“Exceptional cow,” Percy went on, as if he’d meant the right animal the whole time. “I want animals of all varietiesshowcased, in their real sizes, but I want them to complement each other.”
He directed Mr. Stonebrook’s attention towards the trees, and Danny ducked back behind the wall to avoid detection.
“Wouldn’t want a cricket next to an elephant, for example,” Percy said.
“Indeed not, Your Grace! Why, the idea is preposterous.”
Percy sounded too enthusiastic to Danny’s ears to be sincere. “I knew you’d understand. Now, we must think about this carefully. Do you have any birds currently in the garden?”
“Birds? No, Your Grace.”
“Not even a spotted raven?”
“Never heard of it, Your Grace.”
Neither had Danny. She groaned. Poor Mr. Stonebrook. If her gut was correct, Percy was about to send the lovely old gardener on quite the merry goose chase.
“Unique creatures, the SRs. Rarely sighted this far south,” Percy said. “Small heads, large wingspans. Come, I’ll draw you a picture. Strangest bird you’ve ever seen. There must be a recording of the beast in the library here.”
Danny readied, listening as the men’s voices grew quieter as they moved towards the house.
“And their call!” Percy embellished loud enough for Danny to hear even beneath the water in the middle of the lake. “Think a mix between a sparrow and an ostrich. Like this...”
Danny didn’t hesitate. As soon as that high-pitched whistle hit her ears, she moved. Keeping low, she beelined straight for thecowtopiary. Glancing around and seeing no one, Danny placed her counterfeit in a nearby empty pot and set it beside the real one, feeling a surge of triumph taking hold.
Only for it to sink into frustrated failure.
No matter how hard she pushed or pulled, the real topiary had the weight of a grown miniature bush with a full rootsystem, a load of dirt, and a ceramic pot to boot. The only way that topiary was getting stolen was if the thing sprouted legs to walk away on.
Danny bit her lip and racked her brain. There must have been something she could use around here. If Mr. Stonebrook, a middle-aged man, could lift this thing half a dozen times in a matter of minutes, surely, all she needed was a bit of a start?
But as Danny found neither tool nor barrel—and the shed where the main tools were kept would take far too long—her frustration mounted. Not only frustration.
A part of her also acknowledged a sliver of pride in the undertaking, pride and skill she felt in need to prove to Percy. He’d always challenged her to work through her questions and come to her own conclusions at the speed and power of her own mind.
Somehow, she didn’t believe the detail of the bush’s weight had slipped Percy’s notice. Not an officer and an agent whose very life depended on calculating to the smallest degree. There must be a way for her to move the bush.
Think, she told herself. If pushing the pot was out of the question and dragging was beyond her capabilities, what was left?
The answer came to her like a knock to the head.
Shaking off the daze, Danny sprang into action. Using all her weight, this time instead of pulling the base, she carefully weaved her hands through the leaves and smaller branches to grasp the main system in the middle and pulled until she felt the pot tip onto its side.
Once the pot lay safely on its side and ledge, Danny had little trouble rolling the thing off the path and into the field, where no one would see the tree in the tall grass.
Hearing the sound of voices emerging from the house, Danny put shin to bush and hand to stem to get as far from the garden—and possible detection—as quick as her weary legs and waning arms would allow.
When she hit the safety of the trees, Danny tucked the pot behind a thick oak and sank to the forest floor, her muscles twitching, her breath ragged, and her skin flushed with exhilaration.
She marveled at the breeze, the mogshade, the trees themselves. She’d done it! She’d stolen a bush. Clipped and made all the more an achievement by its incredible weight and shaped like a regal cow...
Danny glanced at her trophy. All right, the bush was rather worthless and the rendering of the animal awful, but sitting here, ruining her best frock in the dirt, she felt the adventure and partnership as real as if she’d stolen the Crown Jewels.
And that was priceless to her.
Snap!
Danny’s head swung around hearing twigs snap under approaching boots. She sagged against the pot when Percy walked into view, his grin dashing.
