“Yes. I wanted to save this for last. It’s the best part.” Hæra gave a sudden little gasp. “Oh! Do you know the song ‘Save the Best for Last’ by Vanessa Williams? Jonathan played that for me sometime after I arrived. It’s very good.”

“Um, yes, I⁠—”

“What’s your favorite song? That’s a good question, isn’t it? Not too intimate.”

One thing was for sure: this morning wasn’t turning out like Madeleine had expected.

Hæra was relieved to find the question was, in fact, not too intimate. In fact, she learned that Madeleine divided songs into two groups: hymns and secular songs. Madeleine didn’t want to pick a secular song because she liked too many, but she did admit she loved “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac—one of Jonathan’s favorites too. “Agnus Dei” was her top hymn.

As for Hæra, she liked all kinds of music, even the bad kind. Like when Jonathan played the fiddle while Hæra sang tunes she’d learned from him; he said they both sounded bloody awful, but she didn’t see why it mattered when they had such a fine time.

“What does ‘Agnus Dei’ mean?” Hæra asked as she pulled the parking brake. They’d reached the top of the hill.

“It’s Latin. It means ‘lamb of God.’” Madeleine climbed out of the Gator “as if her arse was on fire,” as Jonathan might have put it. Maybe Hæra had been driving too fast again.

“Lamb of God,” Hæra mused, casting her gaze down to the grazing sheep, none of whom had wandered to the top of the hill yet. “There’s a lot in your Bible about shepherds taking care of sheep. Do you like sheep?” Hæra hoped so. She’d been working on that assumption for five years. According to Madeleine, assumptions were bad.

It had given her a chance to tease Madeleine, though. Hæra didn’t tease people often, not even Jonathan. It had felt…nice. A bit like stroking a fluffy cat.

“I’ve never been around them,” Madeleine said, dashing yet another hope. “Not real sheep, I mean. The Bible’s talking about people, not animals.”

“Well, you can’t farm people,” Hæra growled as she hopped out of the Gator.

“Scripture draws the distinction between sheep and goats.” Madeleine kept her back to Hæra as she looked around. “Sheep are obedient to the will of God. Goats are defiant.”

This felt like uncertain ground. “Goats are smarter, too. Or are you still talking about people?”

“I don’t know. I’m starting to wonder if I ever knew what I was talking about.” Madeleine hugged herself and began to walk toward the far edge of the hill. The grass, longer up here without grazing sheep, brushed against her ankles. “Never mind that.”

Hæra strode after her. “It sounds important.”