The Conduit The Gryphon Series - By Stacey Rourke Page 0,5
inside of it clicked, followed by a faint whir. Before I could pull my hand away, a toothpick-sized wooden spike jutted out and pricked my finger. “Ow! Crap!” My blood dripped onto the sculpture and I put my finger in my mouth to clean it off.
“Why the heck would anyone booby trap a wooden figurine?” Grams took the carving from me and set it down so she could inspect my injury. “Are you okay? Does it hurt?”
It didn’t hurt. Odd as it seemed, a liquidly warmth had spread through my hand. “I’m fine. It surprised me more than anything.” A succession of clicks, like a crank being turned, and the spike retracted itself. “It must be important to someone if they felt the need to protect it like that.”
Grams scoffed, “It’s so important it’s been sitting in my garage for God only knows how long.”
For reasons I couldn’t explain I asked. “Can I have it?”
Grams penciled in eyebrows shot up. “You want the booby trapped artwork?”
Wordlessly I nodded. I thought it best to refrain from telling her that as soon as my blood touched the sculpture I felt a powerful draw to it. Or that the tingling heat from the spike’s impact had spread all the way up my arm.
Grams scooped up the sculpture and dropped it in my hands. “If you want it, it’s yours.”
Those simple words filled me with a sense of joy I couldn’t explain. Claiming the enigmatic item as my own felt right, and I had no idea why.
CHAPTER 3
I was wrong. Absolutely nothing good comes from being in a town this size.
As it turned out, Hank didn’t offer a drop-off/ pick-up service. They loaned you the tire and sent you on your merry way — a fact that would’ve been helpful to know before I walked there. I was left to my own devices to figure out how to get the stupid tire home.
After failed attempts at alternative methods, I accepted my only choice and rolled the tire down Gore Avenue toward Grams’. Had it been a full sized tire, it may have been better. I could’ve walked normally and rolled it along. The stance I contorted myself into to push the spare tire along knocked me down about a thousand cool points, even if I was the only one who cared. My face blushed bright red as I squatted down and rolled it hand-over-hand.
Hank’s entire crew watched me out the window not even bothering to hide their laughter. Could even one of them offer me a ride home? No way! Turns out chivalry isn’t dead, it’s just busy laughing and pointing.
I trudged along for about half a mile before I stopped to stretch my back in front of the modest, independently owned grocery store. I casually scanned the parking lot as I twisted and stretched my cramping muscles. That’s when I saw it. Dread punched its way into my gut and settled there like a lead weight. A news van was parked in front of the grocery store.
No, no, no, no, NO! I am not going to be on the news rolling this infuriatingly tiny tire down the street!
Freshly motivated, I pushed that tire for all I was worth. Rolling it as fast as I could across what suddenly seemed to be an endless parking lot. An inkling of hope started to build, I was about half way across and hadn’t been noticed. But then life intervened, as it so enjoys doing.
From behind me I heard, “Excuse me, miss?”
No! He’s not talking to me. Keep rolling!
“Miss?” Whoever it was, he was following me.
I don’t care if it’s that old guy who hands out the million dollar checks I’m not stopping. It’s too mortifying.
“Whoa, hold on a sec.” An arm shot out and grasped my elbow. I lost control of the tire and it took off on its own. I watched in horror as it meandered down the sidewalk, across the shoulder and out into the road. An oncoming car slammed on the brakes and swerved to avoid it. I hung my head and hurried to retrieve my tire. As I bent to pick up it up, I mouthed an “I’m sorry” to the irate driver. The gesture he gave in response made it clear my apology went unaccepted.
I heaved the tire against my chest and penguin-walked back to the sidewalk. Of course the guy waiting there had to be hot. Because what kind of mortifying fun would it be for the universe if it