Piper (Queen's Birds of Prey #4) - Kathi S. Barton Page 0,17

of jeans and a white shirt and tie, his mom fussed at him for not dressing up more.

“Mom, if he would have told me to dress more, I would have. But he said they just wore what they had on. Just in case he was a little too casual about the dress, I’m wearing a tie.” She told him he needed to shave. Also that his hair was too long. “Mom, you being nervous isn’t helping me much, just so you know.”

“I don’t want to make a terrible impression.” He pointed out that they’d met them before. “I know, but we were working. That’s different.”

Rolling his eyes, he went out onto the porch to wait for her to come out so they could leave. Getting into the car for the short drive, Grant knew they’d be stopped several times before they made it out of the town, and that would delay them a great deal.

As they made their way to the castle, talking to their neighbors as they went, Grant realized how much his mom meant to these people. He would also bet his mom would tell him they were just being nice. No, he thought, they loved her. As much as he did. His mom was the best there was as far as he was concerned.

Grant also knew people would come to her about things too. Her opinion meant a great deal to each and every one of the townspeople. Even the mayor came to her about things he wasn’t sure were going to work. Grant had to laugh. He knew she’d have an opinion about whatever it was.

“Oh, my goodness.” He looked where his mom was looking and stopped the car. The castle was finished. The scaffolding had been taken down sometime over the last few days. In addition, the drawbridge, as old as the castle itself, had been installed. “It looks so much like it did when you were born, Grant. With the exception of the dirt and smoke.”

“The smell too. It doesn’t smell of pigs or sewage.” She nodded as she stared at the place. “Mom? Are you ready to go on?”

“Aye, I am. My goodness, the queen would surely be proud of her boy. Not just in taking care that the castle was restored, but how all of us are still here, as safe as the day she had us moved.” She laughed a little and turned to him while he still had the car in park. “You were so sick on that trip we took. If not for everything going on down below us, you might well have not spewed your breakfast and lunch.”

“Yes. You kept telling me not to look down. But I’d never been that high before.” He thought of that day, and it still terrified him to think just how high they had been. “If I remember correctly, the bird that took us was the owl. She was as gentle as she could be, too, I remember.”

He thought of all the changes that had occurred in his lifetime. There wasn’t a day that went by that something new wasn’t discovered. A patch of land that was quickly turned into one of the best herb gardens ever. Everyone kept it cleaned of weeds, and it was used by all. The running stream that seemed to be warmer in the colder months. He remembered taking baths in the stream with a great many other boys his age. Each house had water piped in. Wood used for cooking and heat was chopped and stacked in the summer and used up through the winter. Any need they were lacking in did not matter either. Someone was there to work out a solution. When one of their own died, they all worked together to take care of the family left behind. The casket would be made for them as well.

When they pulled up in front of the castle, Grant wondered what would have happened to them had not the queen of the castle provided for them. Even now, she had made sure there was plenty to go around. He thought that if Dante were alive today, she’d be working the fields with them if necessary. She’d be helping dig graves, a new well or whatever was necessary.

While he’d never met her person to person, everyone knew who she was. It was nothing, when they were all living in the keep, for her to be seen grooming horses or playing with the children she came across. Also,