Hammer was there helping a volunteer repair a damaged table.
He looked older.
More gray threaded his beard.
His shoulders remained enormous, but he moved more carefully than he once had.
When Lucy approached, he turned.
For a moment, he stared.
Then smiled.
“Well, look who's grown up.”
Lucy laughed.
“Hi, Hammer.”
He looked toward the sketchbook.
“Still making birds?”
“Sometimes.”
She opened it.
Inside was a beautiful drawing of a raven in flight.
Its wings spread across a blue sky.
One wing was slightly crooked.
Hammer stared.
For a moment, his eyes filled.
“That's a good drawing.”
Lucy smiled.
“Thanks.”
She turned another page.
There were yellow cranes beneath the raven.
And a small child standing beside a giant man at a white table.
Hammer looked up.
Lucy shrugged.
“I remembered the first time we met.”
He smiled sadly.
“So did I.”
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then she looked toward the tattoo on his wrist.
“Can I ask you something?”
Hammer nodded.
“Anything.”
Lucy pointed toward the little raven.
“Do you still think about what happened?”
His expression softened.
“Yes.”
“Does it make you sad?”
“Sometimes.”
She nodded slowly.
Then looked toward the garden.
For a moment, she seemed thoughtful.
Finally, she said.
“I used to think if I covered all the birds with mud, nothing bad could happen again.”
Hammer listened.
Lucy continued.
“But Dr. Shah helped me understand that I wasn't making anybody safe by doing that.”
She looked toward him.
“I was just scared.”
Hammer nodded.
“You were.”
She smiled faintly.
“And you let me be scared without getting angry.”
His eyes filled.
He looked down at his enormous hands.
Then whispered.
“I wanted you to know they weren't going to hurt you.”
Lucy nodded.
“I know.”
She looked toward the paper crane still displayed beneath a small protective cover near the garden's entrance.
One yellow bird.
A little uneven.
The first one Hammer made for her.
Then she turned back toward him.
“Do you remember what you told me when I asked whether you could make a good bird?”
Hammer smiled.
“I said I'd try.”
Lucy nodded.
“That's what I remember most.”
For a moment, he seemed puzzled.
Then she continued.
“You didn't say you were good. You didn't make me believe you because you were big or important.”
Her expression softened.
“You just tried to do something kind.”
Hammer closed his eyes.