Page 39 of Last Call at the Doghouse

They laughed and cried, and as the evening ended Armi realized she still hadn’t told her friends about her special abilities, such as they were. Then there was the shield, warrior, whatever business. Did it matter? A single warrior without an army wasn’t going to be able to do a damn thing.

* * *

Mitch was at The Egg bright and early, after getting no more than two hours sleep. He’d hidden in the woods behind the B&B for far too long, before the teenagers waiting for him finally gave up and left. They were afraid of being caught out late at night. Again. They didn’t say anything that offered a clue as to why they were waiting for him; not that he could hear. The girls had been too far away for him to catch every word. Many of their whispers seemed to drift right by him, just out of reach.

They didn’t look dangerous, but looks could be deceiving.

Breakfast was being served in the downstairs dining room, and that’s where he found Armi’s Aunt Helen and her friends. They’d pushed two square tables together for the five of them, Helen and the two other women and two men he’d met at the library.

There was a sixth place set for him, a coffee cup steaming with fresh coffee and a plate of warm bacon, eggs, and biscuits.

“Just in time,” Helen Benedict said as she indicated his seat with a wave of her hand. That seat was right next to her. She wasn’t as bubbly as she’d been in the library. Maybe she wasn’t a morning person.

Mitch wavered. “I can come back.”

“Nonsense,” she said. “Sit.”

She was old and frail and not fast, and still it was hard to say no to her. He sat.

“I understand Armi has left town,” Helen said.

He nodded.

“That’s too bad. I’m afraid she must be here for the equinox, one way or another.”

“She won’t want to come back here.” He’d have to drug her and drag her, and he wouldn’t do that.

“Sorry to say, what she wants is of little consequence,” Helen said, then she pointed her fork at his plate. “Eat.”

“I’m not…”

“You’re going to need your strength. We all are.”

He didn’t like the sound of that, but he suspected it was true. He ate, and when he was done he pushed his plate forward. “The mural downtown changed overnight.”

It was Ginger who said, “It changes frequently.”

Ramona added, “Amazing magic, for one so young.”

One of the high school students, Mitch imagined. The girls he’d seen last night, maybe?

“If Mia can do that as a toddler, where will she be in twenty years?” Ginger asked.

“Wherever she wants to be, I imagine,” Helen said with a shake of her head.

Mitch couldn’t get past one word. Toddler?

Tobias and Vince remained silent, but they listened carefully. Mitch got the feeling the old men didn’t quite trust him.

“The picture this morning, it shows Armi…” Falling apart, disintegrating, breaking into pieces…

“Becoming who she is meant to be,” Ginger said.

“Possibly meant to be,” Helen said sharply. “There are other options, we just haven’t been able to quite put them together yet.”

Mitch looked at the older women for more. He didn’t get it.

“She’s a shield, a warrior who’s supposed to fight against evil,” he said. “I don’t see how what I saw makes sense. In the mural she was alone.” Dead? Dying? He didn’t want to go there. “There was no army, just… me and a dog. She’s not meant to fight alone.”