Fiends and Familiars - Debra Dunbar Page 0,21
ward-stone I’d moved to the doorway into the house was in place, and locked back up again. I felt bad using physical and magical means of securing the house from the hounds, lumping them in with all other intruders, but a girl couldn’t be too careful. I could protect myself, but I wouldn’t be here all day, and just as I wanted to set safeguards on myself and my belongings when I was sleeping, I felt I should continue to do the same when I was away. Trusting these dog-things with my garage was one thing. I didn’t want to come home tonight to find my house had been trashed, and my fridge was empty and tipped over onto the kitchen floor.
That done, I wolfed down some breakfast, poured the extra coffee in a thermos, then began to load up my truck for the trip up to Accident to assist with Clinton’s pack’s new residence. Hornets meant I might be relocating a nest, so I made sure to pack a long stick with a hook, a bunch of strong twine, and a small saw. The badger might be tricky, so I threw a few humane traps into the back. Badgers weren’t usually seen on the east coast, and I was curious why one was living here as well as why he’d taken up residence in one of the mountains that were inside the wards of Accident. They liked grassy meadows, not forested mountains. They liked to dig burrows, which wasn’t an easy task in the rocky mountain ground. Admittedly there would be lots of food for them there. Mice, voles, and birds were plentiful as well as insects.
I grabbed a few other things from the house, and got ready to head out. The squirrels dashed past me before I could close the door to the house. I watched in surprise as they jumped into my car and piled into the back seat.
“So did you all change your minds?” I asked them. “Would you rather live in the woods instead of my house?”
I’ll admit I was a bit hurt by the idea. They were a total pain in my rear. They’d eaten all my almonds, had kept me awake all night, had interrupted that amazing sex dream Saturday night. I should be relieved that they wanted to ditch me and go live in the woods, but instead I was insulted.
For once, Rhoid was the one who spoke up, telling me that they had every intention of living in my house. They were just afraid to stay there alone, so they were going to accompany me on my travels today.
Now I was wishing they were going to live in the woods.
“Guys, get back in the house,” I said. “The doors are locked. The windows are locked. There are magical wards in place. It’s safe there. It’s not safe to come with me today. I’ve got to relocate a badger. Badgers eat squirrels.”
They exchanged a volley of chatter, arguing the best option. Finally Rhoid twitched his tail, letting the others know that he was the one deciding this and that they were going with me. It seemed they had faith in my ability to protect them from hungry badgers as well as anything else that might come to attack them—including the hound.
I didn’t have time to argue. “Fine. Just stay out of my way and don’t disturb me when I’m driving.”
Squirrels evidently have a different idea about what constitutes disturbing someone, because they spent most of the drive asking me what I was going to get them for lunch, if they would have an opportunity to forage while I was doing my work, and if we could all watch movies and eat popcorn again tonight—but not that bird movie again. That was too scary.
We all headed out, making a quick stop at the Starbucks drive-through to get a chai latte for me, a pumpkin scone for Drake, and some vegan bagels for the squirrels. The leaves were just starting to change at the higher elevations and I rolled down the window as we headed past the wards to breathe in the smell of fresh-cut hay, of late berries ripening in the sun, of pine needles carpeting the forests.
Home. Days like this I ached to be back in Accident with my family just down the street. Everything was familiar there. Everyone knew my name.
“I need to just give it time,” I said to Drake. “I’ll build memories in my new home and neighborhood, and