A/N Thank you all so much. We had some romance, and we had a little Merle. Now what? Let's see...

DUCKS

There's only the one thing Merle has to ask over dinner, "So am I gonna be an uncle anytime soon?"

Daryl and Beth look up from their plates and their eyes lock. Hers are big, round and full of concern. Daryl seems stunned by his brother's question, his brow is furrowed, and his voice has an angry tone when he demands, "Shut up and eat Merle."

"You bet Pappy Daryl, I'm gonna eat all my supper."

Daryl mutters, "Dumbass," but his brother's question has him feeling anxious as his mind busily works both the question and the answer over. Fuck, he knew he was taking a chance not using protection, but what could he do? It's not like there's a drugstore on the corner, and all the time he's spent on the mountain, well shit, he's never had a woman here. There was no reason to keep condoms around. Sure, yeah, he could have pulled out at the end, but everyone knows that doesn't really work.

Merle's got so many things he'd like to say, damn, it's practically killing him. If it weren't for Beth he'd be blurting them all out one right after the other. Nah though, Sis looks even smaller than usual, paler too, and like she might break down any minute. He sure as hell doesn't want that, he hates to see a woman in tears. He suggests, "Well, we could all have a drink. I know I'm thirsty."

Daryl agrees to that idea, maybe he can drown his concerns, "You bet we can have one, just as soon as we get the dinner dishes done."

Merle glances over at Beth and asks, "Are there ever any days we don't do chores?"

She smiles but doesn't say anything. She's not getting in the middle of anything between the brothers, and with three of them working, the cleanup only takes 10 minutes anyway.

The brothers sit in the easy chairs and Beth sits on the bed, pillows propped behind her and her legs curled under her.

Merle does the honors, pouring each of them some of the clear alcohol, and Daryl grouchily mutters, "That's a mighty stiff pour Merle, ya tryin' ta get us all drunk on the first drink?"

"Well, me and your Missus are doin' just fine, all happy and content. You on the other hand, you need sumthin' ta loosen up your tight ass, so I gave ya a little extra," and he snorts a laugh.

Daryl gets right back to him. "You laugh now, but you won't be laughin' tomorrow when your ass is up on that extension ladder and you're poundin' nails."

"Whaddya talkin' about?"

"We didn't get them shingles on the roof today, and if we don't get ya a new roof on that buildin' soon. you're gonna freeze your ass off before we even hit January. Shit Merle, did ya feel it out there? It's not even the end of November and it's already colder than a well digger's ass."

Merle nods, "Yeah, I know yer right. It was damn cold last night. I mean, I had plenty a heat and covers, but I could tell it won't be enough when real winter sets in."

Beth exclaims, "Oh my gosh, that's right, it's November. We don't want to miss Thanksgiving, let me check my calendar."

Merle looks at Daryl and asks, "I don't remember us ever celebratin' Thanksgiving. We gonna start all that up?"

That makes Daryl smile as he shares the facts with his older brother, "We are if we wanna live with Beth, and I can't speak for you, but I intend ta keep living with her as long as she lets me. So yeah, we're havin' Thanksgiving. Besides, I bet she'll make a pie or sumthin'."

Beth is shaking her head, "You two do realize I'm right here, don't you? And yes, all holidays that I like will be celebrated, and for this one, there will be pie."

Merle shrugs, "Well then hell, I'm in. When is it again?"

"Eight days, if you two finish that roof maybe you'll have time to go hunting and get us a Thanksgiving turkey."

Daryl's smiling, "I'm the foreman of this job so it'll be done day after tomorrow at the latest. We'll get turkeys too. That right Jack? Ya wanna go find us a turkey dinner?" The dog perks up and Daryl says, "See there lady, no problem, we're havin' Thanksgiving dinner on the mountain."

She's all smiles now, "I can't wait. Yay! I love Thanksgiving and we all have so much to be grateful for."

Daryl's nodding, there's no way he'd argue with her when she's so damn happy, "We do. Now, besides all that, we all got a few things we gotta think about. First of all Merle, besides gettin' your roof done, we should try n get your place caulked. If we get a sunny day where the temp is in the 50's at least, we might start that. If not, we'll have ta wait for late spring."

He's feeling the pressure and biting his lower lip as he thinks of all the things they still have to do to be ready for the impending winter. "Me n Beth got showers today, and everyone can take one more, maybe the day after tomorrow, after we're done with the roofin'. After that though, there ain't gonna be any showerin'."

Beth's shocked, "What? You have to be kidding. Why not?"

