A Witch's Holiday Wedding

by Tena Stetler

  “Anyway, Janice called the DIFW, reported what we saw. The driver gunned the truck, took off, and the poor owl lay quiet for a couple minutes then started flopping on the ground. We couldn’t leave it like that. Got the tarp out of the trunk and threw it over the bird. That’s when it really came to life. Gathered it all up, but its foot came out of the tarp and clawed Jan pretty bad.”

  “Next time call us; we’ve got equipment to transport birds of prey safely. But you did good, probably saved its life. It could have flopped onto the road and gotten run over.”

  “That’s what we thought. So here we are.” Rocky shrugged.

  Lathen turned his attention to Pepper as she said, “We’ll be there ASAP. Got to stabilize an owl, and we’ll be there. Don’t shoot it! Sounds like it was only grazed, a little rest and antibiotics, he’ll survive.” Pepper tapped the screen ending the call and turned toward the guys, the color drained out of her face. “A young male moose has been shot, a mile down our road. The officer thinks it’s only a few months old. No sign of its mother or herd. Sounds about the same place you found the owl.”

  “I knew it. They were poachers.” Rocky cursed. “How bad?”

  “Hopefully, not life threatening, but won’t know ’til we get there.”

  “I’ll hook up the trailer and meet you out front.” Lathen strode to the door and yanked it open. “Rocky we’ll probably need your help.”

  “I’ll let Jan know what’s happening and see if she wants to wait here for us or go on home.” Pepper tossed medical supplies into her bag, grabbed the tranq gun, then sprinted out the door and up the path toward the cabin.

  Lathen hitched the trailer to the truck, and Rocky climbed in the back seat of the truck’s crew cab. Pepper barreled up to the vehicle and hopped in the front seat. “Hurry.” She slapped her hand on the dash.

  “Yes, ma’am.” Lathen put the truck in gear and sped down the road, throwing rock and gravel in his wake.

  As he slowed to a stop beside the DIFW vehicles, Pepper jumped out and sprinted across the field. Lathen turned the ignition off and bolted after her. It took about five minutes to find the officers, who pointed to an area where a young moose lay, breathing hard. Pepper stared toward the wounded creature and began walking toward the young moose.

  An officer grabbed her arm, without a word, she wrenched away and continued walking. Lathen shook his head meeting the officer’s gaze. “She’s got this.”

  ****

  The animal’s head swung around, and he stumbled to his feet. Pepper heard the animal’s rapid breathing and heartbeat. It could be going into shock. Using the tranquilizer gun was a risk, but there wasn’t another option. Glancing around she counted four big strapping men. They could hoist that moose into the trailer. Raising the gun to her shoulder, she fired. The moose took two steps, paused to look at her, and crashed to the ground. She rushed to where he’d fallen.

  After men loaded the moose into the trailer, the wildlife officers followed behind Lathen’s truck back to the cabin. They helped unload the unconscious animal into the small stable attached to the mammal habitat. Dylan Foster was waiting at the cabin and ran down the path to the building. The officers said their goodbyes. Lathen thanked them for the help and walked back into the stable.

  Dr. Foster completed a thorough exam and turned to Pepper. “Barring infection, the young moose should make a full recovery.”

  “Sorry I had to tranq him, but I didn’t see any other way to move him without someone being injured,” Pepper said.

  “No, you did fine. The bullets only grazed him, but they did cut into the flank muscle pretty deep and his panic caused him to fall, so his left side is pretty scraped and bruised. It will be several weeks before we can release him into the wild. Do you have room to keep him here?”

  “Yes, we do but were planning to be gone over Thanksgiving. Meeting Lathen’s parents and his brother’s family at my mom and dad’s house in Colorado. But I guess we could…”

  “No problem, I’m staying in town for Thanksgiving. I can stop by a couple times a day to check on him. Who’s watching the rest of your animals?”

  “Alec is. He will be on site while we are gone. Speaking of others, there is a Barred Owl I’d like you to take a look at. It was injured during the same incident. Blinded by the damn spotlight and flew headlong into the truck. Appears he hit sideways to the truck and slid to the ground. Lots of bruising and lacerations but that’s about it. A huge lump on its head with a laceration, but pupils are normal and responsive, so hopefully no serious head trauma. Going to have a bad headache for a while, I’ll bet.”

