Summary

Chapter 5

The protagonist and her friend, Christina, travel up to Scotland so she can purchase her Goshawk. The night before they stayed at a hotel where the protagonist started to make jesses, a leather arm strap that hawks could perch on. While she worked, she thought about her twin brother that hadn’t survived childbirth. She wondered if her fascination with birds had something to do with that, that she was trying to make a connection to make up for that initial lost. Thinking about her brother made her think about her recently deceased father, which once again made her sad.

The protagonist switches topics suddenly, and reflects on how difficult it is to breed Goshawks. Their violent nature makes it hard to predict when they will actually mate. Exposing them to a female at the wrong time could easily result in the...