Case of the Poodle Doodle
Page 15
There is no way I would have been able to gather up the courage to get into a flying death trap if I didn't have Calvin at my side.
“Did you leave instructions for Jessie and Kerry on the things needing to be attended to while you are abroad? You know how they can be.”
This got a couple of weak protests of, “Hey!” As I chuckled. “Check.”
She chastised, “Don't act surprised, Finnegan has told me about some of your shenanigans. I seriously don't know how you've survived this long.”
I was giggle snorting as Jane said to them, “She has you there.” They stuck their tongues out at her in response like proper, mature adults.
Luce went on, “Instructions have been passed on to Rafiel Moretti of Rafiel's Canine Walkers?”
“Check.”
“Do you trust him? I've a mobile now, I can message Pollyanna to keep an eye on him and keep him in line.”
I was giggling as I said, “Perhaps you should, the man is a rapscallion.” I grinned at the serious look on her face as she nodded, writing something on a pad in front of her.
Jane gave me 'the look,' and I cocked an eyebrow in challenge. “What? I think maybe Luce has a point, Polly will keep the brash man in line.” She exhaled and rolled her eyes as she sat on the couch next to her single suitcase and carry on.
I had the contents of my five bags laid out neatly on the coffee table as Luce, and I went over the checklist again. Mom was looking at the time. “Girls if you want to keep Fin's schedule and be at the airport three hours ahead of time...” She turned to look at everyone but me. “Seriously, who does that?”
Luce chimed out before I could, “It is in the TSA recommended timelines for international travel in case of contingencies in the screening process. Plus it only makes good sense to be prepared for the unforeseen.”
Becky offered to her, “But how can one prepare for the unforeseen?”
Luce looked at us and started to rub the back of her hand along her jaw as she whispered, “She may be right. Maybe you should go now to have even more time, just in case.”
I was nodding. She was right. I was placing things I had sealed in their own individually labeled vacuum bags, into the luggage. What? Don't look at me like that, I can put more in my bags this way.
Luce was encouraging me. “Hurry, Finnegan. If you two miss this flight, we will have to throw out our itinerary for your visit and rework a whole new one.”
“I'm hurrying, you goose.”
This garnered one of her genuine smiles which lit up the world. “Bri calls me Luce-goose.”
We've come to learn that the two had arrived at the girl's home around the same time. Brianne had lost her family in a boating accident, and it had left her face scarred and lost her sight in one eye.
The older girl has always looked after Luce, and they call each other Pinky Sisters. It is a compromise because Luce doesn't let people touch her, but allows Bri to link pinkies with her. They are sisters by every definition but blood, and I'm glad that Luce has had someone she could turn to when life gets confusing like I had Kerry until she moved out of my life when her father was re-deployed.
I felt almost sick about it. If things work out, and Luce becomes our daughter, we would be the ones taking her out of Bri's life. I knew how that felt, but as Ker has exhibited once we reunited, they will always be the fastest of friends.
I zipped up the last bag then looked around as Jess looked into my shoulder bag that would be my carry on. She held up a mass of leather, the harnesses and leashes I kept in there for emergencies. “You really going to need these there?”
Luce said in a patient tone, “Best to be prepared than ill-prepared. Are you sure you're Finnegan's best friend? It seems you don't grasp the...”
Jane and I blurted out, “Luce!” as Jess just beamed.
She crowded the camera and whispered though we could all hear, “Sorry. It just seems she has no sense, like the ladies here in the home.”
Ok, I'm ashamed to admit that I snorted, loudly at that. Then I kissed Jessie on the nose as she pouted. Then I informed the Irish instigator, “Alas, but be cannot choose who we love.” I crinkled my nose at my red-headed friend.
Someone must have taken offense on her end since she looked over her shoulder and blurted out, “What part of privacy do you not understand you old busy body?”
“Luce!”
“Sorry.”
I told her, “Sometimes, it is best not to voice all of our thoughts, as they can sometimes cause someone to feel bad.”
She nodded sagely like she was soaking in my words, dissecting them, and finding the truth in them. She was still nodding when she offered, “Then how would people know what you are thinking?” Then her eyes widened, “Ah, it spares their feelings.”
Jane grabbed my cell from me and said, “We've got to get moving, Luce. We'll see you before you know it.”
She nodded and said a proper goodbye to each and every one of us, including the dogs who she gave more reverence to. I said, “Love you, lady.” Then hung up.
Ker and Jess were grabbing my bags, and the fear started to set in. We were heading to the airport where I was going to get on an airplane for the first time in my life.
Even through my terror, I looked around to the family I had grown around me. A family of people I loved and who loved me and realized if I could do that, I could do anything.
Damn, I'm good!
The End
Novels by Erik Schubach
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Books in the Techromancy Scrolls series...
Adept
Soras
Masquerade
Westlands
Avalon
New Cali (2019)
Books in the Urban Fairytales series...