He does feel bad, and dammit, showering with Beth was a real good time. "Yeah, I'm sorry, it's just the way it's gonna be. We won't be able ta get the water or the bathroom warm enough without usin' a shitload of fuel, maybe not even then for the water. I know now how bad I fucked up. I shoulda put a wood stove in the bathroom so it could at least be warm for using the toilet and washing up, cuz there's no way we can keep runnin' that space heater or the propane water heater all winter. the fuel will be gone in a few weeks if we do."

Beth is resigned, "I guess we take bird baths and wash our hair in the sink, huh?"

Merle smiles at her, "That's right Sis, it'll be just like prison. That's where the bird bath was invented ya know."

The three of them are quiet for the next couple of minutes while they think about what Daryl said, and try to think about the best way to stay warm and save fuel. A small smile appears on Merle's face when an idea comes to him, "Soon as we get done with them shingles, I'll just scoot on down the mountain and pick us up a couple wood stoves. I'ma need one too, cuz come hell or high water, I'm buildin' me a little bathroom n I'ma want a woodstove in mine too."

Daryl's shaking his head like his brother's crazy, "Well even with the wood stove in the bathroom we still couldn't get the water warm enough to shower. Anyway, just where the hell you think you're gonna go get these wood stoves?"

Merle's smile grows wider because dammit, he likes it when he thinks of something good, something that obviously never crossed his brother's mind, "Remember 'bout ten years ago when that boneheaded developer from down in Florida took a notion ta build a big resort for rich folks, you know, over there a couple miles up from Jack Knife Pass?"

Daryl's nodding, "Oh yeah, what a fuckin' bust that was. There was a lotta people lost their shorts investin' in that bright idea."

"You are 100% correct, however, as I recall, there were a few cabins that almost got completed. No one ever moved in out there on accounta the utility companies never did install any service. Shit the developer never even had wells dug. When he went bankrupt the place just sat. Anyway, the cabins have wood stoves in em. I'll go get us a couple."

Daryl would like to tell his brother there's no way, but shit, Merle's got a pretty good idea and there is a way. He's thinking it over as everyone is quietly sipping, and then he asks, "Ya know for sure they got stoves?"

"Yep, I seen em with my own eyes." Daryl doesn't ask any more about that. If Merle was at those cabins it was probably for something mostly illegal that Daryl would rather not know about.

Daryl agrees, "A'ight, we gotta go before it gets any colder or there's any more snow. We'll leave in the mornin'. The sun don't come up before six nowadays, so that's when we go, 6 am. Got it?"

Beth's not at all happy with this news, "What? You're just going to leave again, just like that?"

"We got to lady, if we wait the weather's gonna keep gettin' worse, and the more snow there is the more dangerous travelin' is. We need ta just get our asses down there and get right back here. We'll keep it to a day, day and a half, not long." Shit, he feels like he's abandoning her. Like he's a complete asshole after what happened between them, and the truth is, the last thing he wants to do is leave her again.

He tells himself it's only for a short time, but that doesn't convince him it's okay anymore than it's probably going to convince her.

As soon as Merle leaves for the evening they begin their nighttime routine and once she uses the bathroom Beth is hurrying to get under the covers, "Oh my gosh Daryl you're right, the bathroom's freezing."

"Yeah, we might have ta start usin' a chamber pot 'til I get that stove in there."

Oh my, never in her life has Beth done that, but one thing is abundantly clear, they do need a heat source in the bathroom.

For now, Daryl adds another log to the fire, covers Jack and practically dives in the bed, wrapping an arm around her while she snuggles into his chest and he promises, "I don't wanna leave ya again Beth, shit, I just got home, but ya know, I never spent winter up here and judgin' by how cold it is already, I'm afraid it's gonna get brutal. I gotta keep us warm, but I gotta save the fuel too, who knows when or if we'll get our hands on more."

"I know, and I understand, I just hate to see you go again." She's got to be supportive though, he's right, they need this, "Don't worry, me and Jack will be just fine. I wish I could do some more sewing while you're away."

Shit, in all the excitement of the day he didn't get around to giving her all the gifts he brought. He smiles now, "Guess what? I got ya presents. With all...well with everythin' goin' on I didn't even give em to ya yet."

"What are they?"

There's no point in keeping it a secret, "I got ya some knittin' stuff and a box a material and some other sewin' type things. I can bring it all in here in the mornin' before me n Merle leave. You'll have plenty a time ta sort through it while I'm gone."

