Clara said behind him. I saw she didn't have to. No, Calder agreed. Clara went back into the kitchen. Calder stood on the porch for another minute and then went to look at the porch railing because he promised this week and he meant to keep it.
The railing took the rest of that afternoon. Jonah helped hold the post steady without being asked, which was how Jonah helped with most things, quietly, presently, without announcement. While they worked, Jonah said out of nowhere. December let me touch her neck today. Called her kept working.
Did she? She didn't move away. She moves away from most people. I know, Clara told me. A pause.
What happened to her? I don't know exactly. I bought her from a man last spring who said she'd been spooked by something. He didn't say what. She trusts me, Jonah said.
Not proudly. Just observationally the way he said most things. She does, Calder. Agreed. Jonah handed him a nail.
Can I name the lame one? He said the one in the barn you call Penelope. I already named her Penelope. You said she doesn't respond to it. She doesn't respond to anything.
She responded to me. Jonah said this morning when I went to feed her, she put her nose on my shoulder. Calder stopped hammering. He looked at Jonah, who was holding the post and looking back at him with quiet, absolute seriousness. You went in with the lame mayor by yourself, Calder said.
I was careful. She's unpredictable when she's in pain. I know, but she wasn't in pain this morning. She was just standing there. Jonah paused.