Livora Gracely

She comes highly recommended.

Highly Recommended

Ning had a great deal to say about her hen.

“She notices everything,” she told Mr Chen.

Bao, the hen, stood on Ning’s open palm and looked at Mr Chen.

“She’s patient, too,” Ning added.

Bao took one careful step towards Ning’s wrist.

“And very good at finding things.”

Mr Chen leaned closer. “What sort of things?”

“Anything small that moves beneath a leaf.”

Bao pecked at the folded cuff of Ning’s sleeve.

“Not that,” Ning said.

Bao pecked it again.

Mr Chen looked at the cuff. One corner had turned out.

“Perhaps she’s found something.”

“She’s found my sleeve.”

Bao gave it one final tug. The corner came loose and hung over Ning’s wrist.

“There,” said Mr Chen.

Ning looked down. “It was neater before.”

Bao settled on her palm again.

Mr Chen had come to ask about his vegetable garden. He would be away for several days, and small insects had been making holes in the leaves.

“I thought you might know what to do,” he said.

“Bao will help,” Ning replied. “She finds them before I do.”

Mr Chen looked at Bao, who was now watching the loose corner of Ning’s cuff.

“Does she?”

“She does. I’ll show you.”

A Demonstration

They went to the garden behind Mr Chen’s house. Ning carried Bao as far as the gate, then lowered her onto the path.

A row of cabbages grew beside the fence. Ning pointed to one with several small holes in its leaves.

“There,” she said. “That’s where I’d start.”

Bao walked towards a patch of beans.

“Over here,” Ning called.

Bao paused, looked back, and continued towards the beans.

“She may not have heard me,” Ning said.

Mr Chen watched Bao stop beside his shoe.

“She seems to have heard something.”

Bao pecked gently at the end of his lace.

“Or seen something,” he added.

Ning knelt beside the cabbages. She lifted one leaf and found a little dust, a fallen petal, and an insect that disappeared before she could point it out.

“There was one,” she said.

“I believe you.”

“I’ll find another.”

Bao walked between the bean plants. Her feathers brushed the lower leaves.

“Does she always begin with the beans?” Mr Chen asked.

“Not always. Yesterday she began with my apron pocket.”

“Did she find anything?”

“A piece of string.”

“Was it moving?”

“It was after she pulled it out.”

Under the Leaf

Ning was still looking beneath the cabbages when Mr Chen crouched beside the beans.

“Come and see.”

Bao stood near a broad leaf that had curled over at the edge. She pecked beneath it, stepped back, and pecked once more.

Ning joined him. She held the leaf up carefully. Something small moved along its underside.

“Oh,” she said.

Bao looked at her.

“I was looking from the other side,” Ning added.

Mr Chen examined the rest of the plant. There were a few small holes in these leaves too, though they were less obvious than the ones in the cabbages.

“She found this before either of us,” he said.

Ning lowered the leaf. Bao stepped around it and continued along the row.

“Will you let her come while I’m away?” Mr Chen asked.

“Of course. I can bring her each morning.”

“Would you mind checking the water by the gate too? My neighbour will come in the evenings.”

“We can do that.”

Bao stopped near the end of the row. Ning waited to see where she would look next.

Mr Chen noticed.

“You’re not going to tell her where to begin?”

“I think she has a place in mind.”

Bao pushed her beak beneath another leaf.

“Very good,” Ning said.

Mr Chen lowered his voice. “Should we applaud?”

“Perhaps when she’s finished.”

One More Fold

They walked back towards the gate. Bao followed, stopping once to examine a small stone and once more to inspect Mr Chen’s shoe.

At the gate, Ning crouched and held out her hand. Bao stepped onto it, then settled on her palm.

“She comes highly recommended,” Mr Chen said.

“I’m glad you think so.”

“I’ll recommend you too.”

Ning smiled. “For finding the insects?”

“For bringing Bao to the right garden.”

“That was the easy part.”

“And for letting her choose where to look.”

Ning opened her mouth to answer. Bao pecked at her cuff.

Mr Chen pointed. “That corner has come out again.”

“I know. She pulled it out.”

“Perhaps she prefers it that way.”

Ning folded the corner neatly beneath the sleeve. Bao watched her do it.

“There,” Ning said.

Bao pecked once. The corner sprang out.

Mr Chen laughed. Ning looked at Bao, then at the fold.

“You may leave it,” she said.

Bao settled, apparently satisfied.

The next morning, Ning brought her to the garden with a little dish for water. Bao stepped through the gate and headed straight for the beans.

“Not the cabbages today?” Ning asked.

Bao stopped beside the row. Ning waited.

Then Bao turned back, inspected Ning’s sleeve, and pecked the loose corner once more.

“It’s still there,” Ning told her.

Bao walked on.