Dana

by Kathi S. Barton

  “You know, young man, no one talks to me like you are and gets away with it.” He told her to go home then if she didn’t like it. “You’re very forward, aren’t you? Well, I have to say...I have to tell you that I like that in you. Yes, you’re right. I need to make up to them. I’ve been a bitter old woman, and I treated them poorly because of their father. And now he hates me too.” “Nah, I think he didn’t like you before today.” She told him not to be sassy. “You need to take ahold of yourself and be nice. I’m not kidding. I thought for sure you were going to pull out a gun and make me come with you.” “Well, I might have, but I don’t think we’d suit. We’re much too much alike. But I do like you. I might even grow to love you. If you can keep that tongue behind your teeth.” He said he wasn’t even going to try. “Good for you. All right. I’m leaving, but expect me to come back. I want to know you, and I promise you, Mel, that I’ll get on making up to the others too. And even to Roger. He’s put up with a lot from me.” “I’m sure he has.” She stood up and he did as well. “I’m glad that you understand why I can’t go. And if you want to come by the greenhouse tomorrow, you’ll see why I can’t. I love my new job, and they like me there.” “And why wouldn’t they? You’re my grandson, after all.” He hugged her too and walked her to the door. “You need anything? I mean, you seem to think you have it all.” “I do. And that’s enough for me.” She nodded and turned to leave, then looked at him again. “I’m fine. I promise you. You have things to do too. I’m just fine here.” Without another word she left him. And he had a feeling that it would be the last time he saw her too. She wouldn’t come back for the simple reason that she’d not be able to make him do what she wanted and staying away would ensure to her that it was his fault, not hers. Whatever the reason, he was happy with the results of tonight. Going to bed, he was sure he wasn’t going to be able to sleep. But almost as soon as he laid his head on the pillow, Mel was out. Exhaustion was his best friend nowadays. ~~~ Dana saw the man while he and Sapphire were having breakfast in town. Today was Wednesday, a big day for the restaurant since it was all you could eat pancakes. And seeing strangers in town stuck out like a sore thumb. He nodded in his direction when he entered where they were. You think that’s the man that Carmine was telling us about? He nodded and was glad that Sapphire was using their link. I don’t have time to mess with him today. I need to get over to Dragon’s Breath. Let me know if we have to kill him. With that she kissed him on the mouth and laughed when he pulled her back for one more, this one a little more like he enjoyed them. As she went on her way, he stood up to go to the counter. Even for all you can eat, it was a cheap meal. Paying his ticket, he reached out to all of the dragons and told them what was going on. You kept her home from school today, didn’t you, Quinn? She said that she did when Danburn asked. I’ll warn Shawn and tell him what we think here. I don’t want them going out there because they might think she’s there and getting themselves killed. You’re so sure that they’ll be dead? Then Dana laughed. Okay, you’d better tell him to make sure that the bodies are gone too.

