SWNOVELS Chapter Chapter Twenty-Six
Lenny held the screen door as Cadence passed through, T-shirts and new hire packet tucked under her arm. He patted Dorian on his back as he exited. He too had a bundle of goods, but his was more of the souvenir persuasion.
“Thanks for the tour and the swag,” Dorian said stopping briefly before heading down the porch steps.
“My pleasure,” Lenny replied. “And Cadence, we will see you tomorrow when you start your training. No need to suit up just yet. Dress comfortably and pull your hair back. Bring your papers. Come back to this door. We’ll start around five-ish.”
“Five-ish it is!” Cadence agreed. “See you then!”
The pair turned and waved at Lenny as they reached their car. He returned the wave and then entered the mansion, allowing the screen door to slap closed behind him.
“He seems nice,” Cadence said as she unlocked the driver’s side door. She hit the button to unlock the passenger side of the car. Dorian continued around the trunk and stopped abruptly when he saw Gary seated alongside the car, the fabric bundle sitting at his forepaws.
“Uh, oh,” Dorian gulped. “Cadence . . .”
Cadence stopped mid-stoop and straightened up to look at Dorian across the roof of the car.
“I was so wrapped up in the whole ‘magical water with healing powers thing’ that I forgot about something that happened in the aviary.”
“What did you do?” Cadence scowled.
“I, I didn’t do anything! I promise!”
“Then what happened?” Cadence asked dubiously.
“Do you remember Gary, Leslie’s big black dog?”
“Sure. What about him?”
“He’s here.”
“He’s here at the mansion?” Cadence queried.
Gary barked. Dorian pointed down.
“He told me that he needs our help. I urged him to wait by the car.”
“He told you he needed our help?”
“Yes. There’s more. He said Leslie was in some kind of trouble.”
“What, did he fall down a well?” Cadence snickered.
Gary rocked back to his hind legs and slammed his front paws onto the hood, barking in disapproval.
“Okay! I’m sorry!” Cadence apologized.
Gary backed down and turned to Dorian. He pressed his head into his hand and woofed “Can we please get going? It’s almost sundown.”
Dorian relayed the message to Cadence.
“He asked if we could get going.”
“I guess.”
Gary barked back.
“What did he say?” Cadence asked.
“I think he called ‘Shotgun’!” Gary barked a few more times.” Naw, he said he was just kidding.”
Dorian opened the door and tipped the seat forward. Gary picked up his bundle and jumped into the back seat.
Cadence executed a quick two-point turn and headed toward the gates. The sun was getting lower in the sky. Shades of lilac and orange began to paint the underside of clouds near the horizon.
“I love this time of day. The sky is so pretty,” Cadence sighed.
Gary whimpered and shifted nervously from side to side.
“Something wrong, Gar?” Dorian peered over his headrest. Gary was pawing frantically at his bundle. “You want something in there, boy?”
Dorian leaned back over the seat and untucked the ends of the package. Gary grabbed the roll of fabric and shook it furiously. The shoes that were at the core of the package flew in both directions, bouncing off of the windows. Gary’s t-shirt was flung forward and ended up hanging from the rear-view mirror.
“What are you two doing?” Cadence asked as she pulled at the t-shirt.
“It seems very important to Gary that he opens his bundle.”
As the colors at the horizon grew more vibrant Gary grew more agitated. He pressed his nose against the window and whimpered at the sliver of the setting sun. He climbed down from the seat and wedged himself into the wells in the floorboard. He let out a howl.
“Is he okay?” Cadence twisted the rearview mirror in an attempt to see what was happening. Dorian rose in his seat to get a better view.
“I can’t tell! I can only see his back.”
Gary howled again, but the howl slowly changed.
“Arrooo. . .pleeease don’t be frighhhtennnd!”
Cadence snapped her head toward Dorian. “What the hell was that?”
“It’s Gary! He’s. . .”
Gary’s back widened as the long black fur was sucked back into his skin. His tail swished back and forth in diminishing arcs as it retracted into his tailbone. He rolled back onto the seat and righted himself as his front legs twisted and expanded into arms. Cadence glanced into the mirror and made eye contact with a dog-headed man-creature resembling Anubis. She screamed and jerked the steering wheel sending the car onto the gravel shoulder. The car skidded to a halt in a cloud of grey dust.
“I won’t hurt you!” Gary yelped. His ears and snout simultaneously morphed into human forms. “Please believe me!”
Cadence popped the door open and bolted, stopping a few yards in front of the car.
Dorian sat motionless, staring at Gary who slowly pulled his jeans over his lap to hide his male appendage.
“Awkward,” Gary nervously chuckled. “I run around with it hangin’ out all day, but the second the sun sets I feel the need to pack it away.”
Dorian remained transfixed.
“I’m going to slip these on, okay?” Gary slowly sifted sideways and pulled the jeans onto his legs and wriggled them up to his waist. Would you mind handing me my . . .? “Gary gestured at his t-shirt draped across the console. Dorian reached blindly for it and handed it to him while shifting his gaze. Gary pulled it on over his head and settled back into the seat.
“Why don’t you call Cadence back into the car?” He pointed through the windshield at the woman illuminated by the headlights. “I’ve got a bit of explaining to do.”