Wicked Bronze Ambition

96

Someone crowded me from behind as I opened up.

Orchidia announced, “I’ll leave now. I’ll see that woman.”

Still so confident. I had doubts despite what she had accomplished with Mariska’s squid-headed boyfriend.

“All right. Thanks for coming.” Numbly. “Be careful. And tell me if you recognize this kid.”

The door was open enough. “Never seen him before.” She shoved past the youngster, who seemed astonished that a little old lady like Orchidia would be so aggressive.

The boy appeared to be Miss Dreadful’s age. I jumped to a conclusion, turned to holler at Penny. He asked, “You Mr. Garrett?”

“I am that lucky. Yes. I am he.”

That puzzled him but only for a second. Then he ignored it. Old people do weird shit. If you didn’t acknowledge it they usually stopped.

“Sir, my name is Ben Gesik. I am a junior apprentice with Trivias Smith. Master Smith sent me to tell you that the men who ordered the bronze swords came for them today. They took them even though only two blades were actually finished.”

The boy talked with his eyes shut, trying to get it word for word. “The master said to tell you they removed the tracer elements. They didn’t know that those would be there, but they checked and weren’t surprised to find them. Master thinks they would have become violent had they not been old and at a numbers disadvantage. They were very angry.”

“I can imagine. Tell Master Smith that the tracers have become moot. We found out who the villains are and know where to find them now.”

“Master will be pleased. I believe he was concerned.”

The kid didn’t sound like he meant just that. He sounded confused.

He added, “Master did tell me, as well, to report that the old guys meant to visit Flubber Ducky next.”

“Again, tell your master thank you so much from me and if there’s ever anything I can do for him, all he has to do is holler.”

Singe added, “And meet our standard retainer.”

The boy was done talking. He took a look around. His jaw dropped. He had spotted Penny and Hagekagome. Oh, hell yes! I sure could do something for Master Trivias’s number-one junior apprentice in the department of introductions.

I was about to caution him against getting drool on my nice hardwood floor when reality slammed him, having first achieved terminal velocity. Those two were leagues out of his class. He gulped some air, made several remarks in fluent, carefully rehearsed and clearly enunciated gibberish, and began to back up. Lucky boy, he never developed the momentum necessary to flip him over the porch rail when his behind began to interact with that.

“Thank you so much, Apprentice Gesik.” I closed the door gently, checked the girls. Hagekagome didn’t have a clue. She hadn’t noticed the boy. Penny, however, hadn’t missed an ogle. She was almost smug-while narrow-eyed with suspicion that she might not have been the main cause of Ben Gesik’s meltdown. She awarded Hagekagome a small, jealous scowl.

Morley was a couple of steps up the hallway, being amused. Far from him to miss that chaotic chemical weather.

Others had caught it, too, and were equally entertained, with Mariska wondering aloud why youth had to be wasted on the young and oblivious.

Hagekagome realized everyone was looking at her. She responded with a big, happy smile.

Penny decided that the old farts were entertaining themselves at her expense.

She was as smart as Hagekagome was not.

There are way too many smart females in my life.

Some might wonder, though, why, if they’re so damned smart, they’re in my life at all. Especially Singe and Strafa.

It’s because I’m such a big old lovable fuzz ball.

I told Morley, “How about you and me slide out and take a walk?”

He glanced back. Belinda would go ballistic if he ditched her. And he was in a mood to aggravate her.

He was in a mood to tweak everybody. “Sure. You can tell me how the new kid isn’t absolutely the perfect reflection of everything you ever fantasized in a girlfriend.”

He just wanted to bury a needle but did bring me up short. I hadn’t thought about that. Hadn’t really considered Hagekagome as a girl other than to note that she was wicked beautiful. But she could not have matched my earliest teen fantasies more perfectly were I a god armed with unlimited powers and a rack of ribs.

Did that mean anything? Could it possibly mean anything? I maybe needed to find a few minutes to think about it.