Page 18 of In The Weeds
“Better,” Sal tells me. As I get closer, I see a tiny puff of yellow. Susie opens up the towel she’s holding and tucked inside is a duckling, hardly bigger than the palm of my hand, a streak of dark fluff right on top of its head. It gazes up at me and lets out the tiniest little squeak, its wings ruffling slightly at the disruption to its cocoon.
“Ah, shit.” The damn thing is cute as hell. “You think it was abandoned?”
“Looks that way,” Sal rocks back on his heels. “Haven’t seen any trace of mom.”
I don’t know much about ducks, but I’d assume ducklings can’t survive long without their mom close by. I stare down at the little guy and rub my knuckles against my jaw. “I’ll take him into town. Swing by Dr. Colson’s and see what can be done.”
I hold out my hands for the bundle. I try to avoid town if I can help it, but I’ve got to place an order at the hardware store anyway. Christopher, the owner, refuses to do anything over the phone and won’t answer if I call too many times. I can drop this little guy off at the vet, place the order, and be back before lunch.
The duckling squeaks up in my general direction, its bill nudging once at the back of my hand. I stroke my finger over the top of its head, its downy fuzz impossibly soft.
I try to gather the threads of my restraint as we gaze at one another. Naturally, my brain has already started making plans. We have some chicken wire in the greenhouse. I could loop it around the edges of the kitchen. Make a fence.
I sigh as I watch the little guy doze in the safety of my hands. I can’t adopt another animal. I don’t know the first thing about ducks.
You didn’t know the first thing about cats, either. That didn’t stop you.
The duckling makes a small squeak and nuzzles further down in my hand. I sigh.
I will not adopt another animal.
I hear the click of a camera and look up to see Sal and his damn smile angling his phone at me. I frown and he clicks again, a chuckle under his breath.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Stella’s calendar idea,” he tells me with a laugh. Stella has been pushing the idea of a farm calendar featuring only pictures of Luka and I out in the fields for close to a year now, an attempt to try and boost profits. Needless to say, I am not on board with it. “You’ve kind of got a Snow White vibe going on, my friend.”
I head out the door without another word.
“Well,”Dr. Colson holds the duckling in the palm of his hand, nudging his glasses up his nose with his knuckles. “It’s a duckling, alright.”
I shift on my feet and fight the urge to roll my eyes. I am pushing my capacity for socialization today and it’s not even noon. I still have dinner with my family tonight and my sisters aren’t exactly known for their calm and quiet demeanor.
“Sure is,” I manage instead, clenching my teeth when Dr. Colson peers up at me from above his glasses. He swivels on his chair and places the duck carefully back into the cardboard box I bundled him up in. The little guy quacks and waddles closer to me, settling down in a corner and mouthing at my hand with his tiny bill.
Do not name him, I tell myself. If I give him a name, I’ll bring him home, and I’m not sure a pack of kittens and a baby duck would make good roommates.Don’t you dare give him a name.
“I’ll make some calls and see if there is a rescue nearby that will take him in, but ducks are tricky. He’ll have to be accepted by a new mother.”
I breathe in deep through my nose. “And if he isn’t?”
“If he isn’t, I’m afraid the little guy won’t make it. Not unless someone adopts him as a pet.”
He gives me a significant look.
Fuck. “Is that a possibility?”
Dr. Colson nods. “With the proper care and attention, absolutely. It’ll be time-consuming at first, but ducks can make great pets.” He looks up at me with a sly grin. “Farms are a great environment.”
“Not sure farms with a family of bloodthirsty cats are a great environment,” I grumble. Prancer brought me three mice last weekend. She lined them up in front of my door like a sacrificial offering. It was both disgusting and endearing.
“Remind me to send you one of those Toks all the kids are sharing,” Dr. Colson says. He stands with a wince and claps me on the back. His knees have been bothering him since he turned sixty. “Sheila at the front is always showing me new ones. I think there’s a whole account dedicated to cats and ducks.”
I wouldn’t know. I have no interest in social media.
I haven’t looked Evelyn up again, not since that first time. Not even after she posted her now-viral video of Luka and Stella pretending to love each other while also desperately pretending not to love each other. Luka had been so pleased with his internet celebrity, he walked around autographing everything within reach for weeks. The third time he signed a potato with a sharpie, I snapped the marker in half right in front of his face.
“I can’t adopt a duck,” I say. Maybe if I vocalize my intentions, they’ll manifest. My sister Nessa has told me that no less than seventy-five times. I sigh. “You’ll keep him here for a bit? Give me a call when you hear from the rescue?”
