Alpbach. July 2, 2014 Wednesday. Late afternoon
Late in the afternoon, the friends left the dog at home and went to the central part of the
village. The road there ran down the valley, among meadows. Time after time they passed lonely
houses and farmsteads before reaching the village. The friends first visited the historic, old, tiny
church, a building with a soaring green turret. Paweł then offered to take Mary to a path with a
spring flowing from a dragon-shaped sculpture at the bottom of the village. The man remembered
this magical place from the old days, when he was a participant of the Alpbach Forum and visited
this spring. When they both reached the path leading to the spring, they suddenly saw a wooden
chicken coop. There were a dozen or so young hens walking around. When Paweł and Mary were
near the hen house, the hens perked up. The birds ran towards the two people and jumped towards
them. Several hens blocked Mary and Paweł's path. Suddenly one hen jumped on Paweł's
shoulder and bit his ear. Paweł screamed. The man felt pain caused by the hen's sharp beak. They
both ran a little, away from the bird, which had calmed down. The German scientists soon
reached a spring, drank water from it and went down to the village, where there were other houses
and where a stream with the same name as Alpbach flowed. The two returned by mail bus to the
village from Reith im Alpbachtal, then went to their guesthouses in the early evening. Mary didn't
think about the birds from years ago. She was too fascinated by the beauty of Alpbach. The
houses were beautiful – wooden or brick. There were flowers of different colors on the balconies.
There was a church in the center of the village, and there were many elegant hotels and villas. It
was all surrounded by mountains with gentle slopes serving as meadows. Here and there brown
cows, goats and sheep with bells grazed. There were paved or asphalt paths leading to the gentle
peaks, lined with lonely or inhabited cottages, as well as hay warehouses and barns. Yes. This
land of Alpbach was simply fabulous. In the eastern part of the village there was a conference
center, used for seminars, including the Alpbach Forum.
Reith im Alpbachtal. July 3, 2014 Thursday. Lake Reither See
The next day, Paweł and Mary, together with Paweł's dog, went to Reith im Alpbachtal,
where the charming Reither See lake was located, at Camila's suggestion. Paweł and Mary wanted
to take a bath and at the same time give the spaniel the opportunity to swim in the lake. A woman
was resting on a small beach and her son, a ten-year-old boy, was floating around the lake on an
inflatable mattress. Mary could swim, but Paweł couldn't. The friend swam to the middle of the
lake, Paweł was sitting in the shallow water at the shore. Time passed slowly. After ten minutes of
Mary and Paweł's stay at Reither See, a swan entered the water on the opposite side of the lake.
The bird looked impressive. The animal swam calmly to the middle of the lake. Suddenly, when
the boy was swimming near the swan in the middle of the body of water, the bird began to flap its
wings violently and quickly swam towards the boy. He tried to bite it, but the boy kicked the bird
with his legs. Then he started screaming. Mary and Paweł heard screams. The bird began to peck
the mattress of the floating little Austrian, so much so that it punctured it and the boy began to
sink. Mary hurried to help, swam under the sinking mattress and pulled the boy to the shore. In
the meantime, the bird swam away. The boy's mother, who had been sitting on the beach earlier,
ran to Mary and the child and thanked Mary for saving her son. Paweł also approached Mary and
was full of admiration for her heroism.
>How beautiful. I'm amazed! You saved the boy!< Paweł shouted.
>I know. But I don't like all this!< Mary said.
>What exactly? < Mr. Kowalski asked.
>Birds!< Mary shouted in a trembling voice. >They're attacking again! Just like that time at
Bodega Bay. They can do something bad to us...<
>For example.< Paweł grumbled.
> Kill us. Hurt them severely with their beaks, in short, peck them to death.< Mary said.
>What was in Bodega Bay? I've never heard of this town,< Paweł continued.
>I'll tell you. < Mary said, terrified, her voice trembling. >In 1963, there was an invasion of birds
of various species in the town and its inhabitants. Birds were killing people. They caused a lot of
damage...<
>I believe you, Mary. Please calm down. We didn't have any invasion here. It's just an incident.
The boy could have provoked the swan to attack by invading its living space...<
>And the hen that bit your ear yesterday and the other hens that were flying around excitedly.
Chickens don't attack people, even if they invade their living space.< Mary interrupted.
> These were just incidents. You will see that the birds will no longer harm you or me.<
>I can't believe you, even though I want to.< Mary said.
Alpbach. Road up the hill. July 3, 2014 Thursday. Afternoon
After returning from Reith im Alpbachtal, a charming town on the other side of the
mountain, Mary and Paweł had dinner at the "In corner" restaurant. They both decided to go back
to the guesthouses for a while, and then they followed the path towards the hill, especially since
the path started behind the guesthouses where they both spent the night. On this hill, above the
Trat hill, there were several sheds and hay storage rooms. Mary and Paweł first walked the route
near the forest and then went up the hill. They were accompanied by Paweł's dog, Dude. Mary
spread a blanket on the meadow, obviously she wanted to sunbathe a bit. Mr. Kowalski also sat
down next to her. Suddenly Mary saw an eagle circling in the sky. It had a yellow, pointed beak
with which it could seriously wound a potential victim, drawing blood. The bird had long-span
black wings, a white tail, a white head and yellow talons. The eagle suddenly changed direction
and rushed towards Mary and Paweł. They were both very scared. The bird flew quickly over
Mary's head. The German researcher managed to quickly cover her face and tilt her head towards
the ground. The dog also got scared and started barking. The bird did not give up. He came back.
This time he wanted to attack Paweł. He pecked Paweł on the back. The bird then tried to grab the
dog in its talons. He failed because the lively cocker spaniel quickly escaped. Mary and Paweł
decided to run away. They knew they wouldn't be able to reach the guesthouses, which were
about five hundred meters away. They decided to hide in a shed - a hay storage room that was
open. Paweł felt pain. He had a stab wound to his back. Blood was shed. Mary asked the man to
take off his shirt. She was supposed to use the shirt to make a makeshift dressing for the wound.
Paweł opened the shed door and saw a huge eagle that had landed near the shed and was just
waiting for the victims to come out. Mary trembled with fear. Then she cried. She was shaking all
over. Paweł and Mary sat in the shed until the night. Only at 22 hours did the bird fly away for
good and both scientists could return home. Before leaving the shed, Paweł talked to Mary.
>Night has fallen. We have a full moon. Look!<
>We must return to the guest house immediately and warn everyone about the birds. They are
dangerous, they can kill,< Mary said.
>I could see for myself. The eagle wounded me,< The man said.
>Paweł, I want to leave here as quickly as possible.< Mary said.
> We'll leave. But first, let's go back to our guest houses,< Paweł said.