AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m coming down.”
Jogging toward the house on shaky legs, Sonya looked at the now closed window of the Gold Room. “Did it scare you?” She nuzzled the dog. “It scared me.”
Still carrying Yoda, she went in. “I’m going to the kitchen! We’ll get you dried off, that’s right, doggie. Everything’s okay. I’ve got you.”
Cleo found her as she rubbed Yoda down in the mudroom.
“I never heard a bird sound like that,” Cleo began. “It was almost human.”
“It flew out of her window. A black bird, too big, I think, for a crow. Way too big. It just dived toward us.”
“I didn’t see anything. Not by the time I jumped up and ran to the window. But… when I opened it to call down to you? I thought, for a minute, I smelled something. Something like sulfur.”
“She wanted to scare us, and mission accomplished. But if she wanted to hurt us, I don’t think she could.”
“Not enough power outside the house, maybe. I swear, that scream chilled my blood.”
“There were dolphins.”
“Really? I want a Coke. Do you want a Coke? I’m getting us a Coke.”
“I was watching them, and thinking how wonderful it was. I guess she couldn’t let that stand. And before I went out, Yoda was playing fetch with whoever likes to open the cabinets.”
“You saw them!”
“No, but Yoda did—does. I thought it was you, bouncing the ball down the hall to the foyer for Yoda. But when I came down, just the dog and the ball. Then—wait, I’ll show you.”
She suspected Molly rather than the boy had put the box of treats away again, so she got them out.
Yoda sat.
“Watch this.”
When she held up the treat, he reared and waved his paws.
“Aww. That much adorable may be illegal in some states.”
“I didn’t teach him to do that.”
“That just proves there’s more good here than bad. We’re okay, Son, and we’re going to stay that way.”
“Don’t go near that room, for now. Please.” Insistent, Sonya gripped Cleo’s arm. “Promise.”
“I promise, but sooner or later, we’ll have to.”
“I vote for later, after work.”
“After work you’ll find me here, making dinner. Trey’s coming, right?”
“Last I heard.”
“We’re having chicken and dumplings.”
“Get out! You can make dumplings?”
Cleo took a determined swig of Coke. “We’re going to find out.”
When Sonya went back to work, Clover met her with “Don’t Worry Baby.”