Red Hood: The Hunt
Snow: The White Crow
Ella: Cinders and Ash
Rose: Briar's Thorn
Let Down Your Hair
Hair of Gold: Just Right
The Hood of Locksley
Beauty In the Beast
No Place Like Home
Shadow Of The Hook
Books in the New Sentinels series...
Djinn: Cursed
Raven Maid: Out of the Darkness
Fate: No Strings Attached
Open Seas: Just Add Water
Ghost-ish: Lazarus
Anubis: Death's Mistress
Sentinels: Reckoning (2020)
Books in the Drakon series...
Awakening
Dragonfall
Books in the Valkyrie Chronicles series...
Return of the Asgard
Bloodlines
Folkvangr
Seventy Two Hours
Titans
Books in the Tales From Olympus series...
Gods Reunited
Alfheim (2019)
Books in the Bridge series...
Trolls
Traitor
Unbroken
Books in the Fracture series...
Divergence
Novellas by Erik Schubach
--------------------------------------------
The Hollow
Novellas in the Paranormals series...
Fleas
This Sucks
Jinx (2019)
Novellas in the Fixit Adventures...
Fixit
Glitch
Vashon
Descent
Sedition (2019)
Novellas in the Emily Monroe Is Not The Chosen One series...
Night Shift
Unchosen
Rechosen (2019)
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Short Stories by Erik Schubach
(These short stories span many different genres)
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A Littl
e Favor
Lost in the Woods
MUB
Mirror Mirror On The Wall
Oops!
Rift Jumpers: Faster Than Light
Scythe
Snack Run
Something Pretty
Summer Break (2019)
Romance Novels by Erik Schubach
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Books in the Music of the Soul universe...
(All books are standalone and can be read in any order)
Music of the Soul
A Deafening Whisper
Dating Game
Karaoke Queen
Silent Bob
Five Feet or Less
Broken Song
Syncopated Rhythm
Progeny
Girl Next Door
Lightning Strikes Twice
June
Dead Shot
Music of the Soul Shorts...
(All short stories are standalone and can be read in any order)
Misadventures of Victoria Davenport: Operation Matchmaker
Wallflower
Accidental Date
Holiday Morsels
What Happened In Vegas?
Books in the London Harmony series...
(All books are standalone and can be read in any order)
Water Gypsy
Feel the Beat
Roctoberfest
Small Fry
Doghouse
Minuette
Squid Hugs
The Pike
Flotilla
Books in the Pike series...
(All books are standalone and can be read in any order)
Ships In The Night
Right To Remain Silent
Evermore
New Beginnings
Books in the Flotilla series...
(All books are standalone and can be read in any order)
Making Waves
Keeping Time
The Temp
Paying the Toll
Books in the Unleashed series...
Case of the Collie Flour
Case of the Hot Dog
Case of the Gold Retriever
Case of the Great Danish
Case of the Yorkshire Pudding
Case of the Poodle Doodle
Case of the Hound About Town (2019)
Sample chapter from the Valkyrie Chronicles: Return of the Asgard...
Chapter 1 – The Tavern
Five thousand Earth orbits completed around its star, Sol. Five thousand years I have awaited the return of my kind. How I long to be home again. I could feel Asgard approaching like the hammering of a relentless drum in my head foreshadowing the dimensional alignment that would allow Valhalla and Earth to co-exist in this realm during a 'transition' once again. That once again I may take my place in our citadel as the daughter of Odin. Or... it could just be a headache from the copious amounts of alcohol I have consumed this night.
I clumsily backhanded the largest of my attackers while kicking the feet out from underneath another, sending him unceremoniously to the ground on his ass again while I sat on my bar stool. I took the second I had gained to take the last gulp from my heavy beer mug, before finally pushing away from the bar and standing from my uncomfortable bar stool to actually fight these ruffians. I'm sure they think we have been fighting these past couple minutes, but I just wished to finish my drink before dispatching them.
I staggered as I stood. Even in my impaired state with my reflexes slowed by the alcohol, it wouldn't take but a minute to take down these three. They really should have picked a different neighborhood to rape that young woman earlier tonight.
I had arrived too late to stop it, but I recognize their dim red auras. I caught a glimpse of them as they entered McGregor's Tavern two blocks down. I called for an ambulance and the police from the girl's cell phone which I had pulled from the purse on the ground beside her crumpled and sobbing body.
I dropped her phone and comforted her the best I could until I heard the sirens approach, then I followed the three gang-banger wannabes with their idiotic bandanas into the bar. What a dive... it reeked of cigarettes, sweat and stale beer. Neon beer advertisements flickered, casting multicolored glows across the room.
If there's one thing us Asgard truly enjoyed, it was our mead. Earth's beer is an acceptable substitute.
