Autumn Calling (12 page)

“Great news if she’s still alive.”

“Yes, it is unless, she’s been
captured.”

“Why would someone capture such a thing, and
for that matter how?”

“I don’t know, but it can be done. I just
hope I’m wrong, because if someone has captured her, no telling
what they’re doing to her or using her for.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean having a dragon under your control
is like having a nuclear bomb at your fingertips. In the past, mad
dragons have nearly destroyed entire nations. One rogue dragon
driven mad could be the end of the world as we know it. There was a
time when dragons could pull together and stop a lone destructive
dragon, but it would have taken many, many dragons to take down
one, not just me.”

“That’s pretty scary to think about.”

“Damn straight.”

* * *

The following day was a happy event for the
most part. A small impromptu party was held for Dr. Stuart, and he
gave whacky touristy gifts to all who attended. The hard part was
Tori. She’d worked for Dr. Stuart as the receptionist/secretary for
as long as Summer had worked there, and that was part of what made
it such a joy to work there. But things were tense.

Nick had come and he glared pompously from
behind Tori throughout the gathering. Tori kept to the opposite
side of the room if possible, and it was obvious there was an issue
between them that everyone in the room could read. Summer attempted
to wave hello to her, only to be ignored. She was on crutches and
looked terribly uncomfortable, but she seemed to be healing well.
Nick was picking up the slack and helping her at every turn, which
pleased Summer greatly.

When the party cleared out and an
appointment actually showed up, it was then that Dr. Stuart was
asked to follow Tori and a doting Nick into the doctor’s office.
Summer wondered what that was all about as she followed the
patient, a pot belly pig and its owner, into exam room number two
for a checkup.

Upon leading her patient back into the
reception area after completing the exam, she saw Dr. Stuart
standing at the glass door with an envelope in his hand and waving
goodbye.

“What was that about?” she asked.

He waved the envelope in front of him and
said, “She’s just gave me notice that she quitting.”

“Oh.” It had never even occurred to Summer
that Tori was angry enough to not be able to stand working in the
same establishment as her.

“What’s going on with you two?”

“What do you mean?”

“It was obvious you two were at odds during
the party.”

“It’s really complicated.”

“Is it? Are we in need of a Pizza Pit stop?”
he asked. The Pizza Pit was where he took his employees to talk
things out. It was public enough that a disgruntled employee
wouldn’t do something goofy, not that it was ever a problem with
Dr. Stuart’s staff, but it was also laid back enough that one could
have a personal conversation outside of the workplace. Dr. Stuart
had never invited Summer to the Pizza Pit for personal issues,
though she knew it was his go-to place. She was embarrassed that it
had come to this, and she wondered what Tori and Nick had said to
Dr. Stuart that he thought it necessary for an outing to the Pizza
Pit.

“I guess,” she said quietly.

“How about we get lunch? Say twelve
thirty.”

* * *

When 12:30 came around, they closed the
office for an hour and Dr. Stuart drove his car to the Pizza Pit.
Summer nervously picked at her cuticles while Dr. Stuart hummed to
some seventies song she’d never heard before.

After they ordered, they sat at a long table
with benches on either side. They sat opposite one another, with
two Diet Cokes between them.

“So, you want to tell me what’s going on?
Sounds like things have been pretty crazy for you while I was
gone.”

“It’s not exactly been a lot of fun, that’s
for sure.”

“I want to thank you for taking care of all
the administrative things while I was gone: the accountant, the
insurance people, and having the door replaced. You know I took an
extended vacation to help you out, not make things more
complicated.”

“I know, and I appreciate everything you’ve
done. It’s allowed me to be educated faster than I could have been
working part time, but I hadn’t anticipated you would take the
brunt of the Macabres’ onslaught thus far.”

“I don’t care about the car or the damage to
the building, but I do care about you and Victoria. I heard a very
one-sided version from her in my office earlier, but there was
something about it that didn’t sit well with me. I thought we’d
come here and talk, where other office members would not overhear
and get back to anyone they shouldn’t.”

