short distance to Lochlan’s house in my red shoes, said hello to the wolves as they ran to the gate to perform their greeting ritual, then clacked the big Greenman doorknocker three times. In a very short time, I heard the latch move from within.
“Well, Magistrate,” Lochlan said as he opened the door. “Come in. Come in.”
“No need, Lochlan. And, um, you can call me Rita. I just came by to say I’m staying. You’d mentioned needing some transfer signatures?”
“The papers are at my office. Would you like to take care of that now?”
“No. I’m going out for a drive. Tomorrow morning?”
“Yes. That will do fine.”
“Do I need a lawyer?”
Lochlan’s face transformed into a mixture surprise, confusion, offense, and temper. “I’m your lawyer!”
“You are?”
“Of course.”
“Do you have a phone?”
“I do. It’s a little old-fashioned. Hangs on the wall. I’d need to be home to hear it.”
I sighed. “Well. Maybe I should get the number?”
I typed the number he dictated into my phone and was wondering if Keir Culain was the only other person with mobile communications. I was certainly old enough to remember life without being attached to a phone, but it had been a while.
“I’m going to do a deep dive into the journals. Is there anything else you think I need to do to prepare for the next, um, Court Meet?”
“When you’re ready, but no later than the first of October, you’ll need to review the cases submitted and establish a docket.”
“Okay.”
“Come around in the morning? About ten?” I smiled and nodded. “Then, if you like, afterward, we can walk the dogs and talk over what you’ve read.”
I grinned. “I love that plan. See you at ten.” I turned to go, but looked back for his verbal postscript.
“I can’t get in the habit of calling you by your first name.”
After retracing my steps to his door, I said, “Why not?”
“Because I am your solicitor, but I’m also the court clerk. And your advisor if you should see fit. I’m expected to set, uphold, and enforce the decorum of the court. It wouldn’t be proper to call you Rita in court. And, if I did so most of the time… Hard as it might be to grasp, I’m not perfect.”
“I see what you mean. So okay. I’ll make an exception for you.” I said it half-teasing, but being honest with myself, I was becoming more comfortable with being addressed by my new title every day. “Hey. By the way. If you’re not busy, come for lunch tomorrow. Ivy, too. We’re having tapas.”
His mouth twitched as the elf twinkle lit his eyes. “The missus is otherwise occupied most noons, but it would be delightful to try, em, tapas.”
I waved as I left, gave the wolves a final rub behind the ears, and headed straight for ‘my’ garage. I wondered how long it would be before I’d get used to using possessives to describe Hallow Hill things. I wondered when I would get up the nerve to tell my daughter I wasn’t coming back to the U.S. Maybe ever.
The garage door lifted as smoothly as any, which meant it did the job, but not quietly.
“Romeo. How art thou?”
I heard the locks click to disengage.
“Very well, madam. Yourself?”
“Excellent. Thank you for asking.” After going around the left side of the car to get in and finding no steering wheel there, I rolled my eyes at myself and walked around. As I slid beneath the leather-covered steering wheel with the luxurious emblem, I said, “Let’s go for a spin and see the neighborhood.”
The engine started and Romeo backed himself out. “Could we be more specific, madam?”
I didn’t know what to think about Romeo’s choice of pronouns, but I supposed he was programmed to soften questions.
“Let’s put it this way. I want to see the countryside around Hallow Hill, but I don’t want to be gone for more than two hours. If you know of a stretch of road with light traffic, I’d like to try driving myself.”
“Very good, madam.”
In two minutes we were headed south to Ambleside, which might be thought of as a charming small town, but compared to Hallow Hill, it was a metropolis. On the way I enjoyed vistas fit for a TV screen timeout. Every variation of green formed hills and valleys. I saw white sheep with black legs and faces. I saw black sheep with white legs and faces.
We, and by that I mean Romeo and I, traversed Lake Windermere on the east from north to south and