Katelyn's Crow

By Mary Beth Laufer and Kathleen Phillips Poulsen

Katelyn's Crow is a heartwarming coming-of-age story about friendship, consequences, and the importance of connecting with nature.

Eleven-year-old Katelyn Clark hopes that her insect collection will win first prize at the science fair. While searching for new specimens, Katelyn finds an orp

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mary Elizabeth Laufer
• Release date: Sep 21, 2023
• ISBN: 9781737442011

Mary Beth Laufer

Mary Beth Laufer has a degree in English education from the State University of New York at Albany. While a navy wife she worked in schools and libraries across the United States, but writing was always her passion. Her stories for children have been published in Highlights, Cicada, and Shoofly, as well as in Chicken Soup for the Child's Soul, Chicken Soup for the Girl's Soul, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Think Positive for Kids, and Chicken Soup for the Soul: Think Positive for Preteens.

Book preview

Copyright © 2022 by Mary Elizabeth Laufer

Illustrations Copyright © 2022 by Kathleen Phillips Poulsen

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage retrieval system, without written permission from the author. Brief quotations may be used in critical articles, book reviews, and educational materials.

For information, contact [e-mail]

This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination.

Print ISBN: 978-1-7374420-0-4

E-Book ISBN: 978-1-7374420-1-1

To my mother, Betty Jane, the first writer in my family. Her love and support over the years made this book possible.

~Mary Beth Laufer

To Lois Brandt Phillips—Mother, wildlife lover, writer, and painter. Thank you for the inspiration and encouragement! With special thanks to my husband Neil, my tech hero and loving critic.

~Kathleen Phillips Poulsen

Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life.

~Rachel Carson

Contents

Part One

Katelyn Finds a Baby Bird

An Empty Stomach

Leaving Taco

Partners in Crime

Taco Turns the Corner

Maddie’s Visit

Geronimo

Fuzzy Hatches

First Flight

Sweet Success

Responsibilities

The Doberman

A Bird Feeder

Taco, the Thief

The Fourth of July

Flags and Sparklers

An Accident

Part Two

The Woods

Leaves of Three

The Invitation

Maddie’s Room

To the Rescue

The Wiper Blade

Skydivers

The Yard Sale

Taco Disappears

Back Together Again

Hide-and-Seek

Lost!

A New Plan

Discovery

Sixth Grade

The Science Fair

Safe Haven

A Surprise

1

Katelyn Finds a Baby Bird

Look what I found! Katelyn yelled, and the screen door banged shut behind her. Mom always reminded her not to slam the door, but today Katelyn needed both hands to hold her hat.

Her younger brother Tyler sat cross-legged in front of the TV. He turned around. What do you have?

A baby bird!

Tyler gave a gap-toothed grin. He hopped up and pulled on her arm. Show me!

Katelyn opened her upside-down hat just enough for him to see tiny blue eyes staring out of a ball of black fluff.

Can I get a bird too? Tyler asked. Where’d you find it? In a nest?

Katelyn shook her head. I’d never remove a baby bird from its nest. This one was hiding in the high weeds under the oak tree. I heard him crying out.

The bird was completely quiet now. He moved sideways, and a patch of pink skin showed.

What are those white things sticking out of him? Tyler asked, pointing.

Katelyn shrugged. I think his feathers aren’t finished growing. Maybe they’re like your new tooth pushing through your gums.

An episode of Curious George played on the TV screen behind them. Their little brother Ricky woke up on the couch and rubbed his eyes.

Whatcha got? He raced toward them and tugged at Katelyn’s jacket. I wanna see!

You can look, but don’t touch. Katelyn bent down and held out her hat.

Ricky peered inside. Birdy! His pudgy fingers reached for the bird.

Katelyn was faster and yanked it away. I told you not to touch! He’s just a baby. You might hurt him!

Tyler came closer. I’ll be careful, I promise. Let me hold him.

I found him. He’s mine! Katelyn tightened her grip.

Mom walked up behind them. What’s all the shouting about? In one of her hands was a clothes hanger, and in the other was Dad’s work shirt.

Katelyn found a bird! Tyler said.

Mom frowned. A bird? Is something wrong with it?