  Dylan picked up her medical bag. “Lead the way, we’ll go check him out.”

  By the time Dylan left and Pepper made sure all the creatures were secure for the night, it was well past midnight. Lathen let out a jaw-popping yawn. “The cameras are supposed to arrive tomorrow. I’m going to call Alec first thing in the morning and see if we can’t get them all installed before we leave.”

  “That would be great.” She stifled a yawn with the back of her hand. “We don’t have to stay with the owl, Dylan said he’s resting comfortably, pupils are responsive, no indication of concussion, or injury to neck or spine, only the lump on his head. Her guess, it was a glancing blow, not a direct hit.”

  “If you want to stay, we’ll haul out the folding cots. Not a problem.”

  “If Dylan isn’t worried, we don’t need to be either.”

  “Okay. Back to the cameras. I know you would feel better about leaving if you were able to keep tabs on everyone.”

  “I have complete faith in Alec to handle it while we’re gone, but it would be nice to check in once in a while.” Pepper smiled sleepily. “I’m going to print out mailing labels for the wedding invitations. I can’t see handwriting all the envelopes, still having time to pack, and making sure everything here is done before we go. I know it seems a little…” Unless…maybe I could use an alternative…

  “Sounds good to me. Don’t worry about it. I doubt anyone will care how the invitations are addressed, just that they get one.” Lathen chuckled. “If they don’t like it, they don’t have to come.”

  Pepper swiped at him, but he sidestepped her scooping her up in his arms. “You, young lady should be in bed.”

  She wrapped her arms around his neck as he carried her up the stairs into their bedroom. After they took a quick shower, he pulled the covers down, she plopped onto the bed, and he crawled in beside her. Resting on his side, he pulled her to him. She snuggled into him, nibbling at his neck as her fingertips caressed the contours of his back. He relaxed, her fingers slowed, then stopped as her breathing became shallow and regular.

  ****

  The sound of a sonar ping penetrated his sleep muzzy brain. What the hell? Then he remembered leaving a message for Alec last night. Lathen rolled over, reached for his phone, and tried to focus on the screen. It was eight o’clock, and Alec’s text said that he’d be over by nine.

  Pepper rolled over and breathed a kiss at the base of Lathen’s throat. “Good morning.”

  “And a good morning to you.” He tilted her chin up and kissed her full lips. “I’d love to finish what we started last night, but Alec is on his way over.”

  “Why?” She blinked at him sleepily.

  “To help me install the cameras.” Lathen tossed the covers off and rested on the edge of the bed. “I’m going to take a quick shower.” He shoved up from the bed and padded into the bathroom leaving the door open.

  “Okay.” She waited until the water splashed in the enclosure, slipped out of the bed and tiptoed into the bathroom, opened the shower door and stepped inside. “Want me to wash your back?”

  “Sure.” A seductive smile spread across his face. She took the bar of soap from him, lathered her hands and began massaging his chest, abs, and her fingers slipped lower…

  He moaned and took the soap from her.

  As Lathen turned the shower off, the sound of tires crunching up the
driveway caused him and Pepper to scramble out of the shower, and rush to get dressed.

  “I’ll bring breakfast out to you,” Pepper said breathlessly. “I’ll fix enough for Alec too.” She pulled on black jeans and snagged her bra and plaid flannel shirt from the back of a chair.

  “Sounds like a plan. He reached for her caressing her naked breast with his fingertips as she tried to put on her bra.

  “You’re not helping.”

  “I know, but…”

  A loud knock sounded on the front door. A short pause then another. “Hey, you two. Are you up?”

  “Yeah, I’ll be right there. Hang on.” Lathen yanked on jeans, pulled on socks and boots before dashing down the stairs. He yanked open the door and grinned at Alec. “Come on in, kinda slow getting going this morning.” He closed the door.

  “So I see.” Alec raised an eyebrow. “Heard you had some excitement last night.”

  “Yeah. Got a couple new additions that will be with us for a while.” Lathen shrugged into his coat and opened the door just as Pepper bounded down the stairs and a delivery truck pulled up out front.

