him to crouch down with me, and without hesitation he obeys. This isn’t the best ever vantage point, but I don’t want to startle any of the animals, and I can pretty much get a clear shot from here.

Gettinganypictures of these birds would be a win.

After about half an hour, I can feel him getting restless, so I glare at him in a silent warning not to be a bother. “I got closer,” he whispers.

“I don’t want to stick a camera in there. I don’t want to spook them.”

“But we can’t see anything.”

“Shush,” I hiss. He’s being irritating again, even if he means well.

We lie in the undergrowth utterly still for what feels like forever. Overhead, birds are chirping, though none of them are the ones I want, and beside me, Jens is breathing heavily like he’s trying to hold back from sighing on a loop.

Two more minutes, I say to myself, because my legs are starting to hurt from where we’re lying.Two more minutes and then we’ll give up.

And for a second, it looks like I really am going to be disappointed, but then an adult sticks its beak out of the nest, and we get the breathtaking sight of some incredibly rare baby birds bumbling to the front of the nest and opening their brand-new eyes as they cry out for food.

“Wow,” breathes Jens as the adult flies away, and I have to hold back a tear.

“I can’t believe we saw them,” I whisper. “Thank you for telling me.”

“Of course.”

If we stayed for a few hours, we could almost definitely watch the parent come back, but I didn’t bring my tripod in my rush to get out here, and I’m happy enough with what I managed to get. Since we’re out now, and I feel like I’m walking on air, I get to my feet and say, “Come on. Let’s find the turtles.”

“The turtles?” His face lights up at the word, and I grin, offering my hand to help him up.

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