Chapter Seven Macabre Macaw
They met the next morning was at Mary's house in order to include Mary's mother. If the three investigators were even halfway right, Uncle Herman could be in grave danger. Mrs. Melancholy was quickly brought up to speed. The foursome began to catalogue everything they had learned about Freddie Fudge. Mrs. Melancholy added new details, ones that she had not thought to mention in the gingersnap interview.
"What we need to put together is a comprehensive account of Freddie Fudge's life in the Upper Amazon," said Mrs. Tweedlebare with notebook open and pencil poised. We need to learn how Uncle Herman managed to acquire Freddie."
"Uncle Herman got Freddie Fudge from a policeman who had been injured and had been airlifted out for medical treatment, " said Barbara.
"Interesting," said Mary. "I bet, that Freddie Fudge used to eavesdrop on interrogations when the cops were trying to get information out of the bad guys."
"Possibly," her mother said. "I would hardly call it eavesdropping though."
"I don't think that's where those words came from," Mrs. Janeiro said.
"What do you mean?" Mrs. Melancholy asked with alarm revealed by words that seemed to be forced out of clenched jaws.
"I think what happened is that the terrorists used Freddie Fudge as an early warning system."
Three pairs of eyes were sharply focused on Mrs. Janeiro’s face, while she paused to gather her thoughts. "That is if the terrorists ever had him in the first place. If anyone tried to sneak up on their camp, he would be sure to give out one of his mighty squawks. The terrorists would be warned but their pursuers would not be any the wiser. Even the Indian guides would not be likely to catch on."
'Squawk!'
"That is feasible," said Mrs. Tweedlebare ignoring Freddie's comment. "Squawks are frequent in the jungle. They might not even alert the Indian trackers."
"As I understand it," Mrs. Melancholy said, "Freddie had his right wing broken in a scuffle which evolved into a feeding frenzy at the clay lick at Blanquillo, which lies about 50 miles southeast of Manu National Park.”
"What's a clay lick?"
"Well, Mrs. Janeiro,” said Mary, “eating clay is a way for the macaws to combat poisons in their bodies caused by eating tree seeds that contain toxins." Mary spoke matter of factly.
"I would never have believed it."
"Uncle Herman says that the Indians in the altiplano, the high plains of Bolivia, also eat clay to fight the poisons found in the bitter wild potato."
"Let's send Uncle Herman a fax," suggested Mary's mother. "He is often out in the jungle collecting plants. We can't phone. I have never been able to get through."
"Why don't we put together a fax from you,” Althea said speaking directly to Barbara. “ It should state that both Mary and I are writing stories about Freddie Fudge.”
"Better still, Mary is doing a school project involving Freddie," Barbara said.
"First we need to compose a questionnaire so that Uncle Herman answers our questions without appearing to do so," Mrs. Tweedlebare said.
"Excellent idea," Mrs. Janeiro said. "We should write down our questions and then discuss and edit them for clarity and brevity."
"Brevity?" Mary asked.
"Brief," Mrs. Janeiro said. "Breve, in Spanish, mia cara, as well as in Portuguese."
"Breve y claro," Mary replied.
"What we need to do," said Mrs. Melancholy is to lead Uncle Herman gently in the direction that we wish him to go."
"Without appearing to do so," Mrs. Janeiro added.
For about half an hour, the four of them worked on the task of putting together a question list. Mrs. Tweedlebare looked over the list of fifty questions and sighed. “We have an embarrassment of riches,” she said. “Now begins the tedious task of editing.”
"Mary, why don't you read the questions out," Mrs. Tweedlebare suggested.
"How old was Freddie Fudge when you got him from the policeman?"
"Next question," Mrs. Tweedlebare prompted.
"Do you know how long the policeman had Freddie Fudge? How did the policeman acquire him?"
Mrs. Tweedlebare condensed the questions into a paragraph requesting pertinent information about Freddie Fudge:
Hi Herman: Just a short note to let you know that we are nicely settled in our new home. Martin is away at some frightfully important business meeting in New York. As usual he has left me with the task of setting up our new home. We live in Richmond. On clear days we have a lovely view of Mt. Baker to the east and the snow-covered mountains of the North Shore. It’s a safe place for the kids. One can't be too careful these days. There are dangers everywhere. Freddie Fudge is fine. Mary calls him her macabre Macaw. She wants to know how old he is and how long the policeman had him before you got him.
Both Paul and Mary are quite taken with him, as is Mrs. Tweedlebare, a writer, who lives next door. She is writing a story about Freddie and Mary is too. Do you think that you could provide us with a little background on our beloved parrot? Freddie now says 'Mary' and 'Small Paul' and a few words of Portuguese that I don’t understand.
Please send us a fax when you get in from your drug patrol as Mrs. Tweedlebare has a deadline to meet. Her editor is excited about reading the true story of Freddie Fudge, the Amazing Parrot, who escaped the dangers of the Amazon rain forest. Here are some of the things that we would like you to translate. 'She - Ta – Chit and Pee-Om-Bee.' They sound a bit rude but I’m sure that they are harmless. One more question. Is it possible to get colds in the hot steaming jungle?
Freddie seems to sneeze a lot. What words did you manage to teach Freddie? Are the El Sendero Luminoso terrorists still in the neighbourhood? Is it possible that Freddie may have been in any kind of danger if he had remained on the Matanza? We are dying to hear from you. Love from the merry Melancholy family.