Carroll: Morgan’s Leap – Leopards Shapeshifter Romance

by Kathi S. Barton

  “You’re to have twins. A boy and a girl. They’re healthy and doing well. If you’d like, for some reason, I have the exact date and time they’ll be birthed too.” He nodded again, and she told him everything she knew, including that the female would be born first. “You’re so lucky, my lord. Twins, from what is in my head, are a rarity for unicorns. I’m so very happy I was able to share this news with you.”

  She felt so wonderful that she wanted to tell the world what she knew. However, she knew if word ever got out that there were really unicorns and that they were on this property, they’d be dead before the next sunrise. Petting the two of them, having fun when they pranced around the yard, she asked Carroll if they really flew.

  “They do, but not here. They have to be extremely careful not to be seen.” She said she understood that. Just as she was going to go to Carroll, who was sitting on the deck with Leo, he laughed. “Turn around, Hanna. You’re seeing a side of them that few will ever know.”

  The male was standing up on his hind legs. Wings as pure as the rest of him were spread out behind him. She knew they’d be as soft as down, and they’d be strong too. She bowed before him again when he did the same to her. A feather fell from his wings, she noticed, and instead of leaving it where it was, he picked it up with his teeth and handed it to her.

  “If you take that, you’ll be blessed. I can’t tell you what he will bless you with, but I know you’ll not ever have to worry about returning the favor he gives to you. Nor will you ever be alone when you are in need of help.” She asked Carroll if he had been gifted a feather. “No. I don’t know anyone that has been but you. My mom, even taking care of them for as long as she has, doesn’t have a feather. Take it, Hanna. It will be a great disservice to him if you turn it down.”

  She took it. The power of it surged over her in wave after wave. When he bowed again, she held onto him as she did the same. Staggering a little, she sat down on the ground to watch the couple move around the yard as if they had not a care in the world. It occurred to her that she could understand what they were saying. When she realized that, the female, Mag, came to sit beside her.

  “If you put the feather into your hair, it will be there for all to see. It will show that you have the power of our kind behind you.” She asked the beautiful Mag what kind of power would she need to show. “There are many that would seek to harm you simply because you are a mate to a very powerful leopard. Not only is Carroll the oldest of his kind, but he is the being that humans will want to emulate. If they cannot do that, some will seek to destroy him. Since you are his mate, they will attack you first. With the feather in your hair, all will see that you’ve been chosen to be protected by the unicorn. A group of beings that can kill humans as easily as with just a look.”

  “But there are only the two of you.” Mag laughed and told her to look toward the woods. When she did, Hanna saw nothing at first. Then as things started to come into focus, she saw so many she couldn’t count them all. “No one knows. I can understand that, but even Carroll thinks you two are the only ones.”

  “It is the way it should have been until he met you. He will, with you at his side, protect us. And in turn, we’ll protect all that he is as well.” After getting instructions on just how she was to wear the feather in her hair, she slid it up from behind her ear to the top of her head. “You are now marked as a protected one of the unicorn.”

  The sun was rising when the family and the others went back into the woods. Carroll and Leo had joined her on the lawn, and it was Leo that pointed out she had a white streak in her hair. The feather, so she wouldn’t lose it, had become a part of her hair. She thought it so amazing that she’d not only been the first chosen to see the unicorns but was to be a part of them as well.

  “You’ll have a lot of other creatures wanting to mark you soon.” She asked Carroll why they’d want to. “Mostly from jealously. I’ve learned that creatures of the earth are much vainer than humans if you can believe that. But now that you’re my mate, they’ll want to make sure you, of all the people in the world, are protected. Because you’re the first mate to the very first shifter ever created.”

  “I guess I never thought of the power that would wield.” He told her that as she got older and met more of the creatures here, the more powerful she’d get too. Nodding, she watched the sun coming up behind the trees. The way it seemed to warm the earth in degrees made her think of something else Mag had said to her. “I can understand the animals here. All animals, she told me. That will come in handy, Mag told me, once you and I start caring for the ones that need us most.”

  “I was going to talk to you about that. Mom said she’d like to be able to hand off some of the things she’s been doing now that you’re willing to help her. Are you up for it?” She told him she thought she was. “Good. We can start tomorrow. Or I guess today. There is going to be a meeting at noon that we’ll have to attend.”

  Whatever the meeting was about, there were a lot of notes she needed to go over beforehand. After going over a few of them, she realized it wasn’t so much a meeting as it was a sort of court to make sure the rules were followed, as well as enforcing them on those that didn’t follow. She might like this job, she thought and was glad to have something to do. At least she thought it would be fun. Laughing to herself, she picked up the second file of paperwork and settled into it at the table to work.

  ~*~

  Blanche didn’t know who had tipped the police off about the old people, but she was pissed off about it. Now she’d have to figure out another place where she could see the Morgan Leap. She thought it was the most ridiculous name for a farm she’d ever heard.

  “What do they do there? Leap around like a bunch of frogs? Stupid people.”

