Curiosity drove Danny to walk over to the living room windows. As if getting closer would clarify what he was seeing. It did not.
"What is that cow doing?"
At the sudden question spilling out of Danny, Elizabeth and Matt turned from the table, which was spread out with homework.
Matt had begrudgingly asked for her help when they got back from after school practices. Danny had gone up to his room. He had enough homework himself that he skipped his increasingly becoming normal activity of joining Dale out in the barn for milking.
Edi joined her husband with helping in chores tonight. Easily joined. Clearly relieved and not worrying over Danny so much. Excellent.
When she did, she'd taken the younger two out with her so Elizabeth, Matt, and Danny could have the peace and quiet to get their homework done.
Danny had only come back down quick to get a glass of water before going back upstairs away from where Elizabeth and Matt worked on theirs.
And then.
This.
The pair joined him at the window and Danny could feel it in the silence.
He twisted, spotting them sharing a look behind him.
"What?"
They looked back to him, eyes darting back to each other, like they were hoping the other would answer and neither one sure about answering him.
"What?"
It was Elizabeth who finally put her eyes on him, face serious, voice manner-of-fact.
"Some of the cows like playing leap frog."
There was a pause as Danny took that, incredulously, in.
That had to be the worst lie he'd ever heard in his life. Including all of his. There was no way she could poss-
"They're just really bad at it."
Silence fell between them again.
"They, uh." Matt flicked his eyes to Elizabeth, but didn't refute what she said. "Just do that sometimes."
Danny blinked. And glanced back out the window to where the dry cows were fenced in at near the barn. At the one cow with it's front half up on another's back half.
Well. It's not like he had an answer to why it was doing that or kept doing that when it slipped off. And, somehow, Danny was sure with a lie that bad, neither one of them wanting to answer, he was sure he as the 'town kid' didn't want to know.
"Oh. Okay. They just do that sometimes. I'm going to head back up. Finish my homework."
Danny got halfway up the stairs when he heard Matt speak to Elizabeth.
"We should probably go out and tell Dad there's a dry cow in heat."
He froze halfway up the stairs.
In... As in...
Then rushed up the rest of the way to his room. Face burning.
Leap frog.
Yep.
Cows playing leap frog.
Danny was good with that, great with that, it sounded hilarious.
He preferred the leap frog answer.
By far.