Her libido snapped to attention again, reminding her of the smooth stump that might be exactly chair height. It had definite possibilities, and yet the light was much dimmer now than when she’d first found the clearing, and the air colder. The scent of smoke was stronger, too.
She couldn’t shake the feeling that they weren’t alone out here. Maybe it was campers and maybe it wasn’t. Soon it would be dark, and she wasn’t crazy about sticking around after dark. She decided they wouldn’t be here long, even considering the available stump.
The clearing looked about as she remembered it, with the stump in the middle. ‘‘First of all, I found footsteps all around this stump.’’
‘‘Are you thinking Dorcas and Ambrose spent time in this clearing before showing up by my truck last night?’’
‘‘It’s possible.’’
‘‘It’s more than possible, considering I haven’t built their sex bench yet.’’ He caught the collar of her trench coat in both hands and drew her close. ‘‘Looking at that stump gives me a few ideas of my own.’’
His suggestive tone and heated glance created quite a stir in her significant parts. ‘‘We can talk about that, but—’’
He brushed his lips over hers. ‘‘I’d like to do more than talk.’’ He reached to take off her glasses.
‘‘Wait.’’ She caught his hand. ‘‘First you have to see something.’’
‘‘If it’s more footprints, forget it. I’m more interested in kissing you.’’ He dipped his head toward her again. ‘‘And your glasses are in the way.’’
‘‘No, seriously.’’ She wiggled out of his arms. ‘‘Tell me what you think this is.’’ She walked to the edge of the clearing and searched for the impressions she’d found.
Because the light was becoming so dim, she had more trouble locating them, but finally she found one. ‘‘Here.’’ She crouched down and pointed to it. ‘‘What made that?’’
Sean glanced at the ground. ‘‘Huh.’’ Then he hunkered down next to the impression and poked at it. ‘‘It looks like someone had a huge antique table out here, the kind with those big claw feet.’’
‘‘That’s what I thought. But why? And don’t you think it was recent?’’
‘‘Probably, considering the rain we just had.’’ Sean traced the impression with one finger. ‘‘It had to be heavy, too. These are deep.’’
‘‘There are more.’’ Maggie studied the ground and found another one, then two more. ‘‘They’re not in the sort of pattern that you’d expect from a table with four legs.’’
‘‘So somebody had one table leg out here, for some reason.’’ He sniffed the air. ‘‘Maybe the same campers who have that fire going again.’’
‘‘Sean, people think the Whispering Forest is haunted, right?’’
‘‘Some do. I don’t.’’
‘‘What if there’s a hermit living out here, and he wants to scare everybody off so he won’t be discovered?’’
He nodded. ‘‘I guess that’s possible, but he’d have to be a really old hermit. I’ve been hearing stories about these woods ever since I was a kid. My mother forbade me to play in here, but I did, anyway. It was right next door.’’
‘‘Did you ever smell smoke?’’
‘‘Maybe, but I thought it was from our chimney. It’s only now that I realize it’s coming from somewhere else.’’
‘‘How about whispered words?’’ Maggie remembered that she’d imagined someone whispering to her the night before.
‘‘Hey, when you’re a kid, you always imagine stuff like that. It’s not real.’’
The whisper was soft, barely audible in Maggie’s ear. That’s what you think, dude. ‘‘Sean, did you hear that?’’
‘‘Hear what?’’
‘‘I heard someone whisper.’’
‘‘You’re scaring yourself, Maggie. Nothing’s here.’’
She wanted to believe him, but the whisper had been very distinct. She shivered. ‘‘Maybe we should go back to the car.’’
‘‘We can do that.’’ Sean gazed around the clearing. ‘‘I’ll come back another time. If someone is living out here, I’d like to know about it. I—’’ His darting glance froze on a spot at the edge of the clearing. ‘‘Maggie,’’ he said in a low voice. ‘‘Get behind me.’’
She began to tremble. ‘‘What is it?’’
‘‘I don’t know. Get behind me.’’
She didn’t like to think of herself as a coward, but she did what he said. Her legs felt rubbery, but she stumbled over and stood behind him as she stared hard at the same place where he was looking with such intensity.
Something moved. Something huge. The hairs prickled all over her body. ‘‘Is it a bear?’’ she whispered. Frantically she tried to remember what a person did when confronting a bear. You didn’t run. You rolled into a ball and pretended to be dead.