  Blanche wasn’t sure why she hated Morgan so much. She didn’t know her. She had only seen her from a distance the few times she’d tried to off the woman. Her sons were always around town, doing this or that for the downtrodden. Which, to her estimation, was about everyone in the little town.

  The knock at her front door startled her, and she went to see who she was going to have to yell at. She didn’t want anyone around her while she was plotting. Opening the door, she was temporarily dumbfounded by the beauty that stood there. Then she smiled, and it was like a part of her heart was filled with something more than meanness, which she took pride in having.

  “Ms. Mission? My name is Hanna March. I’m with the Food and Drug Administration. I’m here to talk to you about the complaint you filed with—”

  “I didn’t give my name when I called.” She realized she’d just admitted to calling, and that pissed her off more. “How the hell did you find me?”

  “We’re the federal government, Ms. Mission. We know everyone.” She supposed that was true. They were forever nibbing in everyone’s business. “I’m here about your complaint. I need to ask you a few more questions.”

  “I suppose you might as well come in then. But don’t get comfortable. I have things to do today.” The woman said she just needed a few questions answered. “Well, I’m not going to serve you tea or some shit like that. You’ll ask, then get out.”

  The woman sat at the table in the kitchen and pulled out her notepad. “What is it that made you suspect the food being given in the Leap donations were contaminated?” She said they were just too pretty. “I’m sorry? I don’t understand.”

  “The apples were perfect. Like the ones they use chemicals on to make them have no bugs and shit in them. You know, spraying them down with all kinds of things that a kid doesn’t need in their bodies. Not that they don’t get enough of that shit now, but that’s what made me think they were filled with chemicals. Did you check them out?” She told her they had. “I’m betting they’re using something that hasn’t even been heard of before. Tell me what you’ve found, and I’ll laugh my ass off with you.”

  “Nothing. I’ve been out there before co
ming here. The tests we did on the fruit still hanging on the trees show no chemicals at all in or on them. They aren’t using commercial fertilizer, but manure that they get from their own animals.” Blanche told her that wasn’t right. “But it is. I’ve made you a copy of the test reports that came back. In fact, some of the people in my office want to go out there and see how they can have their own orchards work as well as they have at Morgan’s.”

  “They’re just giving them away. That’s not right. How will a person be able to compete with them if they’re just giving shit away?” Hanna told her. “So when they give out fruit to the kids to take home, they’re making the same donation to the grocery store as well. Well, ain’t she just about the dumbest person around. That has got to cost them a lot of money. And for what? Fame? That doesn’t surprise me either. Stupid woman.”

  “I wouldn’t think she’s stupid so much as a nice person trying her best to help out her community.” Blanche snorted, and Hanna smiled at her. “Anyway, I wanted to make sure you knew what was going on with the investigation and what our findings are.” She looked down at her notes, then smiled bigger at her. “One more question. Did you have a reason for wanting her to fail? You mentioned competing with her, and I was wondering what sort of plans you had that would have anything to do with the Morgan’s Leap.”

  “Well, I am thinking about it.” She asked her what she would sell. “Fruit. I have my own trees in the backyard here. Also, I’m dabbling in some herbs. I think she has them too, that she gives away willy nilly.”

  “I’d love to see it.” Hanna stood up as if she’d invited her out to inspect her own orchard. “If you’d not like to go, you can just point me in the right direction, and I’ll have a look on my own.”

  “I’ll go.” She didn’t want her to see what she had in the back of her place. But for some reason, the need to show her was making her ill. When they were in the backyard, it was all she could do not to stand in front of her trees and tell her to go away. “My herbs are just over here.”

  To call what she had an orchard was well overstating it. There were two trees, neither of them looking like anything but dead branches someone put dirt around. Her herb garden wasn’t any better. When she’d purchased the herbs with the intention of planting herself a kitchen garden, she’d gotten bored with it and abandoned the entire area. It was also more work than she’d thought it would be. Blanche had thought that you just plopped them into the ground, and that was it. But there were ones that needed lots of sun, some that needed no sun. She also had a couple of them that said they spread. Into what, she had no idea. Now there were dead and dying herbs still in containers on the ground.

  “It’s not really that much, is it? I don’t want to sound rude here, but I don’t think you would have been able to compete with her at all with the little bit you have here, Ms. Mission.” She told her that she was only getting started. “I see. Well, I’m going to have to see what sort of chemicals you’re using. It would only be fair since you were accusing her of using chemicals.”

  There was no time at all to stop her. The woman plucked two of the nastiest apples she’d grown off the tree, took a scoopful of dirt from the ground around them, and then cut into one of the branches. Not so much a branch as a switch. Standing there while she put everything in bags, she’d asked Blanche to sign off that she’d gotten them from her trees.

  “This doesn’t seem right somehow.” But instead of telling her, she didn’t want to sign off, Blanche found herself again doing something she didn’t want to do. “I didn’t call you here to do this for my things. They’re the ones messing up and feeding the kids shit that is going to give them more brain damage.”

