THE FOLLOWING SPRING
REAGAN
I answered the phone after turning onto the ranch. “Wildflower?”
“Yeah?” I asked, hoping the chirping from the chicks inside the small cardboard box wouldn’t give themselves away.
“You coming home tonight?”
I passed Cathy and gave her a smile and a wave. “Already am. I got a surprise for you.”
“What’s that?”
“Are you outside?” I expected him to be on the porch watching the bugs ripple across the pond as the sky grew orange in the distance.
“Yes, I’m waiting for you.”
“I’ll see you in a second then.”
“Alright.” I was anxious to end the conversation because of the noisy critters next to me.
“I love you.”
“Love you too, Vincent.” The call ended, and I rounded the grove of trees. His truck left a space for me to park close to his house.
Sorry, our house.
A three-bedroom, two-bath home with a wrap-around porch. A kitchen big enough to bake in and a mudroom with a brooder box, ready for its chicks.
I grab the small box and step out. The weight of the chicks danced inside, anxious to see their destination, and the fresh wooden porch stayed silent under my feet.
I circle our house and find Vincent right where I expect him.
He’s sitting on our bench with a blanket in my spot and a cup of black coffee next to him.
“Look what I got!” I hold up the box, and their chirps heighten.
He beams at me, sharing my excitement. “What kind did you get?”
Vincent lifts the blanket, and then I sit next to him and crack open the box. “Two Easter Eggers, two Black Copper Marans, two Isa Browns, two Leghorns and an Ayam Cemani. He’ll be all black, and he reminded me of you.”
“He?” His eyes popped. “You got a rooster?”
“He was the last one and all alone. I couldn’t leave him once I thought of you.”
“If that’s what you want.”
“His name is Corndog.”
Vincent stays quiet, just giving me a side eye.
A ringtone plays over the chirps, and I quickly realize it’s my phone. I retrieve it from my purse, my brow pinches at the unknown number, and, for safety's sake, I answer it on speakerphone.
“Hello?”
“Hi,” a woman’s voice comes through. “Is this Reagan?”
“Yes.” Vincent makes eye contact with me like he’s trying to place the number or voice.
“Hey, this is Heather from The Forewarning. How are you?”
“Um, good.” My heart thumps and my mind races, with no idea why she is calling. Was it good? Was I in trouble? This was incredibly random. Vincent’s face wasn’t helping, and he looked more clueless than I did.
“Good.” She cleared her throat. “So, next year is the fifth year we are doing the event. We were thinking of making it an alumni year for those who didn’t get who they wanted in their original run.
And since you didn’t get Smoke in year four, we thought we would extend the offer guaranteeing a capture by him. What do you think?”
“Wow.” I give Vincent a smirk like I’m hot shit but decline her offer. “That’s great, but I am going to have to step this one out. I’m still not over the first masked man you sent after me.”
Roost in Peace
Sabbath AKA Corndog
My Ayam Cemani Rooster
April 2025 - May 2026