Authors: Mackenzie Morgan
Kevin shook his head and laughed. “It’s fine. You startled me. I was beginning to think I was the only one around. Do you have any idea where everyone’s gone?”
“Duane and his sister are arriving in a few minutes, and everyone’s gone outside to greet them. Most of the staff knows Duane, and from what I understand both Cpt. Darrell and Chris knew him before any of you arrived in Milhaven. Governor Karl, too. He and Joan came in a few minutes ago, but I think they’ve gone out back now.”
Kevin nodded. “Guess I’ll go join them. Should anyone come to my office looking for any of us, point them out back.”
“Yes, sir.”
Kevin walked down the deserted hallway and into the dining room. There was noise in the kitchen, so he stuck his head in to say hello.
Miranda was hustling around supervising three different women. “Don’t let those cakes get overdone,” she told Carrie. Then she leaned over Krista’s shoulder. “Knead that bread a bit more. It’s not ready yet.” Next she took the spoon out of Emma’s hand and slowly stirred the stew. “See? Slow circles. Keep it circulating. If you don’t, some of the vegetables will stick to the bottom and burn. The last thing I want to do is serve burnt food, especially to Duane. His wife’s an excellent cook and I don’t want him taking any complaints back home.”
Kevin laughed. “Has anyone ever complained about anything from this kitchen, Miranda?”
She turned around and said, “No, and it’s not going to happen today either.” Then she wiped her hands and poured Kevin a cup of coffee. “What are you doing in here?” she asked as she handed him the cup. “Why aren’t you outside with everyone else?”
Kevin lifted the cup and nodded towards it. “I’ll head out in a minute.”
“Are those cake crumbs I see on your tunic?” Miranda brushed a couple of crumbs off Kevin’s shirt. “We didn’t have cake today.”
Kevin grinned. “No, but Torrey did, and since I was in Walnut Springs around lunchtime, she gave me a slice.”
“Humm,” Miranda said with her lips pursed. “Was it good?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“What kind?”
“I’m not sure, but it had a lot of nuts and spices in it, and it sure was tasty.”
“Ask her for a recipe,” Miranda said. “We’ll see if it’s as good as you think it was.” Then she pointed to Kevin’s cup. “Drink up. You need to head outside. You’re the host. You should be there to greet your company.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Kevin drank the last couple of swallows of coffee and handed her the empty cup.
“And be sure you bring them in after they tell everyone hello. I’ll have some refreshments set up in a few minutes.”
With a nod, Kevin left the kitchen. Quite a crowd had gathered near the stable. He’d asked Marshall to take Nikki on a long ride to keep her out of the way when Xantha landed. He wanted Duane and Rhianna to be able to dismount and get inside without a puppy nipping at their heels. Nikki and Xantha would have plenty of time to get reacquainted after the others got out of the way. Maybe he could convince Xantha to mind her for a while and give Marshall a break.
“Might do that if you sweeten the deal a bit.”
Xantha’s voice chimed in Kevin’s head. Kevin looked up but he couldn’t spot the pegasus.
“We’re not in sight yet, but we’ll be landing in ten minutes.”
“Good,”
Kevin said mentally.
“There’s a crowd out here. Everyone here’s excited to see Duane again. Hope you can find a spot to land.”
“What do you want to bet they’ll move out of my way?”
Kevin chuckled.
“See you in a minute.”
Then Kevin walked over towards the crowd, looking for Chris, but Chris spotted him first.
“You’re back early,” Chris said. “I thought Warren and Glendymere would talk at least an hour. You’ve been gone, what? Maybe half an hour?”
“And most of that was at Warren’s house having dessert in Torrey’s kitchen,” Kevin said. “I’ve got to go back out to Willow Canyon in a couple of hours to pick him up. Glendymere knew Xantha would be landing soon so he told me they’d be fine without me.”
Chris nodded.
“When did you find time to let everyone know Duane was coming?”
“All I did was mention it to Darrell and Karl. Guess they told a few people, who told a few more, and so on. Seems half the town knows both him and Shelandra. From what I’ve been hearing they visited Badec a lot after your mother passed away. Too bad Shelandra couldn’t make the trip today. Several people have mentioned they’d like to see her again. Apparently she could give Miranda a run for her money in the kitchen.”
“I think Miranda’s the one who taught Shelandra how to cook.”
