Chapter Twenty-Seven #2
repairs and stuff, and do most of the heavy lifting for Elise.
That’s what I can do. In an office?” He made a face. “I get what
you’re saying. It’s important work. But I wouldn’t be as good at
it, and I wouldn’t like it as much.”
The priest sat there as if Lucas had said
something profound and the words needed to be carefully considered.
Finally, he nodded. “I know what you mean.” And then another of his
head shakes, trying to get his mind back to the current time and
place. “So, would I be able to see this vulture? He sounds
interesting.”
“Uh, no, actually. He’s still pretty freaked
out, not eating or anything. We’re giving him some quiet time.” And
it was absurd that Lucas had somehow found himself in a position
where he was trying to entertain the mysteriously upset brother of
the man he had killed, but apparently that was his role for the
day. So he said, “There’s a baby raccoon, though. Her paw is messed
up so Elise says we won’t be able to release her. She says she
wouldn’t survive in the wild.” It was wrong for Lucas to find any
joy in that situation, but he couldn’t help smiling as he said, “So
we get to play with her. She’s really cute.”
“I saw her last time I was here,” the priest
said. “But I think she wasn’t feeling well? She was just
sleeping.”
“Yeah, we were having trouble getting her
food figured out. We were trying to wean her off formula but she
didn’t respond well, so we had to mess around a little. She’s good
now, though, if you want to see her.”
The priest opened the door of his car. For
the first time, Lucas noticed the lack of a clerical collar. Black
shirt, sure, but it was open at the throat and hung loosely over a
pair of jeans instead of being tucked in to black dress pants. Was
this how priests dressed on their days off? Did priests even get
days off?
But those were questions for another time.
“We’re still watching what she eats,” Lucas said as he led the way
up toward the barn, “so no treats. You don’t need them, anyway. She
wants to play. She’s really curious.” He glanced over toward the
priest, his own curiosity disguised by responsibility. “You’re not
wearing anything too shiny. That’s good. She’s kind of…Elise says
she’s a gold digger, always chasing after jewelry.” Was that
appropriate to say in front of a priest? It didn’t seem to have
caused offense. “And she tries to take whatever it is, even if it’s
attached to you. She bit Alex, trying to get his ring off. Not to
be mean, just…well, I think she was trying to chew through his
finger.”
“In the nicest possible way,” the priest said
with a grin.
“Just an animal doing her animal thing. Can’t
expect different.” And then, in case it sounded like he was
lecturing the priest, he quickly added, “That’s what Elise
says.”
“Elise is a smart person,” the priest
replied.
They were inside the barn now and Lucas led
the way to the tall wire cage in the corner. It had a trap door
that connected to a similar enclosure outside the barn, and both
parts were filled with logs, rocks, and other things to climb on.
The little raccoon was nowhere in sight, but as soon as Lucas ran
his fingernails over the wire, there was an answering call from
outside and a black-and-grey streak charged inside and toward the
cage door, chittering excitedly as it came.
“She’s kind of hyper,” Lucas said
apologetically, but the priest was laughing as he bent down to poke
his fingers through the wires of the cage.
“She wants out. Can she come out?”
“Yeah. Absolutely.” Lucas worked the latch on
the cage door then reached up to the second fastener, the one
securely out of reach of tiny, clever fingers. As soon as the door
was ajar, the baby raccoon pushed it open far enough to squeak
through. The priest sank down to sit cross-legged and the animal
scampered up into his lap and started investigating.
“She’s not shy,” Lucas said quietly.
“She’s lovely. What’s the problem with
her?”
“Her back foot,” Lucas said, and he gently
lifted the squirming animal and twisted her around so the priest
could see the malformation. “It slows her down when she’s climbing.
And see how the toes are curled around so the tips of the claws are
right against her skin? We can keep them trimmed here, and if she
does cut herself we can keep the wound clean and uninfected. In the
wild, Elise says she probably wouldn’t have a chance.”
“What’s her name?”
“We’re not supposed to name them, not until
we’re sure they’re going to survive and sure they’re going to be
pets. That’s what Elise says. She says when you name something you
get attached, and we’ll wear ourselves out if we get attached to
every animal that comes through the gate.”
“I guess that makes sense.” The priest looked
down at the raccoon, then back up at Lucas with a grin. “So, what’s
her name?”
Busted. Lucas grinned back. “Rascal.” He
wiggled his fingers in front of the raccoon’s face and then held
them still so she could catch them in her tiny hands.
“Rascal,” the priest said quietly. “I like
it.” He let Lucas replace the animal in his lap. “She’s lucky,” he
mused as the raccoon inspected the placket of his shirt. “She found
a good place.”
“Yeah,” Lucas said. “She’s lucky.” He didn’t
say it, but he knew the priest could tell what he was thinking. The
raccoon wasn’t the only one who’d been lucky.