1. Wire and Words #2
That meant they'd get something in town for supper, maybe. She didn't bounce, but wanted to. "Yes, sir. I don't have much homework."
He smiled, careful as always. "Good." With that he went through the mudroom to the back garden.
She scooted down the hallway to her bedroom.
A quick change out of school clothes into a sturdy shirt and yard-work jeans, and she was ready.
Aunt Lucy had insisted that she get real work boots, and she put those on, then followed Dad Jude into the garden.
He'd already dealt with the tomato vines and cages.
Oh, she'd cheered when the last one left the vines.
She'd seen tomatoes in her sleep, even with Grandma Hoffman and others helping Aunt Lucy can or freeze everything.
The squash had passed their prime, and half those plants now lumped in the compost bin.
That left the beans and root veggies, and some cool-weather greens.
Dad Jude gestured to one of the baskets, and she began work.
"Do we need to get apples, sir?" She asked when they took a little break.
"Not today. I checked, picked some when I got home this morning, and the rest can wait until tomorrow. We are between waves."
None of the books she'd read talked about how much hard work farming was, at least the old kind of farm.
Aunt Lucy and Dad Jude spent more time picking, gathering, sorting, and preserving than doing anything else, at least in summer and fall.
Claire drank more water and returned to the beans.
They were almost done. Levi had marked the carrots and potatoes this year, so they wouldn't have to play "guess where I am" as much when the time came.
Would Dad Jude leave the potato markers?
Levi got to pick lost potatoes if he lost his temper when he and Dad Jude were practicing with staves and swords, or if he got in trouble at the dojo.
She'd done it too, once, when she blew her cool in the working circle.
Not fun. She wrinkled her nose, then found two more beans and dropped them into the basket.
"Problem?"
"No, sir. Just wondering why potatoes like to hide."
He chuckled and shook his head. "The same reason tomatoes only ripen after you finish for the day, and the rabbits wait until the hutch is clean to tip over their food pans and water."
What would her mother say about eating rabbits?
Claire glanced over at the hutches. One of the gelded bucks gave her a mean look, mean for rabbit, that was.
Her mother would have a tantrum, shrieking and maybe throwing things.
She pushed the memory away. That was then, this is now, and her mother didn't live in Pennsylvania.
Splash! She looked up and caught her guardian wincing as his Familiar splashed water all over Devon County as he bathed. She got busy again, so neither would see her smile. Mr. Shoim did not like people commenting on his looks when he was really wet. He was kinda like Carl at school that way.
Carl spent more time on his hair and clothes than most of the girls did.
Since he also talked about fighting people, and icky video games, she tried to stay away from him.
She didn't want to get caught in someone else's trouble.
Mr. Mutti, her sensei, said that if one of the dojo students started a fight, he'd finish it.
If they had to defend themselves after trying to get away, that was different.
He always gave a reason that made sense, like Dad Jude did, and Aunt Lucy.
The hawk flopped, dripping as he flapped to the fence to finish cleaning up. "I'll get more water for the bird bath," she said.
"Thank you. Your Aunt Lucy suggested we build a shower for," he waved at Mr. Shoim.
Would the harrier want his own hot water heater?
Probably. Worse, he might start singing in the shower.
She shuddered at the memory of the last time he sang, then got the garden hose and refilled the basin.
The feather she found went into the shed.
The feather would go away after it dried, probably destroyed so no one could use it for bad magic. Which reminded her ...
"Sir, Mrs. Schouten said that more of that strange jewelry is for sale online. The necklaces and pins with spells in them," she added.
He straightened up, a sort of shadow settling on him, alert and watchful. "Thank you for telling me, Cat. Did she know where, or just through websites?"
"Just through websites, one in Canada, one in the US, sir."
"I don't like the Canada connection," Mr. Shoim called from the fence. "That's where the drugs started, too."
Dad Jude made a complicated gesture with his right hand.
The first part meant "yes," but she didn't understand the rest yet.
Why did he and Mr. Shoim do that? It wasn't real sign language, not like the high school had for the deaf kids.
She shrugged. Questions not asked didn't bring unhappy answers.
Although Aunt Lucy and Dad Jude never fussed about questions, just said, "I can't answer that right now," or "I'll explain later.
" Then they did explain, as much as they could.