Chris pointed towards a dot in the sky over the tree line. “Is that Xantha?”
Kevin frowned. “Maybe. Too far away to be sure. Could be a falcon. We have those in and out all day long.”
“Can’t believe you can’t tell the difference between me and a bird,”
Xantha said in disgust.
“It’s Xantha,” Kevin said. “We might need to clear out a place for him to land.”
Chris shook his head. “They’ll move.”
Kevin and Chris stood on the outside of the crowd and watched the dot slowly grow larger. After a few minutes, others noticed the pegasus too, and chatter intensified as one person pointed him out to another. Five minutes later, Xantha circled the backyard and slowly sank towards the ground near the stable. The crowd melted back as he touched down right in front of the door.
After Duane and Rhianna dismounted, everyone surged forward and for a moment, the only sign of them was the tops of their heads. The entire crowd moved with them towards the patio, and the horde didn’t start to scatter until they were backed up to the dining room doors. Fifteen minutes later, when only a few people remained, Kevin stepped up to officially welcome them to the castle.
Duane grinned. “You’ve grown into your title. There were times when we weren’t sure you would.”
Before Kevin could figure out how to answer that, Laryn stepped forward and hugged Duane. “So nice to see you again. It’s been a long time.” Then she hugged Rhianna. “I doubt you remember me. I’m Laryn, Myron’s aunt. The last time I was in Crinsor Run was ten years ago.”
Rhianna smiled. “You brought Shelandra a gift, but I don’t remember who it was from.”
“You’ve got a good memory. It was from Miranda, our castle cook, and speaking of Miranda, if you’ll step inside, she has some refreshments set out for you.” Then Laryn opened the dining room door and motioned them inside. Once the area around the patio had cleared out a bit, she pulled Kevin to the side and whispered, “You go on inside and see to our guests. I’ll check on Xantha. You can see him later.”
Kevin nodded and followed everyone else inside.
An hour later, Kevin caught Chris’s attention and tilted his head towards the hall. Once they managed to slip out of the dining room, Kevin said, “I’ve got to get back to Willow Canyon. I’m sure Darrell will take care of Duane, but can you take Rhianna back to the office? I’m not sure how long I’ll be tied up with Warren.”
Chris nodded. “No problem. See you later.”
~ ~ ~ ~
While Kevin and Chris were inside playing hosts, Laryn went out to the stable where Xantha was munching some oats, thanks to Neiven.
“Really appreciate the oats,”
Xantha told Neiven while he was eating.
Neiven grinned. “Chris reminded me, but I already had them ready. I know how much you like a snack when you get here.”
“Flying’s hard work, especially when you’ve got a bunch of extra weight.”
“Maybe I should tell Rhianna you said that,” Laryn said as she walked up.
“Trying to start something?”
Xantha looked up from his bucket and snorted.
Laryn laughed and shook her head.
“You can leave the bucket when you’re done,” Neiven said. “I’m going back inside. I’ve got a horse waiting for a new set of shoes.”
“Thanks, Neiven.” Laryn walked over to the fence and looked out over the pasture while Xantha finished eating. When he was done, he joined her at the fence.
“Haven’t seen Corin around today,”
Xantha said.
“I haven’t either,” Laryn said. “Thinking of asking him to keep an eye on Rhianna?”
“The thought crossed my mind.”
“Mine, too.”
“Want me to handle it?”
“If you don’t mind. If I ask, I’m afraid he’ll consider it an obligation.”
Xantha nodded.
“I’ll take care of it, and I’ll let you know what he says.”
“Thanks.”
“Do you know where the pup is?”
“Nikki?”
“Kevin asked me to keep an eye on her this afternoon and let her handler have some time off.”
“Babysitting a puppy? Isn’t that a new one for you?” Laryn asked with a laugh.
“Not really. Although in Crinsor Run, it’s usually young horses.”
“I’m not sure where she is right now. I think Marshall took her out to the far pasture this afternoon.”
“Want to go with me to find them? I don’t know Marshall and he might not be willing to let Nikki go off with me.”
“All right.”
Ten minutes later, Laryn tapped Xantha on the shoulder and pointed towards the woods on the east side of the pasture. Xantha started a gentle glide down.
