Death Takes a Gander Read Online Free Page A

its voice rising with the wind.
    Where were the others? She raised the beam of her flashlight and scanned the ice farther out. Between where she stood and the huts, there were hundreds of Canada geese. Some flopped on the ice, others staggered and reeled on their feet like drunken sailors. Most lay dormant.
    “Shit!” Her voice startled the nearest goose. It raised its head and struggled to its feet, flapping its wings.
    Again, she remembered the swan.
    “Hey there, baby,” she said, drawing near. “I’m just going to pick you up, okay?”
    As she hefted it into her arms, the bird writhed, nearly knocking her onto the ice. Gripping the animal more tightly, she struggled to stand.
    “We’re going to head back now.”
    The wind picked up, spitting snow in her face and glazing the ice in front of her. Her feet slipped. The ice snapped.
    Fear sliced through her.
    Time froze.
    She slid until her feet caught on a crust of snow, and she nearly tumbled headlong. Her heart banged in her chest. The goose struggled against her hip.
    It took a moment to realize the ice hadn’t broken, another to figure out she was back in control of her feet. Puffing out air, she looked down at the bird. “That was close. Shall we try it again?”
    Reaching shore, she retraced her footsteps. Dawn gripped the morning, and light now seeped through the cracks in the trees, making it easier to see. The wind died down. The honking of the geese faded. In her arms, the goose breathed softly, and Angela marveled at the beauty of the bird.
    “What do you have there, Angel?”
    Eric’s voice startled her, and she bobbled the animal. The goose’s head snapped up. It tried stretching its wings and lashed out with its bill. Angela dodged, struggling to maintain hold. “Don’t just stand there. Help me.”
    Eric tried moving in.
    The goose hissed, bobbing its head from side to side like a tall featherweight boxer.
    “From where I stand, this is as close as I get,” he said.
    “I can’t hold it alone.”
    “Then put it down.”
    Angela glared up at him. Judging by how much he towered above her, he had to be over six feet, and he looked to be in good shape. “What? Are you afraid of a bird, Eric?”
    “Not so much afraid as unwilling to approach. That is not a happy goose.”
    Spoken in a singsong accent, his words made Angela laugh. “That’s an understatement.”
    With no good way for Eric to get around behind her, Angela realized she was going to have to let the bird go. To her left, through the trees, was Black Canyon Creek. If she could release the goose onto the water, it might have a chance.
    She made a beeline for the creek. Clearing the last tree, she lost her grip. The goose spread its wings. Air swirled around her ears. The bird gained its five-foot wingspan, flapped once, then crashed to the ground.
    “Great, just great,” she muttered, shaking out her arms.
    “Are you okay?” Eric moved in closer now that the bird was on the ground. “What were you trying to do with that thing?”
    “Save it.”
    The bird shook out its feathers and glanced side to side. Eric looked skeptical. “It looks fine to me. It’s nice and fat.”
    “Well, it’s not fine.”
    In confirmation, the goose waddled toward the water, then staggered, falling face-first into the snow. It flapped about, uttering a series of high-pitched honks and squeaks, and Eric pointed in the direction of the Visitors Center.
    “I’ll get my net.”
    Angela squatted down on her heels, studying the bird from eye level. “We’ll need more than one. There must be a hundred of them on the ice, most of them near the tournament area.” She glanced up. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say they’d been drinking the fishermen’s beer.”
    Eric stared down at her. “You’re kidding. A hundred?”
    “I told you there were others.”
    “ Ja , but when you said ‘others,’ I thought you meant ten or twenty.” A lock of brown hair fell across his brow, and he brushed it