The Trail Ends

Brown-headed Cowbirds are nest parasitizers. Meaning, the female lays one of her eggs in another (smaller) bird's nest. She'll probably knock one of that bird's eggs out when she does. The Cowbird hatches first, and it's bigger and louder than its nestmates, so it can dominate the food and attention of its unwitting foster parents. As survival strategies go, it's not a bad one, even if it does seem terribly lazy.

The other thing about Cowbirds is they keep an eye on those nests. If you remove their egg from it, they'll trash the nest. That forces the other bird to start over, and the Cowbirds then parasitize that nest. Which is why I should have had Maggie and her boys burn down at least one of the houses in the story. Also would have been a good chance to find some stray ammunition in the smoldering remains, and establish the gun-running angle a little sooner (I've been informed by one reader that it came on abruptly, and I can't really argue it).

Ink-Stained Trail had the same problem a lot of my attempts at writing had: I didn't plan things out well enough ahead of time. I did try to set things out ahead of time, but it always seemed as though a scene would solve one issue, but create three more. Either that, or it would feel awkwardly shoehorned in to provide necessary exposition. I guess a detective story is really not the sort of thing you can make up on the fly. Not if you're trying to be at least somewhat logical and fair to the audience. Or I can't anyway.

That was my goal with this, to try writing something that didn't rely on magic, or super-science, or remarkably out of left field plot contrivances. I do love writing all those things, but I thought I'd try changing it up. The idea came on a job, where Cowbirds were an issue, but so were raccoons, running about stealing bait as they often do. I figured between the thievery and near mob tactics of the Cowbirds, a detective/noir thing might work.

In reality, trying figure out how it would all fit together became a real chore. I had more doubts as to whether I could make it enjoyable than any other story I've put up here. I considered stopping it midway with, "Then a meteor fell and they all died. The End." Which is why it took 10 months to finish writing the last dozen or so parts (contrast that to the less than 6 weeks the second half of Tales From the Woods took me), and there are some things I should certainly have added.

I think I originally planned to make Maggie more ruthless, but changed my mind part way. I like writing these sorts of cordial, not completely ruthless villains. It keeps that voice in my head that argues "Why doesn't she just shoot him?" from getting to speak. One of these days I ought to write a villain who is just flat out evil. No banter, no kinder moments, just a real bastard. Well, maybe a little banter, but no mercy. Though the character I think I'd most want to write down the line is probably Charlie. I'd need to learn something about running a business first, or else it'll be a laughable mess.