I think he’s just too young to fly, Katelyn said. He was all by himself under the oak tree, and he sounded scared.

Mom shook her head. So, you brought the poor thing inside and yelled into his little ears?

"He is shivering, Katelyn admitted. We’d better whisper."

What kind of bird is it? Mom asked in a soft voice.

I don’t know, Katelyn said. Maybe you can tell.

Her mother set the shirt and hanger on the dining room table. She looked in the hat and said, Hmm.

A blackbird? Tyler guessed. His feathers are black.

Yes, but his beak is large, Mom said. He’s probably just an ordinary crow.

Can I keep him? Katelyn asked. Please, please, please?

Mom rubbed her forehead. A baby bird belongs in nature. But it’s too late to take him back.

Why’s it too late? Tyler asked.

His mother won’t want him anymore. She’ll smell Katelyn’s scent on him.

Tyler sniffed his sister. She smells?

Katelyn stepped away from him. Mom means my human scent passed to the bird when I picked him up. Animals don’t like humans touching their babies. One time Dad explained it to her. But how can a mama bird quit loving her baby simply because it smells different?

I’ll take care of him, Katelyn said. You told me I had to be eleven to have a pet, remember? I’m old enough now.

Mom pushed up her sleeves. A crow isn’t a pet. It’s a wild animal. I’m going to call the wildlife refuge for advice. She went into the kitchen.

While her mother talked on the phone, Katelyn let the boys have another peek. She had to pull her hat away from Ricky again.

Mom returned. The man I talked to said you should put the bird back where you found it. What we believed isn’t true. The mother bird won’t reject a chick that’s been touched. She’ll take her baby back.

But I didn’t see a big crow anywhere! Katelyn said. What if a raccoon comes along first, or a fox, or one of Mr. McCoy’s cats?

Mom took a long time to answer. She finally nodded. You can try to keep him alive. Get a cardboard box from the porch and lay an old towel in it. And remember, he’s not a toy to fight over.

Katelyn almost shouted for joy, but stopped herself. It would scare the bird. Here, Tyler. Hold him while I pick out a box. Not too tight.

Tyler held out his hands, and Katelyn placed her hat into them. Don’t let Ricky touch him. She hurried to the back porch where afternoon sunshine streamed through large windows. In the corner sat a pile of boxes from the grocery store.

Katelyn set aside boxes labeled Tuna Fish and Chicken Noodle Soup and chose a larger one that said Taco Sauce. Next, she went to the linen closet and grabbed a faded pink towel. She wadded up the end of it and made a nest in the corner of the box.

In the living room, Tyler was walking quickly in circles, barely staying ahead of Ricky, who kept trying to get another glimpse of the bird.

Katelyn caught up to them, cupped the soft creature in her hands and lifted him out of the hat. He was so light. His toothpick legs hung down and then bent under his body when she set him onto the towel. Can he stay in my room? she called into the kitchen.

All right, Mom said. Put the box on your radiator. It’ll keep him warm.

Katelyn carried the box upstairs. Tyler scrambled up two steps behind her, and Ricky followed. As soon as she set the box on the radiator, Tyler leaned over it and looked in. Ricky stood on tiptoes and stuck out his hand.

Katelyn pulled back her brother’s arm. No touching! Still shivering, the bird nuzzled his head onto his chest and closed his eyes.

In a booming voice, Tyler asked, What are we going to call him? He should have a name.

Shhhhhh! You’ll wake him up, Katelyn whispered.

Let’s call him Tyler, her brother whispered.

Katelyn crossed her arms. I’m not naming him after you.

Then ‘Ty.’

That would still be naming him after you, silly. She stared at the bird a minute. We don’t even know if it’s a him, Tyler. It might be a her.

Looks like a him to me.

You can’t tell by looking at him.

Tyler laughed. "You just called him a him!"

All right, Katelyn said. Until we know for sure, it’s a him. I’ll have to come up with a good name for either a boy or a girl.

Ricky smiled. How ‘bout Super Bird?

Katelyn wrinkled her nose. That sounds like a cartoon. It’s not a good name for a little bird.

Isn’t he going to grow? Tyler asked.

Of course he is, but not right away. She read the label on the side of the box. Let’s call him ‘Taco.’ Then it won’t matter how big he is or if he’s a boy or a girl.

