In the distance, the door of the farmhouse slammed shut. He'd noticed it hanging oddly and had seen her struggle to close it. He'd wait until she was asleep tonight and then he'd oil and repair it. Soft footsteps made by female feet wearing boots came closer. He tilted his head. For a moment there, before the door had slammed, he'd thought he heard a soft sound. A sound he had hoped to never hear again. He settled back against the dirt wall, trying to look as if he endured great pain and suffered like a pathetic human. It couldn't be what he thought. Human women were afraid of rats. And snakes, and spiders and they got real mad if you brought them dead animals to eat.