Abstraction ➳ Owen Grady

nιneтeen

THE SPOT NEXT to her on the bed was empty, the folded back sheets already cold. A blue light came from the open laptop on the kitchen table. Sitting behind it was a raptor trainer who had lost his pack.

Dr. Alysanne Sattler leaned over Owen's shoulder as he was re-watching clips of him training Blue and her pack. He ran his hand down his face, not feeling like he could justify the unshed tears. She draped her arms around him, watching as a young Blue affectionately nudged at Owen's hand when he'd pretended to be hurt.

Owen had never shown her the training clips. Once the four raptors were six months they were lethal and he never thought much of the nursery videos again. He closed out of the video player, but his wallpaper was of Ally with Pat and Sue while they were still young enough to be in the Gentle Giants Petting Zoo. She was kneeling between them with their heads resting on her shoulders. She hadn't even known he'd taken a picture of them.

Ally stood straight and shook her head. She couldn't ignore her own gut instinct any longer. Maybe Ellie, Alan, and Ian were right, but none of them had helped raise a dinosaur. None of them had known them as she had.

Dr. Sattler would not stand as a bystander any longer. Time was running out and these animals needed help. Pat, Sue, and Blue needed them. "Claire's right," Alysanne muttered. Owen looked up at her and furrowed his brows. They'd both tried convincing themselves that it was time to let go, but neither of them could just let the innocent die. "We have to go."

✹✹✹

The plus side to being in Montana was that there were no shortages of bush pilots for hire. Big Sky Country was filled with remote places that could only be reached by long hikes or by small aircraft.

Despite it being nearly one in the morning when Ally called one of the small bush pilot companies listed in the yellow pages someone answered the phone. She scheduled the flight to be within the next hour, willing to pay double for two people. Owen shoved his stuff into one of his backpacks and once she was off the phone, Ally immediately started gathering her things.

The small plane was fueled and waiting on the runway. The pilot was an aging man wearing Vietnam Veteran's cap, salt and pepper hair peeked out from beneath the dark navy hat. "I can't take you all the way to Northern California," he told them, helping situate their backpacks in the storage bin at the back of the cabin, "but I can get you to Southern Oregon." That would be far enough, though.

The single-engine plane sputtered to life. With all the systems checked and the propeller keeping its pace, the pilot pressed the throttle and they raced down the runway, pulling up into the night sky.

Ally took a moment to glance out the window. There weren't that many lights to be seen in Butte at this hour, but with each minute the number dwindled until there was only darkness below. She adjusted her seatbelt and shifted, finding a comfortable position to catch a few more hours of sleep.

After a good hour of being in the air, the pilot glanced over at Owen. The only light in the plane came from the dim lights of the control console. "If you don't mind me askin' why'd need such a last minute flight?" The war veteran asked. He couldn't help but be a little curious.

Owen looked over his shoulder and saw that Ally was slumped over in her seat, asleep again for the moment. It didn't seem like a good idea to start telling strangers they were going to save the dinosaurs from an active volcano, though. So he came up with the next believable reason. "We're getting married," he told the pilot. That brought a smile to the man's kind face. They would make a nice looking couple.

"Get some rest, son. There's still another three hours 'fore we land," the pilot told him. Owen wasn't sure if he'd be able to sleep with that they were getting into.