8)

I decided to put together a care package together for whoever woke up hungry. But wasn’t willing to wander off to get something to eat if it meant leaving a still sleeping sibling alone.

Of course, I finished the little bit of soup that was left since the brat didn’t want to eat it, waste not and such, then made a few sandwiches. All the makings were out anyways.

Glad I could afford to eat like this.

A tray with some jerky, goldfish crackers, a jar of peanuts, and three cans of orange Faygo made it to the floor just inside the girls’ bunk room door. Along with three black plastic bowls that had started life as side dish containers from a certain fried chicken place.

Then I did something I had given up on for the last forty some years.

I went looking for my ex, this time on the internet.

Twelve million hits for a Brianna Caine, dozens of them on Facebook alone, but not a one of them that was her.

Probably for the best. If someone was watching her they might be monitoring her online access and I didn’t want to lead anyone here. Even searching for her name was probably a mistake, but I was going through something called a VPM my nephew had set up for me that should block most people from tracking anything back to me.

Of course, Sara said Bree’s mom and her coven were after them. I had sort of just let that slip by me assuming they were Wiccans or something. But if werewolves and other things are real, why not witches?

And how exactly did they find their way here using half a locket?

I sat a while checking the cameras set up around the property, then checked every door and ground floor window to make sure everything was locked before I headed down to the changing room to await the moonrise.

The second time was a lot easier to resist, and heading up to sleep in my own bed was a lot better than a worn out cushion on the basement floor.

Several hours later the sun was barely up when I awoke with the knowledge that someone was stirring in the house. I grabbed my clothes from yesterday. Then remembered the barbecue stains and got dressed in fresh clothes.

The things you have to do when you have guests.

I found Sara sneaking around the house in her socks. I watched her for a few moments and then waited until she was opening a drawer in the old china cabinet I kept spare light bulbs in. Just the one drawer, not the whole cabinet. “Did you eat?”

Yes! She jumped and turned around, off balance and blushing. “Ah, I was just...You feed kids Jerky?”

Yep, twist it around so I'm the bad guy. That’s your granddaughter Bree.

“You fell asleep without eating anything, jerky is meat that keeps.” Damn, that almost sounds wise.

By her look, Sara disagreed. But she still had some manners as she looked down and muttered “Thanks.”

“So should we cook something up and then wake up the other two, or go get some fish for you.”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

She brightened up a little. “That sounds good, but I don’t want them to wake up alone while we’re at a store.’

“Store? There’s a whole lake right over there. Fresh fish from the lake to the plate.” Why the hell am I rhyming?

She started glaring. At me? Is the rhyming that weird? Oh yeah, plate. If anyone asks that was deliberate.

“You want me to fish?” She asked like it was some imposition, but she still look intrigued. “Maybe we can do that later, but Ami and Aran will probably be hungry as soon as they wake up.”

“Pancakes it is, with some bacon, and a few eggs. I know I picked up some cereal, the good stuff...”

I headed to the kitchen, ignoring the protests about healthy foods coming from behind me.

The smell of bacon cooking does wonders. It shut up one kid and woke up the other two.

For all her complaints, Sara was scarfing down pancakes well enough, but she went awfully light on the butter and syrup.

All the while eyeballing another piece of bacon draining on the paper towel. Which would be piece number six for her. “I never had real maple syrup before, mom said it was too pricey.”

I gave her a sideways glance from the stove where I was cooking my own bacon. I didn’t think kids would like it with a healthy dose of garlic powder.

Of course, she took my glance the wrong way. “We aren't poor, she just hated wasting money.”

“Sounds like a wise woman.”

She tilted her head at me, then waved around the almost garish kitchen, the tiles, the frosted glass cupboards, and the big all glass sunroom. “Really”

I smiled. “I got more than enough money to waste.”

The other two kids wandered in. The boy was still in the same clothes he had on yesterday as he climbed up onto his stool.

Then he gave Sara a dirty look as she put a single pancake on his plate with the same economic dollop of butter and syrup. “Finish this first and then you get bacon.”

Ami, who had somehow produced an entirely new outfit from her one bag, had gone straight for the meat while her older sister was distracted with the boy.

“That’s too much.” Objected the older one as the two began to bicker. Sara was stuck between her two siblings as they worked together like clockwork to distract her long enough for the other to fill their plate with what they wanted.

Then the bottle of syrup shaped like a maple leaf slid smoothly across the counter towards Ami all on its own and kept going right towards the end of the counter until the younger girl grabbed it.

I paused for a moment then continued to eat my bacon while all three kids froze wide eyed and on the edge of panicking.

A werewolf, the stinky people, now this? Might just be me, but this is starting to seem like more than just a coincidence.

Oh, and I won the lottery just before all this. Going to need to mull this over, but right now...

“So… your grandmother’s coven is the real deal?”