Page 8 of Wrangler

After talking a bit more, Larry said that he had to fill out some paperwork on them. Also, would Amber come down sometime tomorrow and press charges against them. He told him that she’d be there first thing and that he’d bring her himself. Tomorrow was going to be a good day, he thought, just to show the older couple that Amber meant business.

“Hello.” Startled out of his thoughts, he looked at Pancake when he landed on his knee. “The mistress is all right, sir? She was so fearful of one of us getting hurt that she tried to send us away. I love her for that, and so do the other faeries.”

“She cares about a great many things. You guys are just one of many. Did you get the jam made?” He nodded, excitement racing all over the little man. “Good. She might want some when she wakes up. I know that I can always use a bit of sweets when I’ve been stressed out.”

“We had a good harvest this year, sir. The berries alone have been something that we’ve not had in some time. I think that it’s because the others like me wish to please the young miss.” Wranglerreminded him, too, that Amber had asked for some tea. “Yes, our lady the queen has given us permission to make her some of her own brew. It will suit her well with all the things going on around her, we all believe.”

“I’m glad to hear that. When you give it to her, make sure that you tell her that the queen has allowed you to share. She’ll love the story that goes with it.” Pancake smiled and flittered around a bit before coming back to sit on his knee again. “Something bothering you? I’ll do what I can to help you. You know that Amber will as well.”

“Her and master Wills are the best, sir. The very best. But we were…I mean to say that she is ready to breed. I wouldn’t normally say that to you, but she did say that she wanted about a million children and while I know that’s a fair amount of babies, she’ll need to get started on them soon, I believe.” He told him that it was just an expression for her to rub it into the face of her parents. “Oh yes, I can understand that now. Yes, I get it. I did think that was a great many babies to have.”

When Amber woke up, she seemed to be in a better mood than before. While she and Pancake talked about the jelly and the tea, he kept an eye out for anyone coming around. It wouldn’t surprise him at all if the Damons hired someone to come after his mate, and that would be the end of them if they did. Wrangler wouldn’t hesitate one moment in making good on his promise to rip their throats out.

Wills was playing with the game system that he’d had. It was outdated, but since he’d not ever had a chance to play with one, it was fine by Wills. Even the games that he was playing were something that he’d not thought of in years.

“Wrangler, can I talk to you?” Wills was helping set the table for them for dinner and had his hands full of cutlery and plates. “You can tell me no if you want, but I was wondering if it would be all right with your brothers if I called them Uncle? I don’t know that I’d mind all that much in calling you brother either. That’s what you are, aren’t you? My brother, on account of you marrying my sister?”

“I’d be honored if you were to call me your brother. I promise you that I’ll never treat you any differently than a family is supposed to. I grew up with a terrible mom and her dad so you and me, we’ll be learning how to be good relatives as we go along.” Wills paused in his setting the table and looked at him. “Something else that you want to tell me?”

“You told my parents that you adopted me. Were you just funning with them?” He said that Sunny had made sure that he was adopted by him so that there wouldn’t be any problems down the line. “You mean like me going to school and all.”

“Yes. Your sister is your legal guardian as well. And by legal, I mean that it’s been okayed by the courts that we can make decisions on your welfare without having to go through your parents.” He told him that they’d more than likely tell him to let him die. “That’s not going to happen. You understand that, don’t you?”

“Pancake told me that I was an immortal. To be honest with you, Wrangler, I don’t want to be a ten-year-old little boy for the rest of my life.” He explained to him, without laughing too much, how that was going to work. “Oh, good. I thought that I’d be an old man like you and be looking like a ten-year-old. Thanks for clearing that up for me.”

“My pleasure.” They talked about school and how much he was going to enjoy it. Also, the two of them talked about a puppy for Wills. “We’ll have to find a puppy for us that is raised around shifters like I am. I’ve known a couple of people doing that, making sure that kids of shifters can have pets, but I’ll look into it more tomorrow.”

“Thank you. Amber told me that I could have a dog someday when we were settled, but we didn’t really hold out much hope for that. We’ve been running since I was just a little kid. I think the first time that Amber took me out of the house was when I was six. It seems like we’ve been running from them since that day.” He asked him what had prompted her to take him away so young. “Dad beat me. I spilled my milk on the table, and that made him mad. I was in terrible shape when Amber got home, and she took me to the hospital. After that, we never went back. Well, not unless they caught us. We weren’t so good at first in hiding out, but we got better as time went on. They used to find mewhen I was little. I didn’t pay attention to Amber telling me to be careful, so I’d get caught. But no more. I know what to do and how to do it nowadays.”

