I ran as fast as I could. After all, our darling James had been knifed! I raced up the front steps. The half-tamed fox, Granny's familiar, Reynardine looked at me impassively from her place on one of the wicker chairs. She yawned, showing a mouthful of wickedly sharp teeth and stretching out her elegant black legs. I had no time to scratch her head.
Granny's other familiar, the white crow Spirit, cocked his head and gazed at me quizzically with the eye on that side.
I dashed into the house, grabbed the phone. The girl on the 911 line said the ambulance would be there in a few minutes. I slid down the wall to the floor, my hand pressed to my chest, gasping. I'd seen the attacker's face, briefly. It WAS Jus Glaser. I was sure of it! Obviously, he'd been thinking to pick up a little extra cash from selling our things at Diddy's Pawn Shop in Royal Oaks, the louse! Sure, he was handsome as a new born colt, but so what? He was the ultimate bad boy, unpredictable and wilder than hell! My sister had been crazy to have him in our house! No doubt he'd given our place a quick scan, eyeballing what he wanted to steal when he knew we'd be in the back of our property celebrating Lammas.
Well, if there was a lineup identifying him I'd certainly try to be there. This time when he was convicted he wouldn't just be going to a correctional facility he'd be headed for the big house, hopefully. I could hear the wail of the ambulance siren in the distance. Out the door I dashed and down the steps. Granny was kneeling on the grass next to James. Vesper was standing, looking like she was going to faint. The ambulance pulled up and the paramedics jumped out. In a moment they had James on a stretcher and had lifted him. James eyes were closed. He was very pale and seemed unconscious. We got in the Tracker to follow the ambulance to the hospital. ~ Copyright 2024, by Antoinette Beard.
