. While they waited, Rick opened the subject
that was on his mind. "How does a stingaree fly?"

Scotty shrugged. "Easy. He climbs to the top of a tall tree, spreads his
wings, and takes off. He flaps his wings to gain altitude. He steers
with his tail."

"I'm serious," Rick said sternly, his eyes twinkling.

"So am I. Alternate method: the stingaree climbs on a fence and lassos a
passing airplane. Or catches a ride on an eagle's tail feathers. Take
your choice."

"I've got a better way. The stingaree poses for his picture. The picture
is used as a model for making a kite, probably of black plastic. The
kite gets flown in the wind."

Scotty stared. "Maybe--just maybe--you've got something there. The
stingaree shape would make a good kite. Could what you saw have been a
kite?"

"It's possible." Rick nodded. "The wind was funneling down the creek
pretty fast, and it would have carried a big kite. There's only one
small difficulty. Why launch a kite that has no string?"

"You certain it didn't have a string?"

"In that wind, the string would have had to be a cable. I'd have seen
it, and maybe felt it. The kite--stingaree, that is--just missed. Of
course, the string might have broken."

"There's another small difficulty," Scotty said thoughtfully. "If it was
a kite, where was it launched and why?"

"Up the creek somewhere. We don't know what's up there."

"True. From the looks, I'd say not much. Maybe some opossums and
muskrats, which don't launch kites."

Rick spread butter liberally on a hot biscuit. "We can always take a
look."

"We can. In Steve's boat, the creek would be only a few minutes away."

Rick savored the biscuit and took another bite that finished it. "I
could eat a ton of these. What else would make a stingaree fly?"

Scotty accepted a pitcher of honey from the waiter and poured a
disgraceful amount on a biscuit. "How about some kind of experimental
aircraft?"

Rick shook his head. "The stingaree was vertical. An experimental plane
in that position would have to be rising straight up, and this creature
was traveling almost horizontally, with the wind. Besides, I heard no
motor or any kind of power plant."

"You're as lucid as lamplight, ol' buddy. You explain everything--except
what made that stingaree fly."

Rick grinned wryly. "I'll never get a swelled head with you sticking
pins in it."

"Only carrying out my proper function," Scotty said virtuously.

The first course had arrived