“Do you have any food?” Elijah asks as he peers out one of the windows.
“No,” Grandpa sulks. “Someone threw it all out.”
Grandma growls. “Feeding them is how we got into this situation in the first place.”
“All right, that won’t help us. Have you tried scaring them off?” Mack asks it gently, but judging from the glares he gets, it was a stupid question. To his credit, he doesn’t look scared.
“It was working right up until Sully showed up. He taught the others to be brave, and now they are all ignoring me.”
Sofia blinks. “They have a master? Like an alpha seagull? It was planned?” she asks with theatrical joy. “The Lord of the Skies?”
Mack slaps a hand to his mouth, but his eyes dance.
“They are organised,” Grandpa says unhappily.
“Why didn’t you call for help?” Elijah asks.
“Because that bird is a-”
The sound of a seagull screeching hits from just outside.
“What is that?”
“That is Sully,” Grandpa whispers. “He’s the evilest seagull I have ever met.”
“Have you met a lot of them?” Sofia asks with a completely serious expression. “How can you tell them apart?”
They ignore her, but I see her grandpa’s lips twitch.
“All right, let me get this right. You started feeding seagulls, ended up with a flock, and then Sergeant Sully came and took over, leading a coup.”
Sofia wipes at her eyes. “The Gull Rebellion will be seen as a dark day in human history. Grandpa, I’m sorry, but future generations will curse your name.”
Grandma sighs and squeezes the bridge of her nose. “I can’t believe this is even happening to me.”
Elijah sits down, watching like it’s a TV drama. Mack is studiously watching the wall.
“And they have somehow managed to get all of us holed up here, in terror of them? This is ridiculous.” She paces back and forth, but no one will meet her eyes.
Sofia covers her mouth with a hand, her eyes dancing with mirth. “Diabolical,” she whispers.
She’s so cute. I’m not even hiding my smile anymore.
“I underestimated their love of food,” Grandpa admits.
“You haven’t ever turned on a TV?” Grandma hisses.
“I’m sorry, Rachel.”
She huffs.
Mack pulls out his phone. “Hey, Sebastian. I need you to listen. This is really important.”
He explains the entire situation and, at the end, pauses.
“So, can you send help?”
“Do you think I’m a moron?” Sebastian asks. “How absolutely ridiculous. If you don’t want to come to the Valentine’s Day celebrations, just alpha up and say so. But the birds ate my homework is not going to fly with Mum.”