As soon as Nikki realized the pegasus was in the area, she started jumping around and barking. Marshall turned around to see what had Nikki so excited right as Xantha landed in the pasture with Laryn on his back. Marshall’s jaw dropped as the pegasus walked towards them. He slowly dismounted and stepped around in front of his horse.
“Good afternoon,”
Xantha said.
“Myron asked me to keep an eye on the pup so you could have the afternoon off.”
Marshall’s eyes widened as he heard Xantha’s voice in his head. Then he shifted his focus to Laryn.
“It’s all right,” she said. “This is Xantha. He’s been a friend of Myron’s for years, since Myron was a young boy. Xantha knows Nikki, but more importantly, Nikki knows him.”
The puppy kept bouncing around the pegasus until Xantha said,
“Nikki, sit.”
She plopped down and looked up at Xantha.
“Would you like to go for a run?”
When Nikki jumped up, Xantha said,
“Race you to the fence over there.”
Both pegasus and dog took off across the field, leaving Marshall and Laryn to gaze after them.
“That was strange,” Marshall said slowly.
“Which part? The telepathy or a pegasus landing in front of you?”
Marshall shook his head. “Take your pick.”
Laryn laughed. “You’ll get used to the telepathy after a while. Just remember everything you think when he’s around is as clear to him as if you’d said it out loud. And Corin’s the same way, although he’s not likely to answer you. As to Xantha landing in the yard, that never gets old.”
“Is Nikki going to be all right with him?”
“She’ll be fine. Xantha can control her telepathically if he needs to, but mainly he gives her a picture of what he wants her to do.”
“Nice,” Marshall said as he watched the two of them run. “I’d love to be able to do that.” Then he asked, “Is he coming back for you?”
“I doubt it,” Laryn said with a laugh. “He probably figures I can ride back with you. Hope you don’t mind.”
“No, of course not.” Marshall offered her Watson’s reins. “Why don’t you ride? I’ll walk.”
Laryn shook her head. “I’m sure Watson can carry both of us. Let’s mount up and head back. You need to get started on your afternoon off.”
~ ~ ~ ~
Glendymere and Warren were still working when Kevin got back to Willow Canyon. Warren was standing not five feet from Glendymere’s head as they both faced the back wall of the cave. Glendymere held a large sheet of paper against the wall while Warren made notes on it. Kevin shook his head and grinned as he thought how much he’d love to have a camera.
“You’re back already?”
Glendymere asked.
Kevin walked over to join them. “Well, you said a couple of hours, and it’s been a little more than two since I left. I can come back later if you’d like some more time.”
Warren had turned around at Kevin’s voice. He nodded at Kevin but waited for Glendymere to respond.
“We have enough for a beginning. We can work on it some more after Warren moves into Rainbow Valley.”
“Have you decided when that might be?” Kevin asked.
“Two weeks from today,” Warren answered. “That’ll give Colin and Ryan time to get used to the idea I’m leaving for a while.”
“I thought you’d already told them.”
“I have, but without a date, I don’t think either of them took me seriously.”
Kevin nodded.
“Will you have time to help them move two weeks from today?”
Glendymere asked.
“I’d like for Warren to start working with Landis that Monday.”
“If you want Warren to start on Monday, it might be better for them to move in on Thursday or Friday so they’ll have time to look around, meet the giants, and get settled,” Kevin said.
“Good idea. So, will you have time to help them? If not, I can make other arrangements.”
“As far as I know it should be fine. If anything comes up, I’ll let you know.” Then Kevin looked at Warren. “Are you ready to go back home now?”
Warren looked at Glendymere and raised his eyebrows. The dragon nodded, so Warren said, “Anytime you are.”
~ ~ ~ ~
Torrey was in the kitchen when Kevin and Warren got back. She saw them out the back door so she picked up the coffee pot and poured two cups of coffee. She set them on the table as the men walked through the door.
“Did you have a good time?” Torrey asked as Warren sat down in front of one of the cups.
“Sure did.” He took a swallow of coffee and smiled. “Thanks. I needed that.”
Kevin laughed as he picked up his own cup. “Thanks, Torrey.”
“Either of you want anything to go with it?”
Both men shook their heads as Warren patted the chair beside him. “Sit down for a minute. We need to talk.”
Torrey frowned as she sat down.
“We have a date now,” Warren began. “Do you think we can be ready to go by a week from Thursday?”