I sat at the bar where I could see their booth by the pool table through the cigarette smoke haze in the back of the run down tavern. Then I just watched the men through the huge mirror mounted behind the bar as I drank a pitcher to see if there were any others I should worry about when I take these three down. They are going to pay for what they did to that girl.
The smaller, weasel-like man in his worn out leather jacket and torn jeans would be the most dangerous since he posed no real physical threat, and he knew it, which is why he sat at the back of their booth, a man on either side as a buffer.
So more likely than not, he carried a weapon. Probably tucked into his waistband at the small of his back, judging by the way he sat. His nose was crooked like a bird's beak and his patchy stubble looked like a ridiculous attempt to look masculine. Hard to do for a 5'-3” man. Even my small stature at 5'-7” made me tower over him in my heavy one and a half inch heeled boots.
The big guy on his right was imposing and probably stood a chance of doing a little physical damage to me if he got his hands on me. But it wouldn't be anything my enhanced strength or nano-lattice couldn't handle. The dull look in his eyes told me he wasn't much of a thinker.
My guess is that he hadn't really been accepted by his peers because of his brutish appearance and that's how he got mixed up with these guys as their enforcer. He stood maybe 6'-4” and around three hundred pounds of muscle. He had a thick brow which kind of reminded me of the Neanderthals I had seen on Earth when I was a small child seventy Earth transitions ago. Now those men were strong!
The third one was the loudmouth of the bunch. He looked to be a thinker, but just barely. Standing around 5'-10” with a moderate build. He'd be the second to attack after watching my reactions to the big guy. His moderately sharp eyes sat below his greasy black hair on his long, unattractive face.
This is one dynamic I have never understood about the degenerates of the human world. It is usually the smaller, weaker of the bunch who is the leader that the others simply blindly follow. Whereas the humans representing justice stand tall and lead by example.
But of the three, the smaller man had the darker red aura telling me he quite probably was their leader. Red indicates the reservoir of anger and violence in a person, and the strength of the aura shows the willpower or strength of conviction of the individual.
Blue on the other hand indicates someone's capacity for good, justice and strength of character. Like the bartender and his dim blue glow with it's hints of red trailing it.
None of the three men I was watching were consequential, with their dim glows and posturing mannerisms all bluster and no substance. I was finishing my second pitcher when they finally noticed I was watching them. Slow much, guys? I've only been staring for an hour.
The weasel sent them over a couple minutes ago. Greasy hair stood slightly back from the brute and asked loudly, “What ya lookin' at sugar? You want maybe we take you somewhere for some fun?”
I just turned on my stool to look at him, trying to display my boredom. “You mean the kind of fun you had with that girl down the street tonight?”
Their eyes looked alarmed as I hissed and narrowed my eyes. “You shouldn't have done that in my neighborhood, boys.”
The bruiser looked to greasy hair, who nodded almost imperceptibly. People were starting to clear out a bit. I slapped away the incoming blow from the brute as I felt my nano-lattice harden my skin. The magnetic and electrical net energized by the nanites in my body, which in turn were powered by the Earth's magnetic
field. I took a large swallow from my mug as I kicked the brute soundly in the stomach, forcing him back a step, tripping over his buddy. It sent them both, gracelessly onto the ground.
They stood and split up and attacked in a predictable manner. Why don't they teach simple tactics in school here on Earth? A kick to the knee of greasy hair and simply ducking the next blow from the brute and tugging on him to use his momentum to tumble into his friend again was all it took.
I caught the bartender on the phone out of the corner of my eye, most likely calling the police. I had better wrap this up, but not before I finish my beer. I allowed them to posture before their next attack as I drank. I watched as the weasel stood and advanced half way to us, looking nervously between us and the back door.
After that third attack and I finished my beer then stood, I almost laughed at the men. Did they really think they could do battle with a Valkyrie of the Asgard? The thought was ludicrous. I have fought beside some great humans in my five thousand years of waiting for my home to return. They were great men and women, worthy of respect. But these men were nothing... the scum of the human world that even their society shunned.
I allowed my nano-lattice to extend around the mug I was still holding by the handle, hardening it. Back in the day, this is how we did did hand to hand battle against the Ragnarok race when the quarters were too close to use our energy weapons. Grabbing anything we had handy and hardening it into a weapon that could pierce their tough hides.
The brute swung again and I caught his arm under mine with a thud to my ribs, and trapped it as I quickly struck him multiple times in the face with my beer mug. He went down to his knees, his face bloodied, before his eyes rolled back in their sockets and he fell back unconscious.
There was a moment of pain after I heard a gunshot as the bullet tore through my left shoulder. I looked over to the weasel with his drawn gun in the middle of the bar. I felt my nanites already attacking the damage to my flesh. People were running or hitting the floor in panic. “Kroth.” I hissed. This would probably hurt more if I wasn't so drunk. I know I'll ache for a week.