Page 57 of Hummingbird and Kraken

“We’ve been worried about strangers poking around and asking questions.”

“Oh my God. I think I met them. And I have sketches. Come with me,” he beckoned Ro after him. “This creepy guy was asking me weird questions at the grocery store and this other lady kept trying to offer me a ride. I drew all of them.”

Declan’s eyes took a moment to adjust to the relative gloom of the cabin. Then he gathered up the sheets and handed them to Ro. “Will these help?”

“Wow, these are really good. All of these people were asking you weird questions?”

“Yeah. I didn’t think anything of it when the first lady was trying to give me a ride, but the guys at the grocery store acted like they already knew who I was and where I lived. I can’t think of how else they would have known.”

“Did you tell them anything?”

“Definitely not. I mean, I told the lady that I was going to look at jewelry at the shop, and the only thing I said to the grocery store guys was that I lived about an hour west. Like, we weren’t even nearby. But they definitely knew who I was, and they were trying to get information. I lied about my name.”

“That sounds scary. Are you OK?”

“It was scary at the time, but not worse than any other bullies throwing their weight around. I was mostly worried about you guys. They were asking a lot of questions.”

“Well, thanks for drawing these. I’ll take them back.”

“No problem.”

They turned back toward the front porch, where they could hear May’s high voice through the screened door. “And this one has two pink sparkles, so it’s the mama kitty. This white one’s the first baby kitty and the black one is the other baby kitty.”

“What does the mama kitty do?” came Geir’s deep voice.

Declan grabbed Ro’s arm and held up a frantic finger to his lips. This had to be the cutest thing ever.

“She takes good care of the baby kitties. They want to jump on the chairs, and she says, ‘don’t use your claws on the chairs.’”

Ro’s smile grew to match Declan’s. May must hear that a lot at home.

“Who’s that?” Geir asked. He must have been pointing at a different rock.

“That one can be you.”

“Oh!” Geir sounded startled. “What do I do?”

“You give horsey rides. Like this.” They heard the sound of one rock hitting another and then thumping across the wooden bench.

“Hey Ro,” Declan called just loudly enough for Geir to hear, “can you give me some advice on where I should put a garden?” He dragged Ro out the back door.

“He’s good with kids,” Ro commented.

“That was like a cute explosion.” Declan held his hands over his heart. “And he said that he didn’t like kids. Let’s stay back here for a bit.”

“Did you actually want advice on a garden?”

“I mean, technically, but Geir says that the spot his old garden was in is probably good.” He pointed to an overgrown patch that was loosely marked by crumpled chicken wire.

Ro looked it over. “That should be fine, though digging out weeds from tilled soil can be harder than digging up grass. And the nutrients will be depleted. You’ll need to fertilize, but we can talk about that when you’ve got it dug out. I can come over with some tools, too.”

They chatted for a while about what to plant, while Geir’s low rumble and May’s high babble floated back to them.

“I almost want to stay back here longer. I didn’t expect Geir to be so good with her.” Declan was feeling all sappy inside.

“I didn’t expect May to be so trusting with him.” Ro must have been feeling just as sappy, because he gave a fond look toward the porch. “Or you, either. She took to you right away.”

“Really? I mean, isn’t she usually like that? She seems pretty outgoing and happy.”