The Best American Mystery Stories 2013 by Otto Penzler

Author:Otto Penzler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

MICAH NATHAN

Quarry

FROM Glimmer Train

SAM SAW THE OWL a day earlier, resting in the eaves of the barn. Their father had left for market, and so Henry got the Browning and stood on a hay bale, stock set against his bony shoulder; he squeezed the trigger between breaths like his father had shown him. The owl fell in a storm of feathers and Henry set down the gun. He grabbed the bird by its tiny, curled feet.

“It didn’t hurt anybody,” Sam said. He stared up at the motes swirling in stalks of morning light.

“We lost eight chickens last month,” Henry said. “And it wasn’t from a fox.”

“How do you know?”

“Dad said a fox leaves a trail, but a bird of prey takes the whole damn thing.”

“You said damn.”

“So. You just said it, too.”

Henry inspected the owl. The twenty-gauge had made holes in the rump and neck, but the face was unspoiled; he would clean and stuff it, and have it ready for his father.

Sam smoothed the tail feathers. They were soft as velvet and left a dusty sheen on his fingers.

“Maybe Dad will let you have it, when I’m done,” Henry said.

“I’d put it over my door.”

“That would look good,” Henry said.

“Can I help?”

“No. There’s other things that need finishing.”

“But you—”

“But nothing. Fetch me the arsenic soap, if you want.”

Sam crossed his arms. “Fetch it yourself.”

Henry shrugged and left the barn, owl in hand, shotgun propped against his shoulder. Sam glared at his brother’s back, and shivered even though he tried not to; the morning was bitter cold.

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