"That's wonderful, thank you Daryl. I can't wait to see it. Where did you get it?"

"We can thank Miz Erma again, I remembered she had a sewin' room."

"Oh my gosh, she has been so good and generous with us."

He remembers something else, "Oh yeah, and besides all that potting soil I loaded, I got the whole display rack of seed packets."

"Oh my gosh, you're kidding, really?"

"Yeah, and garden gloves too, and sumthin' else I forgot, I got some a them herbs in little pots like ya wanted, the kind ya set on the kitchen windowsill. They look half dead right now, but maybe they'll survive. If not, there's probably seeds for em in one a them packets."

"Wow Daryl, you had quite a trip. I can't wait to see everything. I'm excited now."

Then he mentions something that's been on both their minds, something he doesn't want to talk about, but shit, they better, "Listen, um, lady, I'm real sorry about earlier. Sorry I didn't protect ya. I won't do that again. Maybe when me n Merle are out tomorrow I can find some a them things, and if I don't, I won't bother ya that way again."

She cuddles closer, "Do I have anything to say about all of this? I mean seriously Daryl, we just…we just got close. Now we're going to give that up? How about we just try to be careful? I'll start charting my cycle really close and we'll know when it's safe and when it isn't."

He doesn't know all the details about how that works, but what he does know is, it's called the rhythm method and it's not any more reliable than pulling out. Maybe if they do both? "Yeah, okay."

Then she hits him with, "Besides, would it be so terrible if I got pregnant? I always did want to be a mom."

He shrugs, "In this world? C'mon Beth, we don't wanna bring a kid into this mess. And shit, and I'd probably suck as a dad anyway."

She slides up his body and now they're eye to eye. She uses her fingers to comb the hair out of his eyes and smiles down at him when she says, "Maybe our child would be the one to save this world, and for the record, I think you'd be a wonderful Daddy. You took great care of me when I was hurt and you didn't even like me then."

He gently clasps her face in his hands, "It wasn't that I didn't like ya, I think I was afraid of ya."

"Afraid of me?"

"Yeah, afraid I might like ya too much, and you wouldn't like me at all."

"I think I had the same fears about you," then Beth's lips are on his and warm loving kisses soon turn hotter and more passion-filled and they act as if they're not worried about where babies come from.

Even though Merle griped and moaned about the early start, he's at Daryl and Beth's door right on time, and after a quick and hearty breakfast, the brothers are ready to get on their way.

Daryl hugs her, promising, "I'll be back soon."

Merle chimes in, "Don't worry Sis, I won't let him stop at any honky tonks."

Daryl's shaking his head but Beth smiles and says, "Thank you Merle, I appreciate that."

Once the men are gone Beth makes quick work of cleaning the kitchen, she's anxious to check out all the fabric and sewing and knitting items Daryl brought in. This chilly day will be the perfect day to scoot her chair close to the fire, with Jack laying at her feet while she knits something for Daryl.

Before all that though she needs to water those herbs. She sets the pots in the kitchen sink where she gives them a serious watering. They do look like they might come back, if not, she'll be looking through all of those seed packets he brought. Surely there are several type of herbs among them.

She's just drying her hands and absentmindedly gazing out the kitchen window when suddenly she hears them, and seconds later the sky darkens and she sees them. It's a huge flock of ducks, the largest she's ever seen. Beth watches as they land both on the lake and all over it's banks. She smiles when a thought pops in her head, yes, this could be perfect.

She's quick to pull on her boots, coat and mittens as she puts a finger to her lips and tells Jack, "You wait here boy, and shh, be real quiet please? Okay?" It works when Daryl does it, she hopes Jack obeys her too.

She's as quiet as she can be, and she tries to make herself small as she creeps closer and closer to the ducks on the bank. They're busy feeding on the bugs and whatever else they're finding in the damp soil, and none of them seem to have noticed her at all.

She gets down on her tummy, slithering nearer to them, and although it's not as fun as she remembers it being when she was a kid, she smiles at the memory of Maggie and Shawn teaching her all about catching ducks.

The birds still don't seem aware of her, and that's good because as soon as she's close enough she quickly and quietly springs to her feet and grabs a hen around the neck. She pulls the duck toward your chest, holding it gently but firmly to her, keeping the wings against the bird's body so she can remain in control of it.

Then she freezes for a minute. Where is she going to put her new treasure? For now, the bathroom seems like the best choice. Jack gets excited when she enters the cabin with the bird, and oh my gosh, she's making a terrible mess and the poor duck is beside herself. Beth just keeps reassuring both the dog and the duck, "It's okay, nobody is getting hurt today."

