The dinner ended, and once Mariah and David excused themselves back to their room, the rest of the gathering broke up soon after. Ollie went outside, claiming that he needed to get some tools from his truck. Once in the driveway, he found the dogs sitting on either side of the Chief, waiting for their vigilance to be rewarded with the appearance of whatever they smelled inside. They hopped up once they saw Ollie and started barking again, hoping he might let them get in the vehicle and snatch their prize.
“Settle down, boys,” he said, holding his hands up. “At least, I assume you’re both boys. Whatever’s in that truck isn’t for you, despite how entertaining it would be for me.”
He stopped a few yards away, not sure if he wanted to get too close while they were so excited. The front door opened and Ollie turned to see Kimmie and Andy coming out.
“Tank! Bentley! Come here! What are you two idiots doing?” She jogged over and grabbed one of the dogs by the collar, dragging him away.
“I bet something crawled into your truck,” Andy said.
“Maybe,” Ollie mumbled.
Kimmie dragged the first dog into the house, then hurried back and did the same to the second. Neither seemed happy about the decision. She shut the door and walked back over to Andy.
“Sure you don’t need help cleaning up?” he asked.
“No, I’ve got it handled,” Kimmie said. “Thank you for the offer, though.”
“Anytime.” He gave Ollie a long look. “Is he boarding here, too?”
“No. I asked him to stick around for a bit to map out all the changes I want to make. It’s a big project.”
“What changes are you making?”
“I’m putting in a new garden, a gazebo, and a walking path up to the top of the hill.”
“Wow,” Andy said, looking impressed. “That will definitely spruce this place up.”
“Well, that’s why I hired Oliver here. He comes highly recommended.”
“Ollie,” he corrected her.
“Ollie. Sorry.”
“Well, don’t let me get in your way.” Andy flashed his quarterback smile and returned to the squad car. “I’ll see you around, Kimmie. Thanks for dinner.”
She waved at him. “Thanks for coming by, Andy. It was good to see you.”
He climbed into the car and rolled the window down, fixing his smile, which became far less inviting, on Ollie.
“Don’t forget to get that taillight fixed.” Andy started the engine and backed out of the driveway and onto the road. Once his own taillights faded into the distance, Ollie turned, only to find Kimmie waiting right behind him.
“I’m ready when you are.”
Ollie stared at her, but she didn’t back down. If anything, she seemed to relish the confrontation. Fortunately, he was already prepared for this. And he had a somewhat workable solution.
“Fine. Let’s talk.” He sidestepped her and walked across the driveway back to his Jeep. He heard Kimmie following, the gravel crunching under her feet. “Thank you for dinner, by the way.”
“You’re welcome,” she said, a little surprised by his change in demeanor. She hurried to keep up with his longer gait. “Did you like it?”
“Food was good,” he said. “Everything else sucked.”
He could feel her rolling her eyes behind him.
“So, what are we talking about? Is this about how you’re gonna treat me like an adult and let me help you?”
Ollie opened the hatch and grabbed his bag.
“I figure I have two choices.” He shut the door and slung the bag over his shoulder. “I say no again, and like any good amateur you run off and do something stupid. Or, I take you with me, make some extra cash, and I teach you how not to get yourself killed.”
Kimmie beamed. She hit him playfully on the shoulder. “See? Now you’re thinking straight.”
Ollie didn’t share her enthusiasm. “This is a trial deal. You do exactly what I say from here on out. I’m already second-guessing this plan, so if that’s going to be a problem, then this,” he waved a finger back and forth between them, “isn’t happening. Understood?”
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
She gave him a crisp salute. “You’re the boss. As long as I’m out there with you, I’ll do what you say.”
He frowned at the wording of her promise. He was taking a big chance. Kimmie was no different than the hundreds of CoNers trying to get themselves killed, and here he was, enabling that behavior. He’d come all the way out here to get away from stupid decisions like the one he was making right now. But at least this way he could keep himself between her and any snarling, rage-drunk goblins. And he’d replenish his bank account enough to get some new clothes on the way back to Louisiana.
He moved around to the passenger side door and rested his hand on the door handle. He turned and gave her his most intimidating stern stare.
“You say that now, but I want to give you one last chance to back out, for your own good. You can go in your house right now and forget all about this, and me. I’ll take care of the goblin, and then I’ll leave. It’ll be like it was never there, and you can live your life in peace, without worrying if that creak you heard at night was him, or the sound of your house settling. Think hard before you–”
“Pass.”
Ollie grumbled at the interruption. “The alternative is entering a world you can’t come back from. You’re gonna see things you can’t unsee and know things you can’t forget. And I don’t mean that like some fantasy video game adventure. I mean you’re gonna learn just how much evil is in this world, hiding in the shadows and the dark corners that we never really look at. It will mess with your head. It will change you. And on top of that, hunting isn’t all fun and games. Things will get rough, and gross, and you’ll piss off some stupidly dangerous creatures who will want to do things to you that even hardened criminals don’t dream of.
