alastair macleod 
THE EAGLE AND CHILD 

‘Along time ago there were more birds, and animals, but the few people there were, were increasing.In a mountain glen a woman was out reaping barley with a sickle. She had her baby with her but having fed it she swaddled it tight and it lay sleeping on the soft grass not far from where she bent and cut the stalks of ripe grain.High above soared Bran the eagle, his keen eye scanning the ground .The white cloth that swaddled the child stood out and he swooped lower. In one swift movement he grasped the cloth bundle with his talons and flapping his wings he slowly lifted away.’