Page 43 of Nanny for the Wolf Daddy

TWENTY-EIGHT

KELLI

Kelli was feeling more and more comfortable about their plan of attack when it came to getting Elise and Nevel out of the mines. She worked with them, in the same way every day and would feed them extra meat to make sure their bodies would be ready for battle.

Even though Archie wasn’t as dumb as he looked, Kelli found that his trust in her was starting to make him look like an idiot. He left her alone during practices, even when she hugged the wolves for longer periods of time than seemed necessary.

The guards didn’t notice, nor did Samuel or anyone involved in the disgusting racket. Archie marched back in one morning after Kelli told the wolves what they were up to.

“The show is gonna be an incredible success!” He beamed. “We’ve sold so many more tickets than we even thought was possible.”

Kelli wore her usual outfit for training, which was yet another plaid shirt and comfortable track pants. As Archie walked toward her, she noticed he had something behind his back. The clown-like smile on his face made her audibly gulp.

“You are going to make so much money from this, missy!” he bellowed.

As he spoke, he brought what he had been hiding to her face, nearly blinding her in the process. He stared at her for an instant reaction like a kid learning his first magic trick.

He was holding a scanty one-piece outfit covered with bright sequins, decorated in red and deep-sea blue. Kelli was physically repulsed by its tackiness but swallowed the response the way one swallows their own vomit.

“Looks lovely,” she said, repressing her chagrin.

He waved it by the hanger it was attached to, the sequins reflecting relentlessly in the circus spotlights.

“Methinks young missy here is going to look like a tasty treat while doing her tricks tomorrow night!”

Kelli could have sworn that she saw drool glistening off his bottom lip but chose to ignore it by taking the outfit into her hands. They were covered in red meat juice, but she wasn’t planning on wearing the outfit for very long, anyway.

“I can’t wait to show it off!” she said with animated, forced glee.

Archie then began a sad attempt to tap dance while Samuel and the henchmen looked on in awkward awe. Kelli tried to keep herself from losing it completely.

“We’re gonna be swimming in money, honey,” he yelled. “You and your husband are gonna be on your knees thanking me!”

Kelli didn’t like what that implied, but it didn’t matter. She and Nox had their plan almost completed and were ready to pull the trigger the very next day.

She held the outfit to her chest and clapped as he finished off his lame display of excitement. Despite his seeming intelligence, it turned out that what mattered to Archie was what really mattered to almost every villain in every simple story ... money and power.

“Now y’all get back to work,” he screamed. “I’m gonna see about counting out the cash for you good people!”

No one seemed to experience the same amount of joy that Archie did, but they clapped and smiled anyway.

Once he had gone away, Kelli used the opportunity to explore the mine and the caves beyond under the guise of trying on her outfit. She moved around after feeding Elise and Nevel more food and water, giving them a wink of understanding.

“I’ll be right back,” she whispered.

Normally, Kelli stored her things near the entrance of the cave in an area that replicated a locker room. It looked like a space where miners changed after a long day in the depths.

She used that time to place her ugly outfit inside her cubby, then explored deeper into the caves while Archie wasn’t on her back.

She was still being blindfolded when they brought her in, but they had become more lax about it. A few times, she watched her own feet as they walked in, noting a particularly dead tree outside the entrance, making mental notes for Nox and the pack.

On that day, while Nevel and Elise rested, she explored a few tunnels, areas where she thought the pack could easily hide, along with the sniper man that Nox was attempting to recruit. They could wait for her to leave in the morning, then stealthily move into place before Kelli gave the signal.

She made sure to return to the wolves before Archie, Samuel, or the henchmen holding the weapons noticed. She started training them again, but she used fire around the hoops, something which she deeply hated for its natural danger.

Kelli informed Elise and Nevel about the plan and that they, too, were required to participate. Nevel nodded in his wolf way and scarfed down every little bit of extra meat Kelli provided. They needed their strength because the rescue was going down within hours.

Kelli crouched next to them during another break, with the wolves lying down with the meat bucket between them.

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