Wild Wings

“‘My dad lost his business because of her ma.’ He turned grim-faced to Euan. ‘She stole every last bit of his money and ran off. She wouldn’t dare put a foot in Scotland again.’”

Rob is making this accusation about Iona’s mother, Fiona. The first time he lays eyes on Iona, he is ready to reactivate his father’s hostility toward her mother. Later events suggest that the story of theft may not be true, but Rob is willing to credit it without any evidence. As he turns to face Euan, Lewis suggests that communities break down when prejudices are passed onto others. The novel stresses the need to get past old habits of thought if a community is to thrive.

“‘People are like rivers,’ said Iona. ‘That’s what I think.’ I sat up and squeezed the water from my sleeve. ‘What d’you mean?’ Iona rocked back on her heels and looked right at me. ‘You’ve got to learn to look beneath the surface, to see what lies deeper in.’”

In the novel’s first segment, Iona teaches Callum about intuition and connecting with nature on a more profound level. She can already see into the heart of things and already feels deeply connected to the ospreys. Callum will eventually make the same imaginative leap, but it will take much longer for him to truly understand what Iona is saying.

“‘She’ll come from over there,’ said Iona. […] ‘How d’you know?’ I said. She stood up and stretched her arms wide like outspread wings. ‘I just know. I can feel it. You have to imagine you’re a bird, to feel it.’”

Callum is comfortable in a world of facts and figures. His reliance on technology to track Iris is proof of his logic-bound brain. As the previous quotation suggests, Iona lives in the world of imagination, and she trusts her intuition implicitly. The novel’s last page will show Callum adopting her perspective as he tries to fly like a bird.

“I often went to the loch to watch the ospreys. I’d even seen the male osprey catch a fish in his talons right out of the loch, but it just wasn’t the same without Iona to share it with.”

As the story progresses, Callum will take the initiative to think outside the box as Iona does. This passage conveys the importance of friendship and the need for community, as Lewis suggests that natural beauty is meant to be shared and not enjoyed alone.

“Iona pressed her palms into her eyes. ‘We can’t let her die,’ she sobbed. ‘Come on,’ I said. I picked up Rob’s bike and pushed off down the track. ‘We can’t do this on our own.’”

Iona has just discovered Iris entangled in fishing line. She is still determined to keep the osprey secret, and it would never occur to her to ask for outside help to solve the problem. In contrast, Callum realizes that the secret must be broken if they hope to save the bird. His decision to reach out is the first tentative step toward Expanding the Community. The fact that he picks up Rob’s bike foreshadows the part that it will play later in helping Callum’s mission even more.

“Nothing prepared me for seeing her right in front of me. It was as if the lochs and the mountains and the sky were folded deep inside of her, as if she was a small piece of this vast landscape and none of it could exist without her.”

The prologue described Iris as folding the terrain deep into her memory. In this passage, Callum perceives this same phenomenon, and his description of the bird closely matches her process of navigating the world. This reveals the degree to which Callum has already begun to create an intuitive link with Iris.

“‘Why RS?’ I said. ‘RS…It sounds a bit like Iris,’ said Iona. ‘We’ll call her Iris, after the Greek goddess of the wind and rainbows and sky.’”

Iona has just selected a leg band that is marked with the letter “RS.” This causes her to extrapolate to a fitting name for the bird. As Iris herself frequently describes her world as the sky, Iona understands that anything coming from above the ground is part of Iris’s natural element.

“Yet the boy remained in her memory, the boy who held her and eased her pain. He had given back her sky. Somewhere deep inside her, Iris folded the landscape of his face into the mountains, skies, and rivers of her soul.”

Iris is sitting on her nest contemplating the harrowing experience of having been saved by humans. Her description of Callum’s face is characteristic of the way she processes memory. Everything in her world is a landscape element, and the boy’s features become an essential part of that. Further, the passage speaks of her soul, suggesting that wild creatures possess the same spiritual qualities as humans do. Lewis aims to motivate readers to care about protecting animals by portraying Iris in this way.

