Battle of Bones (Anomaly Saga #5)

10

And he did get the door. He stood dramatically in the doorway, swept off his top hat in a bow, and announced, "Enter!"

A few more clacks, and Leta was in the room. She was a tall woman, muscular, sporting a large black mohawk. On her feet were tap shoes, which explained the clacking. "'Sup, Chaps? Figured it was you ringing. You got some new friends? Is this Jack Chandler and his girlfriend?"

"Nope, this is Preston and Camellia!" said Chaps.

"And I would like to make it crystal clear that I am in no way, shape, or form his girlfriend," Camellia said. "Thank you; you may carry on."

"Well, you must be pretty good friends with Chaps to be let into the HQ," Leta said. "I wasn't allowed down here till I could beat Chaps in six games of ping-pong, first to thirty-one."

"Oh, yeah, Chaps and I go way back," said Preston, laying a hand on Chaps' shoulder but immediately retracting it after coming into contact with bone.

Camellia scoffed. "Way back to about thirty minutes ago."

"Preston passed the test when he knew all the words to 'All Star' by Smash Mouth," said Chaps matter-of-factly. "Camellia is a bit grouchier than I'd like, but I figured I couldn't just leave her to the scarecrows. I suppose I took pity on her."

"Please," said Camellia. "I've handled myself in much more dangerous situations. In fact, I seem to recall we wouldn't have even gotten into such an altercation had it not been for you, skeleton man."

"What fun is life without the occasional unexpected altercation with a scarecrow?" Chaps said. "Besides, you got your Bramble head, and you got to keep me! I see this as a win-win."

Camellia rolled her eyes, silently but vehemently disagreeing.

"Whatever the reason, welcome aboard, Preston and Camellia," said Leta. "By the way, I like your hair, Camellia."

Camellia smiled. "Thanks. I like yours." Finally, she thought, another sensible human being.

Preston had flopped onto one of the armchairs. He sat with his feet up on the backrest and his head hanging upside-down off the seat. "So when are these people supposed to show up?" His face was quickly growing red as the blood rushed down to his head.

"Any minute now!" Chaps said as Preston tumbled out of the chair. "Of course, it could be any hour now. Any day, even. Probably not any week, though. Most likely not. Anyone up for a game of ping-pong?"