A Committee of Silence

The Committee Returns

The Jacks had spent the morning trying to extract a secret from Mr Jack Daw. By lunchtime they had settled for appointing a committee to investigate why he would not join the first committee.

“I was on the first committee,” he said.

“Then you can explain its failure,” said his cousin.

Mildred watched from beneath the Vegetable Garden leaves. Batman Smith arrived to offer his services and was informed that the matter was internal to the Oak. He moved to the fence, where he could remain internal to everybody else’s business.

A Different Look

Gary came through during the afternoon. Mr Jack Daw met him on a quieter branch while the others argued over whether refusing to answer a question counted as an answer.

“You are looking at me differently,” Gary said.

“I am looking at you.”

“There is a difference.”

Mr Jack Daw wanted to deny it. He remembered Gary’s words about the wife left in the other territory and found he could not make his face behave quite as it had before.

“I am sorry,” he said.

“That is precisely the look I meant.”

Gary went before either of them could make the exchange more awkward. The cousin arrived a moment later, carrying the committee’s latest theory.

“He has made you promise something.”

“He has not.”

“Then why are you behaving as if he has?”

“Because you keep asking me questions I do not intend to answer.”

The Oak Grows Louder

Percy passed through the Fruit Tree while the argument continued. The Oak grew steadily louder as more Jacks returned, turning every branch into a place for an opinion. A long-tailed tit crossed through the commotion and left at once. Gary returned briefly, saw the committee had expanded, and decided his next errand was elsewhere.

Cloud held over the Square all day. By evening Steve and Mrs Steve were making their last rounds while Batman and several other Robins competed to have the final word.

The cousin proposed a reconstruction of Gary’s last conversation with Stirling. Nobody knew enough to play either part. Batman volunteered to be Stirling, on the grounds that they were both often misunderstood. Mrs Steve told him the resemblance ended there. The cousin postponed the reconstruction and recorded the postponement as progress.

“The Oak has gone quiet,” Batman observed.

“It has gone dark,” said Mrs Steve.

“That may be connected.”

“A useful breakthrough,” she told him.

Marjorie Keeps Watch

Marjorie kept to the farther trees after nightfall. Jolene had asked about Marlboro and then left before explaining why. Marjorie had considered telling Harold. She had also considered finding Jolene and demanding an answer. Neither idea improved when she imagined doing it.

“A curious visitor,” she told the darkness, “is still a visitor.”

The darkness had no objection. Marjorie withdrew, leaving the Square to its clouds and to a silence that made the Jacks’ daytime racket seem almost sensible.

Deep in the night she returned to her watch from elsewhere among the trees. Jolene did not appear. Marlboro did not call to be found. Marjorie could make neither absence into a conversation, however determined she felt to have one.

“I did not ask her to explain herself when she was here,” she admitted. “That was an error.”

She stayed away from the garden’s centre, then let the night pass without correcting it.

No Facts by Dawn

At dawn Batman and the Smiths were first to take possession of the hedges. Steve followed, and a travelling Redwing moved through without stopping to hear the Jacks’ account of yesterday. The Oak filled again; its committee had survived the night without discovering a single fact.

The cousin considered making that fact the subject of a new inquiry. Mr Jack Daw suggested breakfast. A few of the Jacks agreed, which temporarily split the committee into birds who wanted answers and birds who wanted something edible. Batman offered to supervise both groups. Neither accepted.

Stirling Asks

Gary was not there when Stirling’s squad arrived later in the morning. Squirrels crossed the lawn in a quick, purposeful sequence. Stirling remained below the Oak until Mr Jack Daw came down to a lower branch.

“Has Gary spoken to you?” Stirling asked.

“He has.”

“About the other territory?”

Mr Jack Daw looked at him. “If you want his story, you should hear it from him.”

“I tried.”

“Then you know he can be difficult.”

“I know he stops just before the part he does not want me to hear.”

Mr Jack Daw said nothing. Stirling studied him for a moment, then sent his squad on. He had arrived hoping to learn whether Gary knew more than he had said. He left with the uncomfortable possibility that Mr Jack Daw did.

When the cousin returned to the lower branch, he found Mr Jack Daw still watching the empty lawn.

“What did he want?”

“My help.”

“Did you give it?”

“Not the kind he wanted.”

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