Abstraction ➳ Owen Grady

eleven

OWEN LEANED AGAINST the door frame of his bungalow, arms crossed as he watched Ally move toward the small off-road vehicle she had driven over from the park. He had asked her to stay the night, but it wasn't the weekend yet and she had to finish up a report and review a journal article for publication in Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. She had kissed his cheek and snatched her bucket hat from off his messy head. "You should come see the girls again," he said before she could turn the ignition.

"I don't know, Owen." She had gone to the paddock about a month ago and the entire time they had been agitated, unwilling to go through even the most basic routine drills. And when his girls did not listen, Owen turned into a grumpy grouch, "You've said it yourself, they don't exactly behave when I'm around."

That was when he smirked and pushed his weight off the camper. "I know," he agreed, coming down the porch steps to where the Kawasaki Tery was parked, "but I gave them a stern talkin-to." Ally laughed, that was a sight she wished she could have seen. Owen Grady scolding a pack of Velociraptors for their bad behavior.

"Fine," she conceded, adding a touch of exasperation to her voice, "but you have to come see Pat and Sue." The two Apatosaurus hatchlings had outgrown the Gentle Giants enclosure, but there weren't quite at the right age to enter the valley with the other herds yet.

"Deal," he replied, leaning down quickly to kiss Ally's cheek before stepping back as she cranked the small vehicle and put it in drive.

At the end of the week, she found herself outside the raptor paddock. "Barry!" Ally called, waving toward him as he came down the stairs from the overhead bridges as she approached the holding gate.

He jogged over to her, smiling, "was starting to think Owen had run you off."

Alysanne Sattler laughed. "I can handle Mr. Grady." If what the others told her was to be believed she was the only person on the island that could put up with the nettlesome raptor trainer. Barry waved her over through the containment gate where the four raptors had been secured in their harnesses. "C'mon, we're just about to do a checkup before training starts."

Barry opened the gate for her and she immediately approached Blue, knowing that if the Beta were to accept her, then the others would as well. It would be worth a try anyway, especially since Owen had claimed to have scolded them like rowdy teenagers.

"Hey, Blue," Alysanne said, softly as one might speak to a child. The raptor watched her with those yellow slitted eyes. "How are you girl?" Blue huffed, but didn't gnash her teeth or jerk around within her harness, she kept still. Ally held out her hand and touched the tips of her fingers to the raptor's cheek. She snorted, but that was it. "That's it," Ally whispered, pressing the whole of her hand against the rough scales, "I'm not gonna hurt you."

Owen leaned against the bars of the cage and kept silent. "See? I'm not so bad." For a moment it almost sounded like the raptor had begun to purr. Alysanne smiled, a strange feeling of relief came over her at the acceptance of the pack's second in command.

"Looks like she knows your Missus Alpha now," Owen smirked and she jumped away from the raptor, turning to glare at him.

✹✹✹

The third step in transitioning a dinosaur to the valley was another type of nursery on the eastern side of the island, away from the hustle and bustle of the park itself. In Pat and Sue's particular enclosure, there were a handful of other herbivores in the final stages of the transition. Ally swiped her key card and pressed the four-digit pin number that opened the final gate to the paddock.

"When do you think they'll be able to go out in the valley?" Owen asked as he approached them. The two young Apatosauruses were already weighing in a just over one ton and stood ten feet tall at the hip, but like most oversized animals, they still believed they were small enough to be coddled and played with.

Ally reached up and patted Sue on the neck. "Maybe in another two months." Alysanne had looked over all the old growth curves and statistics and based on their weight and height, they were developing just a little slower than the other hatchlings had. She suspected it was because they had hatched almost two weeks early.

Owen dug around in the pockets of his vest and pulled out two red apples, one of which he tossed over to Ally. She smiled at him and held the red fruit up, just above her head and he did the same. The two Apatosauruses knew a treat when they saw it, Ally had spoiled them just a little bit, after all. In one go the weight of the apple disappeared from her hand.

One them, she could be sure which, nudged her in the back hard enough to knock her forward toward Owen. She looked over her shoulder and glared, finding that it was Sue. This time when she was nudged it was enough to knock her off her feet and into Owen. The raptor trainer caught her arms before she could fall, he was smiling and the Apatosauruses seemed pleased with themselves as well.

Time slowed for only a couple of seconds while he held her up from falling. "I've got something I want to show you," Owen said. He took Ally's hand and led her out of the paddock and over toward where his motorcycle was propped up by the kickstand.

She straddled the bike behind him and wrapped her arms tightly around his middle. "Where are we going?" she asked before he could rev the engine. Owen looked over his shoulder, a soft smirk on his expression, "You'll see."

By the time they reached the cliff's edge on the eastern side of the island, the sun was dipping below the water's surface behind them. The clouds that had gathered dissipated. It was a full moon that night and it shone with a bright silvery light that reflected off the dark surface of the ocean. She hadn't really taken the time to look at the moon or night sky, but now she began to wonder how she had ever missed it.

Ally tried to hide the blush that rose to her cheeks when he tossed his arm around her shoulders. She nudged him in the ribs with her elbow to break the silence. "Didn't peg you for a hopeless romantic."

He smiled and pulled her a little bit closer. "I have my moments."

  ✹✹✹ 

Ally pulled up to Owen's bungalow on a borrowed four-wheeler and shut off the engine. She sighed as he stood up from his bike, throwing aside a wrench and wiping his hands on a grease rag. "What are you doing out here this early?" He asked, brow raised. She rarely showed up before noon, but it was well before lunch.

She shrugged and shoved her hands into her pockets. "Off day," she commented and he smiled before digging around in his toolbox for a smaller socket for the wrench. Alysanne Sattler sat down on the picnic table next to his bike. "How are the girls?" Ally asked. It had been a little while since she seen them.

Owen shook his head and knelt back down next the motorcycle. "Pretty good," he remarked, a tinge of sarcasm working its way into his voice, "considering they almost ate the new guy." Ally's eyes widened, she had known they were looking for a new assistant at the paddock, but even Owen's sweet talking couldn't get her to transfer from the valley. "When I –ah," he tightened one of the sockets, "-finish this repair, would you want to go down to the beach?"

Ally watched as the white SUV pulled up in front of the bungalow and frowned when she saw who got out of the driver's seat. "I don't think we'll be going anywhere, Owen." He looked at her with a slight frown and upon noticing Claire Dearing walking toward them in high heels and a white dress suit, his frown deepened.