They both sat there, silent, trying not to think too much as the warmth from their coffee cups slowly faded.
A strangehooonk....hooonk...hooonkcame from outside. It was so loud their heads turned toward the window.
“What the hell was that?” Muriel asked, leaning closer to the glass, but nothing was visible amid the blowing particles of white.
“No idea.” Olivia leaned into the window. “I’ve never heard anything like it.”
Another round ofhooonk....hooonk...hooonkpierced the glass. This time, a lethal growl followed the honking.
“Now that’s a cat.” Olivia shoved her chair back and stood, sidling around the table. “It sounds like it’s coming from the garage, although I don’t see how anything could have gotten in there.”
Muriel followed Livvy up and into the living room, then down the short hall to the garage door. Olivia turned the knob and thrust open the door...to nothing. At least nothing but Olivia’s SUV. No strange honking creature. No cat either.
They stood there for a moment, Muriel hovering over Olivia’s shoulder while they both peered into the shadowy garage. Another sound drifted to them.Areeeceehhhhhk. This time morescreech than honk. Another deep growl followed. Both came from beyond the garage door.
Olivia jogged down the three cement steps, and across the garage floor. Muriel was right on her heels. In tandem, they converge on the door set in the corner of the room, next to the huge roll up doors. As Olivia opened the door, the wind wrenched it from her grasp and flung it against the inside wall with a thunderous bang. Even with Olivia’s body cushioning the brunt of the storm, its icy blast still caught Muriel in the face, stinging her cheeks, chin, and nose.
AreeeceehhhhhkAreeeceehhhhhkhooonk....hooonk...hooonk.
The screeching and honking were louder now. Her gaze followed the squawks to the driveway and zeroed in on a large brown bird, with a cream-colored breast. A band of iridescent pin feathers circled the base of its elongated neck. Still screeching, it stretched out its neck and flapped its wings. The band of iridescence glittered with jewel tones of emerald and sapphire against the blowing white. It opened its small, pinched beak, thrust its head forward, and screeched.
Aaaronckcooo.
“By the Goddess...is that…a...? No, it can’t be…” Muriel closed her eyes and blinked rapidly. There was no way the bird screeching and honking in the snow could be a—
“A peacock. That’s a damn peacock,” Olivia said, her voice flat, as if she didn’t quite believe the identification herself.
Muriel opened her eyes and stared hard through the blowing snow. It sure looked like one. But—"What the hell is a peacock doing in Alaska, in the middle of winter? Peacocks are not wintry weather birds.”
Areeeceehhhhhk. Aaaaronckcooo. Hooonk.
Muriel’s eyebrows rose; it sounded like the bird was agreeing with her.
“We could just ignore it. Maybe it will go back to wherever it came from,” Olivia finally offered.
“In the middle of a blizzard?” Muriel shook her head, slipping past her and out the door. “It’ll die out there.”
“Wait.” Olivia’s hand stretched out, her fingers clutching Muriel’s cardigan. “There’s something else out there. Do you see it?” She lifted her hand and pointed toward the left of the peacock. “Over there. I think it’sa heschrmal.”
Muriel squinted in the direction Livvy was pointing. It was difficult to see through the blowing snow and leaden gray, but there was something there. Something with orange fur.
Alaska was home to theheschrmal,and a peacock was a big enough bird to offer a satisfying meal to a hungry mountain lion. Not that she was going to let the bird get eaten. Her spine straight and stride determined, she strode out, battling the wind and snow. As she got closer, the animals became clearer.
The bird was definitely a peacock…a female one. She brushed aside all the questions that arose from the identification and concentrated on the cat. It wasn’t a mountain lion. It was far too small, with long orange fur and a missing leg and tail. It must be someone’s pet.
Its missing limb and tail hadn’t dented the cat’s ego or determination. It stalked forward, launching itself at the bird, which flapped its wings and drew back its neck, then flung it forward, knocking the airborne cat back to the ground.
“Shoo, shoo!” Muriel shouted at the cat, flapping her arms and stomping toward it through the cutting wind and biting snow.
The cat rolled onto its three legs and spun around to face her. Only then did she see the missing eye. An unexpected jolt of amusement startled her. It had been so long since she’d felt anything but the gray desolation of grief, but this cat reminded her of that old joke—
Lost cat. Missing leg, tail, and eye. Goes by Lucky.
Was that this cat’s name? Lucky?
But the amusement quickly died and shifted to sorrow. That internal blizzard ramped up again.
Daniel would have loved this cat, would have laughed his head off and begged her to adopt it. Begged her to let him name it Lucky. This cat would have appealed to every facet of her son’s personality. To his humor. His compassion. His love of animals.