  “As I have told you, there are no chemicals in their land or in the fruit. If we find something in your orchard—well, I mean trees—we’ll have to make sure you’ve cleaned it up before you can sell them. I don’t mean commercial chemicals like are made for this sort of growing, but other things that might be in the soil.” She asked her what that could be. “For one thing, it could be drain off from someplace else. Or even that you’re putting something in the ground that would damage young minds. I’m going to turn this in on my way back through town, and you should hear the results very soon.”

  Blanche found herself standing alone in her backyard, watering her nearly dead herbs. It had never been her intention of doing any such thing, and she wondered if that woman had put some kind of hex on her. Tossing the hose to the ground, she screamed when it twisted up, spraying her several times in the face and body while she tried to catch it. Damn, but things were not going well for her today.

  Going into the house, she found that Hanna had left her not only a business card but a list of chemicals that would not be accepted if found in the soil test. There was also a list of fines she might incur if she were to find them. Looking at the list, a very long one at that, she knew they were going to find a lot of them in her yard. She’d been dumping whatever she could lay her hands on to make her trees produce like they were supposed to.

  Sitting at the kitchen table again, Blanche wondered what she could do now. She wanted to win. It didn’t matter what the winning would be, but she wanted to make sure Morgan didn’t win at all. She didn’t even want her in the stratosphere. There had to be some way she could kill off the woman, gain her grounds, and then make the kind of money she wanted to.

  A small voice sounded someplace near her ear, and Blanche turned to see who it was. The bug or whatever it was stood up. She noticed that not only did the thing have a face, but feet too. Cocking her head a little, she wondered what sort of spell she’d really been hexed with and started to flick the little thing away.

  “I’ll hurt you if you harm me.” She stared at it, her hand poised to do just what she was thinking. “I’m not allowed to hurt you unless you try and harm me. But you flick at me. There will be hell to pay.”

  “From you? A bug? I’m not at all worried about what you’ll do to me.” She laughed a little, knowing the sucker couldn’t do anything to her. “You’re no bigger than the shit I took this morning, so I’m not worried in the least bit about you.”

  She would swear to anyone that would listen—and few did when she started talking about the little bug—that it had beaten the shit out of her that morning. Not only did it knock her around the room a few times, but it had given her not just a black eye but also her sprained wrist. But people didn’t believe her, and some were calling her crazy behind her back. The little creature told her what people were saying about her too. They all thought she was a nasty person for taking up a cause against their beloved Morgan.

  Blanche had tried blaming it on Morgan when she went to the doctor that morning. But that didn’t go over well, so she revised her story to say she’d gotten stung by a bunch of bees, and it had given her some kind of hallucinogenic infection.

  “You have learned a good lesson, haven’t you?” She told the little bug he’d better watch his back. “It isn’t possible to watch one’s own back. But I’m not worried about you anymore, Blanche. I have had a little taste of your blood, and I know you’re as mean-spirited as I thought you to be.”

  “I am not. I’m a good person.” She thought he had told her, several times, that his name was not Bug but Fly, but she didn’t want to name it. It made it more real that he was there, she thought. “I’ve never actually harmed anyone in my life.”

  “Do you not count killing someone as harming them? Or attempting to kill someone as harming them? You have killed two people that bothered you, and you murdered them where they stood. Like the Hendersons. Whatever that means in your tiny heart.” She asked him who they were. “The older couple that did nothing more to you than live on the property next to Lady Morgan’s. Also, you have put an attempt on Lady Morgan’s life several times over the last years. Shame on you for lying to me.” She huffed at him. “That sounds like a noise a hippo would make. Are you now pretending
to be one of those? Because it would be an easier thing to believe than you being a good person.”

  She didn’t know why, but she thought it had called her a hippo. Deciding to let him have this one dig today, she set out for the store again. There had to be a reason someplace that Morgan was forever giving shit away. And the grocery store, she’d figured out, was the best place to get gossip. Or to spread it. Whatever worked, she supposed.

  Going to the store to pick up some things she could have for dinner, she was met by the manager standing in the doorway, telling her she wasn’t welcome there. Not ever again. When she asked him what he was talking about, he told her that anyone who badmouthed the hand that helped them was not welcome in his store.

  “So you’re telling me you don’t want my business? I spend a lot of money in here.” He said he looked it up, and in the last month, she’d spent ten dollars and demanded half of that back when she told him the peas were not what she wanted. “They weren’t what I wanted. I told you they were too small. I like fat peas when I have to eat them.”

  “They were called petite peas. I think the name alone would have cleared that up for you. The fact that you bought four bags of them and returned them goes to show what sort of person you are. Demanding something for nothing. No, I don’t want you in here again. I’ve made all my employees aware of you as well. Do you know what they did when I told them you were no longer allowed in my store? They danced around like it was a good thing. You’re a mean-spirited person.”

  The Bug laughed all the way back to her home. She didn’t have any more luck shutting him up than she had trying to get around the store manager. Blanche was going to have to do something drastic about this. She couldn’t have people keeping her from food. Then she wondered if there was a law about that. She’d have to look it up when she got on her computer.

  Chapter 5

  Looking over the notes for their first meeting, Carroll was glad his mom had come along with them. She said she’d tell them what she could about each person and point out some of the laws they’d broken.