She gets the unhappy hen in the bathroom, shuts the door and promises Jack, "Hopefully I'm coming right back with another one, so stay quiet, please."

Over the course of the next hour and a half, Beth manages to get five more hens and two drakes. She's exhausted, but before she stops there's so much more to do. She gets the shotgun and walks quietly, one last time, toward the flock as she whispers to them, "Sorry guys." Iit's the world she lives in now, and she, Daryl and Merle all have to eat to survive. She manages to shoot two of the birds before the flock flies off. The ducks will make a good dinner.

She quickly hangs them in the kitchen building, and even though Merle had a fire going in the stove, it's gotten plenty chilly in that drafty kitchen. It will stay cool enough to keep the ducks cold.

Once the ducks are hung, Beth's real work begins. She's going to have to clip the wings of the ducks she's captured. If she doesn't, they'll fly off as soon as there's an opportunity. The fact they won't be able to fly is bad too though. They won't be able to get away if a predator came after them, a fox, a racoon, a skunk or any number of animals who would like a fresh duck dinner.

So, once she clips their wings, she's going to have to keep them confined someplace where they'll be safe. She can't leave them in the bathroom, or put them in the outdoor kitchen, they're just too noisy and no one would get a wink of sleep. That leaves the tool shed. She checks it out and yes, there's room for her to pen them in. It'll work until they can build a coop with a nice yard for their new farm animals. It's not that complicated, she and her Dad built one together. This one will have to have an enclosed yard though to keep the birds safe. Once the ducks get over the trauma of being captured and confined, the hens should start to lay eggs. That will mean they'll have eggs for breakfast and there will be eggs for baking.

First things first, she has to see about those wings. She grabs Daryl's tin snips from the tool shed and makes her way back to the cabin. Oh my gosh, she really did track in a mess carrying all those ducks in, and boy can she hear them in the bathroom quacking their little heads off.

Clipping wings isn't especially hard, or tricky, except she's pretty sure these birds won't be cooperative. She hangs her coat by the door, stuffs her mittens in the pockets, pulls her boots off, looks at Jack and says, "Your thoughts and prayers would be greatly appreciated."

With the tin snips in hand she quickly opens the bathroom door, enters and shuts the door behind her. It's chaos. Great, and then she thinks of something, "Okay ladies and gentlemen, I have an idea. I'll be right back."

She's out of the bathroom, putting the boots and coat back on and hurrying out to the cellar. She remembered Daryl telling her he tried them and didn't really like them, and the face he made had her laughing out loud. Well, he won't have to worry about eating them now, they're about to become duck food, and Beth picks up the basket of Brussels Spouts and dashes back to the cabin. She roughly chops a few handfuls and takes them with her to the bathroom.

The eating keeps them a lot more calm and quiet, and Beth's able clip the wing of one duck and then another. She only clips one feather on one wing of each bird, just enough to keep them grounded. The most important thing to her is not to clip them too low, she doesn't want to hurt any of the birds. As she does the work she tries reasoning with them, saying things like, "I could do this faster if you just hold still, then it would all be over so much faster," and, "Please be good, you can have more Brussels Sprouts as soon as I'm done."

She feels like she's been in the battle of her life when she's finally done clipping wings. Now she's got to transport all the birds from here in the bathroom to the tool shed. She saw something in the shed though, and it might help.

Once again she pulls her boots and coat on and goes out to the shed. She picks up the live trap, guessing she can probably transport two birds at a time in it, and sure enough, back in the bathroom she entices two ducks into the trap with a little dish of peas.

The trap is cumbersome and the two birds are heavier than she thought, but she gets them in the tool shed, and eventually they're all in there. Now comes the massive job of cleaning up after herself and the birds. It's nearly two hours before everything is spic and span again, and now she thinks about herself.

She warms water on the stove and washes herself, puts on clean clothes and thinks, "Oh my gosh, I'm probably going to have to do laundry tomorrow." Well she can't worry about it right now. She adds a couple of logs to the fire, fixes herself and Jack a meal, then grabs her favorite book from the shelf, "The Secret Garden" and sits in her chair. She barely has the cover open when she's out like a light.

00

Merle and Daryl make it down the mountain without incident, the snow is of no concern, it's only a half an inch deep or so. Once they're halfway down the mountain there's no snow at all and the skies are blue. There's no threatening rain, snow or anything else. Daryl nods, "Early in the year yet," and they keep driving, but they don't go all the way down to the trailhead. Instead, they turn to the west a half mile or so before they get that far.

