Page 40 of Ties of Bargains

Val smiled in a manner that was somewhere between sharp and sweet. “That is Daisy. My dog.”

“And one of my companions.” Harm grinned as well. He had, at least, taken Daisy into account when he’dbeen making his bargain, even if he hadn’t realized the crone had cats.

The old woman grimaced, smelled the cheese again, and turned for the door. “Very well, dearies. But the dog must stay in your room away from the cats.”

Something crashed inside the house, followed by more hissing and barking.

The crone muttered under her breath as she picked up her pace and hurried inside as quickly as she could.

Val sighed, shook her head, and followed. She didn’t draw her knife so she must believe it was safe enough. As she reached the porch, her eyes widened, and she lunged inside. “No, Daisy! Down!”

Harm took the stairs to the porch two at a time and stepped inside the house as Val all but tackled a barking, leaping Daisy, dragging her away from a curio cabinet. Two black cats perched on top, puffed up and hissing.

A small wooden-topped table with white legs dominated the center of the room while a fireplace sat on one end and the curio cabinet on the other. The back wall featured two doors with framed paintings of flowers hanging between them. Doilies decorated the curio cabinet’s shelves beneath all the teacups while more doilies hung over the backs of the chairs.

It would have been a quaint sight, if one of the chairs hadn’t been toppled, Val wasn’t rolling about on the floor as she restrained her currently-three-headed dog, and too many black cats to count weren’t dashing all over the place, knocking around teacups and scattering doilies. One cat tried to claw its way up the curtains, nearly tearing it off the rod.

“Close the door behind you!” the crone shrieked as another cat made a beeline for the outdoors.

Harm grabbed the door and yanked it closed. The cat skidded and dug its claws into the wooden floor before it could smack into the door.

“Which room is ours?” Val wrestled with Daisy, the dog still squirming and barking hoarsely at the cats.

“That one!” The crone pointed at the door on the left before she lunged and snatched one of the teacups before it could fall to the floor.

Harm dashed across the room as quickly as he could, given that he had to step over the fallen chair, inch past the crone, try not to trip on the cats, and dodge Val and Daisy. He opened the door to the room the crone had indicated.

On her knees, Val shuffled across the floor, hauling Daisy with her, until she shoved the dog into the room. Harm jerked the door closed.

For a moment they all remained frozen where they were, Harm with his hand on the door, Val hunched on the floor, and the cats tucked into whatever hidey-holes they’d found.

Then the old woman held up the teacup she’d saved from shattering on the floor. “Would anyone like some tea?”

Harm released a breath, something almost like a laugh filling his chest. “I don’t need any tea, but I’ll sit at the table while you have tea.”

Val shot him a look, but he shrugged as he righted the chair and sat on it. Sure, they wouldn’t dare eat or drink anything but spending a few minutes in politeconversation with their hostess wouldn’t hurt now that the bargain was in place. They could afford to be gracious.

Her shoulders stiff, her eyes glaring daggers, Val dropped into one of the other chairs.

The whole house gave a lurch, and Harm gripped the table before he fell over backwards. Thankfully, the table must have been bolted to the floor because it didn’t budge, even as the cottage swayed the other direction.

“The house is moving.” An unnecessary statement, but Harm couldn’t help but blurt it anyway as he braced himself.

“Of course, dearies. What else would the legs be for?” The old woman bustled about her kitchen as she shooed cats out of her way and put a kettle on for tea. “Where are the two of you headed?”

Harm shared a look with Val. Perhaps this wasn’t such a good idea after all. Who knew where this old woman was taking them, and he didn’t need Val’s sharp look to know not to share their destination with her.

“Across the Harvest Court.” Val casually rested her hand on her knife, her posture almost too relaxed. “Where is your house taking us?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t know. It goes where it wants.” The old woman waved vaguely as she assembled her tea leaves for steeping.

That didn’t sound promising. What if the house took them back the way they’d come and they had to walk across the Harvest Court all over again?

Catching his eye, Val shrugged, then murmuredunder her breath for only him to hear, “At least this is a safe place to stay tonight.”

There was that. Harm hadn’t even seen a nuckelavee, but if the scarecrows were an example of the monsters that guarded the fields during the day, he didn’t want to run into the ones that patrolled at night.

The various black cats settled into places along the windowsills, on the curio cabinet between the teacups, and on the kitchen cupboards where the crone was working.

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