“He’s going to be heavier than he looks.”
I glanced back at him. “That’s why I brought you.”
“The Millmans are going to be pissed.”
“That’s why I brought this.” I said, dragging the bag behind me.
“You’ve thought it all through.” Brock was teasing me, but I had thought it through.
We reached the cage. I checked my wrist, even though I wasn’t wearing a watch. “We’re right on schedule.”
“How the hell do you know that?” he said, moving in front of me and cutting the cage.
“I’m using the stars as a reference.”
He glanced up; it was overcast. “Alright, Slick.”
He cut the wire. We both slipped inside. We weren’t going to have a lot of time before the one we were rescuing made a scene. I threw the walnuts. He appeared. He was bigger than I thought.
“Is he going to fit?” I asked.
“Yeah, he’ll fit.”
He pecked up a walnut then another and another. He got closer; Brock put the gloves on, came up behind him. “You ready?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
I got the bag open, Brock moved in and all hell broke loose. Feathers went flying, and who knew how deafening a gobble could be. The back-porch light went on. Brock got the turkey in the bag; I left the frozen turkey in his place with a note that said, Happy Thanksgiving. Slipping through the cage first, Brock pushed the burlap bag to me before following after.
“Who’s out there?” Mr. Millman shouted.
It wasn’t easy carrying the pissed off turkey, but we were saving his life. We hauled ass into the woods and just kept going.
“I think we’re far enough away,” Brock said. We put the bag down then climbed the closest tree and watched as the irate turkey found his way out of it.
“He doesn’t look very grateful,” Brock said.
I tossed the rest of the walnuts and the grapes at him. “One day, when he’s old, rocking on his front porch with his wife, all his children and grandchildren around him, he’ll appreciate what we did.”
I felt Brock’s eyes on me. He thought I was a nut. I grinned.
“Did you save any of those walnuts and grapes?” he asked, then added, “Because we might be up here a while.”
“There’s no way.Donny is lying.” I scratched my head and pushed my glasses up on my nose. “No way.”
“You don’t want to try?” Brock said, egging me on.
“No. If it was possible, which I highly doubt, we could cause damage. I would feel awful.”
“You are a tender heart,” Brock said, pushing his hands into his pockets. “Alright, so no cow tipping today.”
I glanced over at him. “So now what?”
“My parents aren’t home, and there’s ice cream,” Brock suggested, but he didn’t wait for me to answer, pulling me along behind him.
Brock’s house was massive. I’d only ever met his parents a few times, not that they said much to me. Unlike my parents, they wouldn’t be getting any parenting awards. He pulled me into the kitchen, flipping on the lights. “Get the bowls.”
I moved through his kitchen like I knew it because I did. We hung at his house a lot because we had the place to ourselves.