Duncan looked intensely at Darlene sizing up her reaction.  His voice was gentle and calm though.  “Backyard.  Now.  Let’s get you out of here.  Crap.”  He wore softly.  

He led them into the backyard.  “Sorry about that back in there, but eventually you were going to see scars and wonder what happened.  But believe it or not, this place has some good memories for me too.”  He smiled a little and pointed at the bedroom window on the back of the house.  You can NOT imagine how many times I snuck out that window.” He grinned sheepishly as his ears turned a little red.  “There was this girl that lived down the street …” he paused and laughed …”who was unfortunately more interested in my older brother.”  He shrugged.  “I was only 13 at the time.  He was popular; I was not.”

He looked down at the peach, then over at the eastern end of the yard.  “I forgot about the raspberries.  And there is a small grapevine - that hasn’t done so well.  Without pampering this garden has not flourished.  I wonder if the potatoes are ready?  I planted a bunch.  A lot of them didn’t make it, but they are a relatively low maintenance crop.

“I never could figure out why our peaches were so huge.”  He hadn’t exaggerated the size of the peaches.  They were softball sized.  “I think we are all just used to the ones in stores that are picked unripe.  I never liked those.  As kids we were selling peaches left and right at ridiculously low prices to everyone around us….”

There was a shed set on a concrete slab that Duncan cautiously opened.  He growled a little - a habit he seemed to exhibit when frustrated.  “I forgot again.  I keep meaning to bring a large cooler to store some supplies here.  He dragged out a bag of bird seed, some dried corn cobs and a bucket of peanut butter and grinned.  “Time to replace the feeding stations.  I had to get smarter than the cats. Basically I drill a core through the corn cobs so I can string them onto a heavy duty fishing line, smear the cobs with peanut butter and roll them in seeds in layers.  Then I also have a few hummingbird feeders.  Those I have up outside the kitchen window.  There’s a ladder already there.  Plenty of sugar water, plus extra jars of honey.  The honey was so old it was starting to crystalize.  But the birds don’t mind that once it is dissolved in water.”

He finally paused and spoke matter of factly.  “Are you going to be okay?  I won’t lie to you - ever.  And I have never started a fight in my life - ever.  But I never lost one either.  I said I missed most of the Plague.  But that isn’t the whole truth.  I spent weeks in a morgue before my foster parents sent me away.  I have the videos to prove it.  My foster mother wanted to teach me how to stitch up wounds and stuff like that.  She nearly ran out of smelling salts.  I even learned how to deliver a child.  The cadaver we used was a Plague victim who made a tape for me.  She wanted her death to mean something.  So I made myself learn.

“I am not normal.  Or maybe I should say not average.  I tried to be as much as I could.  If all this is too much, I understand.  I meant what I said, you are free to stay or go.”