Yeah, right. Forget that. She would run until her legs wouldn’t carry her or the bear caught up, which was supposed to be quick. They could run faster than a human.
Then the creature stepped into the clearing, and she opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. She must be dreaming this. She was having some horrible nightmare, and any minute she would wake up in a cold sweat and be grateful that such things didn’t really exist.
But she couldn’t seem to wake up. She had to be dreaming, though. The thing was wearing . . . an iPod? It reared on its hind legs and blew a star-shaped smoke ring at them. Please let me wake up! Now! But when the smoke ring cleared, she was still standing there, her fingers digging into Sean’s leather jacket.
And in the clearing stood a dragon. A smoke-ring-blowing dragon wearing a white iPod.
‘‘Damn,’’ Sean muttered, his voice shaking. ‘‘Guess it was no table leg.’’
‘‘I think it’s time we admitted that we’ve lost control of the situation.’’ Ambrose paced the living room with Sabrina pacing behind him, whiskers twitching.
‘‘Not at all.’’ Dorcas sat in the wingback chair, paging through a manual titled True Guardianship: The Dragon Transformation Process. ‘‘With a little more time, Sean and Maggie will fall in love. Then they’ll sort out this business with SaveALot.’’
‘‘I’m not convinced they’ll fall in love soon enough. And there’s George. I don’t like how that’s going at all. I’ll bet we’ll get out to the Whispering Forest and find him grooving with his iPod, oblivious to his duties.’’
‘‘I’m betting he’s done his rounds.’’ Dorcas flipped another page of the manual. ‘‘It says here that once a dragon assumes his True Guardianship duties, he can earn his gold scales within a month of constant application to the job. That’s encouraging.’’
Ambrose continued to pace. ‘‘I hope you’re right that he’s making rounds. I hope that’s what we discover when we get out there.’’
‘‘We will.’’
‘‘You do realize that we can’t take the broom. And I’m worried that Sean’s seen it and might start getting suspicious. We need a less conspicuous model.’’
‘‘Then buy one. But we can’t chance using it so soon, no matter what it looks like. We’ll have to let a few months go by before we take another ride.’’
Sabrina stopped pacing and meowed at Dorcas.
‘‘I know you’re disappointed, sweetie, and I apologize. If I can get Edith Mae Hoogstraten over here for a cup of tea, I’ll give her something to muddle her memory.’’
Sabrina began to purr.
Ambrose glanced at Dorcas. ‘‘That could make things worse. The last time you attempted to wipe out someone’s memory they sprouted hair on the end of their nose. You haven’t perfected that potion yet.’’
‘‘If you say so.’’ She smiled sweetly at him. ‘‘But it’s a long walk out to George’s lair.’’
‘‘Exactly. Which is why we need to buy that used scooter Bradley has for sale. I saw the notice on the deli bulletin board this afternoon. It’s cheap. And it’s red.’’<
br />
‘‘As if that won’t attract attention! We can’t be seen buzzing out to the Whispering Forest every night on Bradley’s red scooter. If we’re walking, then we don’t seem to have a particular destination. We’re simply out for a stroll. On a scooter, a red scooter no less, we’d look as if we’re definitely going somewhere.’’
Sabrina came over, propped her front paws on Dorcas’s knee and made a little chirping sound.
‘‘See, Sabrina wants the scooter,’’ Ambrose said. ‘‘And I want the scooter. That’s two to one.’’
‘‘Oh, for goddess’ sake, buy the scooter, then.’’
‘‘I was hoping you’d say that.’’
‘‘Why?’’
Ambrose started toward the front door. ‘‘Come with me.’’
Dorcas followed him out to the front porch, and there stood a shiny red scooter resting on its kick-stand. She groaned. ‘‘This scooter is so not me.’’
‘‘But it’s me.’’
She gazed at her husband. ‘‘That’s what I’m afraid of.’’
‘‘We can take it tonight, at least. One trip won’t be a problem.’’
‘‘I suppose not.’’ But no matter what Ambrose said, she was going to try to get a memory loss potion down Edith Mae Hoogstraten one of these days. A scooter did not replace a broom, and she was itching to take another broom ride.