  “It’s going to be one of those days.” Pepper yawned. “After I check on the new additions, I’ll get breakfast ready and bring it to you. Alec, you hungry?”

  “Always.”

  Lathen ushered Alec out the door and closed it behind them.

  ****

  An hour and a half later, Pepper stuck her head out the door of the cabin and glanced around. Tonk was nowhere in sight. Ember was ambling up the path from the mammal habitat. “Where’s the guys?” she asked Ember. The dog stopped and looked back at the stable.

  “Thanks.” She donned her parka, covered a tray full of hot food, mugs of coffee, picked it up, and hurried across the path carrying breakfast. Ember stuck her nose in the air and sniffed, electing to follow Pepper and the food. Inside the mammal building, she found Lathen with a hand full of wire and Alec up on a ladder. “Breakfast.”

  “Mmm that smells fantastic,” Lathen said waiting for her to set the tray down, then wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her cheek.

  “Hey, none of that stuff here. We’re getting ready to eat.” Alec guffawed.

  “So, close your eyes,” Pepper retorted good naturedly. “How’s it coming?”

  “Really good. Got the seabird aviary finished. We’ll have this one done in another hour or so. Then we’ll program the cameras into the computer and see what we got.”

  “Wow.”

  “The cameras were really easy to install. Of course, I just hooked them into the wiring already in place. A little programming and they’re talking to each other. Now I need them to talk to the computer.”

  “I’ll leave you to it.” She walked through the door and into her office. “I’m going to print out the labels we talked about last night and call the stationery store, see what the chances are of getting the invitations tomorrow. That way I have a day to get them addressed, stamped, and mailed before we leave.”

  “I love it when a plan falls together,” Lathen called to her.

  Chapter Six

  All Packed, Crated, and Ready to Go

  Before the sun crested the horizon, Lathen loaded Tonk and Ember’s crates in the back of the LCWRRC van. He strapped the containers to the floor and commanded dog and wolf climb inside. Next was the crate with Kaylee inside; he picked it up and set her on the passenger’s side of the backseat. Loading the dog food and ice chest for the osprey’s fish on the other side of the seat seemed to him the safest way to make sure the dog food arrived intact.

  Pepper carried out the last piece of luggage as Lathen loaded the rest.

  “The animals have more stuff than we do. Only two suitcases for a week for both of us?”

  “Yeah, I’ve always traveled light.” She shrugged. “Besides, we can use Mom’s washer and dryer while we’re there.” Pepper walked around to the back of the van and put her hand on Tonk’s crate, opened the door, and stroked his soft muzzle looking into his warm brown eyes. “It’s going to be fine. This will be a great adventure. New smells and territory to explore.” The wolf groaned and licked her hand. She rubbed his ears and closed the gate to his crate. Next, she opened Ember’s crate, ruffled the fur around her ears, and rubbed her muzzle. “I know you don’t like being in the crate, but it’s for your own protection. Soon we will be aboard an airplane, and your adventure will begin. Remember you are in charge of Tonk, so be brave.”

  Lathen peered over Pepper’s shoulder as she soothed Ember and Tonk. “Are you sure they won’t freak out on the flight?”

  “Of course. Nervous…sure… But they’d rather be with us than left at home with Alec. They’ve made that quite clear to me. Kaylee included.” Pepper made her way to the side of the van, opened the door, and put her hand on Kaylee’s crate. “Well, this will be your first flight too. No loud whistling in the plane. Is that clear?” Opening the crate, Pepper stroked her wing reassuringly. “We are going to have a grand time.” She closed the crate door and turned to find Lathen hovering behind her, again.

  He enveloped her in his arms and brushed his lips over her cold ones, his warm breath caressing her face. Holding her close a moment more, he released her. “Better get in the van out of the frigid wind. I checked with Jay this morning, and he said according to the weather service, winds should die down before we take off. Should be a smooth flight to Denver. I’ve rented a large SUV for the duration of the Colorado visit.”

  “You think of everything.” She planted a smacking kiss on his lips before climbing into the van. He closed her door and sprinted around to the driver’s side and jumped inside.

