Page 16 of Shared By My Neighbors
“If you’re up for it. I realize that we just met, but I swear, I’m not trying to rob you or stalk you or anything. We can even start by looking at your rooftop from the roof of the library across the street. That’s how I found you guys. I can see your building from the library’s pavilion.”
I stare at him.
“The public library?”
Henry winks.
“The one and only.”
“Alright, let’s check it out,” Carl says in a deep voice. “We’ll see what’s visible from that vantage point and then go from there.”
Henry grins, standing up.
“Let’s get at it then.”
Stunned, I stand before exchanging glances with James, Carl, and Chris. This man doesn’t seem like a criminal, but then again, that’s not what we were expecting either. Instead, we suspected Henry of being a voyeuristic pervert, but now he’s offering to show us the bird family nesting on our roof. Is it possible the handsome man’s actually normal? It seems hard to believe, but there’s only one way to find out.
* * *
Within a few minutes,we’ve entered the New York Public Library. There’s a branch across from our building, and sure enough, Henry leads us up the stairs to the rooftop.
“Are we supposed to be here?” I ask as he pushes open a heavy metal door.
“Not exactly,” Henry acknowledges with a sly grin. “But this particular library doesn’t have working fire alarms, so I’ve been able to come up here on the sly. You know how the city is. New York’s always short on money, and so they find ways to cut costs in the worst ways possible.”
I shake my head.
“But skimping on fire alarms? That’s terrible. People could lose their lives!”
Henry nods his dark head.
“Absolutely. I’ve called 3-1-1 multiple times about this issue, and they took my messages, but the fact is that I think the higher ups already know. Again, I believe that the non-working fire alarms are deliberate. It’s really sad.”
The four of us are quiet as we circle around the terrace until we’re facing our building. Then, Henry squints as he looks at our rooftop before bringing the binoculars to his eyes.
“Yeah,” he says. “I don’t think the hawk’s there right now, but there’s definitely a nest among the branches.”
He hands the binoculars to me, and I hold them to my eyes.
“Hmm, where am I supposed to be looking here?”
“Try the top of the tallest scotch pine,” Henry says. “About three quarters of the way up. Look to the interior, near the trunk.”
I scan over the tree slowly, and then sure enough, my eyes alight upon a dark mass among the branches.
“Is that what I think it is?”
James whistles by my side, his gaze fixed in the same direction.
“I think I see it too. There’s a bunch of twigs, but I don’t see anything moving.”
But then, something twitches as I watch the nest, and I go still.
“Wait a minute, I think I see the hawk. Wait a minute … wait a minute … yes, there he is!” I breathe in an excited voice. “He’s got a dark head and wings, and a cream-colored breast. There’s nothing really red about his feathers.”
Henry takes the binoculars from me, peering through the glass.
“You’re right,” he muses. “Maybe this is a Harlan’s Hawk, which has a marbled white, brown, and gray tail instead of a red one.”