A long time ago, before Sigmund the Wise and Jeremy the Bold were known far and wide as great heroes, they were – like all creatures – once small and vulnerable. Our tale begins shortly after their hatching, when the world was strange and new and the two young owlies still had many lessons to learn…

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It was well after midnight and mother owl was late returning from her hunt. Autumn had come to the Lonely Forest so the treetops were barren and a cold wind blew, whistling through the branches. Huddled together in their nest inside the hollow trunk of a giant oak tree, Sigmund and Jeremy started to worry about their mother. She never took this long to find dinner!

“Where is she?” asked Jeremy, the elder and more impatient of the two brother owlies. His eyes were green and his feathers were dark brown with patches of black. “I’m hungry,” he added.

“I know you’re hungry,” Sigmund said, annoyed. “You’ve said so a thousand times!” Sigmund was the younger and more thoughtful of the two brother owlies. His eyes were yellow and his feathers were black with patches of white.

“I think we should go look for her,” Jeremy suggested.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” Sigmund said, but his brother was already moving quickly towards the nest’s opening. “Jeremy! Come back!”

Jeremy stared out into the night with his wide owly eyes, but saw nothing. Sigmund joined him.

Hoo! Hoo!

“I can hear her,” Jeremy shouted, flapping his small owly wings in excitement even though he could not yet fly. “She’s just outside!”

Sigmund listened hard for a few moments…

Hoo! Hoo!

… and decided it was just the wind. He said so to his brother, but Jeremy paid no attention.

“I’m going to go get her,” Jeremy said, climbing through the narrow opening.

Sigmund was horrified. “It’s dangerous out there,” he called.

“I’m not afraid,” came the reply.

Jeremy was outside, standing on a branch high above the forest floor. His tiny owly talons dug into the wood as he tried to balance himself against the wind. The branch swayed perilously beneath him. Undaunted as always, he inched further away from the nest, looking for his mother.