"Switch schools? What other high school is there around here?" Giffen retorted.

Beitiris let out an exasperated sigh. "There are no other high schools around here! I meant that maybe we should just move to St. Canard."

Giffen scoffed. "Isn't relocating a bit extreme?"

Tegwen caught the frustration in her mother's tired, bloodshot eyes. "Sometimes I think I'm the only one who actually cares about Tegwen." Beitiris turned and began heading for the stairs. Tegwen scrambled to her webbed feet and fled to her bedroom, barely catching the last strains of conversation.

"Bee, you've got to let her grow up! You're always being overprotective of her; not letting her fight her own battles."

"Well if that's what it takes to keep her safe . . ."

"Don't let what happened to Martainn dictate how you treat her! He was weak, even in the egg, and there was nothing either one of us could have done to keep him with us! Stop treating Tegwen like she's also a sickly hatchling!"

A hurt look from Beitiris told Giffen he had gone too far, and an uncomfortable silence followed. The ticking of the hallway grandfather clock seemed to grow louder as the minutes passed.

"There's got to be another way." It was Giffen's voice that finally broke the tension. "Maybe I can talk to Principal Feathertale again."

"Don't you see, Giffen? Tegwen's right-- that old mallard can't do anything other than polishing the top of his bill whenever someone confronts him about the school's gang problems . . . Threatening him more will do nothing. Bullies will be bullies no matter what the consequences. The only way to keep Tegwen safe is to get her away from those girls."