Once in a Blue Rune: An Urban Fantasy Novel (Dwarf for Hire Book 2)
Page 19
The front of the store was filled with Sandersons. Most of them were the youngsters, of course, happy, squirming Corgi pups sniffing, snuffling, and barking as they danced around their parents. Mother was in the human shape I was familiar with while I had to assume the other older one among them was Patches himself, making me realize I had never seen him in anything other than Corgi form.
He was surprisingly tall considering his natural shape, maybe six feet tall, with the solid build of someone who had worked hard for his entire life, and dressed much as you’d expect from a blue-collar worker. His frizzy orange hair was mixed with unnatural black roots matching his fur markings. It was evident that as calm as Mother seemed while shepherding her flock, Patches was nervous, though it wasn’t his rambunctious children that were the cause.
The cause also wasn’t Bunny, who was at the rear of the entire bunch, leaning against the doorframe. She nodded at me with a smile as I stepped out into the central part of the store, Polly wheeling an increasingly excited Didymus around.
“There was a certain someone who wanted to meet the rest of the folks that had saved his life,” the Huntress announced, “so it was obviously my duty to oblige him. Besides, I pointed out to Mother and Patches both that it was always good to know about new, Figment-friendly places in town.”
As if on cue, Aelfread poked his head out of the back office, glaring over the counter with his cell phone held close to one pointed ear. “What is all the commotion out here? I happen to be in the middle of a critical business …” He blinked at the mass of Corgis, at Mother and Patches, and smiled. “Excuse me, Mr. Blythe, but there is a matter that demands my attention here. I shall call you back.” Without waiting for an answer, he hanged up and joined the happy mass out in the store.
As Polly spent some time playing with the pups to give their parents a moment’s relief, casting forth motes of sunlight for them to chase, Mother smiled warmly at Aelfread and I. Patches stared at his shoes, rubbing his hands nervously until she prodded him in the side.
“Tell them, Patches,” she said softly.
“Ah, well,” he began in a sort of ‘aw, shucks’ timbre that was only faintly reminiscent of the mental voice we had heard in the other world, “I’m just … I just wanted to tell you, Ms. Stone, and you, Mr. Aelfson, that I’m awfully sorry for everything that happened.” He managed to look at us, look us in the eye, brown eyes watering a little.
“I just wanted to stop being a bad dog.”
There was only one thing that felt right to say as I hugged him, Aelfread patting him on the shoulder as I did so.
“Don’t worry, Patches. You’re a very good dog and don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise.”
Thank You for reading!
Curious about what happens next?
* * *
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Author’s Note
Dear reader, if you REALLY want to read the next Rune Service novel- I’ve got a bit of bad news for you.
Unfortunately, Amazon will not tell you when the next comes out.
You’ll probably never know about my next books, and you’ll be left wondering what happened to Mary and the gang. That’s rather terrible.
There is good news though! There are three ways you can find out when the next book is published:
1) You join my mailing list by clicking here.
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If you follow me, Amazon will send you an email when I publish a book. You’ll just have to make sure you check the emails they send.
Doing any of these, or all three for best results, will ensure you find out about my next book when it is published.
If you don’t, Amazon will never tell you about my next release. Please take a few seconds to do one of these so that you’ll be able to join Mary and the gang on their next adventure.
About the Author
J. B. Garner was born in Baltimore, MD on December 1, 1976, the youngest of three children. While still young, the family moved to Peachtree City, GA. His parents always encouraged his creative side and J. B. began writing and drawing from an early age. Though considered talented by his teachers, he never fully applied himself and bounced through high school and into college at the Georgia Institute of Technology. During his freshman year, his father died suddenly.
Grief and lack of purpose caused J. B. to drop out of school. If not for a few close friends, he might have dropped out of life as well. Taken in by his friends and given a second chance, J. B. matured, applied himself, and finally, after over a decade of hard work, is now back to doing what he loves the most: writing.
His writing passions include science fiction, fantasy, pro wrestling and superhero literature. His eleventh book, Rune Service, is what you are reading right now.
Feel free to get in touch with him via his blog (jbgarner58.wordpress.com), e-mail (jbgarner58@gmail.com), at his deviantArt page (http://megatarget.deviantart.com/).