“Avery, I’m glad I found you here.” Avery was looking through her backpack to find Minnie’s diary when Tom came upon her at the White pine where she was setting up her net.
“Tom, goodness you startled me!” Avery gave up looking. It occurred to her she had left it under the couch.
“So sorry. There are a few fellows here from Paul Smith’s College wanting to talk to you about your research. They came with your professor, Dr. Martins.”
“Dr. Martins?” Avery was puzzled he had not told her he was visiting. Was he checking up on her progress? She had to admit yesterday was the first time in awhile she had taken the time to write. Between spending her time netting, with Jake, or reading Minnie’s diary, she hadn’t been very communicative this summer.
“Yes, sorry for the short notice, is it possible for you to follow me back to Huntington? They’re waiting for you.”
“Can I stop and get my laptop?” Avery wanted to show Dr. Martins she had indeed been working. All of her data was on the laptop.
“Sure, I’ll walk with you.”
Avery started to protest, “It’s ok, Tom, I can meet you there.” If Jake were still sleeping it would be awkward.
But Tom insisted. “No worries, I want to see how the loft renovations came out anyway.” And he stayed with her.
Avery’s spirits were raised when she noticed Jake had not only left but made his bed beforehand, and then in turn sunk when she went to retrieve her laptop only to find that Minnie’s diary was no longer under the couch where she had cast it in disgust the night before. Did he find it? She didn’t have time to think about it because Tom was coming back down from the loft and hurrying her along.
“Of course there is a theoretical basis for your research?” One of the researchers from Paul Smith’s asked Avery in between bites of macaroni and cheese in the dining hall at Huntington.
Avery loved the macaroni and cheese they served here but today she had no appetite. It took her a minute to decipher the meaning of his question. Dr. Martins rescued her. “He means Avery, what is your hypothesis?” He raised an eyebrow at her as if to say, come on, get with it!
“Umm, well you might say I’m trying to discover why males of the species are so hard to track.”
“Meaning?” The man would not take that as an answer. Avery could see she had to offer her entire dissertation on the subject.
“Well, as you know from your own banding program, it is more common to find females in the nets during migration. I’m trying to discover if males are staying put in their nesting territory. There could be a myriad reasons they’re able to survive the winters here in the North Country: body fat, food supplies, metabolism…” Avery went on to tell them her discoveries so far.
Dr. Martins was pleased and asked her to show them her makeshift banding station at the Barque of the Pine. It was almost dinner time when she left to head back to Camp Kirby. She found Jake sitting on the front porch reading Minnie’s diary in the dim evening light.
He looked up as she approached the porch steps. “How long have you had this?” he asked her. Relief washed over her as she sat down next to him to confess how she discovered the diary.