Page 48 of Horns & Heart
Vergis headed toward the garden path.“Shout if you need help.”
Inkiri, Fellisse, and I followed him to a stone path that led to the back of the house and past a vegetable patch that had gone wild.
I flinched when something white fluttered out from those leaves, and Inkiri stepped in front of me before I could so much as scream.
Vergis snorted.“Just a chicken.I doubt it’ll attack you.”
Fellisse approached the chicken, who was quickly moving to the back garden ahead of Vergis.“This one looks different from Donna’s.Hers weren’t white.”
Inkiri relaxed, but still took my wrist.“I didn’t know they hid in plants.”
I chuckled.“These must’ve gone feral.A lot of pets have.”
Inkiri clicked and narrowed his eyes with determination.“I’ll try to tame them.”
We rounded the house.The garden we’d seen from the orchard was big and had many fruit trees of its own.The chicken flock had gathered in one mostly shady corner, and they gave us speculative looks.I wondered whether they had seen people at all over the past two years or if they’d forgotten all about us.
Inkiri let go of my wrist and started clicking as he slowly made his way toward the chickens.
Fellisse stepped up next to me.“He’s good at this.Do you want to sit while we watch?”
He pointed at a wooden bench that had been bleached by the sun.I was tempted, but I caught Vergis giving me one of his looks.
I crossed my arms.“I’m good.”
We stood watching Inkiri make his slow approach while clicking continuously.The chickens clucked away in response.They probably found his clicks more familiar than human speech, if they still remembered that.
When Inkiri crouched, most of the flock gave him a wide berth, but one of the white chickens, maybe the one that had been hiding in the vegetable patch, decided to approach him.
After holding out his hand, he was soon scratching her behind her head.Why had no one ever mentioned to me how sexy it was to see a large man pet chickens with the utmost care?
Vergis put a hand on his hip.“Yet another annoying bird he befriends.Just like those magpies.”
Fellisse tilted his head.“They were entertaining.”
“Fucking nuisance is what they were.”He pointed.“Those’re raspberries.I’ll go pick some.”
Fellisse nodded.“Yes.Rory, let’s get you in the shade so you can rest.”
“Okay.”I looked around.“Should we find chairs?Maybe we can grab some from inside.”
He clicked.“I brought a blanket.A picnic blanket, yes?”
“Huh.You know what?I don’t think I ever had a real picnic with a blanket out in nature.”
Fellisse grinned at me.“Inkiri!Your mate is excited.”
“Good,” Ink said and stood, the chicken looking up before taking a cautious step back.“Let’s go under the trees.”
I chuckled when the chicken decided to follow him.
Once we’d picked a spot, Fellisse pulled the blanket from his pack.By the time we’d set up and sat down, the chickens had come closer and were excitedly pecking at the peanuts Inkiri had thrown them.
It felt almost like a vacation, and watching Inkiri befriend the most curious of the chickens was just the cutest.Vergis was soon done with his raspberry picking.He’d filled a whole camping bowl with the bright red fruits and put them in the center of the blanket to share with everyone.
Before long, Nokim and Lissir came out of the house, and we had some of the food Nokim had packed.We laughed at the chickens’ antics—they’d picked out Inkiri as someone you could peck in order to get either food or pets.By the time we were ready to move on, I’d decided I loved picnics.