  Dana noticed that there were a lot of out of county license plates around town, so perhaps he was just coming to the opening. They had put word out that it was opening today. Maybe that was all it was. But he didn’t really believe his own words. Not with the way the man was dressed. Suits weren’t what one would wear to a grand opening. Nor did most people take a gun with them. He was armed, he could see that. And he wore dark glasses, like he didn’t want anyone to know his face. He saw Mel walking to work and moved toward him to walk with him. Mel told him the car wouldn’t start. “You should get you a new one.” He said he’d have to save up for it. that he didn’t have any credit. “I’ll co-sign for you. You need something more reliable.” “I know, but there is something about the old clunker that I like.” They both laughed. “I will have something by winter, I promise. I can’t be walking in the snow. I’ll get sick again. I was sick one whole winter once. Pissed Melville off something terrible.” “You’ve made a decision to stop calling him Dad?” He told him about his visitors last night and what he’d said to them. “Good for you. I knew you had a good head on your shoulders. But you have to tell me, why is it that you don’t think you’ll see her anymore? I mean, didn’t you say you parted on good terms?” “I don’t know. She’s sort of set in her ways, I think. Anyway, I don’t care. Not really and— Holy crap, look at all the people. Sapphire must be going about nuts right now.” Dana could feel her fear and told Mel to go on in, he’d deal with things out here. All the carts were taken up by the people in the first part of the line. And there were small children riding in them. He was worried that it was going to be a stampede when the doors opened and didn’t want anyone hurt. So he organized the people like he did his paints. Orderly and in straight lines. At nine o’clock almost on the button, Denny and Mel came to the doors on the other side armed with maps of the place. He was glad for that—it might make things easier for them in their rush to get inside. As soon as the door opened, he watched as the two of them stood in front of the lines, another way to slow people down, and handed them a map with a general “Hello” and “Welcome” to each person. Sapphire was in the back, watching everything. He made his way back there. “They were going to crush anyone that got in their way.” He said he’d figured that out. “I was afraid that they’d kill each other. It’s only a few flowers and shit. What is wrong with people?” “I don’t know, but you fixed it.” She told him that Mel had. “Good for him. When Denny moves on to his next project, you going to put him in his place?” “Yes, and I don’t think, after today, that I’ll have to convince him.” Dana told her what he’d heard from Mel. “Good. I figured that she’d try and kidnap him or something to get him there where she could rule him. I have a feeling that her husband is going to see a difference in her too, if she holds to what she said she’d do.” “Hard to tell.” She agreed. “The place looks really nice, Sapphire. You did a fantastic job. And all the other things you have, decorations for yards and stuff, that looks like something you’d see in the bigger stores.”

  “It was for a bigger store. And since I got it so cheap, free is cheap I think, I sort of passed the savings on to the people. Not half price, but I did double what I’d have to pay for it then took off twenty percent. That way if we have to order more, they won’t be bitching about sticker shock.” They walked around the place. She was dressed in jeans and a tee, not a company one, but she looked like she belonged here. When someone asked a question, she answered it and sent them on their way. This was going to be epic, he thought. “I have to go away for a few days. The sisters and I have a job.” “I wondered when you’d be going.” She nodded but didn’t look thrilled about leaving. “What is it, honey? You don’t want to do this anymore?” “I don’t and I do. I love hiding the gems that we make. And knowing that someday people are going to find them and be so happy. Then there are times when I feel like what’s the use. They make them perfect now, and why would anyone want one of my gems when they might have a small flaw in them?” “I know what you mean. I was in a store once, a long time ago, and I saw what I thought was one of my pieces. It was made of plastic. I’d sold the piece to this man who in turn made copies of it to make a bit of cash off of my art. I was so pissed and depressed about that, it took me over a decade to get back to doing what I wanted.” The trees seemed to be a hot item. Some of them they’d gotten from the failed green house, and a lot of them were inventory that had been left there from the last time it had been a greenhouse. He saw two people arguing over which apple tree they wanted. Sapphire took out her marker and put ten percent off on them when they agreed to buy them both. He was laughing at her when she walked with him again. “They were going to buy them anyway, but this way they think they took me. Why is it that people think they need to get a deal on everything? Or that they have to have a coupon when they go out to dinner? I buy what I want when I need it. I don’t care if there is a sale. But if I come to buy, that’s what I�
��m going to do.” “Not everyone has the funds to do that as we do.” She told him she guessed that was it. “And humans as a whole like to think they’ve gotten the best deal possible on things. And so you understand, they didn’t ask you for a discount. You gave it to them out of the kindness of your heart.” “Why do you have to be so nasty all the time?” He hugged her to him. “I love this place, but now that it’s running well, I’m ready to move onto something more. I was thinking about some of the shops in town. I don’t want to run them, but I think I’d like to help them get going better. Inventory reductions, as well as marketing. For as long as I’ve been around, I can teach them a thing or two about selling.” “I’m sure you could easily, but talk to Kendrick. She has some ideas on some of the empty shops too. You two could go into business together. Even Cassie and Quinn could help you out. They’re really good at this sort of thing too. See?” They were both working the cash registers, having the best time ordering their husbands around while they bagged and wrapped purchases for them. And the line of people ready to check out was having fun too. It was a good way to keep tempers down while they had to wait, he thought.