“I hope you never have to run from this house.” He said that he wasn’t planning on it. “Good. Also, I wanted you to know that your parents have been arrested and that it’ll be a while before they can stand before a judge. But I still want you to be extra careful. There is no telling who they might talk to if they think there is a buck or two to be made.”

“I’ll be careful. You too, okay? I know you’re a big cat and all but I don’t want you to be hurt either. I think that Amber would just about shrivel up and die if you weren’t around her all the time. I know that I would, too. I really like you, Wrangler.” He had to smile at that, telling the young man that he was immortal, too. “Yeah, I know that, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be hurting. All right?”

“Yes, all right.” They were sitting at the table now, the one in the kitchen that they’d been using for dinner time when no one was around. Harp, their faerie cook, was making great strides in making meals for them, and since he’d been able to give her a cookbook, she was having so much fun mixing things up for them. Like tonight. They were having ham steaks, his favorite grill, pineapple, and tater toes. Not tots, no, they were forever going to be called tater toes as far as he was concerned.

“I’ve been thinking about school.” Amber asked her brother if he thought that he was going to get out of studying just because they had a home. “Gosh, no. You’d beat me around with a wet, limp noodle. I was wondering if the schools around here would take me in. I don’t have any kind of school record. We’ve been running for so long, but I do want to go to school soon.”

“It’s summer break, but I do know that the nearby pack has some summer classes that you can take about the outdoors. I know next to nothing about the schools around here. I know that they’re asking for money for the new football field, but other than that, nothing. Who to ask would be my brother Beau. He’s on the board there and has been a huge supporter of their fundraisers since we’ve been on our own.” Wrangler tried to think when the last time he’d even gotten to go to an event that was going on at the school. “I’ll ask him to come over if you want. I know that he’s been working a lot on some of the investments that we have going on right now.”

“I’m working with him tomorrow on one of his garden projects for the faerie queen. She sure is sparkly, don’t you think?” Wills grinned. “Anyway, we’re going to go to the other realm and find out what kind of seeds can be planted over here so that the faeries can take care of them. I’m having so much fun with Queen Lily. Did you know that she has all kinds of animals around her that everybody thinks are fake? I got to see a real dragon when I was there the last time.

While Wills was talking about his visiting the queen to his sister, Wrangler reached out to talk to his little brother. Beau told him that he and Wills had been working together on several projects here and in the other realm, and he was glad to have him with him.

“The kid has a way about him that makes me think that he’s an old man in a kid’s body. However, he’s smart as a tact, too about things. And if you ask him something, you’d better be prepared for a straight-up answer, too.”Wrangler told him that he had noticed that about him. “I will have a talk with him about the local school system. I’m not sure if anyone has contacted any of us about the place, but it’s the same place that I think our mother might well have gone to.”

“That’s what I was thinking too. There is a plaque on the front of the building that has a year on it when it was established and I believe that it was well before our grandfather went there. I know for sure that the date would have put our dad going there.”

After dinner and his conversation with Beau, the three of them walked into town to have an ice cream. He had been craving a banana split for a month now and was happy when he was told they had just enough bananas for him to have one and Wills, too. Amber just wanted a plain vanilla cone, and he was going to tease her about that until she branched out her tastebuds.

Wrangler was going to have to work harder on his job before the end of the year. He kept books for a few businesses around town, and he liked it well enough. But it wasn’t mind-stimulating to him anymore. He, too, needed to branch out in a different direction, and he couldn’t wait to figure out what that might entail.

~*~

Weston couldn’t believe his luck. Yesterday he’d been in town just wandering around when one of the kids that he’d seen hanging out with at the basketball courts had asked him if he had some money on him. It wasn’t for anything that he wouldn’t normally do but they didn’t have a basketball and really wanted to play. After giving them the money to get one, he sat in the bleachers and watched them playing for about an hour. Then Rocky, who had asked for the money brought him the ball back and told him that he could keep it.

“Nah, you might as well keep it, Mr. Weston. They’re tearing down this area in a couple of days anyway.” He asked him where he’d heard that and one of the other boys brought him over the flyer that had been hung up nearby. “They said that nobody uses it and that it would be better served as a paying parking lot. Me and the boys, we come here all the time. I mean, it’s got a lot of glass and stuff around, too, but we play here nearly every day in the summer.”

It took him an hour after talking to the boys before he was able to track down the person in charge of the lot destruction. There used to be a tennis court with a basketball court, too, but it, as Rocky said, was covered in glass, weeds, and empty beer and cola cans. Ms. Peashaw, secretary to the mayor, told him that the sale hadn’t gotten them any interest so they were just going to tear it down.

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