Back Home (Edited) Book 4 of the Guardians Saga

CH 2.1 Safety for Friends

The next morning in their carriage apartment, Alex spoke on her phone. She ended the call and looked up at Rile. "Are you ready?" She asked as she checked her sword and staff.

Rile also checked his sword and staff, put on his leather duster and Stetson, and then nodded. They started for the main house. Once there, Alex took a deep breath and knocked on the kitchen door. Mary answered it.

"Good morning, dear," she said with a smile.

Her thick silver hair was in an elegant up-do. Her facial features were the classic elegance of French aristocracy: small nose, clean jaw and chin, emerald green eyes.

"You look like Marie Antoinette this early in the morning?" Alex said as she entered. "I think I hate you." She smiled to show that she didn't mean it.

"You said you had something important to tell us and were bringing a guest. Now sit down. I bought croissants from La Madeleine's. Do you want black currant, raspberry, or strawberry jam? What about you, Rile, dear?" Mary waved them to the kitchen table.

"All of the above. With coffee and chicory." Rile sat down with an impudent grin. "Alex isn't authentic enough to like coffee with chicory."

"Jerk," Alex said with affection, taking her own place at the table.

"She doesn't suck crawfish heads, either," Rile said in a mock whisper.

Marie swatted Rile's shoulder. "Stop that, bad boy. Alex is a perfectly authentic Southern girl. Perhaps not Cajun if she doesn't suck the crawfish heads, but we love her as she is."

"Yes, I do," Rile said with a nod of agreement as Mary poured the coffee into mugs.

Dr. Dewey's voice echoed from the stairwell, "Mary? Do I hear Rile and Alex?"

"Yes. They are squabbling like an old married couple and are perfectly darling while doing so." Mary favored them with a triumphant smile.

There was a knock on the front door and Dr. Dewey ushered Grange into the eat-in kitchen brightly lit with the morning sun. The red brick floor gleamed, as did the spotless china in the china cabinet.

"Croissants with jam." Mary indicated the table to Grange. "Figure out which jam isn't poisoned."

Grange smiled. "The one that Rile and Alex are eating."

"You assume their jam came from the jars on the table," Mary said coolly.

"Mary!" Dr. Dewey stared at his normally placid wife.

Alex and Rile watched, eyes wide with shock.

"Mary, Grange will save your life and Dr. Dewey's," Alex said. "Morgan tracked me to your carriage house. Your lifespan is limited unless Grange agrees to my proposal."

"Why didn't you say so?" Mary spread jam on a croissant and bit into it. She handed the jar she had used to Grange. "Would you like coffee with chicory or regular coffee?"

Grange considered for a minute before taking the jar and sitting down at the table with a croissant of his own. He spread some jam before looking up and saying, "I love La Madeleine's. Coffee with chicory, please."

With a nod, Mary moved back into the kitchen to make their drinks.

"I'm in a terrible bargaining position," Alex said to Grange, pleading in her eyes. "What do you want me to do in order to move Dr. Dewey and his wife to safety? I want them set up right, too. Someplace they love. I hear Costa Rica is lovely this time of year."

Dr. Dewey blinked in surprise. "I believe I should have a say in this."

"Of course," Grange replied. "What are your hobbies?"