“I sat down close beside her. ‘Your ma will come back for you, Iona,’ I said. Iona snapped the locket shut and wiped the tears from her face. ‘No,’ she said. She shook her head. ‘She’s never coming back for me.’”

Iona and Jeneba frequently face life events that parallel Iris’s own experience. At this point in the story, Iris is about to start her southbound migration and seems sad to leave behind her mate and chick. Iona sees the similarity to her own plight. Her mother might regret having left her, but she can’t stay. At this moment, Iona recognizes the finality of that separation.

“She turned her head and fixed me with her brilliant yellow eyes. She looked right into me. And suddenly I knew then, in that one moment, I was as much part of her world as she was of mine.”

As several previous passages show, Iris processes reality by internalizing landscape elements and making them a part of herself. This is one of the points at which she makes direct eye contact with Callum. The boy realizes the profound connection he shares with the bird. Both live in each other’s souls.

“‘But the ospreys; we said we’d keep them secret,’ I yelled. ‘You need your friends, more than you think,’ said Dad. ‘Don’t turn your back on them.’”

Iona has just died, and Callum is still angry with his friends for their bad treatment of her. His first instinct is to push them away. However, his father recognizes the need for connection beyond Callum’s ties to Iris. By making the decision to see Euan and Rob, Callum is again expanding the community that will work together to keep Iris safe.

“Euan gave me a hard stare. ‘For God’s sake, Callum, we’re your mates. Can’t you trust us?’ I looked across at them. Dad was right. They were my friends, and right now, I needed them.”

Euan and Rob have both seen the male osprey for themselves and are reproachful toward Callum for keeping this secret from them. Euan’s appeal gets through to him, and he chooses community over isolation. This is reinforced by the fact that it is his Dad’s words that motivate Callum to invite his friends back into his life; he needs community to find wisdom.

“‘Cal,’ he said, ‘I want Iris to be safe too, but it’s not going to make any difference if you sit all day with your face pressed to that computer screen. She’s a wild bird in a harsh environment. You know that. There’s nothing you can do to help her out there; she’s on her own.’”

Mr. McGregor worries about his son’s obsession when he sees Callum agonizing over every stage of Iris’s migration. As an adult, Mr. McGregor gives pragmatic advice about the dangers facing wild species. However, he fails to realize that there is a great deal that Callum can do. Iris isn’t out there alone at all. Callum’s experiences with Love and Loss help him to realize this and motivate him to track Iris’s progress.

“He placed the plate on the desk beside me. ‘It’s not your fault, you know.’ I sighed. ‘I should have checked on her.’ Dad put his arms around my shoulders. ‘It’s not your fault Iona died.’”

In this quote, Mr. McGregor finally understands what is driving Callum’s compulsion to assist Iris. Lewis portrays an intimate scene as Mr. McGregor puts his arms around Callum, illustrating how to comfort someone about loss. The boy feels survivor’s guilt and wants to atone for Iona’s death by preserving Iris’s life. He is acutely aware that he was helpless to save Iona. He hopes to do better this time around.

“‘I’ve left it too late,’ I said. ‘You don’t know that,’ said Dad. ‘You’ve got this far, when everyone else was prepared to give up […] I mean it,’ said Dad. ‘It just shows you, doesn’t it? What you can do when you really want something.’”

Callum is once again worried because Iris has gone missing for several days in the mangrove swamp when he failed to check on her. In this quote, Mr. McGregor’s advice is far less fatalistic than in his earlier statement. He has been impressed by his son’s determination to protect the bird, and the passage suggests that Callum has made a believer out of him.

“‘It’s a bit far-fetched,’ said Mum. ‘So is church, when you think about it,’ I said. ‘We’re meant to believe in the Holy Spirit and loads of miracles and things.’ […] Reverend Parsons gave his sermon from his wooden pulpit. The top was carved into an eagle with outspread wings. Maybe there was a bird spirit. Maybe the marabout could see Iris somehow, and feel her.”