  The trip to Bar Harbor was uneventful. Upon arrival at the airport, Lathen pulled into a parking spot next to the sign for Jay’s Charters and hopped out. “Wait here, I’ll see if we can drive on out to the plane or if he has a dolly for loading the crates.”

  After a couple minutes, Lathen came back, another man with dark hair streaked with silver in tow. He was stocky, wore blue jeans, and a black and silver parka. He was pointing to a sleek private jet across the tarmac. Lathen climbed back into the van. “We can drive out to the plane and load.”

  Jay and Lathen secured the crates next to the navy and silver leather seats where Pepper dropped her backpack. She was impressed with Jay’s attention to detail inside the plane. There were crystal vases attached between the windows with fresh maroon carnations, white roses, and sprigs of greenery in each. As she passed the sparkling stainless steel galley, a pretty brunette smiled. The enticing aroma of freshly brewed coffee wafted through the cabin. Jay gestured toward the woman. “This is Patti. She handles the galley and customers’ needs on the longer flights. Patti, you know my old friend, Lathen.” Jay clapped Lathen on the shoulder. “And this is Pepper, his soon to be bride.”

  Patti smiled. “Nice to see you again Lathen. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Pepper.”

  “Don’t you have a co-pilot?” Pepper asked looking toward the cockpit.

  “I’ve got one right here. Lathen’s still got his license, even though he’s bad about keeping his flight hours up. That reminds me, after the first of the year, you need a few more hours to keep current.”

  “Set me up right after the first, family will be gone by then.”

  Pepper’s eyes rounded in surprise. “You didn’t mention you’re a pilot.”

  “Never came up. Learned to fly in Alaska with Dad, when I was a teenager. Haven’t done a lot of flying since leaving the military. Just enough to keep my license current, though it was rough at times.”

  Jay hesitated a moment longer in the galley, giving Patti a wink then called out. “Who wants coffee before we take off?”

  “I’ll take a cup. Any chance you stock tea or hot chocolate?” Lathen asked.

  “Sure.” Jay turned to Pepper. “What’s your preference?”

  “Hot chocolate, please.”

  Opening the galley cabinet, he took three large, navy blue mugs bearing
Jay’s Charters logo in silver from the neat rows of dishes. Patti poured steaming coffee into two and hot water in one. Jay took a packet of hot chocolate, a spoon, and handed them to Pepper. “Better get buckled in, we’ll be ready for takeoff shortly. Figure we’ll be in Denver within seven hours.”

  Lathen and Pepper took their seats. She stirred in the hot cocoa mix, sprinkled a few mini marshmallows over the top, and took a sip. “Mmmm, this is good.” She licked her top lip to make sure there wasn’t a chocolate mustache. The plane taxied down the runway and was airborne in short order.

  Pepper watched out the window as Bar Harbor Airport disappeared behind fluffy clouds that obscured the landscape with the occasional mountain peak protruding through the white layers. Lathen settled into his seat with a paperback novel about a sniper.

  Jay called out it was safe to release the seat belts and move around a bit.

  Tonk whimpered a couple times, a low warning growl came from Ember’s throat in response. Tonk snarled and snapped at the air. Another loud rumble in Ember’s chest grew to a menacing bark. Pepper released her seat belt and got down on all fours staring directly into the crates. “Stop it you two, right now. If you don’t behave on this trip, you’ll be left home after this. Understood?” She got back to her feet and touched the crates.

  Ember cocked her head and stuck her paw through the wire crate trying to reach Pepper’s foot. Then Ember pulled it back inside the crate, snorted, and laid her head on front paws. Tonk woofed once and settled. Kaylee dozed through the flight. Pepper pulled out her tablet, checked off completed items on her wedding list, then pulled up a new release she’d been reading from her favorite romance author.

  A few hours into the flight, Patti brought out sandwiches, chips, and soft drinks and served homemade chocolate cupcakes for dessert.

  When Patti came back and sat down, with three bottles of water, she said, “We’ll be landing soon, so buckle up. Light flurries at DIA, but otherwise perfect.”

  Kaylee blinked several times, stretched out one wing and leg then the other side. She fluffed, whistled quietly, and stared at Pepper. Then fluffed again, rearranged her feathers, and took an alert position on her perch.