As they're driving Merle admits, "Me and some buddies sneaked through this back way a few times when they was building these damn things. We was hoping ta find stuff worth stealin', we didn't find much, but at least it was a cozy place ta get drunk and high."

Daryl shakes his head and mutters, "Shocking."

"Yeah, well, I admit I done that shit and a whole lot worse, but I turned over a new leaf since them days. I'm a good boy now."

Daryl snorts a laugh and says, "You sure ain't no boy, old man."

"Hey now, don't be hurtin' my feelins that way."

The brothers decide to camouflage the truck in the bushes about 300 yards from the lodge and sneak in on foot. Once they have an idea of what they're up against, they can decide what they want to do next.

As they get closer to the abandoned development they begin to hear the tell-tale grunts and growls of the walkers, and then a small herd comes into view. They're guessing there are twenty of the creatures milling around near what would have been the lodge's big community fire pit. Merle whispers, "Whaddya think?"

Daryl shrugs, "I think we kill em, get what we came for and get our asses home."

Merle's smiling and nodding, "I like your style kid. Let's do it."

Daryl's packing his crossbow, a handgun, a knife and rifle. Merle's got an axe, a handgun and shotgun. They decide to go in blasting firepower, and knife the walkers as they fall. It starts out going just as planned, then, as Daryl's fighting off a walker he steps back and losses his footing on a rock, falls and drops his knife. As soon as Daryl hits the ground and the walker is on top of him and he's desperately fighting the thing off, as he grabs at the dirt trying to get to his knife, but it's just out of reach. As the creature is about to devour his neck, Merle is there pulling it up by the hair of the head and stabbing it through the skull.

Daryl grabs his knife from the dirt and quickly gets on his feet, saying, "Thanks man," and then he sees one about to lunge at Merle from behind. The knife is still in his hand and he throws the weapon, hitting the walker in the forehead. It's Merle's turn to say, "Thanks brother."

They kill off a couple more of the undead and then get busy clearing the largest and most finished looking cabin first. Sure enough, there's a wood stove in the main room. Daryl reminds his brother, "We're gonna hafta take the stove pipe, flashing, everything."

Merle shrugs, "Then we better quit wastin' time talkin' and get to it. I'll go get the pickup." Merle's able to pull up fairly close to the cabin door, the hard part is going to be getting the heavy stove out of the cabin and into the back of the pickup.

They brought a hand truck and a come along with them, and they get busy. They get the stove on the hand truck with the help of the come along, then roll the cart near the pick up bed, and and then break away a couple of boards from the cabin porch to make a ramp. Once again they put the two ton come along to work hoisting the wood stove into the pickup bed. Daryl runs the back of his hand across his brow when they're done, remarking, "That was a hell of a fuckin' job. Let's get that stove pipe n stuff and then we'll get us another one a these."

They clear another cabin but not without having to kill two walkers who were inside. It was obviously a drug hangout in another time. There are spoons, lighters, needles and even some white powder still on the table amid the dust. One of the walkers even has a needle in his arm and Merle somberly notes, "That coulda been me," and the brothers make quick work of the dead druggies. They get the second wood stove, along with the pipe and flashing, into the back of the pickup.

When they're done getting what they came for, they start to scavenge. Merle appropriates a small dining table and a couple of chairs for his new home. They're marred and scarred but he shrugs, "I won't have nuthin' else pressin' ta do this winter. I should be able ta find the time ta sand n paint." He also gets himself an easy chair and ottoman, takes a toilet seat for his compost toilet, a bathroom sink, shower head, and all the plumbing for his new bathroom. As Daryl's helping his brother he glances at the small claw foot tub. It's some kind of reproduction of an antique, and he thinks Beth would probably like to have a tub. If the bathroom's heated, he can heat water on the stoves and she could take a bath. Hell, he could too.

Daryl's casually states, "I think I'ma take that tub. I'll need the plumbin' too."

"Let's get on it then."

The pickup bed and the back seat are stuffed, they couldn't get another thing in there, and the brothers waste no time getting on their way.

In a rare moment of sharing his thoughts and feelings Daryl tells his brother, "Ya know, I do think it's gonna be a hard winter, but I ain't worried about you n me. Hell, we been through a lot worse shit than a bad winter. It's Beth I worry about. She's a little bit delicate."

