“Gottaopenwindowsonnicedayslikethis,” said the Sheep Man. Then the Sheep Man did a quick half-turn around the room and stopped before the bookcase, peering over the spines of the books with folded arms. Sprouting from the rear end of his costume was a tiny tail. In this position, he looked like a sheep standing up on its two hind legs.
“I’m looking for a friend of mine,” I ventured.
“Areyou?” said the Sheep Man, back to me in total disinterest.
“He was living here. Up to a week ago.”
“Wouldn’tknow.”
The Sheep Man stood in front of the fireplace shuffling the cards from the mantel.
“I’m also looking for a sheep with a star mark on its back,” I pressed on.
“Haven’tseenit,” said the Sheep Man.
But it was obvious that the Sheep Man knew something about the Rat and the sheep. His lack of concern was too affected. The timing of his response too pat, his tone false.
I changed tactics. Pretending I’d given up, I yawned, taking up my book from the table and flipping through the pages. A slightly vexed Sheep Man returned to the sofa and quietly eyed me reading the book.
“Readingbooksfun?” asked the Sheep Man.
“Hmm,” I responded.
The Sheep Man bided his time. I kept reading to spite him.
“Sorryforshouting,” said the Sheep Man in a low voice. “Some timesit’slikethesheepinmeandthehumaninmeareatoddsso
Igetlikethat. Didn’tmeananythingbyit.
Andbesidesyoucomeonsayingthingsto threatenus.”
“That’s okay,” I said.
“Toobadyou’llneverseethatwomanagain.Butit’s
notourfault.”
“Hmm.”
I took the three packs of Larks out of my backpack and gave them to the Sheep Man. The Sheep Man was taken aback.
“Thanks.Neverhadthisbrand.Butdon’tyou needthem?”
“I quit smoking,” I said.
“Yesthat’swise,” the Sheep Man nodded in all seriousness. “They’rereallybadforyou.”
He filed the cigarette packs away carefully in a pocket on his arm. The fleece buckled out in a rectangular lump.
“I’ve absolutely got to see my friend. I’ve come a long, long way here to see him.”
The Sheep Man nodded.
“The same goes for that sheep.”
The Sheep Man nodded.
“But you don’t know anything about them, I take it?”
The Sheep Man shook his head forlornly. His fake ears flapped up and down. This time his denial was much weaker than before.
“It’saniceplacehere,” the Sheep Man changed the subject. “Beautifulscenerygoodcleanair.You’regonnalikeithere.”
“Yeah, it’s a nice place,” I said.
“It’sevennicerinthewinter.Nothingbutsnowallaround,
everything frozenup.Alltheanimalssleepingnohumanfolk.”
“You stay here all winter?”
“Uhhuh.”
I didn’t ask anything else. The Sheep Man was just like an animal. Approach him and he’d retreat, move away and he’d come closer. As long as I wasn’t going anywhere, there was no hurry. I could take my time.
With his left hand the Sheep Man pulled at the fingers of his black right glove, one after the other. After a number of tugs, the glove slipped off, revealing a flaking blackened hand. Small but fleshy, an old burn scar from the base of his thumb to midway around the back of his hand.
The Sheep Man stared at the back of his hand, then turned it over to look at the palm. Exactly the way the Rat used to do, that gesture. But no way was this Sheep Man the Rat. There was a difference in height of eight inches between them.
“Yougonnastayhere?” asked the Sheep Man.
“No, as soon as I find either my friend or the sheep, I’m leaving. That’s all I came for.”
“Winter’snicehere,” repeated the Sheep Man. “Sparkling white.Everythingallfrozen.”
The Sheep Man snickered to himself, flaring those enormous nostrils. Dingy teeth peered out from his mouth, the two front teeth missing. There was something uneven to the rhythm of the Sheep Man’s thoughts, which seemed to have the whole room expanding and contracting.
“Gottabegoing,” the Sheep Man said suddenly. “Thanksfor thesmokes.”
I nodded.
“Hopeyoufindyourfriendandthatsheepbeforetoolong.”
“Hmm,” I said. “Let me know if you hear of anything.”
The Sheep Man hemmed and hawed, ill at ease. “Umwellyes surething.”
I fought back the urge to laugh. The Sheep Man was one lame liar.
He put his glove back on and stood up to go. “I’llbeback.Can’t sayhowmanydaysfromnowbutI’llbeback.” Then his eyes clouded. “Noimpositionisit?”
“You kidding?” I threw in a quick shake of the head. “By all means, I’d love to see you again.”
“WellI’llbeback,” said the Sheep Man, then slammed the door behind him. He almost caught his tail, but it slipped through safe and sound.
Through a space in the shutters, I watched the Sheep Man stand staring at that peeling whitewashed mailbox, exactly as he had when he first appeared. Then wriggling a bit to adjust the costume better to his body, he took off fleetfoot across the pasture toward the woods in the east. His level ears were like a diving board of a swimming pool. In the growing distance, the Sheep Man became a fuzzy white dot, finally merging into the white of the birches.
Even after the Sheep Man disappeared from view, I kept staring at the pasture and birch woods. Had the Sheep Man been an illusion?
Yet here were a bottle of whiskey and Seven Stars butts left on the table, and there on the sofa were a few strands of wool. I compared them with the wool from the backseat of the Land Cruiser. Identical.
As a way to focus my thoughts, I went into the kitchen to fix some Salisbury steak. I minced up an onion and browned it in the frying pan. Meanwhile, I defrosted a chunk of beef from the freezer, then ground it with a medium blade. The kitchen was what you might call compact, but even so it had more than your typical run of utensils and seasonings.
If they’d only pave the road here, you could open a mountain-chalet–style restaurant. Wouldn’t be bad, windows wide open, a view of the flocks, blue sky. Families could let their kids play with the sheep, lovers could stroll in the birch woods. A success for sure.
The Rat could run it, I could cook. The Sheep Man could be good for something too. His costume would be perfect up here in the mountains. Then for a practical, down-to-earth touch, the caretaker could join us; you need one practical person. The dog too. Even the Sheep Professor could drop in.
While browning the onions with a wooden spatula, I tossed these ideas around in my head.
But my beautiful-eared girlfriend—was she lost to me forever? The thought depressed me, though what the Sheep Man said was probably right. I should have come here on my own. I should not have … I shook my head.
