A Blank Slate
One of my longer short stories, this is set in Northern New Mexico in a small rural community where Jade has moved to feel safe, only to wake up with a rattler in the bed. (Yes, Elisa, that one!)
A BLANK SLATE
Jade threw a green sarong over striped boxers, grabbed the brown and black dog, a pup really, only four or so months old, a right mischief maker with broad face, wide smile and the left ear flopped over one eye and Jade could hardly see either, it was three or four in the morning with a bare twinkling of a waning moon over to the west and the slightest glimmer of sunrise through the one and only window to the east and the broken glass gave off a magical kaleidoscope of a new day. The puppy shook in Jade’s arms. Jade shook too, bare feet on the dirt floor. Don’t let this force me out, thought Jade, don’t make me leave home again, muttering reassurances to Mutt. They both stared at the asshole on the mattress. A coiled rattlesnake. Tick tick tick of the tail. A tableau worthy of any old cowboy painting, a moment frozen for consideration at a later day. It’d be a great story for Mom and Dad, thought Jade, wishing they were around. This was such a nightmare come true that Jade was stuck, not knowing what to do or how to do whatever it was that needed to be done. Finally, with a shake of the head, Jade and Mutt slunk away from the bed, a mattress on the floor, with careful gentle smooth movements, breath held, heading towards the opening where one day there’d be an oak door with a brass knob and circle of a window to let more light into the small adobe shack they’d called home.
An owl screeched, talons sliding across the tin roof. The rattler stirred, shook, tail clicked again, eyes focused on the those who’d once claimed a place on that warm soft cotton pillow, click click click. Another warning. Jade broke free of the spell and ran to the truck, threw open the door, tossed in the pup, and locked the door. A snake in the bed. Our bed. Fuck. Jade stood there and stared back at their new place. Nothing. Empty brain. Lost. Now what? Who could help? No one. There was no one. Was there?
A few hours later, Jade drove into the nearest town, a crossroads in Tres Piedras and the only way to Taos on Highway 64. A gas station. A café. And people. Pulling up between the other older pickups, at least this felt right, almost. Jade eased open the window slightly for Mutt, enough for a morning breeze but not enough to climb out and follow as she’d usually do.
Sitting outside the coffee shop were a handful of locals, three men and a woman. All in cowboy hats of various cleanliness, in their sixties if not older, and yes, all had grey hair tied back, loose jeans, skinny frames and weathered skin. Two pale skinned and two darker, the southwest lifestyle had taken its toll on each of them. Is that what I’ll look like if I stay here, thought Jade, taking in their curiosity, and matching it with only a hint of quiet desperation.
Jade explained the situation at the homestead.
At this, these locals spoke up, words lost in each other’s excitement for this unexpected occurrence on a Tuesday morning. Now this was one for the books!
– A diamond back?
– Could be a bull snake.
– Triangular head?
– In your bed, you say?
– Snakes are all about death and transformation.
– Bullshit.
– I hadn’t realized it had warmed up enough although I’ve been having those weird sweats again, that whole body soaking, and oh fuck, how I’d like to bitch and moan about changing the sheets each morning because I stink and last night the sweat dripped off my chest and through the tee shirt I always wear, the red one, but maybe it’s the heat at night getting to me, and I shouldn’t make a fire or something but it’s not like I’m a menopausal woman, right Amy, you’d know so it’s probably the night terrors getting me and not even waking me anymore I’m so used to them.
– Saw one in my outhouse last week, remember?
– It is April, reminded the woman in the straw hat.
They all nodded. Offered Jade a mug of dark roast coffee. Took in the puppy staring out at them from the truck window.
– You can let him out.
– Her?
– Blue collar, said another. Boy’s wear blue.
– Does it matter? asked Jade.
The locals looked back at the truck and then at this newcomer, taking in the mix and match outfit of pale green sarong, cowboy hat, orange tee shirt, big work boots, box-like body, and few signs of any kind of bulges, upper or lower. The youngest one, early sixties at most, replied with a nod and open smile, – Nope. Not to us. Come on over, take a seat, with the dog because we like dogs here, much more than people and so it can beg from me, I miss dogs, mine died last winter and I really miss the bugger. I’m Manny.
A bit of a pause, and then the coffee drinkers spoke up, questions and answers tripping over each other as Jade listened and sipped. Thankful for the rich dark bitterness. Mutt ran from one person to another, sniffing, wagging, begging. Such a puppy.