They're about two miles from the lodge when they run into what at first they're sure is a group of roadside bandits, but as they get closer they see these bandits are dressed like cops. Merle and Daryl are immediately wary of the group. These jerks don't appear to be real cops. They're not officers caught in the big turn who've been wearing their uniforms since the world went to hell. These people are all starch and polish and they look like they've been lying in wait. The leader of the small group appears to be a woman.

As they get closer they're sure it's a female and she's trying to look like a hard ass, holding her gun on them and yelling, "Police officers! Pull over! Pull over now!" The two male cops behind her are holding their guns on the brothers too.

Merle quietly asks his brother, "Does this look like some phony ass shakedown ta you?"

Daryl nods, "Yep."

Merle asks another question, "Ya ready brother?"

Daryl answers, "Always."

Merle pulls up next to the female cop and with a big ol' shit eating grin on his face he asks, "Can I help ya ma'am?"

She says, "Get out of the truck and give me your keys, you'll have to walk back to wherever you came from. This is our truck now." The Dixon men know, if they get out they'll be no walking anywhere, they'll get shot.

Merle answers, "Yes Ma'am," and as the words are coming out of his smiling mouth, he throws the door open fast and with all of his weight behind it. The door hits her hard and she's stumbling backward when Daryl's bullet lands right in the middle of her forehead.

The other two fake cops are stunned enough that the brothers have plenty of time to take them out before they even know what hit them. Merle's looks down at the female cops' badge and mutters, "Well, well Dawn Lerner, ya shouldn't a messed with the Dixons."

Beth has a solid two hour nap and wakes up feeling refreshed and energized. She's hopeful Daryl and Merle will make it home tonight, and so Beth decides to get those ducks cooking. She pulls on her boots, mittens and buttons up her jacket, heading first to the outdoor kitchen. She gets a big fire going and clears the hole in the ground where she'll bury the dutch oven. From there she goes to Merle's. It's so cold in there and she builds fires in both the wood stove and the big oven. If they do come home tonight at least Merle won't freeze.

She sets a huge pot on the stove and gets water heating for dipping the ducks to make the feathers easier to pull. and once the water's ready she's dunking and plucking those birds until they're as ready as she can get them. Once they're clean and plucked she cuts them into quarters, then rubs the dutch oven with lard before placing the duck quarters in it. She pierces the duck's fat with a fork, then adds quartered onions and apples to the pot. The fruit and vegetable will add moisture and help to reduce the bird's gamey flavor. The finishing touch is a small amount of water and a little salt and pepper.

She puts the lid on and lifts the heavy pot to take it outside, muttering, "Holy cow, this is heavy," as she walks it to the outside fire. She shovels some coals in the hole, sets the pot on top of them, and covers the pot with more hot coals, then covers all with dirt.

Once inside and back out of her boots and coat, she gets her slippers on and adds a log to the fire, then peels potatoes and gets them cooking on the stove. She's just about to sit down and rest her feet for a minute when she hears the pickup arriving. Oh good, they made it home for a nice duck dinner! That's her thought as the door bursts open and the brothers walk in. Daryl gives her a hug and a smile and says, "We got the wood stoves and some other stuff. Did ya get some rest today?"

She smiles and says, "I did, I had a nice nap thank you. I also captured eight Mallards, two are drakes and six are hens."

"You mean you shot em?"

"No, I captured them, they're alive. Isn't it exciting? They're our first farm animals. I clipped their wings so they can't fly off, and soon they're going to be our egg providers. They just need to get used to this place."

Merle's smiling as he listens, and Daryl asks, "How the hell did ya catch em?"

"I sneaked up on them and grabbed them by the neck, then I put them in the bathroom while I went to get another. Boy did I have a mess to clean up by the time I'd captured eight of them."

"And ya clipped their wings, and where are they now?"

"I put them in the tool shed where they'd be safe. They're in there eating peas and waiting for you to build them a coop and pen. I also shot two Mallards, both hens, I dressed them and they're in the dutch oven. Dinner should be ready in about twenty minutes."

Merle chuckles as he asks his brother, "Um, hey, little brother, what was that you was sayin' about how you was worried Beth might be a little too delicate for a mountain winter? Shit, little Sis here has you n me lookin' like a couple of layabout candy asses."

00

A/N Ducks?! Please leave a comment. The chapter photo, including a duck or two, is on my tumblr blogs, gneebee and bethylmethbrick, please have a look. I'll be back next week with another chapter of The Man on The Mountain, and keep an eye out for a little Halloween Treat. See you soon, and until then remember, I love ya large! xo