I waited to make sure Peter and Makis had turned toward the shop and not the gym, then placed my hands on my hips and surveyed the mess the Amazons had made of my life. The parking lot and nearby street were full of decrepit vehicles blocking the handicapped parking spot, a fire hydrant, and a neighbor’s garage. There was even a fifth wheel creating furrows in my grass.
I’d agreed to let them stay here, but based on Zery’s promise, I had thought they would be somewhat subtle. Silly me.
The door flew open to the fifth wheel and a four-foot-long trunk was hurled out, knocking against my neighbor’s city-issued trash can and sending it rolling down the street.
I guess this was another reason why all the safe camps were located miles from other people.
Glaring at the clueless warrior who jumped out of the RV, I trotted after the trash can, then went looking for Zery. Like it or not, she was going to have to control her tribe.
Twenty minutes with Zery gave me the undeniable urge to break something.
Needing distance, I started up the stairs to my shop and office. Peter’s smooth voice and a responding giggle from Mandy drifted down. I ground to a halt. I did not need to witness whatever love fest was going on up there right now.
I stomped back down the stairs, grabbed a wheelbarrow from a small shed tucked against the holly bushes, and headed out to clean up tree limbs. It wasn’t an absolutely necessary task, but it would give me the chance to think-and I needed it.
The school sat on a full acre. A huge amount of land in this overpriced part of Madison. The place had been cheap when I saved the previous owner from foreclosure, but my property taxes weren’t. For some reason, the high taxes made me feel guilty if I didn’t keep up the curb appeal. Or maybe it was the constant thought that someday I might want to sell the place, move on again.
The biggest piece of land was in front of the school, a rolling grassy area that stood between my business and Monroe Street. Lilacs and a few shrubs lined the front two corners, leaving an open area in the middle that gave anyone tooling down Monroe a clear view of my shop. Because of that, I started in the middle of the lot and worked my way down the hill. By the time I’d gotten to the street, my wheelbarrow was half full, but mainly with discarded cans and other trash that had found its way onto my property. The worst of the storm debris was along the edges, next to the bigger trees that formed a living, if somewhat porous, barrier between my neighbors and my shop here in the front.
I pulled work gloves from my pocket and headed to one corner. From there the going was slower. Many of the limbs were too long to fit in the barrow. I picked up a particularly long one and placed one foot on its center with the idea of snapping the limb in half. As I did, something small and red caught my eye.
I bent closer. The triangular stub of a much-used piece of chalk lay partially hidden under a sheaf of leaves. I plucked it up and changed my first impression-not chalk, but a hard pastel. Perfect for doing rough sketches. I glanced up the hill at the redbrick facade of my shop. It was picturesque-if you didn’t look too hard.
For some reason, the thought of someone appreciating its beauty enough to commit it to paper made me happy. With a smile, I pocketed the nub and went back to work.
I’d successfully snapped the limb into two somewhat manageable pieces when I had that eerie sense of being watched. I automatically gripped the three-inch-diameter piece of wood with the same hold I’d used with the staff and looked up.
A black and tan, short-haired dog peered at me from behind a shrub. I let the creature stare at me before cautiously lowering to a kneel. My gaze steady but unthreatening, I held out one hand.
Dogs, especially hunting dogs like this one appeared to be, were sacred to Artemis, and Amazons honored that tradition. A few of the Amazons moving into my cafeteria had arrived with dogs. As a child, I’d spent hours playing with safe-camp dogs. I’d wanted one of my own until I’d had to watch Mother end one’s life after it was hit by a car on a nearby highway. She had acted as if she had taken it in stride, but I’d seen the shake in her hands and heard the tremor in her voice when she pulled my tear-streaked face to her chest.
I’d decided right then that having a dog, loving something that much, wasn’t for me.
Then I’d had Harmony.
Lost in thought, I dropped my gaze. Something stirred the air around me. The dog had emerged from the brush and stood an arm’s reach away. His brown eyes were wary, but curiosity seemed to be pulling him out of his shell. Curiosity and maybe something else. I rooted around in the wheelbarrow and pulled a half-eaten bag of Doritos from the bottom.
I balanced one chip on my flat palm. “Hungry?”
At first I thought I’d misjudged him. He glanced from the chip to my face. I sat still.
Patience counts when dealing with suspicious canines. Finally, he edged forward, snagged the chip, and gulped it down. When he stepped back this time, it wasn’t quite so far. If he’d worn a collar, I could have grabbed it-not that I would have. I had no desire to be bitten by a stray. I didn’t know how rabies reacted with Amazon blood, but I didn’t want to find out.
I did want to get him away from the street, though. Leaving the wheelbarrow where it was, I pulled another chip from the bag and with it held out behind me, slowly began walking back to the shop.
Step by step, chip by chip, he followed me.
Chapter Nine
Back at the shop, things had returned to chaos. Obviously, my talk with Zery had had the expected results-none. I crushed the now-empty chip bag in my hand.
Luckily, Harmony had had to spend most of the morning in her room finishing homework-a requirement on my part before she could move on to what she really wanted to do, visit a local corn maze with a group of friends. Generous mother that I was, I’d agreed to her going early to one of the girl’s houses and spending the night there later. She was gone by the time I got back with the dog. And eager as I knew she would have been to get away before I could question her on the completeness of her homework, I was pretty confident she hadn’t wasted time poking around the gym-today, anyway.
That said, I knew I couldn’t keep her away forever. I hoped things would be settled down at least somewhat before she arrived home tomorrow-preferably with all Amazons locked out of sight inside the gym.
With her safely away, I debated whether my time alone had calmed me enough to battle with Zery again. Doubtful, but I made my way toward the open gym doors anyway. My new companion trotted at my side. His ears were up and his eyes alert. At least the chips had done him some good.
Two Amazon dogs flanked the doorway, like statues guarding the entrance to some ancient Buddhist temple. I expected them to stand as we walked closer to check out the new canine interloper, but neither did.
I looked down at the hound at my side. “You putting off some major alpha dog vibes or are they just lazy?”
His attention locked on the Amazons milling inside the gym, the dog didn’t even glance my way.
The twang of metal on metal jerked my attention upward-into the gym where four Amazons faced off-all with swords. Real swords, thirty-six inches of steel flashing across the gym floor. To my right another group was sorting through a pile of ash wood and iron spears.
I jerked the gym doors closed.
Before I could twist back around, Mother was by my side. “Calm down,” she said.
“What self-defense group do you know that practices sword fighting?” I spat out. “And spears? Seriously?”
“They’re hurt, lost. Zery has told them they can only go out into Madison in pairs. The rest…they want to do something.”
“And this is it?” I gestured to a warrior unpacking a box filled with maces and axes. “Do they think they can walk around Madison with broadaxes attached to their belts? We aren’t going to war here.”