Coyote Azazello

Chapter Five: Uninvited Guests

Sarah came back a few minutes later and acted as if nothing had happened. Coy and Starling followed suit. Coy wrote and wrote making little notes, filling out note cards with quotes and text information for her bibliography. Coy continued to look at the clock's time pass and what she assumed to be the lunch hour came and went. Her stomach made strange noises that everyone except Caesar ignored. Caesar would talk back to the noises woofing and whining. There was a door in the back of the library, and Coy opened it so Caesar could go outside and felt a lurch of jealousy when she didn't follow him.

Coy started to wonder if lunch was a sad, sick joke when at long last Pearl stuck her head in the library.

"My word, still at work. You must be starving. I can't believe you are all still at it. You really must be interested in your studies, but I must insist you take a break. Sarah, come along. Starling, will you find your uncle and invite him as well?"

"Yes, mam."

Sarah sighed, closed her notebook, put a notecard in her book to mark her place and stood up.

"I better go find Caesar," Coy said standing and stretching. She couldn't hide her excitement at a break and the prospect of food.

"I'll go with you," Starling said. "Uncle is more than likely outside. He likes to walk before lunch."

"I'll go as well. We should try to eat quickly so we can get back to work. I can only work until five. I have three other experiments I need to write up."

"Experiments for what?"

"Just personal projects. I'll show you when we're done if you're interested?"

"Yeah, sure, but you know you shouldn't rush your food. I'm sure it's bad for your indigestion or something."

"I never rush my food, I chew each bite 32 times, it helps with digestion, and it controls hunger. I imagine if you chewed your food more you wouldn't have been so hungry this morning, and your stomach wouldn't have made so much noise."

"I'll keep that in mind," Coy said while stepping out into the sunlight. "Jeezum Pete, what a beautiful day. Just think of all the fun we could be having! You both should come over to the cemetery sometime, and we can play hide and seek. It's got the best places to hide."

"You shouldn't play in a cemetery," Sarah said aghast.

"Why? Are you afraid of ghosts?" Coy laughed.

"There are no such things as ghosts," she replied, but her voice didn't sound so sure. "It's just not proper. It's like playing in a church."

Coy shrugged, "I would play in a church if it were as cool as a cemetery."

Sarah sighed, "There's Caesar." He was down by the water, walking up and down the beach chasing down the waves before the water came back up. He was picking up rocks and running them up to safety before the waves took them away.

Coy laughed before calling, "Here Caesar, here boy!"

Caesar dropped his most recent rock and then ran up to join the three. He barked twice, and Coy barked once. She petted him all over, "Good dog! Well, we're good. Where should we look for your uncle?"

"Let's go over by the garden, he might be working down there."

They walked slowly down to the garden. It was very well maintained and filled with flowers of every color. Coy smiled again at how lovely this house was. Admiral Shepard wasn't at the garden, but when they made a circle trying to find out where else they should check they made out his shape down the lane talking to two men. The four of them walked off to collect him. It was almost impossible to see the two men's faces, as both wore hats, and the Admiral blocked much of the view of both men. When they got within ten feet of the men, Caesar began barking loudly and ferociously. Everyone turned to look at him, and the two men acted overly afraid and jumped back.