Niamh’s face turned bright red and she shook in her seat, clearly holding back laughter. I didn’t even know what to say.
Foreign footsteps traveled up the walkway. The humor dripped off Niamh’s face, and I could feel Mr. Tom heading to the door.
“I’ll be right back, Dad,” I said, stepping out into the hall as someone knocked.
“Jessie, let Earl get it,” Niamh called.
Mr. Tom was heading toward the stairs, but I closed the distance to the door anyway, feeling Niamh walking my way. I half expected to find Elliot Graves on my doorstep, tired of all these close calls and cat-and-mouse games, come to grab me himself. It would sure put a fast end to our drawn-out situation.
But when I opened the door, two boys in blue stood there, one I recognized from a previous house call, under similar circumstances, and one I did not.
“Ah, fer feck’s sakes, Chuck, what are you at?” Niamh kept walking toward the door as Mr. Tom jogged down the stairs.
The younger guy with close-cropped brown hair, a large chin, and hands braced on his utility belt gave Niamh a bulldog-type stare. “I’ve had some complaints about the noise,” he said to me.
“What noise?” Niamh looked around. “We’re just enjoying an evening in, so we are.”
“Yes, yes, we know the very idea of police officers doing their job is offensive to you, you crusty old woman.” Mr. Tom stepped between Niamh and the officers with a wide, very fake smile. “My apologies. She isn’t housebroken.”
“They know who I am.” Niamh stepped out of Mr. Tom’s way. “I’ve been mindin’ me manners, haven’t I, boys? Haven’t had to take me in in a dog’s age, have ye? No. So why ye’re comin’ to pick on me now, I haven’t—”
I walked out onto the porch and shut the door behind me, the officers moving back quickly so I wasn’t in their space. “Don’t mind her. She isn’t great with authority. Which you know, I’m sure.” I smiled nervously, then licked my lips, then wished I hadn’t licked my lips because it probably made me look guilty.
A light clicked on overhead, and the door opened again, Mr. Tom stepping into the space.
The officers squinted at us, and I realized we hadn’t cleaned off all the dirt.
“Looks like you had some issues with your yard.” The older cop in the back clicked his flashlight on and painted light across the dirt lines running through the grass. Someone had, thankfully, turned the base lights off, so the damage wasn’t quite as noticeable or glaring.
“Yes. Edgar is planning some improvements,” I said quickly.
“Hello…”
The cops both flinched, dropping their hands to their guns but not taking them out.
Edgar waved to them from the corner of the house. “It’ll look worse before it looks better, but don’t you worry, we’ll be a shoo-in to win first place at the garden festival this year. This yard will really sing. I have big plans!”
“Yes, well…” The officer clicked off his light. “It seems there was some yelling from this area not too long ago.”
Genuinely confused, if only because there’d been a noise block, I looked back at Mr. Tom. “Did you hear anything?”
“I most certainly did not. Edgar was howling much earlier than that—he gets in an awful state when he rips at the garden—but we’ve kept to ourselves as normal.”
The younger one, Chuck, took his hand off his gun. “Well, Niamh has been downright placid since you came to live here, ma’am. We thank you for that.”
“Oh.” I put my hand to my chest. “I don’t know that that’s necessarily my doing…”
“It certainly doesn’t seem like it has hurt.” He nodded at me, eyed the front yard, and stepped back. “If there isn’t any trouble…?”
“No.” I shrugged, also looking around the front yard. “No trouble.”
Chuck nodded. “Just try to keep it down.”
“Thank you, officers.” Mr. Tom pushed back into the house, gesturing for me to follow. “We’ll try to keep a leash on her.”
Edgar waved awkwardly when they glanced back at him. They wisely pretended not to notice.
I stayed outside for a moment, checking the dark, silent street, wondering if a man with a goatee would appear out of nowhere and whisper on the wind. Nothing happened, though. I waved as the police car pulled out of the circular end of the street, and then closed the door on the crazy aftermath of the day. If Elliot Graves had called the cops this time, he hadn’t done it so he could make an appearance.
I wondered if he would.
I wondered if I would actually meet him soon, like he’d promised those many months ago.
I wondered if I’d escape his next attempt to capture me.Twenty-Five“Ready?” I asked Ulric and Jasper, the only two gargoyles I’d offered a place on my team. A permanent place, with an assigned seat and Ivy House magic. They were the only two who’d really jibed with the house crew, and who also did great work with very little prompting. They followed me loyally and gave their all when helping me train and in battle. I could do far worse than these two.