The clerk did not leave with the box. He climbed the north wall steps with his board under his arm and sat down on the top stone, where he could see the whole yard.
“I will watch the test,” he said, to nobody. “The board asked for a witness.”
“The board may watch from the wall,” said Calen.
He sent Tobin into the kitchen with a cloth and an order to wash his hands again. Tobin went without asking why. When the kitchen door shut behind him, Calen took the spade from the shed and walked to the granary.
The granary had rats. It always had rats.
Three of them lay in the trap by the south door, stiff and grey, their tails curled under them. The cook had set the trap the night before and forgotten it.
Calen lifted them out one at a time with the shovel and carried them to the yard in a sack. Hoff watched the sack go past the gate and said nothing at all.
He did not hurry. He did not want the clerk to see him hurry.