Tyler put his hands on his hips. Taco isn’t a bird’s name.

He’s mine. I can call him anything I want.

As she watched Taco sleep, her mother’s words came back to her: You can try to keep him alive. Whenever Mom said, You can try, she seemed to be saying the job might be too difficult.

How hard will it be to take care of a baby bird?

2

An Empty Stomach

Tyler and Ricky crowded around Taco with Katelyn between them. Ricky fidgeted, and before she could stop him, he jiggled the box. The bird blinked, and his head rocked from side to side.

You woke him up! Katelyn scolded.

Taco lifted his wings. Aw! Aw! Aw! He tilted his head back and his beak popped open. Katelyn peered into the red cavern that led to his stomach. She didn’t think a baby bird’s mouth could open so wide.

What should we feed him? Tyler asked.

I don’t know, Katelyn said. If only I had my own tablet or cell phone. Let’s ask Mom.

She and Tyler headed for the stairs. Halfway there, Katelyn turned around. Where’s Ricky? She rushed back and found him still hovering over the baby bird. C’mon, Ricky. We have to go tell Mommy the bird’s hungry.

Ricky took one last look and then went downstairs to the kitchen with her.

Taco is hungry, Katelyn said.

Mom looked up from the potato she was peeling. Taco?

My bird—that’s his name. Remember how we fed bread to the ducks at the pond? Do you think Taco would eat bread too?

Maybe, Mom said. Tear it into small pieces and dip them in water. See if he likes that.

Shouldn’t we use milk? Katelyn said.

Mom shook her head. Birds don’t feed milk to their babies.

You’re right. They’re not mammals. A loaf of whole-grain bread sat on the counter. Katelyn opened the bag and removed a slice.

I’ll get the water, Tyler said. He pushed a chair up to the sink and stuck a plastic bowl under the faucet.

Make sure it’s warm, not cold, Katelyn ordered.

Not too cold and not too hot, Tyler said. When the bowl was full, he took it upstairs without spilling a drop.

Taco’s cries filled the hallway. Aw! Aw! Aw! Back in her room, Katelyn ripped off a shred of the spongy bread and swished it in the water. When Taco held up his head and opened his beak, she poked the wet bread into his mouth with the tip of her finger. Taco made a gurgling noise. Katelyn held her breath.

Did the bread go down the wrong way—into his lungs? No, the outside of his throat is moving in and out. Maybe the bread’s stuck in there, and he’s choking.

The gurgling stopped, and Taco’s beak popped open again. Aw, Aw, Aw!

Katelyn let out her breath in a long sigh. She tore off more bread, dropped the pieces into the bowl, and stirred them around. I think it needs to be really soggy. The bread turned to mush. She scooped up a clump and pushed it down into the bird’s mouth. His beak closed on her finger. This time the noise he made wasn’t as scary.

I want to feed him, too! Tyler said.

Katelyn held out the bowl. Only give him a little bit.

Tyler pinched the mush between his thumb and finger, held it above the bird’s open beak, and flicked it in.

You have to push it way down his throat, Katelyn said.

Ricky grasped her arm. I get a turn!

When he tried to feed Taco, most of the wet bread fell onto the towel. Katelyn guided his hand on his next attempt, and he got some into the bird’s mouth. She took over the feeding then, giving the bird time to swallow after each mouthful. Finally, he tucked his head under his wing and went to sleep.

The boys watched the sleeping bird as if he’d wake up at any moment. When he didn’t, Tyler said, I’m going outside, and left. Ricky followed his brother.

Katelyn wanted to be nearby when Taco woke up again. This morning, she was getting tired of spring break and was ready go back to school. Now that I have a baby bird to take care of, everything looks different. Three days left of vacation aren’t nearly long enough.

Outside her window, Tyler was running across the backyard. He gave his soccer ball a swift kick, and it rolled into the net on his miniature goal. Ricky played with his dump truck in the old tractor tire full of sand.

Beyond the open field, at the edge of the woods, the old oak’s leaves were budding. Soon they’d hide the small wooden house within the tree’s enormous branches. Sometimes Katelyn liked to sit alone in the tree house and read, but this afternoon when the baby bird cried out she’d been on the lookout for insects.

