That Rex Gotta Roar - Julia Mills Page 0,15

that Mabel Thomas is back and haunting that old heap out on the other side of the Swamp?" Shaking her head, Colleen sighed, "I thought we took care of that before y'all even started calling us the Maidens of Mayhem. Maybe it wasn't Mabel, but we got rid of one Spirit or another, didn't we?"

"Yes, well, if you remember correctly, we became the Maidens of Mayhem after Doc Horace passed, Max moved back, and we solved our first mystery," Livvie answered over her shoulder while dipping the rims of the frosty margarita glasses in salt and handing them off to Edna to fill. "Before that, we were just… ummm… well, we were…"

"We were just us," Edna jumped in and finished the little Owl's thought. "And apparently, we didn't do something right if Mabel can haunt the Manor."

“Okay, but when did she come back?” Zelda asked, the twinkle in her eyes brighter than a minute before. “Was it when you and your brother got back to Tallulu?” She asked Jenn. “After you moved in? When you started fixing things up?”

Tapping the tip of her index finger on her upper lip, the Pterodactyl thought out loud, "Umm…let's see." Starting to slowly pace towards the doorway into the new kitchen, she kept going, her voice little more than a whisper. "She wasn't there when we met with Mr. Hemple for the Will reading."

“Y’all had to do that out at that house?” Monique gasped. “With the bugs and the spiders? What the hell? You could’ve called. I would’ve sent one of the crews out to clean it up for you. Heck, I wouldn't even have charged you."

(I had to chuckle. It still tickled my funny bone that after Moni ditched her modeling career and took a three-year vacation, she started a cleaning service. Of course, it’s super fancy. Customers have the option of having the guys and girls dress up in costumes while they’re getting their home or office cleaned.

Let's be clear, nothing sexier than a French maid's costume that more than sufficiently covers all important body parts. This is not sex work. It's still house cleaning. (Geez, get your mind outta the gutter.) She says the most popular request is to have Brittany Spears and Justin Timberlake do the toilets. I don't know why but just thinking about it cracks me up. Never in all my years could I have seen that coming. And that's saying something, since I have the Gift of Psychicness.)

"It wasn't that bad," Jenn quickly answered, spinning around to head back towards us as she continued. "Considering it had been vacant for over a year while Uncle Clyde's side of the family contested the Will."

“How did she pass?” Zelda asked.

"Doc Jackson said it was a broken heart. She missed her Mate and had stayed on this earthly plan just as long as she could without him," Jenn responded with a hitch in her voice. "I miss her like crazy. But I'm glad she's finally on her Big Vacay in the Sky with Uncle Clyde." Swiping at her cheek and giving a quick sniffle, the Pterodactyl hurried on, "To answer your other questions, now that I think about it, we didn't have any trouble at all until after I asked Clem to take pictures of the old place. I wanted some before and after shots, ya' know? Thought they would be nice to send to the family. Let them know there were no hard feelings about them contesting the Will, that we were taking care of the old place and honoring Auntie Mabel's wishes."

"Wait, just a minute, are you sayin'…"

But that was as far as I got because at that very moment, Bea Bea Betterfresh decided to see if I could well and truly die of embarrassment. A nuckin' futs Bat Shifter who'd been a resident of Bailmore Hall since Doc Horace first hung out his shingle, she came pirouetting into the room, singing so loud and so far off-key that Tone-Deaf Tanya two Parishes over turned off her hearing aid.

“Tank, oh, Tank Thomas, you hunky Dino. You’re so cool. You’re really fino. The best ever T-Rexy, not just cause you’re so sexy. Follow me this way. I’m gonna make your day.”

Wasn't it bad enough that the rodent wings thought she was a Vampire who was being hunted by the great Van Helsing and that if she set foot outside the crumbling walls of our favorite Home for Sanity-Challenged Shifters, she would turn to stone? Did she have to communicate