I relaxed into the moment and laughed out loud, feeling the relief of thinking I’d narrowly escaped a gruesome death and also from seeing the monsters behave like giddy puppies.
“Good morning, Angus,” I said, steadying my voice as I tried to pet both wolves at the same time. It wasn’t hard to do since their backs were even with my hip bone. “Aisling, how are the puppies?”
By this time, Lochlan had caught up to me and the magical creatures I’d thought were dogs.
He was wearing khaki knickerbockers over tan and gray argyle knee socks, like a golfer from a bygone era. There in the pristine beauty of the countryside, he almost made it work.
When I was close enough, I was relieved to see a broad smile on his handsome face.
“Rita! Good to see you out and about this mid-day. Are you walking alone or looking for company?”
“Looking for you, Lochlan. I like your, um, outfit.”
He looked down as if he couldn’t recall what he was wearing then chuckled. “I suppose this costume is a bit dated. Would you like to walk a ways with me?”
I smiled. “Yes. It’s wonderful up here. A little breezy.”
He nodded. “That’s why the trees are all leaning that direction.”
He pointed and I wondered why I hadn’t noticed that before. “Huh.” After a brief pause, I said, “So the dogs aren’t really dogs.”
With a delighted chuckle, he said, “Magnificent, aren’t they?
“Well, yes. They are. I may have to rethink the request for a, um, puppy.”
“We’ll see. Creatures such as these always end up where and with whom they’re supposed to be.”
“Huh,” I said, when my brain failed to locate a properly profound response.
“How can I be of service?”
“Well, this shawl…” I ran my hand lovingly down the bound hem. “Esmerelda tried to make it a gift when she saw that I loved it. Maggie wouldn’t hear of it. That led to a discovery that there are rules. Bribery rules? That didn’t come up in our discussion last night or I would’ve mentioned that I’ve already broken a rule. Molly tried to comp my lunch. There was a good-natured tussle with Mayor Mistral.”
Lochlan barked out a laugh at that and repeated. “Mayor Mistral, is it? Did Maggie tell you some nonsense about him being unelected mayor?”
“She did.” I nodded. “Yes.” I hoped I hadn’t spoken out of turn.
“Well, I guess it does no harm to call him that.”
“Anyway, he ended up paying for my lunch.”
“Technically I suppose it didn’t count. Since you haven’t officially declared acceptance of the position. You didn’t know better at the time, but those scallywags did. I should issue a warning.”
I stopped. “A warning? So, there are laws that are enforced? By you?”
“No. There are rules that are enforced by you!”
That had my curiosity charging to the forefront, moving my other questions aside.
“How does that work?”
“Well, in addition to hearing and deciding on disputes, you may assess fines, or other punishment, of rulebreakers.”
I frowned. “Who keeps track of who’s breaking rules?”
With a sidelong look, he said, “That would be myself. I issue citations which must be answered during Court Meet.”
“You sort of work for the Court?”
“Yes. You might think of me as your clerk. Of course, it will be your privilege to choose another if you prefer someone else.”
There was no question in my mind that Lochlan would be crushed if I decided to replace him with somebody else.
“That means you’d work for me?”
He grinned. “I would.”
“The reason why I’m out here is because I asked Maggie if there’s like a list of rules and she said you’d know.”
He threw his head back in an, “Aha,” gesture before nodding once.
“A list of rules, is it? Well, let’s see. There’s the one you mentioned regarding currying favor with gifts. You’re obligated to show up for Court and render decisions. Yes. I think that covers it.”
“Who decides what cases are going to be…?”
“Heard?”
“Yes.”
“You. Three weeks before Court Meet, you’ll be presented with a list of complaints. Briefs you might call them. You can decide to rule on all of them or you can decline some if it’s your measured judgment that they have no merit.”
“Wow. That sounds like a lot of power.”
“You could see it that way. We’re preserved because of the power of the Court to sort our differences objectively. We tend to be a quarrelsome lot, often divorced from reason. I think that’s been mentioned.”
“Not the part about being divorced from reason. You mean crazy?”