Petunia

Soot flapping up to the perch at the end of the stable reminded Petunia partly of a goose coming in belly-down onto a pond and partly of a time one of her cousins had tried to show off by handbrake parking his car and ended up sideways across the driveway. It was just so ungainly relative to everything the dragon could do on the wing, and a little alarming, too. With his wings fully spread and flapping, it was much easier to appreciate his quarter-tonne body mass.

The practice session had gone well, and Soot's pace looked good on the evidence of the qualifying simulation laps that Phoebe had just been flying. They were going to need that, with the penalty from Baleara costing them ten places on the starting grid. Phoebe hopped down as soon as Soot was on solid ground, then looked as if she regretted the sudden movement.

Vermilia and Amity crowded the rider immediately as she rolled her shoulders, wincing. In some ways it was a lot like the way Adelie, Stefan and Tamra descended on Soot at the end of every session, except that the doctor and physio towered over their charge, and Soot never looked so cowed by his vets. Petunia allowed herself a little chuckle.

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There wasn't much for her to do until the physical checkups were out of the way and she could chair the session debrief, so she pulled out her phone and opened her messages. The draft she was working on was still floating there, waiting to be sent.

> Hi Ms. Dewmeadow, can I call you this evening or tomorrow? It's not official P.R.A.N.C. business but I'd like your advice. Sorry to ask on the weekend. Best wishes, Petunia.

Was that too formal for a text message? She wasn't sure whether she was allowed to turn to her boss for personal advice, especially when she couldn't ask the question she actually wanted to – how do I convince the press that Tenebrae isn't funded by organised crime when I know that we actually are? – so maybe it was best to be formal.

Well, maybe she could tone it down a little. She changed 'best wishes' to 'thanks' and looked at it. Now it looked like she was thanking herself. Maybe Ms. Dewmeadow wouldn't see it that way. It had to be obvious that wasn't what she meant, right?

Maybe she was overthinking this. She pressed 'send'.