– You’re up in the National Forest, aren’t you? Past the cliffs? Wasn’t that Dave’s old place?
– Yup, said another. – Died in 2017. Propane leak.
– His dogs ate him.
– Don’t exaggerate, Tom. Only one leg.
They all turned to Jade, who’d choked and spat out a mouthful of creamy coffee. They waited a moment but carried on, back and forth, talking about the history of Jade’s home, that supposedly hidden paradise, tucked away from prying eyes. Pretty well known it was though and they’d all done something or other to the structure over the years, ten years it sounded like. Then the conversation reconvened. Back to Jade.
– What did you do with it?
– Breakfast?
Jade’s head shook a big no, saying, thanks I'm not hungry.
Tom, the one with the cane, laughed out loud, head back, a bark of joy. – No, I meant, did you eat it?
– Oh! No. Nope, left it in there.
– I have a rattlesnake kit.
Jade didn’t know what that meant but nodded, – yes please.
The woman stood up, all 5 foot 3 of her, muscled and tattooed shoulders peeking out from under a white–ish tee shirt. She strode over to an old Chevy, grabbed a six-foot piece of white plumbing pipe with a wire sticking out the end, as well as a bucket with a lid. She held them out to Jade.
Shaking still, Jade admitted, – I’m from the Midwest.
– Ah.
The locals all looked at each other, back and forth, and as one, they all stood, groaning, laughing, tipping back their hats, pottering inside for more coffee. Jade thought that it was time to leave and clambered back into the Nissan pickup, settling Mutt onto a thick thighs.
– Hang on, no rush, we’re coming!
It was true, they’d been getting ready to follow them back out to the adobe, it was an assumed help, one that Jade didn’t quite know what to do with. This wasn’t suburbia anymore, no cups of white sugar or homemade pie. Instead, the conversation was about a rattlesnake in a bed. Not heard of that before, the locals muttered, and finally, awkwardly introduced themselves as they organized tools and trucks. Tom, tall, older than the others, almost 74 or so someone mentioned. Pablo was the quiet one, in his late sixties, pretty short, about the same as Jade, not as light skinned though, he had a narrow face with aquiline nose and an old deep scar down one cheek. Manny, the chattiest, had intense amber eyes, broad nose, short thick hair. He also had the most rancid breath, a front tooth missing, long hair tied back into a skinny braid, and he had a bit of an ear missing now that Jade looked more carefully. And he was a bit wobbly when standing, but he stayed busy with a flask of whiskey, adding it to everyone’s coffee. He was also the most fit by the looks of it, the local firewood man or that’s how he introduced himself, arm leaning on the truck saying, – I’ll get you a cord of pinion for $125, best deal in the area.
And on it went, Jade’s brain couldn’t take in anymore. Overwhelmed. Tired. Scared.
The woman, Amy, took charge. The old men let her. Followed her orders, who would drive and what did they have with them? A bucket with a screw on lid, a 9mm Glock, a shotgun, a flask of Jim Beam (Oh, Manny, really?), and more coffee. Amy then turned the sign on the café to closed, finally ready to head out.
The five of them stared at the adobe structure, the prayer flags in the junipers, a pathetic pile of firewood (according to Manny), a table and chair covered in basic carpentry tools, and an outhouse a hundred feet to the west. The sun shone. So sweet and innocent, blue skies, a few fluffy Simpsons-esque clouds, it was a peaceful almost bucolic picture-perfect moment. Ponderosas, pine, a few oaks, cholla cacti, wildflowers, and there was a scent, a hint of the distant wildland fire in Pagosa, Colorado. Amy and the men stood quietly, doing nothing and Jade wanted to snatch the shotgun and blast the fucking snake to smithereens. Done. Dead and down indeed, hah, yes, just kill the asshole, Jade muttered under breath. Inside voice. Amy caught the sentiment if not the words.
– We don’t kill snakes here.
– Not unless we have to, added Tom, patting the Glock at his waist.
– They taste like chicken though, added Manny with a grin as Amy walloped him good–naturedly. – Hey now! You’d liked it...
The other, Pablo, was as useless as Jade, standing back, letting his friends sort out the supplies. Pablo pointed to a dark blue and green flash of feathers and movement, and then, yes, a hummingbird perched on a pinon branch, lifted a leg, and scratched like a dog, head nodding in satisfaction. Jade laughed. Delighted. Pablo grinned. Eyes twinkled.