Callum’s parents exhibit skepticism when he tells them about Jeneba’s marabout. Christian doctrine discredits psychic phenomena. However, Callum’s own connection to Iris has made him more open-minded about other people who might possess a sixth sense. He is also more willing to entertain the notion that all life is sacred and connected as opposed to the conventional view that only humans have souls.

“Later that evening I downloaded the photos onto the computer and attached them to an e-mail. I pressed the send/receive button and our photos of Scotland went flying through cyberspace in a fraction of a second, all the way to Jeneba and Iris. All the way to Africa.”

The power of the digital age is seen in this quote after Callum sends photos of the farm in Scotland to Jeneba. The world has become infinitesimally small when lives can be connected in a fraction of a second. It takes Iris 39 days to migrate from Scotland to The Gambia. It takes less than a second for Callum to share his life history with Jeneba.

“‘So that’s it,’ I said to Rob and Euan. ‘There’s nothing we can do. Iris gets to fly back to Scotland, but Jeneba will never walk again.’ […] Rob sat up on the bed, trying to catch his breath. ‘It’s simple, isn’t it?’ he said. ‘Jeneba can fly to Scotland, just like Iris.’”

In the novel’s early chapters, Iona’s life paralleled Iris’s. Iris left her chick just as Fiona left Iona. When Iona dies, Iris is at death’s door, too. Now, there is a similar parallel forming between Jeneba and Iris. Both have suffered from leg infections, and both may end up flying to Scotland.

“Mum made cups of tea for everyone from the village, and soon it became a bit of an early morning party. Rob’s dad gave me a pat on the back. ‘The osprey on your farm is our secret too. We all stick together for something like this.’”

After the reporters have been led away from the town hall by Hamish, the rest of the residents regroup. Callum is astonished that they all came out to support his family. Most astonishing of all is Rob’s father. Once the most outspoken proponent of ostracizing the McNair family, he now says that the entire village should stick together in a show of solidarity for the ospreys. This passage epitomizes the benefits of Expanding the Community, and it is given a celebratory tone with the word “party.”

“She bobbed up to the surface and shook the water from her head. The straps the humans had tied to her floated loose around her. She clawed at them, pushing them down, down.”

Iris is battling a storm over the Irish Sea as she struggles to complete her journey to the McGregor farm. She shows a strength and determination that is equal to the elements. Further, she shakes off the human device that tracked her, a sign that she is perfectly capable of taking care of herself now.

“I was so tired, I felt I could have stayed like that, just staring into the steam. I watched it spiral slowly upward. It made me think of Iris circling high in the sky […]. Jeneba was looking at me, smiling. ‘You know,’ she said, ‘maybe you are like the marabout. Maybe the bird spirit, she flies to you too.’”

Callum and Jeneba have just returned, exhausted, from the village welcome celebration. In a close parallel to the white smoke that the marabout uses for divination, Callum is gazing at the steam from his hot cocoa and imagining Iris’s return. Jeneba is quick to note the parallel.

“‘The marabout, he was right.’ Jeneba stepped toward me through the mist-covered heather. The fog furled around her feet like waves. She was walking above the world, across an ocean of bright cloud.”

In this passage, as in the preceding one, smoke, cocoa steam, and fog are all used to invoke an otherworldly atmosphere. As the marabout predicted earlier, Jeneba is walking on what appear to be clouds. Of course, the marabout had no context for interpreting what he was seeing as mist on the Scottish Highlands. However, the literal description was accurate. Second sight is frequently more accurate than ocular vision in Wild Wings.

“And suddenly it was as if Iona was with us, there on the mountain. It was as if she had always been there. I curled my fingers around the locket and held it in my hand […] ‘Here,’ I said. I put the locket into Jeneba’s palm. ‘My friend would have wanted you to have this.’”

The locket connects three lives. Originally, it was meant to remind Iona of her mother. She would reject that memento and replace the photo of Fiona with one of Callum. By doing so, she indicated that her primary emotional attachment was to her friend. While Iona is still dear to Callum, he recognizes the role that Jeneba played in allowing him to fulfill his promise to Iona that he would keep Iris safe. The exchange of the locket implies that the promise has been kept.