“Like what?” she asked.

“I’ve known you since you were a little girl
volunteering at the clinic to play with the animals and clean their
cages. One thing you are not is insensitive. When Victoria told me
what happened, and that you didn’t visit her in the hospital or act
concerned, I knew something was wrong with the story.”

“What do you want me to say?”

“I want you to tell me why you’re pushing
her away.”

Summer was shocked. How could he see through
her facade so easily yet Tori couldn’t, or wouldn’t?

“I don’t know what you’re talking
about.”

“Yes, you do. You’re a terrible liar,
Summer, always have been. One thing you and I have always had is an
honest relationship. I’ve never lied to you, and as far as I know
you’ve never lied to me. Now let’s not mess that up. Tell me what’s
going on.”

He was right. She never was a very good
liar. Sister Mary Louise had that figured out from the get-go. What
harm could it do if she let him on her charade? She was
embarrassed, but decided it had to be done.

“You’re right. I have pushed her away. The
investigation into Tori’s accident showed that the brakes had been
tampered with, and you know as well as I do that I am the primary
driver of the dog mobile.”

“Yes, I know. That’s why I was so surprised
to find she that had been driving it. She hates that car.”

“Right, well knowing that, Nick concluded
the accident was meant for me and Tori was just using the car at
the wrong time.”

“That’s probably a pretty good
deduction.”

“So when we first found out she was at the
hospital and drove there together, Nick told me he wanted me to do
whatever it took to keep Tori out of this battle with the Macabres,
even if that meant giving up our friendship.”

“I see. And how did you make your lie so
believable Victoria didn’t see right through you?”

“I figured if there was some truth to base
it on, that it would be more believable and less like a lie for me
to cover up. So I picked a fight with her regarding Nick. In our
talk Nick had said in so many words that he was the reason Jackson
hadn’t contacted me at all while he was in Japan with Hunter.”

“Ah, I think I’m getting the picture. So
everyone is protecting Victoria from harm. What happens when she
gets wind of this? She’s as independent as they come. If she has an
inkling that she’s been manipulated into staying out of things, she
will be livid with both of you.”

“Better to be livid and alive, don’t you
think?”

“I’m not so sure in her case.”

“Maybe, but I had just lost Sister Mary
Louise and found out the Macabres were responsible for wiping out
my family, and to top it off I almost lost Tori to an accident
meant for me. I had to do something.”

“I’m not going to tell you that you’re wrong
in what you’ve done. If put in your shoes I might have picked the
same path; I’m just concerned about the repercussions that could
arise from this.”

“I know. I don’t like it any more than you
do, and it’s been incredibly hard not having her to talk to with
all this craziness with the crows here and at home.”

“You had another crow incident?”

“Actually the one at home was the first. One
of them actually knocked at the door. It was very disturbing.”

“You know they say crows are the messengers
of the dead.”

“Thanks, like things aren’t creepy enough
without you telling me that.”

“Sorry. Though maybe they’re just the
familiars of the Macabre family.”

“Or one in particular. I still don’t get how
a father can plan to have his daughter killed. It just doesn’t
seem…I don’t know, right?”

“Though I can’t imagine the thought myself,
I do know there are all sorts out there, and some of them are
pretty messed in the head.”

“I guess. It’s just hard to swallow that he
takes one under his wing and wants to kill another he’s never even
met.”

“It is disturbing. Makes you wonder what his
life must be like, that he can even contemplate such a thing.”

“Exactly.”

* * *

“On a happier note, I was glad to hear that,
despite leaving Paws and Whiskers Clinic, she’s following her
ancestry and opening an herb shop.”

“That’s fabulous. Always thought if the
veterinarian field hadn’t worked out for me I would have taken up
something like that.”

“Me, too.”

“Really?” Summer said.

“Yes. You know I love horticulture. Maybe
I’ll retire and go work for Victoria, and you can take over the
clinic.”

“Oh no, you don’t. I’m not ready for that
just yet. But nice of you to say you have that kind of confidence
in me.”

“Always have, Summer. I always have.”