– We don’t have rattlesnakes in Andorra, he said. – I haven’t got a clue how to help. But I do like watching the birds here. At home, we had the most beautiful of winged creatures, diving over our snow-capped mountains and wildflowers covering all those valleys and meadows. Ever been to Andorra?
Jade shook a wary no.
– Spain, France? The country between? Mountain passes?
Jade shook another nope.
Pablo sighed. – Americans.
Amy organized. Jade, Pablo, and Manny watched, with Mutt, the puppy underfoot. Jade leaned down and scratched his dark brown almost black soft ears, a tail swished, and a small cloud of red dirt washed over the work boots. The silence was stunning. A hawk, red tailed, flew over with the schwap–schwap of the wings making each of them glance up.
– Beautiful, muttered Pablo, – notice how she watched us as we did her.
Manny huffed into his coffee, – Effin’ birders! We have a rattler to deal with. Eyes down, dude.
Tom turned to Amy to ask, – Any luck? Did you find it? Or kill it?
– NO! And I’m not going to, not if I can help it. Come inside, we need all of you.
Reluctantly Jade followed the new neighbors back into the place that was now tainted, no longer the safe haven imagined for the last few months. Jade had stumbled across the place on a cross–country road trip, camping in the truck on dirt roads, finding creeks and meadows and hot springs, and yes, deserted cabins. This one had felt different. A home. A place to settle. To stay. With that initial night of deep slumber, forgetting the accident, the funerals for both Mom and Dad, this cabin had wrapped itself around the lost kid, who was in truth no longer a kid, twenty-five, an adult, one who had no need for parents until they were dead and buried.
Amy spoke, – You don’t have much, do you?
Inside felt cramped with all of them staring at the saggy old mattress on the clay and dirt floor, Jade’s stack of books, one old armchair with a grandma’s golden and red blanket tossed over the back, a crate of clothes, one of tools, and not much else.
Tom, the tall fella, stooped in the low adobe shack, shaking his head. – You need a better woodstove if you’re planning on wintering here. I have one for you. Come over later and we’ll toss it into your truck. How strong are you? Think you can manage to get it back out yourself?
– I’m just down the road, added Manny, sitting at the small square wooden table, claiming the only chair. – I’ll come by. Do you have beer? I have a keg, homebrew pale ale. We can drink together. Have a fire. Tell our stories, you know? I’d like that.
– If he’s still able to help you, that is, added Amy. – Good luck with that! Look, we have a problem, Houston. Haha. I don’t see the snake. Anyone hear it? Because I sure as hell don’t. Where is the old boy? I say we keep banging on the walls and ceiling. Listen for a pissed rattle. Quiet now…I’ll poke around in the kitchen.
Amy sent them off, focused on doing the job. Catching the snake.
It wasn’t much of a kitchen. More of a lean-to with a few strips of plastic to keep the wind and snow out. A galley of open shelves stocked with cans and jars for dried food, a square blue-green cooler in the far corner, a two-ring propane burner, two bowls for the dog, and four big containers of water. Nowhere for a snake to hide.
After another few minutes of knocking anything and everything with her stick, she stood in the doorway.
– It’s gone.
Jade didn’t know what to do but blurted, – It’s not! It can’t have! I won’t be able to sleep in here unless we find it, take it away, kill it. Or something. Please, don’t leave me alone. I can’t…
Manny looked away but Amy stood her ground, swallowed, and nodded. – Well then. Manny, you check the woodpile, that’s your thing anyway. See if there’s one hiding back there. Pablo, stop waiting for that mythical Bald Eagle you swear lives in these hills. Have a look around the outhouse, eyes down, okay? Tom? Can you wander around with, did you even tell us your name? Jade, right. Take Jade and look under the junipers and pinons. I’ll go over inch by inch inside again. And let’s get you a door on here so it doesn’t happen again. Go on, then! Move. Let’s make this a safe place for you and Mutt.
They all shuffled off, with sticks in hand, chatting softly to each other, calling back across the homestead. Manny grabbed his shotgun when Amy wasn’t looking and shrugged when he caught Jade’s expression.
Turning back, Jade checked around the windows, above and below, noting which ones needed new glass, or perhaps screens would work, it was closing in on summer after all. Manny wandered around the corner and nodded towards the front door.
– It’s regular size?
Jade shrugged. – What’s that?
– 32 inches usually.
They both looked at the frame, it was solid enough, 2 by 6 cedar by the looks of it, bolted into the adobes.