After fifteen more minutes of searching, she couldn't find any more beans. "Sir, I think these are all done." She waved at the stalks as she stretched.
"These too. I declare bean season over." He smiled, really smiled, flashing very sharp, pointed teeth.
"Yeah!" She danced a few steps, then moved the basket of beans closer to the house before checking the rabbits' water and food. All four seemed OK for now. Levi and AJ would tend to them when they all got home tonight.
Supper was meatloaf sandwiches, home-made carrot slaw without raisins, and Grandmother Hoffman's ginger cookies, the first of the season.
She added lots of spices and they tasted really good, kinda soft but not squishy.
Dad Jude didn't talk much as they ate. His quiet was the good kind, not angry or mean.
It reminded her of when she walked in the woodlot or one of the county parks, listening to birds and leaves rustling. His quiet belonged, part of him.
"Mow?" Bauxite the black cat hopped into Aunt Lucy's chair and sniffed, pink nose sticking up above the edge of the table.
"You do not care for ginger, might I remind you?" Dad Jude said, offering her a bit of cookie anyway.
"Mow." She sounded disappointed. She curled up in the chair, sulking.
Claire finished her own cookie. "I'll wash, sir."
"Thank you. Your aunt talked about getting a dishwasher." A sigh. "Levi asked what breed. The Engelmans have a litter of Golden Retriever puppies."
She had to giggle. "I don't think they'd get the corners of the baking dishes very well."
"No, or too well." He stood up and walked down the hall. He made no sound as he walked, unless he wanted to. Fr. Manfredi could be almost as quiet. He could also be scary. Memories of the white deer popped up.
Claire ran water and started washing. The deer was gone, the man who had made the deer was gone and had no more magic. "That was then, this is here. It is over," she reminded herself, like the counselor recommended. It helped a little.
After Mass, when Aunt Lucy and Dad Jude went to choir, she and Levi worked on homework as AJ, Martha Gertrude, and two other little kids played in the kiddie-classroom at St. Boniface.
Levi made a face as he wrote, then looked at his English book and wrote more.
English was OK, better than biology. She finished her algebra homework, finished making notes for the poems she was going to use for English, and got out a sketchbook for art.
Miss Harrison said she could do a casting or stone mount for the big semester studio art project.
A casting would be fun, but she'd need to see if Mr. Hirschman the jeweler would help her, or let her rent his little casting furnace.
The school didn't have one. She could carve the wax and all that, but she'd need to do the metal part somewhere else.
First, though, she had to know what design she was doing, and if it would even work in metal.
Claire checked on Levi, then got some water from the fountain in the hall.
She heard Fr. Manfredi say something, then music sounds. She went back to sketching.
"Can you take Gertie for a moment, please?" Aunt Lucy asked as they got ready to leave. The baby snored a little in her sleep.
"Yes, ma'am." Claire arranged her backpack, then took Gertie from the babysitter and arranged her over her shoulder.
Gertie wiggled but didn't wake up. She had a catlick in her light brown hair, like a cowlick but smaller.
Aunt Lucy carried the diaper bag, AJ's stuff, and held AJ's hand.
Dad Jude and Shoim were talking with Fr.
Manfredi, all three leaning forward and quiet.
That meant something serious, more than just Mr. Shoim trying to sing along again.
Claire followed Aunt Lucy and Levi out the door to the cars.
"Want a pickup," AJ announced, then yawned.
Aunt Lucy sighed. "Your father's Familiar is a bad influence." Claire studied the sky. How Mr. Shoim was going to drive anything, and pay for it, she didn't want to know. "Thank you, Claire, I'll take Gertie."
They got the sleeping baby into her seat, strapped in, and the boys settled before Dad Jude appeared.
Shoim took to the air. His mage watched him disappear, shook his head, and unlocked the sedan.
Then he stopped, removed a lump-filled black plastic sack from the lid of the trunk, and shook his head once more.
"More squash?" Aunt Lucy called quietly.
"Tomatoes, acorn squash, and sweet potatoes.
I thought locking the door would discourage them.
" He sounded resigned. "At least we're not alone.
" Another bag perched on the hood of Fr.
Manfredi's small SUV. Aunt Lucy had both hands over her mouth, also hiding giggles.
No one, not even clergy, were safe from drive-by produce plops.