Free Protecting the Dream by Michelle Sharp

stayed on a well-worn path. Coming out on the other side, she stopped, breathless at what she’d stumbled upon—a lake the size of a football field sparkled in the middle of another pasture.
    Trees, birds, rocks, grass—all of it was arranged like someone had carefully placed each postcard-perfect item to its advantage. The picture it made was overwhelmingly pretty. Even the sun cooperated, reflecting off tiny ripples in the water. It wasn’t often that Jordan was awestruck by the sheer beauty of something, but the pond took her breath away.
    Okay, Ty’s eyes had done a pretty good number on her the first time she’d focused on them. Still . . . 
    This was inspiring in a wholly different way.
    Ducks, actual ducks, were swimming in the water. She stood still for a long time. When they turned their beaks in her direction, she knew she’d been made. They didn’t swim frantically away, so she crept to the water’s edge.
    The ducks swam closer. Odd. Didn’t most birds avoid humans? She backed up a little. Then she backed up a lot.
    The damned things weren’t only swimming closer, they waddled right out of the water and were heading straight for her. There were only eight or ten, but they seemed to be on a mission. Pissed maybe? Had she stepped into their sacred territory?
    “Okay, okay, you win. I’ll go.” She eased back faster now, but the teeny vultures kept pace. The faster she backed up, the faster they came. She’d seen this in a movie once, that bird movie where everybody got pecked to death. A huge boulder sat at the water’s edge, so she circled it, then jumped on top of it. “Ha. Bet you can’t jump with your stubby bird legs. How do you like me now?”
    In answer, one of them flapped its wings and landed next to her—right next to her—on the boulder. She swore the little villain rolled its eyes.
    “Oh, the wings. Right. I forgot about those.” She took another step back. “Dude, I’m scrappier than I look. If you draw first blood, I’ll defend myself. I won’t like it, but I will.” None of them seemed particularly angry or vicious. They were all just staring at her like they expected her to tap dance or break out into song. “What the fuck?” she mumbled to herself.
    After careful assessment of all the feathered suspects, she squatted to study the one little dude more closely. “Seriously, what do you want?”
    “Hey, you guys, come on. Come here,” said a female voice.
    Jordan’s head snapped up. The lady from the donut shop—Liz—was tramping her way. And Jordan felt like a complete moron standing on top of a huge rock and throwing down with a tiny two-pound bird.
    Liz rushed closer. “Oh gosh, I’m sorry.” She had a bag in her hand and fished out what looked to be bread. Started tossing it around. “Come on, now, leave her alone. She doesn’t have any food.”
    “ Food ,” Jordan said. “That’s the missing element—the little buggers wanted food.” Jordan jumped off the big boulder and walked to Liz. “Crap, I completely missed that one. I suck at this nature thing.”
    Liz giggled. “Honey, I’m sorry. I sneak over here and feed them about this time every day. The Henderson property has been empty for so long, no one minded. But I’ll stop. My husband has told me I shouldn’t come here.”
    Jordan held up a hand. “Why do you have to stop feeding them?”
    “Well, the lake is on your property, not ours. But when I saw them this fall, I couldn’t help myself. I kept thinking they’d go someplace warmer, but they just didn’t. And we’ve had such a bad winter. I couldn’t bear the thought of them hungry.”
    “Liz, neither Ty nor I care if you feed the ducks. We don’t even own the land yet.” Jordan looked in the direction of the house. “Although I suspect that might change soon. Ty seems to be pretty in love with the place.”
    “Just wait until summer when everything is blooming. It’s magnificent,” Liz said. “We’ve never been able to