Angelina's Oak

Chapter 34

  “Where are we going to take this bird?” Neil asked.

  “Back to where it came from,” Angelina answered.

  “It’s injured!” he protested. “It can’t fly. How can it protect itself and hunt? It’ll die in the wild like that.”

  “Trust me, the bird will be okay. It will be cared for.”

  He shook his head in disbelief, but knew better than to start an argument about it.

  After approximately ten minutes driving in light traffic, they were heading up Los Feliz towards the park entrance. Twice they had to pull over for more fire engines and each time they commented how it must be some major fire these guys are fighting somewhere. Helicopters buzzed overhead — far more than normal on an early Saturday morning.

  As they came around the corner before reaching Hillhurst Street the road became congested with slow moving traffic. Then they saw it. Smoke was pouring off the mountainside, forming what looked like dark storm clouds over Hollywood on an otherwise perfectly clear day. Angelina craned her neck to try to see where in the four thousand acres of Griffith Park the fire was. She couldn’t tell through the trees and buildings, but a sense of dread began to come over her. Neil turned on the am news radio as they sat, inching their way along in traffic.

  They eventually reached the entrance to the park at Vermont Street and saw police and fire crews had closed it off. Only authorities were going in and citizens with their cars and minivans crammed with valuables were going out. It looked like the Griffith Park housing community was being evacuated.

  The radio stopped its commercial break:

  “Good morning Los Angeles. The time is 7:48. The wildfire in Griffith Park that began yesterday afternoon continues to burn out of control. Authorities appeared to have contained the fire in the early evening yesterday, but strong Santa Anna winds picked up at nightfall, spreading the fire across firebreaks and out of their grasp. Thus far it has consumed nearly two hundred acres and continues to burn. Authorities have officially closed the park and evacuated all areas around the Observatory, the Greek Theatre and have now begun to evacuate homes. Thus far only a bridge and no other structures or homes have been damaged. But unless they can contain it rapidly, millions of dollars in property and possibly human lives are at stake. Evacuees are being taken to the Edwards High School, where the Red Cross is setting up stations to receive them and where donations can be brought.”

  The reporter went on describing the dangers of wildfires in the Southern California hot dry climate and reporting that they would be going live to the scene to talk to the Fire Chief and that the Mayor would be making a statement on the hour to brief everyone on the actions being taken to fight the fire and urge home owners to evacuate.

  They drove slowly past the park entrance, Angelina desperate to see exactly where the fire had burned and was headed. She knew fires were course of nature and a necessity that made it possible for the old to give way to the new. Man’s prevention of fires in the wilderness over the years had led to disruption of nature’s course of events and overgrowth of forests, making the fires that do occur even larger and more dangerous. It seemed every summer there were wildfires burning somewhere in and around Los Angeles.

  “We’re not getting in there, so where to, Captain?” Neil asked.

  “I don’t think your Dad’s going to let me keep a pet owl in your house.”

  “Most definitely not. Tammy will either kill it or be killed by it.”

  “Probably the latter, actually. These birds are known to eat dogs, cats, skunks and other four-legged animals,” Angelina added quietly, still straining her neck towards the fire.

  They continued down Los Feliz until it turned into Western, passing a second blocked off park entrance and approached the Franklin intersection with the Immaculate Heart School. Angelina had an idea. “I know! Let’s take her to my old house. She can have the attic to herself and we can bring her food.”

  Neil smiled and shook his head. “Okay. That might work.”

  Virginia in the cage on the backseat, with her eyes closed, began to make pleasant catlike sounds. Angelina looked back and thought she looked awfully cute.

  Yellow police tape remained stretched around the property that was once a pleasant home. The sides were grey and black from fire and smoke. The front door and the windows that had been blown out were boarded up with fresh plywood, making it look more like an abandoned home or even a haunted house. A Great Horned Owl living in it would complete the picture, Neil humorously thought. He backed the car up the driveway to the rear of the house and stepped out. The stale smoke smell hung in the air. He grabbed his flashlight and with Angelina’s key, they entered through the backdoor, the one accessible entrance. The first floor’s charred remains looked like they had last seen it.

  Angelina hadn’t been up into the attic since last year when they had moved several boxes of Jeremy’s personal belongings into it that they weren’t ready to depart with. It was otherwise filled with Paula’s out of style clothes in boxes and some odd furniture pieces that didn’t fit with the home motif. There was plenty of room for them to move around in and to set up a nesting place using old blankets and towels. They raided the refrigerator and panty, bringing up breads, cat food and various packaged meats that they thought the bird might like to eat.

  As Neil opened the attic window slats and moved some furniture around to make more room, Angelina nosily rummaged through old boxes filled with her dad’s things. Where a year ago she wouldn’t have been able to confront one minute of it, now she felt she could have spent hours there. She saw old family photos that brought back good memories, notebooks, his old High School yearbooks, letters and some framed certificates from Cal-State Med School. She found his wallet, which was mostly empty now except for his Kaiser ID badge and access card. She pulled it out and looked at the happy face. It made her smile.

  It made her remember: SAM!