“You fed a water dog?”
“Only until she gets better after giving birth. She looks so skinny.”
“And she didn’t bite you?” he asked, incredulously.
I decided not to mention the dog’s initial attack yesterday since she’d caused me no harm.
“No. She’s pretty sweet, actually. I was giving her some dinner when the toad’s balls on legs showed up.”
“Balls on legs?” He laughed.
I shrugged. “What do you call those nasty things? And what are they, anyway? The toad’s babies?”
“Not the babies, just parts of its body. We call them mockheads. They don’t grow bigger, don’t reproduce on their own, and can’t survive outside of their host for long. Mud toads are too big and slow to hunt. So they grow these mockheads thatjump around, hunt, and swallow whatever prey they find. The toad then swallows them, digests them along with the contents of their bellies, then grows new mockheads on its back.”
I shuddered. “It’s kind of gross, really.”
“Mud toads are gross,” he agreed. “Their legs are pretty tasty though. But tell me, my fearless woman, how does this contraption work?” He pointed at the rope with buckets over the creek.
My nerves vibrated with anxiety again.
“Alright. Here. See?” I turned the wheel, plunging the bucket attached to it into the water. “You rotate the wheel, filling and moving the buckets along the rope. The handle here works as a lever, so it takes little effort to turn the wheel even with the buckets full. The difference in sizes between the wheel and this gear here also makes it easier. Even a child can use it. This way, you can spend less time filling your tub and more time enjoying your bath.”
He followed the buckets with his eyes, watching the water being transported first to the groove track, then into the tub.
“Hm.” He scratched the back of his neck. “You did all this work just to fill the tub?”
My heart thudded with concern.
“But it’s not that much work at all,” I rushed to explain. “I mean…well, building it took some time. But it’s done now. And I like making things like that.”
“It’s not the first one you made, is it?” he said.
It didn’t sound like a question, like he knew it couldn’t be my first project. Nervous about his reaction, I let go of the lever and fidgeted with the end of the ribbon he’d tied around my head.
I didn’t want to lie to him. The purpose of this entire project was to show him the truth.
“No,” I confessed. “I’ve been doing it for years. I?—”
He gathered me into his arms.
“Thank you for making it for me, my wild thing.” He pressed his forehead to mine. “Only you aren’t a wild thing at all, are you?”
I wanted Grat to know everything about me, the whole damn truth, no matter how much it scared me. But his words still seized my heart with apprehension. I’d lied to him. I did it to protect us both. But I had still lied to him during all the time he knew me.
“No, I’m not an ape woman. I’m a human,” I admitted in one breath.
He didn’t look as surprised as could’ve been expected.
“I should’ve known,” he said, shaking his head. “You’ve always been too bright for an animal, even back when you tried to steal my sausage.”
“Thanks,” I exhaled with a nervous laugh. “I’ll take it as a compliment.”
He remained serious, staring at me intently. “I’m afraid you’ve stolen something far more precious to me than a sausage, sweetheart.”
“What is it, Grat?”
“My heart.”