“And when you’re not hiding in mud, or running for your life, you’re rewarded by sitting out in the woods all night long, bored out of your mind. Hours and hours of sitting still, in the dark, with bugs and lizards crawling up your pant legs, waiting for something to happen. Now, I’ll ask one last time. Are you absolutely sure you want to get involved in this?”
“Yes,” she said without hesitation. “Absolutely.”
Ollie sighed. So much for playing on her reservations. Or her fear of bugs.
“Okay. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He took one last look around, making sure they were alone, then rested his hand on the passenger door handle. He didn’t normally do what he was about to do. But something in his gut told him it would be okay. He opened the door. “Grika, say hello to our new friend, Kimmie.”
Kimmie’s expression faltered as she circled around to peer past Ollie and into the darkness inside the Chief. Seeing nothing at first, she leaned forward, her eyes drifting down to the tarp moving on the floorboard of the truck. The tarp slowly pulled back revealing Grika’s football-shaped head.
Kimmie’s mouth fell open and her eyes nearly bugged out of her skull. To her credit, though, instead of running away she leaned in closer. “Is that… is that him?” She reached out, as if to touch Grika, who gave her a sharp look. She pulled her hand back. “What do you call it?”
“It?” Grika said, his tiny face showing offense. “I’m not a toy!”
“Oh!” she said, taken aback. She looked at him a little more closely. “So, you’re a… boy?”
Grika crossed his arms. “A male, thank you very much. You may use whatever gender-specific pronouns you deem appropriate for someone of my exceedingly obvious masculinity.”
Ollie rolled his eyes. Grika was still wearing a jacket from an American Girl doll.
She laughed, then looked at Ollie. “He’s fiesty.”
“I’ve called him far worse.”
Grika stood up straight. “Hey, mind yourself in front of the pretty girlie!”
Ollie gave him a look. “She isn’t fooled by your sudden discovery of manners.”
“He called me pretty,” Kimmie said, amused by the exchange.
The pygmy waved a bony finger at Ollie’s shoulders. “Or your discovery of deodorant.” Kimmie laughed again, which caused Grika to cackle along with her. “This one tells me I stink, you should smell him after a truck stop burrito.”
They both laughed even harder.
“Okay.” Ollie slid the cat carrier to the edge of the seat, but the pygmy was too busy laughing to notice. “That’s enough. Get in.”
“Ohhh,” Kimmie said, “are we cramping your style?” She hooked her thumb toward Ollie. “I’ll bet he’s a handful, too, huh?”
“This one?” Grika said. “He’s stubborn as a trow.”
“Right?” she nodded. “The most obstinate little guy I’ve ever met.”
“Little?” Ollie said.
“Tell me about it. He’s a stubborn bonehead!” Grika laughed.
“A jerk!”
“A moron!” He giggled incessantly, falling down on his bungie web as he did.
“Shhh!” Ollie said, glancing over at the house. “You’re gonna wake up your boarders.”
Kimmie slapped his arm. “Oh, don’t be so sensitive. We’re bonding,” she smiled at Grika, “aren’t we?”
“Like BFFs,” Grika said with a toothy grin.
Ollie reached over and plucked Grika from the floorboard and put him in the carrier. “Stop cavorting and get to work.”
Grika snarled at him while straightening his jacket.
“Look at you,” Kimmie said, giving Ollie an admiring gaze. “A goblin hunter with his own goblin. So, is it true? Is he a pet?”
“A pet?” Grika raised his eyebrows, no longer laughing.
“I got him at a flea market for a quarter,” Ollie said. “If they didn’t have a no-return policy I’d have brought him back years ago.”
Grika pointed menacingly at Ollie. “You’d be some hobbie’s dinner without me, ya boffer. You remember that.”
“No, really.” She pointed at each of them. “How does something like this happen?”
Ollie hesitated. He shared a look with Grika, who’d become similarly tight-lipped. “That’s a long story,” he finally said.
Grika nodded in somber agreement. “A really long story.”
She frowned, undeterred in her pursuit of everything goblin. “Meaning you don’t want to tell me?”
“Let’s call it magic and leave it at that.” Ollie closed the carrier, with Grika inside, and hefted it under his arm, keeping his smaller bag slung over his other shoulder. He closed the passenger door and made his way to the back of the house.
“Magic?” She hurried up alongside him. “Do you know magic?”
“He’s not smart enough,” Grika said from inside the carrier. “Even if he was, not everyone can learn it. Only ones who can–” Grika started but a harsh gesture from Ollie quieted him.
“What?” Kimmie asked. Ollie said nothing. Grika remained quiet, too. “More secrets, huh? That’s how we’re going to start this little partnership?”
“This little what?” Grika said, peering through the grate at Ollie, who turned to Kimmie.
Ollie stopped and faced her, trying his best to keep the annoyance off his face. “Do you want to get to hunting, or should we just stand around asking stupid questions all night?”
Kimmie was quiet for a moment. She held up her hands in defeat. “Fine. Let’s hunt.”
Ollie stalked into the darkness without a word, letting Kimmie catch up. This was already not going well, and they hadn’t even started.