– What had happened to the door? Dave didn’t live like this, did he?
– Oh, the EMTs had to break it down with axes to get inside, you know, once they realized that Dave was dead and down, so to speak. The door was locked for some reason, no one knows. It’s not like any of us have stuff to steal. Well, the dogs had made a mess of things. Nasty work. I quit the fire department after that night. Couldn’t do it any longer. One too many of my friends.
Manny paused, lit a smoke, weed, and sighed, shook his head. – I have a door for you. I’ll bring it over later.
He stopped talking and turned slowly to the left, boots creaking in the silence. He stepped closer to a gnarly half dead juniper and didn’t move. – The bastard’s still here. Go get Amy.
The snake had a broad triangular head. The body was thick, a fist sized. It was a good four or five feet long. Brown, light colored with dark diamonds along its back. Beautiful really. It slowly coiled up, rattle high, head high, swinging side to side, assessing the threats. Click. Click. Click.
– How does she know what to do? whispered Jade to Tom.
– She lives out near here, had to learn. Someone else just wanted to blast everything to smithereens but that’s not her way.
Amy held out her six-foot pipe with a noose of baling wire sticking out one end. Stepping over the loose twigs and cacti, she moved towards the sheltering and wary rattler. No one spoke. No one moved. Tom stood behind her with a five-gallon bucket and lid. One foot closer, then another, the snake took fright, aggressive, snapping and rattling at the huge warmth of the human approaching. Amy looped the lasso over its head, pulled the wire, and lifted.
- Whoopsie! she laughed at the sudden surprising weight of the thing, almost dropping it but not.
- Not perfect, muttered Manny to Jade who’d clapped in relief. – She should’ve got it by the middle, not like this. Or just shoot the damn thing. That’s what I’d do.
Jade liked that idea. Dead snake. If anyone deserved to die it was a rattler in their home, in their bed. A dead snake would mean a fresh start, a blank slate. Until then? Jade didn’t feel safe anymore.
Amy walked towards Manny, hearing his half-whispered comments. – Want it?
But Tom was in the way, a gangly figure, partially stooped with age, who backed up and into Jade who in turn stumbled over Mutt, knocked into Manny who dropped the shotgun and landed on a bunch of cholla, and that made Amy drop the snake so Tom yelped as it slid towards him and no wonder but Mutt ran when Manny then threw the bucket at it. Pablo stared up at the mountains.
– Did you see it? Those wings? Glorious.
After Manny’s butt was marked safe from cactus needles, Tom was sent to find the snake since it was, in Amy’s eyes, his fault it had got away. Jade looked around. A light breeze loosened the leaves under the stand of old oaks. A raven swooped overhead. The empty noose lay under another tree, a hundred-foot-tall Ponderosa. No rattler to be seen. Pablo swore his mystical bird had flown overhead. Amy patted him on the shoulder, saying she’d lived here for twenty-eight years and never seen one so dream on. Manny stumbled back from the truck with a flask of coffee and a nip or five of whiskey.
– Someone’s gonna get cranky unless we have a wee bit more of the morning magic and we all know, well, not all but most of us know that we should avoid that at all costs, right?
He passed over a cup to Amy who was sitting on the bucket, scowling at him. Jade didn’t know what to do and so found a stick for Mutt to play with wherever the critter was hiding.
- Mutt? Mutt!
Jade wandered around the homestead, behind the cabin, past the outhouse and found the little one, trapped next to the woodpile. The snake flickered its rattle, probably upon sensing the heavy footsteps. Jade didn’t move but yell-whispered,
- AMY! TOM? Manny? Anyone? Please?
Thinking, oh please please don’t let Mutt get bit, don’t let her die…Jade told Mutt how loved she was, how she’d best stay put, don’t move, kiddo, please don’t move, remember that game, the waiting game, the leave-it game, yes, that’s what we’re doing here, Mutt. Stay…
-AAAMMMEEEEEEEE!
Amy held up the snake, looped in the middle, the weight of head and tail both drooping with gravity. Tom set the bucket underneath, lid in hand. Amy loosened the wire. The snake fell into the bucket. Tom screwed on the lid. The rattler struck at the sides. Clicking. Biting. Fighting to get out. Manny took the bucket to the truck. Pablo was nowhere to be seen.
Tom grinned, - nicely done there, Team Amy! Well found, Mutt. Next time though, you need to bark to let Jade know, okay?