  “They insisted that they help. And Elissa is over there in the faerie garden area helping people purchase the things they’ll need to get their own started. I wonder what they’d say if they knew that a real faerie lived in that little house, and is currently hanging around the flowers gathering nectar.” Probably be impressed then freak out, Dana told her. “That’s my thinking as well. Thank you for coming in to help out. I don’t know what I would have done without you here.”

  “You would have done very well. And the fact that you really didn’t need me should tell you that.” She told him that she forever needed him. “And I you. Forever.”

  Chapter 11

  Anthony Erickson moved in and out of the crowd like he was shopping for the perfect plant, when in reality he was looking for the child. The notes that he’d found when cleaning out the desk of his former employee, Ramon Packer, had given him enough information to know that she was going to bring him some good cash. But unlike his predecessor, he was looking for the girl all on his own, and had taken all the notes to his own little hiding place, then burned them when he had all that he could gather from them. The girl was here. And the sooner he got her out of this little town, the better he’d be. Little towns knew every move you made. If you were a stranger in town, they watched you twice as hard. But today, this opening couldn’t have come at a better time. There were a great many strangers in town. There was also some babble about dragons in the notes that he’d found in Ramon’s car when they’d released it to him. Dragons in this day and age? Not likely, but he was following up on every lead that he could find. And if there were dragons here, then no one was talking about them. He saw her about a second before she turned and looked at him. Standing next to a large man, holding her hand in his, Anthony wondered how he could lure her away. But almost as if she knew what he was doing, she whispered to the man and then took off toward the back of the shop. Anthony followed her and kept his eye on the man. There was no telling what she told him before leaving. There were several port-o-johns lined up against the back of the large greenhouse, so he figured that was where she’d gone. He didn’t want to look as if he were stalking someone, so he made sure to look at and pick up items before setting them back on the shelf. The man beside him asked if he was going to buy it, and it took him several seconds to realize he meant the plant and not the girl. Anthony handed it to him and walked away. She came out of the third bathroom a few minutes later. But instead of going back with the man, she stood there and stared at him. Anthony had no idea why, but he felt his ass pucker tight and his balls curl up around his throat, it felt like. And when she walked toward him, Anthony looked around to see if this was a joke. “You’ll never get beyond the doors of this place if you try and take me.” He showed her his gun. “That won’t bother any of my family. You might just make them mad if you pull that out and think to use it.” “You’re worth a great deal of money, and if I have to kill a couple of people to get what I want, then so be it. Why don’t you come along with me nicely and no one has to get hurt?” She told him he would. “No, I won’t. I’ve been doing this sort of thing for a very long time.” “Killing or taking little girls that aren’t yours? I’m not going with you, Mr. Erickson.” The fact that she knew his name startled him, but then he wasn’t sure what the kid could do other than she could move things. “I can do a great many things that you don’t know about.” “I’m assuming that you can read my mind too?” She nodded, and he knelt down to her level. “Little girl, you’re going to come with me or I’ll shoot this place up, and your parents too.” “All right, but like I told you, you won’t get any further than the door before you’re caught. And you might get out, but the dragons will take care of you when you do.” He asked her what dragons. “That one is a dragon. That man over there, my dad, he’s a dragon. And so is that lady in the green T-shirt. Most of the people working here, they’re wolves. But they’ve been told to let the dragons handle you.” “They know that I’m here to get you?” She told him that she’d told them all. “Why not? I suppose that you have a connection to them all because they drank your blood. Or is it that you have a phone in the bathroom that you used?” “No, silly. I have a cell phone with which I took your picture and sent it to them. They know who you are.” He looked around and did notice that he was being watched by a great many of the people that she’d pointed out. “Are you sure you want to do this? You’ll die if you do. And the dragons will make sure that no one ever knows that you were here today.” “That’s murder.” She only stared at him. “Look kid, come out with me and no one has to get hurt. You don’t want me to shoot anyone, do you?” “You won’t get to.” She was starting to get on his nerves. This was a simple case of snatch and run. He had her right in his hands, and all he had to do now was run. But the door had never seemed so far away from him before. “Are you really thinking you can get away with this?” He didn’t, but he wasn’t going to let some kid dictate to him what he could and couldn’t do. Pulling her along behind him, he made it halfway there and no one had tried to stop him. He did notice that even the patrons of the place now seemed to be frozen in place, but he was nearly to the door now, and he was going to do it. When a man rushed by him with a cart of flowers, he moved out of his way. When he did, Carmine pulled free of him and he turned in time to see that the dragons that she had pointed out to him were now gone. Just poof, they were not where they’d been before. He looked at the doorway now and felt the finger of fear take over. “You still have time to change your mind.” He didn’t even look at her, but he did put out his hand and told her to take it. “I’m not allowed to go outside. They don’t want me to see what they do to you.” “What is it they’re planning to do?” When she didn’t answer, he turned around to look at her. “What are they going to do to me, Carmine?” “Nothing if you change your mind.” He said that he wasn’t going to do that. “They’re going to kill you then. And not kindly either.” “What does that mean?” She shrugged, and he wasn’t sure that not knowing was any better than if she had told him. His mind was a jumble of wolves tearing him apart and dragons burning him to a crisp and eating him. “Carmine, let’s go. You and I can talk about your vivid imagination after we get away from here.”

