Just One More

She moved away out here to get away from people, from a job that buried her under other people’s problems. We’re rural here. She settled in a place with barn and corral, got a horse but doesn’t ride. Adopted a dog and two barn cats plus one for the house. Added some pens and got a nanny goat, two sheep, one pig, two hens, a rooster and a husband but like most other humans he had his problems. Before long he was gone. She put out grain for wild turkeys, a saltlick to lure in deer. Jackrabbits who ravage gardens here and there. Coyote keeps to edges, hawk to thermals and the owl to dark. Last night we heard the most blood-curdling cry from her direction. Husband back with a gun? No country home’s complete without a peacock screaming murder.