Mutt wagged at the gentle voice. Jade wanted to cry. Next time? Oh god, please no…
Manny asked, – Who’s hungry? I am, we could make up a quick fire and make a snake burrito, do you have any red chile or tortillas in that kitchen of yours or should I pop back home and grab some for us all because–
Jade interrupted, – I’m not eating it.
Amy stood up, her eyes tired but exhilarated, - do you have another bucket? I only brought one.
Jade wasn’t sure so Manny wandered off to look. Tom asked why.
- A hunch, was all Amy offered, sipping the hot coffee with a groan, hand shaking slightly as she pushed back her hat to look at the homestead more closely, eyes narrowing in the bright sunshine.
Amy was convinced, there’s another nearby, she’d claimed after knocking back her tepid coffee and whiskey combo. The men had stood up. Wandered off in different directions. Tom walked slowly next to Jade, an open curiosity in his rather wrinkled face.
– What brought you here of all places? It’s not like many people find us back in the national forest.
– It was time to start again, fresh and clear or something, and this was a great price, you know? I could do it. So I did, and then Jade said little else, not wanting to talk about the drunk driver or the ongoing court cases or the newspapers’ attention on Jade’s role in the whole nightmare.
Tom glanced over, – Yes. I can see that. You remind me of my grandkids, they’re in Taos, but you’re like a mix of the twins. One boy, one girl, so independent, determined to do things their own way. I admire that.
The silence wrapped itself around them and with no pressure, Tom’s questions dropped to the side, hid under a bunch of crab grass, and left them alone to search for the other snake. Jade wanted to crawl back to bed. Bed didn’t feel safe. What if the snake was inside the mattress? Had anyone looked? With a deep breath, and feeling like a right citified fool, Jade asked, – Tom?
– Yep?
– Can we go back to the cabin?
Tom glanced over and noticed something in Jade’s eyes. – Yep.
– Can you look under my mattress? I…
– No need to explain.
Tom lead the way back down the rocky path that circled the home. Jade followed. Mutt trotted along behind them, tail half held high, mouth open, panting slightly. A wave of exhaustion flooded Jade who stumbled and cried out.
Tom didn’t mention hearing a thing.
Everyone else was out, delving into woodpiles, checking under the scrub oak, looking up and into the branches, anywhere that a snake could hide. With Jade stopping at the opening, Tom walked inside the dark adobe home with a long stick and began to bang on the wooden ceiling, on the boxes and finally on the mattress. Thwack. Thwack. Thwack.
Click. Click. Hiss.
Mutt ran.
The men stood in the doorway, Tom held onto Mutt’s collar, kneeling down. They all nodded. Amy held out her tools of the trade. Jade took the white plastic pipe, loosened the wire noose, and swallowed down a scream. I can do this, I can do this, I can do this. It’s my home. My home. I can do this.
Stepping lightly, hearing the quiet strike of boots on dirt, noticing the smell of vanilla from the Ponderosas outside, the midday sun warmed everything and everyone. Jade gulped. The rattler peeked out from under the pillow. White cotton, aged into the softest of dreams, Jade had loved that pillow. Now not so much. A clatter behind as Mutt wriggled free and ran towards the bed, Tom yelled at the pup and then cocked the handgun and when Amy whacked him, the gun went off, bam, and Pablo called out, –careful–and Manny grunted in surprise as Mutt jumped onto the mattress, barkbarkbarkbarkbarkbarkbark.
The snake struck out at the pup.
–NO! Jade thrust the noose over its head, yanked on the wires, tightened it around mid body and lifted with a deep grunt, bending under the weight. – Fuck you! You’re not killing my fucking family, not my girl, no, fuck you snake, oh fuck, look, Amy, I got it! I GOT IT! I DID IT!
Wide grin, Jade turned to the crowd at the door and Amy beamed back, Tom laughed and the others stepped out the way as Manny held out another bucket and lid. Jade dropped the snake inside. Backed away quickly, stumbling slightly but smiling too. Manny screwed on the lid, one with holes poked in for air. The rattler hissed and struck out. Locked inside. Safe. Out of the way. Danger done.
Two buckets, each with a snake. Manny politely, briefly, asked Amy if he could kill them, you know, eat them, save the rattle, the skin, but she shook her head. Not on my watch was her response. She washed her hands in a basin of water collected under the downspout and then talked to Jade once the others were busy elsewhere. Pablo was still missing in action. Tom and Manny were clearing up the tools, talking about when to bring over the door, the woodstove, and even a couple of windows, they planned the rest of their day. It was all a bit much for Jade, what with the adrenalin shaking itself loose. The sun beat down. A raven cawed from the outhouse roof, asking for dead mice or snake, it didn’t care. Feed me, it repeated. Jade smiled at the thought.