The woolly bear! He must still be in the mayonnaise jar!

She ran downstairs and through the porch. Mom yelled, Don’t slam the—

Bang! The screen door slammed behind Katelyn for the second time that day. Sorry!

Is the bird awake? Tyler asked.

Still asleep. She hurried along the worn path through the field and headed for the oak tree. The mayonnaise jar sat in the flattened weeds where she’d left it. She peered through the glass. The woolly bear had climbed to the top of the twig she’d put inside the jar.

Good thing I remembered. This lid doesn’t have any air holes. She unscrewed it and stuffed in a handful of leaves.

Katelyn scanned the ground for other lost baby birds, but there were none. She gazed up into the thick branches. A nest left by last year’s robins was still there. Could a crow’s nest be hiding in a fork of the tree?

Hugging the jar, Katelyn ran to the garage. She reached above her father’s workbench, lifted a hammer off the pegboard, and selected a nail from odds and ends in an old coffee can. She removed the jar lid and punctured it seven times, quickly screwing it back on before the caterpillar could escape.

Back in her bedroom, Taco rested quietly in his box. Katelyn set the jar on the dresser and flipped through her Field Guide to Insects of North America. She stopped at an illustration of a banded woolly bear caterpillar. It had a black band at each end, and a reddish-brown one in the middle, exactly like the caterpillar in her jar. Above it was a drawing of a small, yellowish-brown moth.

An Isabella tiger moth will look good on my display. If everything goes well, by autumn I’ll have the empty cocoon, the moth, and hopefully another live woolly bear. Three stages of one species!

Katelyn pushed aside the closet curtain and took out her Styrofoam display, careful not to disrupt the insects she’d mounted to it with Mom’s sewing pins. Only one moth was pinned up so far. Over half the board was still empty, but there was plenty of time to fill it before the science fair.

She printed banded woolly bear on a label and stuck it to the side of the jar. In her insect notebook for the fair, she wrote:

Banded woolly bear caterpillar. I found it crawling on old, wet leaves under an oak tree. It eats weeds, grasses, and some kinds of tree leaves. When it’s ready, the banded woolly bear spins a cocoon around itself using its own hair. The pupa changes into an Isabella tiger moth.

Katelyn was finishing her notes when Taco woke up begging. His neck stretched out and his beak opened. Aw! Aw!

Ready for more? She fed him again, and he went back to sleep. The boys returned, whining that they’d missed a feeding. She showed them the caterpillar chugging around the bottom of the jar in slow circles.

Tyler pointed to the holes in the lid. You’re not killing this one?

Not yet. I want it to make a cocoon.

Then it’ll turn into a butterfly? Tyler asked.

A moth. Moths have thick bodies and their wings lie flat. They fly around outside lights at night.

Fuzzy-Wuzzy! Ricky said.

Katelyn laughed. I know he looks cuddly soft. But when I picked him up, his short hairs were bristly. He curled into a ball like a potato bug. We could call him Roly-Poly.

No! Ricky insisted. Fuzzy-Wuzzy.

Call him whatever you want, Katelyn said.

Tyler sighed. You always find the best things. Where are you going to keep him? In your room with Taco?

No, on the back porch. Woolly bears need someplace cool. After Fuzzy makes a cocoon, it’ll be okay to move him to my room. They went to the porch, and Katelyn set the jar on a high shelf. Then she returned to Taco.

At five-thirty she heard the sound of truck tires on their gravel driveway. Only a minute passed before Dad’s deep voice traveled upstairs from the kitchen. A bird?

Katelyn raced down the stairs and told him the story of how she’d found Taco. Dad loosened his tie as he listened. A wild bird isn’t easy to take care of, Katelyn. You should have left it alone.

She bit her lip. Her father was usually proud when she did something on her own. But an animal from the woods might have killed him!

Dad ran his fingers through his wavy, brown hair. Sometimes we have to let nature take its course.

Mom said I can try to keep him alive. She thinks he might be a crow. Please come see him. You grew up on a farm, Dad. Maybe you know what kind of bird he is.

Where are you keeping it?

In my room.

Dad followed Katelyn upstairs. He bent over the box and studied the bird nestled in the corner. Hmm. Still has its pinfeathers. Your mother’s right. It looks like a scrawny crow.

