Ivy of Our Hearts

Fifteen

"So," Margaret began, "what do we do now?"

She stopped kicking the dirt and gawked at Manderley. Her eyes wide with wonder. Manderley stared back. The crow's eyes were wide in a way which could have been mistaken for awe, too.

Phillip's hand dropped from my cheek. Trying to relinquish the sensation, I pressed my hand there. It didn't have the same effect. He rubbed his hands together, much like he had during our game of charades. "There's a lake not too far from here," he said. "I could gather some things from the cabin, and we could have a picnic." He added a shrug at the end, which said more than what he'd said.

All this time, I'd misunderstood him. I'd misjudged his bashfulness for arrogance. He couldn't sense my willingness at all. It made me want him to like me more.

Something in the shrubbery caught his attention. He held his hand to the foliage. A tiny red dot crawled onto his finger, along the lines on his palms, and nearly to his wrist before Manderley lunged at it.

The crow's ferocity made me recoil. "What... What is it?" I asked.

"A crow," he said, lifting another red dot up to her. A tiny drop of blood formed where she'd pinched his skin. He wiped his hand on his jeans.

"I know that," I said. "I meant is it a girl or a boy?"

"She's a she," he said. He brought his finger to her belly. Manderley poked at it, thinking he'd offered her more food. She stilled as he stroked her feathers.

"How far is the lake?" Margaret asked.

"It's not so far," he said. "I don't know for sure. Are you coming?" He asked this as if it would be the most incredulous thing in the world if she did.

Margaret nodded. When I didn't answer, because I was too busy watching Manderley shiver under Phillip's touch, she jabbed me with her elbow. "Ivy?"

I held my side as if it hurt, but I watched the crow, the way she purred like a kitten. I wanted him to touch me that way. "I'll come," I said.

Phillip saw me watching her. "You can pet her if you want." He bounced his left shoulder where she perched. She jumped two inches off him before settling down. Her long, hooked talons made indentations in his t-shirt.

He laughed, but Manderley wasn't amused. She nipped his ear.

He winced but his grin widened. "As you can see, she doesn't bite. Not much, at least."

I hid one hand behind my back and waved my other. "No thank you." My fingers were still bandaged. I didn't need any more scabs.

Phillip laughed a deep laugh that rumbled like thunder. Manderley cawed as if somehow, I'd offended her by not wanting to pet her. Just in case, I hid my other hand behind my back, clasping it with the other.

"Worried you'll lose a finger?" He shook his head. "She's not so bad once you get to know her."

"It's not that," I said, but my hands stayed clasped behind my back.

"Well," he said. He gazed over his shoulder. Margaret and I gazed at him. When he turned to us, we both pretended we hadn't been watching. Margaret coughed into her palm. I searched for more red dots in the foliage.

He patted his stomach. "I'm starved. You guys must be, too."

"I could eat," Margaret said, the hand she'd used to cough into now on her stomach.