Mermania

The new begining

"Sure," I said, not looking up. The Asian woman left the room, following the others out the door. "I am satisfied," she announced as she closed the door behind her. "He is fine." Rema continued, "And maybe OK is supposed to be UK? Then it could stand for Uncle Kar." "I have a few ideas about what David might be. I wanted to do some research." Zach refused to look up at him. He folded his arms and said nothing.

Chapter 12

King Barjon spoke for the first time. "How do the nobles find her?" Although his face was blank, revealing no emotion, Rema could tell he found all this amusing by the tone of his voice and gleam in his eyes. "Miss Taylor, I heard you in there. If you aren't comfortable opening to me, I could bring a police officer- just to let you know I am who I say. I don't want you to think I'm threatening you in anyway. I know it must be frightening to have a big stranger knock on the door when you live alone." "Maybe one and a half. There was another time when he was two- not quite as severe, but bad enough." Shane clenched his jaw, his eyebrows pulling together. "Are you serious?" You're ending this because I said 'I love you?'" Darmik raised his hand, silencing them. "Corporals," he said, standing next to his table with a map of Greenwood Island spread upon it. He hoped his specialized squads were able to uncover some vital information. "Your reports, one at a time, please." Ula frowned before answering. "Unfortunately, no." "You do know she's been sentenced for execution." A horn blared in the traffic. If only he had a car- well, and a driver's license. No- a bus! Anybody could ride the bus, if they paid the fare; Mom had said so. And he had more than enough money. He would get on a bus and ask the driver how to get home! "It's true, according to Donna from the mailroom." "Yes, we can!" she maintained. "We can take him wherever we want. No one's looking for him, Craig, or they would have contacted the police and come for him by now. They sent him away. And of course he's not ours, but he is family, and.."Er," Craig began. "Sara, just because he's successful doesn't mean he's not trouble. And he's meeting you in a cafe in this neighborhood?" Xanthus didn't need to say more than that. He'd learned many things about the neighborhood in the last couple of weeks- none of them good. Sara knew this because he took it upon himself to inform her, going into great detail about what horrible nightmares awaited her if she ever became careless or complacent. "Do you feel better?" "You came all this way to ask me not to take Zechariah back? His father grunted. "I think not." He "What? No. You?" "I've duties to attend to," Arnek mumbled "Clearly, I'm not needed here." "You have a lot of rules, Mom," Zach remarked, "even more than Grandfather had." "You don't know a name for someone like me?" Dr. Lerwick picked up Craig's phone and smashed it suddenly against the counter. Shattered bits of the screen and casing broke off and showered the floor. He picked up Kara's phone and destroyed it in the same way. ***"Nothing Mcwrait would tell us about, anyway- yeah. You know something about that?" "Stop it!" Zach yelled suddenly. He was near the center of the yard, trying to pull away from Marissa, who was tugging on his arm. He kicked the ball hard, away from her pestering feet. The ball banged against the house only inches below the den's large picture window. He sighed dejectedly. "4:25." Zach obeyed, and Kara retrieved a small box from the garage. As she returned to the kitchen, she cast Craig a quick smile. "I think he actually believes it's the same worm." "What are you doing today?" I asked. Ben caught his arm. "You might give him a minute," he advised. "At least, it helps with the girls." Five soldiers stood in front of the gallows, one holding a drum. Darmik nodded to him, and the soldier began tapping, the steady beat echoing throughout the courtyard. I was pleased to see that Grandma Mary made waffles and bacon, and a steaming plate of both was set out for me. "Today." He looked uncomfortable. "That's why I brought you here." "Craig__" Kara cautioned, but he spoke right over her. "Calm down and stop being so melodramatic," the king ordered. Bambi grabbed the phone, her voice curt and annoyed. I told her how I had worked late and missed the bus. She told me it was my own fault and I could make my own way home. "It'll teach you a lesson, Missy. A good walk won't kill you. God walked everywhere his whole life." She slammed the phone down. Kara's throat tightened; she bit her lip. No, this isn't right. I can't accept this. She shook her head. "This is really kind of you guys, but I'm not comfortable__" A part of me hoped we would just call it a night. We had already stayed afterschool for the boy's basketball game. After showers, we met up at Shane's house for dinner and a movie in his home-theater room. With the basement designed in stadium seating and a projector, it'd been nice to sink into his thick leather couches and relax. Now, however, I was anxious about getting caught breaking into the apartment complex- but I also didn't want to be the first to bail. Everyone had given me a hard time at lunch today while we ate pizza in the quad, talking about how I had pretty much ditched them all week. The disappointed silence felt unbearable. I wasn't a kid that got in trouble. I'd never been sent to the principal's office. Quite the opposite- most teachers seemed to like me and consider me a "breath of fresh air" from the usual troublemakers in class. "We have arrived, Princess." "Oh, well he did a wonderful job; you look beautiful." He made an effort to look relaxed, but Sara saw lingering apprehension.

Chapter 15

Still, Craig could tell that Rita understood when her eyes went wide and she nodded thoughtfully. "Yes," she said, "that is very bad, if they do not tell you. But he is yours. I see it. He is very like you. He look like his papa." She smiled at Craig. "And he is happy here; I see that, too" "Twenty minutes?" Craig moaned. "They could be to Everett by