In Sheep's Clothing Read Free

sold to keep away predators either. I was enjoying the fact that she thought Colin was stupid. Why disrupt a perfect moment with the truth?
    â€œThen we also have a market that we open when the crops come in. That’s what the draught horses help with. Working the fields. Then, there’s the nursery. People come and buy trees and shrubs and plants from us,” she said. “We’re getting too old to do it all by ourselves. So my two grandsons come up and work on the weekends and during the summers, and we pay them. But they can’t touch the money until they graduate. I’m hoping they use it for college. But you know how stupid young people are.”
    â€œSounds like a good living, anyway,” Colin said. “Even if it is a lot of work.”
    â€œOh sure,” she said. “We’ve done this our whole lives, even before we moved up here, and we’ve never had to do the nine-to-five thing, and all the rush-hour traffic. That’s just not for me, no way. You know, I’ve always said that people who live in big cities are only livestock. They simply don’t realize it.”
    â€œThat’s a little harsh,” Colin said.
    â€œWhatever,” she said. “I call it as I see it.”
    It disturbed me that Aunt Sissy had described herself and Uncle Joe as being too old to do all of the work by themselves. What disturbed me was the fact that, indeed, they were pushing seventy. And that she was aware of it. It just seems so sad when a person realizes that the time of doing what they love is coming to an end. It wasn’t as if they were going off to a nursing home anytime soon, but there were limitations to what they could do now. And even more limitations were to come.
    Colin stretched and rubbed his belly. “This was an amazing meal.”
    â€œWhat did you think, only Jalena was capable of cooking a good meal?” Aunt Sissy asked.
    â€œNo, it’s just … uh…”
    â€œBacon and sausage came from the neighbor’s farm down the road. Eggs are ours. We made the syrup. All natural and fresh ingredients.”
    â€œWell, you can tell,” he said.
    â€œDarn right, you can tell.”
    Aunt Sissy turned her back and Colin rolled his eyes as if to indicate how seriously she took her breakfasts. I smiled, because that was the way she had always been. Nobody ever knew how to take her exactly.
    â€œCoffee,” Rudy said.
    Aunt Sissy laughed and I shook my head. “He doesn’t talk much until he’s got enough caffeine in him to run the space shuttle,” I said.
    â€œUncle Joe’s not a morning person, either.” She slammed a coffee mug in front of Rudy, filled it up with coffee, and gave a little laugh. Rudy picked up the mug without blinking and drank two gulps of hot coffee. He then closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and sighed.
    â€œGood morning, lovely people!” he said.
    â€œYou’re pathetic,” I said.
    â€œWhat?” he asked.
    â€œHey, I’m gonna run out and say hello to Uncle Joe,” I said.
    â€œYou’re not going to eat?” Aunt Sissy asked. “Don’t tell me you’re one of these weird women who don’t eat breakfast?”
    â€œNo, I’m going to eat. I just want to go say hello. I’ll be five minutes at the most.”
    â€œAll right, but if your food gets cold, it’s your fault.”
    I found my shoes by the door in the living room and stepped out onto the front porch. The floor of the porch was painted slate gray and its outer perimeter was surrounded by lilac bushes in full bloom. I thought about how weird it was that my lilac bush in the backyard had bloomed a month ago. In fact, as I looked out across the yard, I saw that the trees had that surreal green to them that they get right after the buds have just opened. I took a deep breath and smelled the greenness. As I stepped down onto the concrete step, I noticed something engraved