Maybe she really was an angel. Maybe we don’t even know what one is. She was in the yard. And she had become someone else to me now, now that I’d seen what she’d done. But she looked like she was going to run away from me. “Aunt Liv let me name the piglet,” I said, following her across the yard. She went to a stable door and closed it without looking at me. “I called her Gabriel, after the angel,” I said. “Like you?” I saw her startled eyes. I saw her jaw go tight, her cheeks blush, as she turned away and tied some string around the latch to keep it shut. “I’m just saying thanks,” I said. “How did you do it?” Angel looked at me for just a second and then walked away. “Really, I want to know,” I said. She went on as if she was heading for the lane. I was almost shouting now, watching her back, staring at the big coat that covered her. Was she hiding something under there too, like Gem had said? Maybe the feathers that she’d been collecting. What did she want them for, anyway?
