Meadowlarks by Thomas Holladay (chapter books to read to 5 year olds TXT) 📕

yourself, there’s a calf in there that doesn’t belong to you.”

She stepped back. Her mouth dropped open.

He’d just accused her of rustling.

She shook off her surprise. “So what? I brought it in to keep it from being hurt.” She spread her arms in frustration and bit down against the cold. Speaking had to be a struggle, not wearing a warm coat. “Besides, it was on our property.”

He looked inside the barn. They'd put the calf in the front stall. He looked back into those blue eyes. “That calf belongs to Ralston. If I’d have gotten a warrant, I’d have to arrest you.”

What a crock.

“Arrest me?”

Her shrill response brought Embry to his feet, back there putting on chains. He finally understood. Ralston’s calf, the one they’d put out yesterday, was in her barn. He yanked the second set of chains from the toolbox and rushed to the other side of the truck.

The dog positioned himself between Nason and Carolyn, looking at whoever spoke, keeping the peace.

She didn't seem interested in peace right now, eyes filled with rage. Her chattering teeth looked out of place.

The boy stood at a respectable distance, taking it all in.

Nason entered the barn, no time to explain, took the calf from the stall and led it to the back of his truck. He didn’t need the ramp for this small calf. Embry dropped the tailgate and climbed into the back. Nason hoisted the calf into the back and Embry tied it to the hasp on the toolbox.

Explanations wouldn't interest her. “I’m going to speak to my lawyer about this. Then, maybe we’ll see what’s what.”

“That is your right, madam.”

Running out of time.

He slammed the tailgate, left the barn door open and climbed into his truck. Embry already sat in the passenger seat with that look, Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go.

Nason drove straight out through the unplowed snow in the center of the driveway and crunched onto the cleared cobblestone where the driveway narrowed, not caring about his tires. He turned right at River Road and right again, following the fence posts uphill toward the upper meadow.

A little farther uphill, the tips of the fence posts vanished. The fence had caused a snowdrift ten feet to their left, easy to follow. With darkness closing around them, he turned on his headlights. The headlights reflected back in his face so he shut them off.

The upper meadow was just ahead. Snow wouldn’t be covering that flat rock. He should be able to find that, even in this twilight.

“Ah.” Steam rose behind deep snow, the flat rock they used for this sacrificial ritual.

Squirming with concern, Embry asked, “What happened?”

When he knew Embry was looking, Nason poked a thumb at the rolled carpet between the seats. “Open that and take a look.”

Embry lifted the rug onto his lap and cautiously unrolled it, like expecting to find a rattlesnake or something. “Holy crap!” He rolled it back up and jammed it between the seats. “What happened? Blood ain't even dry yet. ”

“It tried getting into their house and their dog chewed it off.”

Embry blinked and blinked again before turning toward the rising steam, rocking back and forth as if that would hasten their approach.

Nason parked and they both forced their doors open against still soft snow. One cold night and it would crust hard. Nason dropped the tailgate and climbed into the bed.

The calf bellowed in fear. It knew.

Nason untied and led the calf to the tailgate and Embry watched, not lifting a finger to help. Nason jumped down, carried the calf to the ground and led it around a deeper drift onto the warmth of the rock. Those ever present meadowlarks fluttered up and resettled into the brown grass at the edges. Nason knelt, tied the calf to the iron ring and returned to the truck.

Embry waited in the passenger seat. “So, you saying what we need to raise up here is pit bulls?” They both laughed until Nason put the truck in gear and plowed farther uphill.

“Ain’t you leaving this rug here?”

“You know I can’t do that. After last night, that thing might not even come here. It might head straight for their place or into the village, maybe even your place.”

Embry looked out at growing darkness. “We’re not taking it up there, are we?”

Nason drove uphill, barely able to see the drift at the fence-line to his left. “Not us. Me. You can turn the truck around.”

Lights from John Crow’s house and light from the Perch helped Nason keep his bearing. “Careful you don’t get stuck in a bog turning around. We don’t want to be stranded out here tonight.”

Embry squirmed in his seat, sounding pathetic. “Just leave it with the calf. He’ll find it.”

Deeper snow here piled up in front of Nason's truck, being plowed, already frozen. The hard crust broke apart in chunks. He could hear it, getting cold.

“Jesus.” The waterfall shimmered in the moonlight.

Beautiful.

“You remember what happened ten years back when Kidro and J.J. chopped off his paw with an axe?”

“So what? I got a stone house, built by Willis his own self.”

“What about those who don’t? You want the state police coming up to investigate, or maybe federal marshals? If it goes back to the Potter place, she’s got family and people down below. There’s bound to be an inquiry.”

Nason felt Embry’s mood, biting down on what he just said, chewing it around in his fragile mind. “You don’t pay me enough for this.”

“I didn’t know I was paying you anything.”

“See what I mean?” The smile had come back to Embry’s voice. “You’re uninvited to Christmas dinner.”

“Thanks. I’ll tell Nancy. She’ll be relieved.”

Embry snickered.

Nason stopped thirty yards below the waterfall and tried to push his door open. Up here, the snow was too deep and the frozen crust was too hard. He rolled down his window and used the roof of his truck to pull himself out, squirming to get clear. He leaned backward into freezing snow and broke the crust. Ice sifted under his