‘‘Can we go now?’’ Ambrose eyed the scooter with longing.
Dorcas shuddered. ‘‘Let’s wait until it’s darker. Maybe then nobody will see me on that thing.’’
Chapter 26
If Sean hadn’t been so afraid for Maggie, he would have been petrified for himself. He didn’t know what the hell this thing was or where it had come from— maybe some DNA experiment gone wrong—but no matter what it was, he was keeping it away from Maggie.
‘‘Here’s what we’ll do,’’ he murmured. ‘‘I’ll distract it, and you take off. Run for the car and go for help.’’
‘‘I’m not leaving you.’’
‘‘Don’t think of it like that. You’re not leaving me. You’re going for help.’’
‘‘And let you get mauled by the dragon? No way.’’
‘‘It’s not a dragon. Dragons don’t exist.’’
The creature pulled out its earphones. ‘‘Dude, I was reading your lips just then and you are totally wrong.’’
Sean nearly leaped out of his skin. The thing talked. Then he began to relax. It only looked like a monster. Some kid was in there pulling strings and talking for it. This was nothing more than a giant Halloween costume.
He leaned down and picked up a stick. ‘‘Okay, whoever you are inside there, you’re coming out, and you’re coming out now. This has gone far enough.’’
The creature blinked. ‘‘Say what?’’
‘‘Come on, joke’s over. I don’t know who the hell you are, but you have plenty to answer for, scaring us to death.’’
Maggie tugged on his sleeve. ‘‘Sean.’’
‘‘Not now, Maggie. I want this yahoo to show himself.’’
‘‘But I think it’s really a dragon.’’
‘‘There’s no such thing and you know it.’’
‘‘Oh yeah?’’ The creature reared on its hind legs. ‘‘Check this out.’’ Its roar echoed through the trees.
‘‘Yeah, yeah.’’ Sean tapped the ground with the stick. ‘‘Very impressive. You’ve built yourself quite a machine. Why aren’t you working for Disney instead of hanging out in the woods, terrifying the locals?’’
The creature dropped to all fours. ‘‘Looks like you got a fair maiden there.’’ It took a step closer. ‘‘I’ve been looking for one.’’
Sean raised his stick. ‘‘You make one move toward that fair maiden and you’ll wish you hadn’t.’’
‘‘And I’m not a maiden,’’ Maggie added. Her voice quivered a little, but she sounded as if she was trying to be brave.
‘‘Oo, oo, he’s got a stick!’’ The creature drew back in mock dismay. ‘‘Gonna hit me with that big stick, macho man?’’ He began hopping from side to side. ‘‘Are ya? Huh? Huh? Take your best shot, dude.’’
‘‘I’m warning you, stay away from her,’’ Sean said.
‘‘I’m so scared.’’
‘‘You’ll be plenty scared once I haul you out of that animated suit.’’
Maggie tugged on his sleeve. ‘‘Sean, take a good look at those scales. They’re real.’’
‘‘They just seem real, but they’re—’’ He stared at the spot where the dragon had been standing. ‘‘Where’d he go?’’
Vroom! The dragon reappeared several feet closer. ‘‘Right here, buddy boy.’’
Sean’s heart rate picked up considerably. He backed up, pushing Maggie behind him again. ‘‘Neat trick.’’
‘‘I’m taking the fair maiden. Dragons totally do that kind of thing.’’
Sean gulped. Whatever was going on here, he might be at a slight disadvantage, seeing as how he was armed with a rather skinny stick. ‘‘Run, Maggie,’’ he murmured.
‘‘No.’’ She cleared her throat. ‘‘Look, Mr. Dragon . . .’’
The creature’s ears perked up. ‘‘Hey, there, hootchie mama. You can call me George.’’
Sean stared at him. ‘‘You have a freaking name?’’
‘‘George,’’ Maggie said, ‘‘you don’t want to capture me. What you want is a virgin. That’s the way it goes in all the fairy tales.’’
‘‘I don’t feel like waiting around for a virgin, okay?’’
Maggie’s voice grew stronger. ‘‘But you have to. Those are the rules.’’
‘‘I hate rules!’’ Smoke billowed out from George’s nostrils.
‘‘Don’t blame me. I didn’t make them.’’