– Let’s get you that door on today, okay? We’ve taken everything apart in here and so you know there are no more close by or inside. You’ll be safe enough.
Jade nodded, hunched on a nearby rock, petting Mutt but listening to her. She carried on.
– I’ll leave you the noose. I can make another. Do you think you could do it alone?
– What about the bucket part? Who’d close it up?
– You can use that big trash can over there? Yeah, let’s empty it out, get you some holes in the lid so we don’t suffocate the snakes, but you can use a rope to tie the lid on. Then you just drive it down the road, go about four miles, and drop the snake in the arroyo on your way to my coffee shop, alright? You can do it. You just did. Remind yourself of that.
Jade nodded again, standing up, a bit more confident on some levels. – How can I repay you?
Amy grinned. – You want to stick around, right? So come down to get a coffee and tell me how it’s going up here. Pablo lives down the road so swing by and pick him up if you’re coming my way. Manny won’t leave you alone, just a warning. And Tom’s a good guy. Gramps we call him. He takes care of us all.
BAM! BAM!
– What the fuck? MANNY!
Amy ran towards the sound of the shotgun.
In the stand of junipers and pinon, they saw him. Manny wobbled but grinned over his shoulder, pointing off into the woods. The shotgun pointed down at the dirt. – A black bear, it was huge, well, for a black one that is but it’s okay because I scared it away, didn’t try to kill it so don’t give me that look Amy, we’re not married anymore and anyway, I didn’t want it messing with your dog, Jade, did I?
Amy whacked him over the head, took his gun, and steered him back to the truck. – Don’t listen, Jade. It’ll be fine. You’ll be fine. Mutt will be fine. You’re home now. You’re safe, okay?
Oh fuck, what have I done moving here, wondered Jade. Mutt held out a stick to play with as Pablo wandered over, eyes wide, smiling so hard he almost tripped over his words.
– Look what I found!
Pablo held out a feather.
– I’ll be damned, said Amy, clapping him on his back. –You found him!
– Her, a nest of them. Up on the cliffs back there. Isn’t it beautiful?
They crowded round, admiring the silky feather, gorgeous it was. Jade had never seen anything as beautiful. Even Mutt wanted to lick it.
Pablo explained, – Adult Bald Eagles are easily recognizable, right, despite Manny swearing I was wrong, confusing it with a Golden Eagle or something. What with their pure white heads and tails and dark brown bodies, you’ve seen photos.
Jade caught his eyes and nodded.
Pablo continued, in his element finally. – A detached white tail feather like this can’t be confused with Golden Eagle feathers which are never all white, but they do remind me of the white flight feathers of swans and maybe a domestic turkey but since we’re not going to find either up here I think we can agree it’s a Bald Eagle. It must be an adult because it’s plain dark gray, almost gray-brown, and look at that small whitish patch at the base.
Pablo passed it over, tenderly. – Stick it in your hat, Jade. It might not be a rattle but it’ll remind you of this morning. It’s yours. But I’ll warn you, it’s illegal to own it. I should’ve left it where I found it but, well, I couldn’t. I just couldn’t.
Pablo shrugged, a bit embarrassed or something but no one commented for once. Amy reached over and helped poke the feather into Jade’s headband, making sure it wouldn’t fall out. Manny offered to kill one of the snakes later for the rattle too and when her arm reached out to wallop him, he ducked with a laugh, running into her truck, claiming the passenger seat. Tom loaded up the two laden buckets into the back of his Toyota, promising to come back later to work on the place before dark, making sure the home was secure for Jade. Pablo jumped in with Tom. Amy stood back, admiring the feather in the hat.
– Looking good. Like you fit in here.
She nodded at Jade and the pup then walked away. – We’ll be back this afternoon with the door. Get ready for us, bring out your tools, any levels, more lumber, you know. The basics.
Jade watched them all leave. Mutt lay in the shade of one of the pines, stick in mouth. The raven crawed again, feed me, and Jade’s stomach rumbled. Taking the cowboy hat off, Jade stroked the feather, holding it up to the light, and then caught sight of a distant bird circling the hills behind home. With a soft whistle to Mutt, Jade set off for the cliffs.