Moon Water by Pam Webber

Author:Pam Webber [Webber, Pam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781631526756
Publisher: She Writes Press
Published: 2019-05-15T04:00:00+00:00

When the deskunking was complete and their clothes were on the line, Nibi pointed to Adirondack chairs made of tree branches sitting in the shade of her old oak. “You all bring those chairs over to the fire while I fix lunch.”

Holding their towels in place, the four of them moved the chairs closer. Settling in, they forgot about their state of undress as Nibi served hazelnut-butter sandwiches, peaches, and cups of raspberry tea while sharing some of her dancing-with-skunks stories.

“Aren’t you afraid living up here by yourself?” Ethan asked.

“Why would I be?”

“Animals, snakes, things like that.”

“I’ve lived my life surrounded by things like that, by Nature. It’s what I know. What I understand.”

“Does anything frighten you?”

Nibi shook her head, but her eyes told a different story.

Once their clothes were dry and everyone dressed, Nettie and Win triple-washed the towels and hung them on the line while Ethan and Cal cleaned the jars and put them on the porch. Together they scrubbed and rinsed the tubs and carried them to the barn, hanging them on pegs along the back wall. As they were leaving, Nettie passed the old farm table where she and Win had scraped the deer hide. Mixed in with new dust and dirt were little bones and feathers, white ones.

“Win.”

“What?”

Nettie pointed.

Win walked over to study the table. “Oh, my gosh.”

They both scanned the rafters.

“I don’t see anything,” whispered Nettie.

“Me either.”

Ethan followed their gaze. “What are you looking for?”

Nettie and Win raced to the wide, built-in ladder supporting the middle of the loft.

“You and Cal stay down here.”

Side by side, Nettie and Win peeked over the top. Bales of hay blocked their view of the corner. Climbing the rest of the way up, they slowly circled the stacks.

Nettie stopped and pointed. “There.”

Gold eyes glowed from the shadowy corner. A white owl.

“I’ll be damned.”

Nettie inched closer. The owl’s head and eyes followed her. With a loud flutter, he took flight toward the rafters. “He’s huge.”

“Who cares how big he is? He has white feathers.”

Keeping an eye on the owl, they eased over and cleared the nest of white feathers, stuffing them in their pockets. Moving slowly back to the edge of the loft, they climbed down.

Nibi leaned against the door jamb. “I was beginning to think you two never would figure this out. Thank goodness for those skunks.”

Nettie pulled the feathers from her pocket and laid them on the farm table. “This is what you meant when you told us we were looking but not seeing, isn’t it? The owl’s been here the whole time.”

“Sometimes what we’re searching for is right in front of us and we’re too distracted to see it.”

Win turned to Nibi. “What is he doing here? White owls aren’t supposed to be this far south this time of year.”

“I found him in the woods last spring. He had a broken wing and was almost dead.”

“How in the world did you set it?”

“The only way I could: I folded it like his good wing and wrapped it to his body.

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