“So when will this shop be opening?”

“She didn’t say. I’m guessing she’s scouting
out places first.”

“It will be expensive to start, don’t you
think? Where do you suppose she’ll come up with the money?”

“Don’t know. Not my place to ask, but I
imagine Nick has something to do with it.”

“Certainly. He may not like me much, but I
love him for how supportive he is for Tori, especially since I
can’t be around now.”

“Yes, and I do hope one day you two will be
able to go back to the way things were before without any
damage.”

“That’s what I’m hoping for. Otherwise I’d
never make it through a day.”

“Well, my dear, best be returning to our
furry friends.”

“You’re right. It’s good to be back with
some normalcy in my life, though I’m not sure how normal it will be
without Tori.”

“True, but don’t you think the way things
are, that it’s kind of a blessing she’s not there? I think it would
be hard for you and her and everyone else in the office to be
around that kind of tension.”

“I’m sure you’re right. Thanks for lunch,
Dr. Stuart.”

“Any time. My office door is always
open.”

“That is so good to hear. Thanks.”

“You bet.”

After late classes with Hunter, Summer and
he were walking across the graveyard when, out of the corner of her
eye, Summer spied movement. Obviously Hunter’s senses felt a
presence, too, as he turned with her.

Summer whispered as Hunter pulled her with
him behind a huge nearby headstone, “There. You see him? I’ve seen
him a couple of times, but I don’t know who it is.”

Hunter sniffed at the air; closing his eyes
as if that helped his senses determine things better. “Smells
familiar, but I can’t place it. Something’s strange about the
scent. It’s animal scent, but obviously he isn’t. You distract him
by going around the shed and then calling to him. I’ll duck out the
other way, go around the house, and hopefully intersect his path as
you set out towards him, sending him running into me.”

“Okay. On the count of three,” she said.

Hunter nodded. She whispered, “One…two…” and
he was gone. “What happened to ‘count of three’?” She said to
herself. She snuck around the shed and then called out to the man,
startling him.

“Hey. What are you doing here?” she shouted
and started running towards the shadowy figure in the dimness of
the falling night.

Where was that darn hellhound when you
needed him
, Summer thought to herself as she sprinted.

The man’s hat lifted and flew off his head
when he looked over his shoulder to see how close she was. He
almost stopped to retrieve it, but thought better of it when he
turned only to run right into a waiting Hunter.

“Whoa, there, fella. Where are you going in
such a hurry?”

A second later, an out-of-breath Summer came
up behind them. She bent over, hands on her knees, as she caught
her breath for a moment. Through huffing and puffing, she asked,
“Who are you, and why have you been cutting through this property
the last couple of weeks?”

The back door of the house opened, and it
appeared the commotion had gotten Aunt Myrtle’s attention. When she
saw the man, she seemed shocked, and her hand came to her mouth as
if to hold a shriek inside. Sully came lumbering alongside her and
planted his butt on her slippers as he looked at Aunt Myrtle and
then at the portly little man without any reaction at all.

Hunter looked the stranger over in
contemplation. “Do I know you, sir?” he said.

“Mortimer. How is this possible?” Aunt
Myrtle exclaimed, and all eyes turned to the meek little man.

Sully trotted over to him and gave him a big
lick in the face.

“You stay away from me, you big moose,” the
man said to Sully.

“You’re Uncle Morti?” Summer asked.

“You are quite the clever one, aren’t you,
Morti?” Hunter said, rubbing his chin and the shadow of a beard
that always seemed to be the same length.

“Yes, yes. It’s me. Now quit your gawking
and let’s get into the house before anyone else sees me.”

They all followed him in as Aunt Myrtle made
way for them to pass by her. When they settled in the parlor, Morti
caught his breath and threw back a glass of whiskey. He sat on the
settee and said, “Yes. I’ve found a way around my feline dilemma,
though it was for a good reason despite what the BROOM might
construe from it. I figured there are only a handful of people in
this world who know what I looked like before I became a cat, and
that I could use this to spy on our enemies.”