Did you bring your laptop home? Katelyn asked. I could look for pictures of baby crows.

I did, her father said. Let’s search ‘baby crow images’ and see what comes up.

They went downstairs, and Dad unzipped his black carrying case. He handed Katelyn the laptop, and she sat at the dining room table and turned it on. When she typed in baby crow images, rows of photos appeared on the screen. Four of the baby crows in the pictures had pink skin and no feathers. Others didn’t seem to be babies at all. Their bodies were fully covered with feathers and their tails were long. But no matter how old they were, they had big, pointed beaks.

Katelyn scrolled down and found a crow with thin, white tubes mixed with feathers. This bird is like the one I found, Dad.

Her father looked over her shoulder and nodded.

I don’t think he was ready to leave his nest yet, she said. But I didn’t see a new one in the oak tree, so how could he have fallen out?

Remember that bad storm we had last night? Dad asked. A gust of wind could have dislodged the whole nest and blown it right out of the tree.

But there wasn’t a nest on the ground. I went back and looked for more baby birds. There weren’t any.

Dad shook his head. We may never know how this one ended up where he did. But keep in mind that it’s spring, and a few weeks ago, Mr. McCoy planted his corn. If the baby crow’s parents were uprooting seedlings, he might have shot them.

Katelyn had heard gunshots a couple days ago. They were probably trying to feed their family.

Mr. McCoy has a right to protect his crop. He feeds that corn to his cows over the winter.

But—

Katelyn, it’s time to set the table, Mom called from the kitchen. Be sure to wash your hands.

At supper, Katelyn told her parents how she found Taco’s name on the empty taco sauce box. They both laughed. Ricky leaned forward in his booster seat and explained how he’d helped feed the baby bird. He went through the motions with his fingers, and Mom smiled as if the cutest little boy in the world was sitting at their dining room table.

When Katelyn doesn’t want the bird anymore, I’ll take him, Tyler said.

I’ll never stop wanting him, Katelyn insisted.

Kay-Kay found a little bear, too, Ricky said.

It’s a caterpillar, she explained. A banded woolly bear.

Oh, Mom said with a nod, and Dad chuckled.

The woolly bear did hibernate like a real bear, Katelyn continued. My insect book said if it hasn’t made a cocoon by the time winter comes, it buries itself in leaves and goes to sleep. When the weather warms up, it crawls out and starts eating again.

I know what kind of caterpillar you mean, Dad said. Some people believe if it has wide black bands a cold winter is on the way. Narrow ones mean that the coming winter will be mild.

They predict the weather? Katelyn asked. Do you think it’s true?

Dad shrugged. Seems like someone would have proved it true or false by now. Maybe you’ll be the scientist to figure it out.

A warm feeling spread through Katelyn. He thinks I could be a real scientist someday. She ate quickly, took her plate to the kitchen sink, and ran up the stairs to her room.

Aw! Aw! Aw! Taco was hungry again. She fed him more of the soppy bread. Tyler and Ricky were close behind her, and they begged for another chance to feed him. The three of them gave Taco as much as he wanted, and then he went to sleep. The boys didn’t leave until it was time to get ready for bed.

Taco woke up later while Katelyn was putting on her pajamas, and she fed him again. Are you going to cry all night? she asked.

Dappled sunlight filtered through the lace curtains. On the radiator beneath the window, Taco wailed, Aw! Aw! Aw!

Katelyn hurried to his box. Good morning! When she pulled back the curtains, the bird blinked fast in the bright light, so she closed them again. She got fresh water from the bathroom, dipped bread into it, and fed the baby crow.

Tyler peeked around the doorway. Taco’s awake?

Katelyn let her brother feed him a little. Then they closed the door and went down to the kitchen for their own breakfast.

How did it go last night? Mom asked.

I think when I turned off the light and went to sleep, Taco did too.

That makes sense, Mom said. His mother probably didn’t leave the nest at night to look for food. It’s more likely she sat on her brood to keep them warm.

During the day, Taco wanted to eat every half hour. Sometimes he tried to stand on his little legs to reach the bread, and he fell over. She set him up straight again. His feet seemed too big for