‘‘Maggie,’’ Sean said. ‘‘Don’t get into a debate with—’’
‘‘I don’t have to follow no stinkin’ rules because I’m ADD.’’ George’s chest swelled.
‘‘Oh, really?’’ Maggie blew out a breath. ‘‘And who, pray tell, told you that?’’
‘‘Maggie, stay back.’’ Sean grabbed her as she started edging around him.
George lowered his head in a menacing gesture. ‘‘Nobody. I just am. Deal with it.’’
‘‘Like hell.’’ Sean raised his stick. In the real world there shouldn’t be a dragon in this forest, but something had gone very wrong with the world he knew. Now it was up to him to protect Maggie at all costs.
‘‘Move aside, dude.’’ George took another step forward.
‘‘You’ll have to go through me to get her.’’
‘‘I can totally do that. Prepare to die, loser.’’
Maggie dashed out from behind him. ‘‘You will not kill Sean!’’
‘‘Maggie, no!’’ He made a grab for her with his free hand and missed.
Before he could stop her, she stomped straight up to the dragon and smacked him on the snout. ‘‘You spoiled brat! You’re no more ADD than I am. What’s wrong with you, running around scaring people like this? Dragons are supposed to be noble creatures. You’re a disgrace to your kind, and I have half a mind to— Sean, let me go!’’
He wasn’t about to. Dragging her with one arm, he pulled her back, brandishing his puny stick at the dragon. She might have a death wish, but he wasn’t going to stand by and let her get killed.
Amazingly, George didn’t move. He stood in apparent shock and stared at Maggie.
Sean figured he’d snap out of it any second, though, and when that happened, Sean would be ready. In the movies, the guy won the day by driving a spear through the dragon’s neck. Except he didn’t have a spear. He had a crappy stick that would probably splinter on impact.
He had to go with it, anyway. Yeah, he was scared. He was deafened by the sound of the blood rushing in his eardrums. But he was out of options for evasive action. Pointing the stick at the dragon’s neck, he waited for his moment.
‘‘George!’’ Dorcas’s vo
ice rang through the forest. She strode into the clearing, a purple cape billowing around her. ‘‘Just what do you think you’re doing, George?’’
George pointed a claw at Maggie. ‘‘She hit me!’’
‘‘Because you’re spoiled and selfish!’’ Maggie yelled back. ‘‘And you were ready to kill Sean.’’
‘‘That was totally a joke.’’
‘‘It’s not funny, George.’’ Ambrose drove up on a red scooter, with Sabrina riding in a little carrier on the back fender. ‘‘Nobody’s laughing.’’
Sean slowly lowered the stick as he tried to get his mind wrapped around what was happening. Nothing in his experience had prepared him for this. He kept a protective arm around Maggie as he turned to Dorcas and Ambrose. ‘‘Okay, who the hell are you two?’’
Dorcas glanced at him. ‘‘Your friends.’’
‘‘That remains to be seen.’’ He pointed his stick at George. ‘‘What’s with this guy?’’
Dorcas folded her arms and glared at the dragon. ‘‘According to what I’ve heard, George has been a problem since he was born. Whether it was nature or nurture, we don’t—’’
‘‘I’m ADD!’’
‘‘Oh, give it a rest,’’ Maggie said. ‘‘You’re just using that as an excuse to be a pain in the ass. You should be ashamed of yourself. You’ve been scaring people out here for years, haven’t you?’’
‘‘It was something to do.’’ George fiddled with his iPod earphones. ‘‘It’s boring out here.’’
Maggie blew out a breath. ‘‘Cry me a river. What do you expect, a career on Wall Street? You’re a dragon. You’re supposed to . . .’’ She turned to Dorcas and Ambrose. ‘‘What is he supposed to do?’’
‘‘He’s supposed to be the True Guardian of the Whispering Forest,’’ Dorcas said. ‘‘That means he watches out for all the creatures in it, checks that no trees are smoldering if there’s a lightning storm, things like that.’’
Maggie glanced back at George. ‘‘That’s a wonderful job. You should be so grateful for a job like that.’’
‘‘Wait a minute, Dorcas,’’ Sean said. ‘‘How do you know so much about this True Guardian stuff?’’
‘‘If there’s a problem with a dragon, as in this case, the wizard world is put in charge of straightening it out.’’
Over Hexed Page 26
