After the fever: choosing to sit with Biddy
After the fever, Susan longed for nuts, oatmeal, something to tempt her appetite. She was feeling peckish and her eyes felt strange. She found that she had to turn her head sideways to see things.
She walked up to the hen run, still feeling a little weak, and found Biddy sitting in her favourite nest box, on a clutch of eggs.
The hen looked up at Susan with a pleased expression, looking straight at her with both eyes. They reminded her of her mother’s eyes but seemed more genuine, full of love and interest. The pointy face had filled out and softened.
She stood up and shook her wings, settling them comfortably back into place, then sat down again. Susan shut the lid of the nest box.
She noticed the other hens clustered uneasily in a corner of the run. The cock was striding about, scratching and turning up a few grubs, plump and juicy.
Watching the grubs, Susan felt her appetite coming back.
next chapter Leaving the mountain
