He yelled. “Whoa!” In a lower, slightly less panicked tone he said, “No. Not in the house, little girl. You need some fresh air.” He ran through the house and out the front door with her. When they got to the grass in front of the porch, he set her down.
The grass tickled her belly. Laylea chewed at it. She looked up when he started talking again.
“You go to the bathroom outside. Never in the house. Okay?”
Laylea watched the dad closely. She yipped, waiting to see what happened next in this game.
“Here, Dad.” Bailey tore down the steps in a tangle of legs.
Laylea yipped at him but he just tossed his dad a small towel. It was wet and warm and felt like Mama’s tongue when Clark rubbed it on her belly. It reminded her of how Mama would encourage her and her brothers to relieve themselves after they ate. Her bladder relaxed.
The commotion Bailey and Dad made scared her again but she was pretty sure they were happy with her so she wagged her tail and danced around. Then she found herself in the dad’s arms again, going back into the kitchen.
“Mom, the letter.” The boy kissed Laylea’s head before he went around to his stool. He picked the letter up from where Sher had dropped it and held it out.
The mom ignored him. She set a bowl in front of each of the boys as they settled at the counter, leaning down to reward Woodford at last with his breakfast. She directed the dad to set Laylea on the counter right in front of a bowl of soft mushy kibble. Laylea tripped forward on the slick plastic placemat beneath her tiny paws and buried her face in the food.
Bailey giggled. When his eyes were firmly on Laylea, his mother took the letter. She settled on her stool, took a bite, and unfolded the single sheet of notebook paper.
She took another bite and washed it down with tea before Bailey complained.
“Mom.”
A grin tugged at her lips. She didn’t raise her eyes from the letter. “Hm?”
“Mom,” he repeated, dragging the word out until she flicked her eyes in his direction. “Out loud.”
“Oh,” the mom’s coldness melted for a moment and she earned another groan from her son by saying, “why didn’t you say so?”
Then she read.
Dear Hillens,
I met you several years ago. You won’t remember the incident but your kindness saved my life. I hope that your kindness can extend to my little Laylea as well. There is an evil man who would do experiments on Laylea and her brothers. Because of this, they have spent their lives thus far in a basement not seeing anything of the world. Two days ago this man found our sanctuary. We escaped but I dare not foster any of my pups together or to people that know me. I know Laylea would be safe with you and that you are up to the challenges that raising her will present. She is a very special little girl. Please take care of her. Though I am heartbroken to leave my puppy, I am comforted knowing she will be as happy as Bailey and Woodford were when I knew them. She is six weeks old and just weaned.
With Great Appreciation for whatever help you can give her,
Mama
The boys scraped their bowls clean while Sher folded the letter and grabbed a few bites of her food. Laylea mashed her muzzle around the mess in her bowl trying to lick up every last crumb. Down on the floor Woodford stared up at the silent family, hoping against experience for more.
“That explains why she wasn’t dropped at your clinic.” Clark picked up the three clean bowls, leaving Laylea to keep working on hers.
Sher tucked the letter back into its envelope, moved, but always and forever practical. “Your big heart gets us too much attention, Clark. Bailey, get your backpack.” The boy started to protest but she cut him off. “Your dad and I will have to discuss this before any decisions are made. I’ll take her to work today and check her over, see if she’s ready to start her vaccinations.”
Clark laid a hand on his wife’s shoulder. He spoke in a low, quiet voice. “It really sounds like she’s one of us, Sher. No past. No family.”
She brushed off the hand. “Don’t try to manipulate me.” She finished her tea and handed it to him for a refill. “It sounds to me like once we’ve got her vaccinated she should go to one of your hermits off in the wilderness. Much less likely this scientist will find her there than here in the middle of town.”
Clark scoffed at her. “You’re adorable. This town has five hundred people in it. And we came here because it is so far from anywhere.” He scooped Laylea into his arms and kissed her nose sadly. “But you get her healthy and I’ll take her on my next delivery. If she belongs with one of the woodsfolk, at least I’ll be able to keep an eye on her.”
Bailey clambered up onto a stool to reach his mother. He solemnly laid a hand on her shoulder and intoned, “Mom, Laylea should stay with us.”
Sher grabbed her son and dangled him upside down. “No conditioning the family!” she hollered.
Through his giggles, he hollered back, “Except for shoe.”
She swung him up and kissed his forehead. “Except for shoe.”
When she said the word, deep and quiet, Bailey looked at the floor.
“Your shoe is in the air, son,” Clark pointed out.
Sher let the kid’s feet drop back to the floor. He found his balance before he said, “Yeah, but looking down is the response you really want.” The boy squeezed his mother tight and dashed out of the kitchen, the swinging door flapping in his wake.
The parents stared after their son. Laylea tried to grab another lick of her bowl as Clark cleared it to the sink. “I don’t think your conditioning has taken on that kid at all.”
“That’s okay, as long as he does look down.”
“Yeah,” he raised his eyebrows at her, “but it’s making me question your magical abilities.”
Sher grabbed the placemat from the table and tossed it into the sink. “That’s not magic. It’s science.”
“You keep saying that, dear, maybe it'll make it true.”
The mom left the kitchen yelling instructions to her son.
Laylea yipped. Clark looked down. “Hello, Laylea. Don’t be scared. We’ll protect you, one way or another.” The dad wiped her face and paws with a wet cloth while she tried to chew on his bright yellow bracelet. “Now. How do you feel about bicycles?”
Laylea sang. Her tail thumped wildly in the dad’s arms.
To be continued . . .
I hope you enjoyed this little teaser for WereHuman: The Witch’s Daughter. You can pick up the full story here. To be among the first to know when new books are available for sale, sign up at Wyrdos.net. (I’m working on a short about Junior’s dad and a tooth fairy! It will only be available to newsletter subscribers. I’ll be sending that out as soon as it gets back from my editor.)
Thanks!
Gwendolyn
More books by Gwendolyn Druyor
Mobious' Quest fantasy series
Hardt's Tale
Geoffrey’s Queen
Callie’s Crown (coming soon)
Killer on Call thriller series
Ecstasy
Gin
Morphine
Valium
Pot
Absinthe
Justice (only available to newsletter subscribers)
Wyrdos urban fantasy series
WereHuman: The Witch’s Daughter
Dee
Laylea
Junior
Amal (coming soon)
Doug (coming soon: will only be available to newsletter subscribers)
This is a work of fiction. All concepts, characters and events portrayed in this book are fiction and any resemblance to real people or events is all in your imagination.
Copyright © 2017 by Gwendolyn Druyor
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except brief extracts for the purpose of review, without the permission of the publisher and copyr
ight owner.
First Edition, March, 2017
Cover design by Christian Bentulan
Edited by Helen Page
Published in the United States of America.
gwendolyndruyor.com
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Junior (A Wyrdos Tale Book 3) Page 11