Blood and Bone: A Smattering of Unease by Shannon Rae Noble Page A

“No ma’am. I can’t recall ever seeing anything like this. The thing is intelligent enough to use tools, cook, and make clothing?” He shook his head and looked at Maryann’s bandaged hands. “I think you’d better go to the hospital and get those looked at, just in case. You might even consider a rabies shot,” he said. “Do you know where this thing came from, in the first place? You got a basement? Have you seen any more?”
    “Yes, we have a basement,” Maryann said. “Do you really think there might be more than one?”
    “We don’t know how many there are. This is something new and different, to us, anyway. Another agency may have come across this; we’re going to try to find out. I think it would be a good idea to get hold of a wildlife management agency, and have your placed swept for more of these critters. With something as aggressive as this, it’s better to be safe than sorry.” He glanced at the thing in the cage. It was rattling the wire bars, emitting short shrieks, sounding like an angry bird. “Do you and your kids have a place you could stay for a couple of days?”
    Maryann gave Nate a troubled look. “I guess we could probably stay at Aunt Janice’s,” she said.
    “Cool!” Nate exclaimed.
    “Do you really think this is serious enough to warrant us leaving?”
    “Like I said, ma’am, in this case, I think we should be cautious. At least until we can make sure the property is clear.”
    Maryann sighed. “Okay, we’d better pack some clothes for a couple of days. Nate, dial the phone for me, would you? You’ll have to hold the phone for me, too.”
    Nate laughed a little and she gave him a look. “I know it isn’t funny, Mom, but it is, just a little.”
    Maryann turned back to the officers. “We’ll get Gordie off the bus and then we’ll be go.”
    “We’ll give you a call when set up a meeting with wildlife management,” Officer Dillard said. “Will you be available to let us in?”
    “I’ll have Nathan unlock the door for you. Just let me know.”
    Maryann and Nate met Gordie at the school bus, and they all piled into the car.
    “Where are we going, guys? Hey, did you find Harry P?” Gordie asked.
    “We’re going to Aunt Janice’s to stay for a couple of days,” Maryann said. “And no, we didn’t find Harry P, yet. I’m sorry.”
    His face fell. “What if we never find him?”
    “Well, it looks like he escaped. He’s probably living it up by now, chewing his way through a cereal box in the cupboard. There are enough warm and cozy places for him to hide in the house. He’s probably found a place to make a nice nest.”
    “If we don’t find him, I’m going to miss him. I love him so much!” Gordie’s voice sounded tearful.
    “I know, Gordie, and I really am sorry that we lost him,” Maryann said. “We all love him, and we’ll miss him, too.”
    Nate drove them to Janice’s where they dropped Gordie off, and then took his mother to the hospital to have her hands checked.
    Animal Control scheduled a sweep of the Zeik property the next morning.
    Meanwhile, in a maze of countless subterranean tunnels far beneath the basement floor, hundreds of six-inch tall creatures grew restless as they waited for their scout to return.
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    Bereavement Services, LLP
     
     
    Juniper wiped through the foamy fog of lemon-scented furniture polish, clearing it from the sideboard’s surface until the walnut finish glowed. There; the dusting was done.
    She had gotten the daily chores down to a science, and what had once taken the better part of each day now took only a couple of hours, leaving the rest of the day free. Simon didn’t know that, though, and Juniper wasn’t about to volunteer the information. He thought she spent all of her time slaving away.
    That’s the way it had been during the first few months of their marriage. He had loaded her down with so many tasks that it was nearly impossible to complete them all by 5:30 p.m., when