C4 antho - Chamber Four

Black Night Ranch ~209~
panting in the grass with Miguel’s brother, who rocked patiently.
Billy heard the gate jangle. Miguel approached carrying
a tiny lamb. It looked dead, drooping in his arms. Miguel
spit the knife onto the ground. The lamb raised its head,
curled comfortably into his arms, and fell asleep.
“I can not do it,” Miguel said. “He jumped in my arms
like I was to save him. They all ran. He jumped.”
Billy, feeling big, picked up the knife. “You can’t baby
sheep.” He tested the knife’s edge, wiped it off on his pant
leg, and raised the lamb’s sleepy head, exposing its neck. He
gripped the knife hard, felt for the best spot to cut, and
looked up at Miguel. Miguel took a deep breath, closed his
eyes, and turned away. Billy lowered the lamb’s head. He
could see there was more to it than Miguel not wanting to be
the one holding the knife. He could see the boy didn’t want it
killed at all.
“Let’s put him back,” Billy said, tossing the knife in the
grass.
Miguel relaxed his shoulders and stared up at the sky,
his hands slipping to loosely hold the lamb. Seeing the look
on Miguel’s face, Billy, too, felt a sense of relief. In his periphery,
Billy saw Miguel’s little brother pick up the knife,
but he was too slow to prevent the boy from slitting the
lamb’s throat. Miguel dropped to the ground with the lamb
and tried to stop the flow, but it was a good cut. The lamb
was mostly dead.
“Why did you do that?” Miguel pleaded.
“Huh?”
“I said why did you do that? We were going to put it
back. I have it all over me. What are we going to do with it?
Shit. Shit.” Miguel turned to Billy. “Do something.”
The little boy put his hand on Miguel’s shoulder. “We
eat? I am hungry. We eat now?”