  “I’m not leaving.” She looked to his right and he was almost afraid to look there too. “The shoppers have no idea what is going on, Dad. So if you need to take care of him now, I don’t care. He was going to sell me to someone. But they don’t know about me yet. No one does but this man.” “So, if we take care of the threat now, we don’t have to worry over it any more. No more looking over our shoulders.” She nodded and then looked at him. The heavy hand on his shoulder made his bladder ache. “Mr. Erickson, you should know that the place is surrounded. If you leave here with the intent of taking my daughter, you’ll never make it. We’ve already gotten rid of your car and contents.�
�� “My car.” Now what did he do? Pulling out his gun, he grabbed Carmine to him and put it to her head. “I want out of here, and you’re going to allow me to have safe passage or I kill her.” “Carmine, did you know this?” She said that she didn’t, but that was all right. “He’s not going to hurt you, is he?” “No, Dad, he won’t.” Nodding, the man asked him again to leave his daughter alone. “He can’t now, Dad. He’s committed.” As he made his way to the door, he thought about the money that he might be getting. Right now, he thought there was a good chance he’d be lucky to get out alive. And when Carmine told him he wasn’t going to, he wanted to pull the trigger and kill the fucking kid. As soon as he was out of the building, he relaxed. But it was the wrong move. As soon as the gun slipped a little from her head, the child simply disappeared, and he felt himself lifted up. It wasn’t until he was looking into the face of the ugliest creature he’d ever seen that he began to believe in dragons. “Don’t kill me, please? I won’t tell anyone.” The dragon didn’t speak, but he did toss him through the air. When he landed in another dragon’s palm, he knew a new kind of hell. This dragon was pissed, and he knew this was not going to end well. “She wants me to tell you what she’s saying.” He looked at the man that had been trying to convince him not to leave. “Mr. Erickson, this is my wife, Quinn, sister to Carmine. And she wants me to tell you what she’s saying.” “Can she talk?” He said not that he’d understand it. “Then how am I supposed to know what she’s saying?” “I’m going to tell you.” He had said that, but in his fear, he’d forgotten. “She said to tell you that you should have a slow and painful death. But she doesn’t have time for that today.” “Is she going to let me go until she has more time? I’m okay with that.” The man laughed. “She’s saying no, I take it.” “Quinn said that she might have made it a fast, quick death had you not put a gun to her sister’s head. But that deserves some kind of punishment.” His arm was ripped from his body and tossed away. Screaming, he almost missed what was said next. “And punishment from a dragon is not what you’d expect from anyone else.” His left leg was snapped off at the knee. Anthony was sick with the pain now, and he could see that she was enjoying herself. When she lifted her hand up, extended her claws out, he was sure that she was going to impale him, but all she did was eviscerate him. Anthony tried his best to hold his guts in with one hand while bleeding to death. “Kill me now, please?” The big head shook, and he felt his leg break under the pressure of her claw. “Why are you doing this? I didn’t get her—I didn’t sell her to anyone. But do you know how much she’s worth?” “Everything to me.” The giant claw touched his head, and he knew before she