Chapter ONE - Weebly

She padded closer and licked his cheek, and when
Ethan stopped scratching her she pawed at his hand to
get him to start again.
“I miss him, too,” he said, his voice still low.
After another few moments, he stood and let himself
into the cooperage. Henry sat on a low stool by his
workbench, sipping water from a cup.
“Resting?” Ethan asked, closing the door behind
him.
The old man glanced Ethan’s way. “Hello, Ethan.
Aye, I’m tired today.”
Ethan crossed the shop and sat on a finished barrel.
“You all right?”
The cooper shrugged, his open mouth revealing the
gap in his front teeth. “A bit thad, really. Pitch died.”
What could he say? That he knew? That he was a
conjurer and had needed the dog dead more than he
needed him alive? So he said the only thing he could,
meaning it in ways that Henry could never know. “I’m
sorry, Henry. I know he meant a lot to you.”
“Aye, he did,” Henry said, sounding wistful. “Him
and Shelly both. The odd thing is, I don’t know why it