Guard Dog? Read Online Free PDF Page A

“Yes?”
      Nothing more. And I could not for the life of me remember Zack’s mother’s name and why hadn’t I thought to ask Nicotiana?
      “Uh, this is Claire Carmody and I am really sorry to bother you but I need to get hold of Zack and I was wondering if possibly you have his phone number, not the one at the store but maybe his cellphone or something?” I rattled because I knew her reputation. And yeah, she kind of scared me.
      “Carmody,” she said slowly. “Oh. Yes. Of course. The girl. Yes.”
      The girl. Right. I am the only female in my generation. My one cousin is a ditzy guy.
      “Why do you need Zack?”
      Lying to a witch is pointless. Besides, maybe she thought I was stalking him and I sure didn’t want her thinking she needed to protect her son because witches can get a little crazy about stuff like that.
      “I’m in his store and he’s gone and the door is warded.”
      “He was in a hurry tonight, I know that, leaving town for a camping trip with a friend. He won’t be back for a few days.”
      If she had been anyone else, I would have shrieked. Instead, I tried to convey my question with raised eyebrows   while staring at Tarvik through the glass and pointing toward the door. He did figure out I wanted him to look at something. He went to the door, leaned toward it without touching it, then rushed back and oh yeah.
      “There’s a sign on the door!” he shouted. “Be back Tuesday!”
      “I can’t get out of here for three days?”
      In my ear the voice said, “That won’t do. All right, stay where you are,” and she hung up.
      “I think she’s gone for help,” I mouthed at Tar.
      “I could break the window.”
      Three days? Would an alarm go off in a police station if Tarvik broke the window? We couldn’t leave it open, but we could come back and board it up. A lot of bad karma mixed in there, right?
      Trying not to tear my hair, I shouted, “Wait a bit! Maybe she knows how to locate Zack.”
      “Wait how long?”
      “A half hour?”
      “All right. And then I break the window.”
      When I opened my mouth to scream at him, he did his kissy face, so there wasn’t much to do except make faces back at him. He leaned against the outside of the window and I leaned against the inside and we could talk and hear each other a little bit. We talked about stuff that didn’t matter, like what we’d have for supper when we got home, and what shows were on TV, and anything at all except the possibility that we might actually have to break the window to get me out. And right after that, would we spend the night in jail?
      Tar tilted his head and stared at the sky. He held out a hand, palm up.
      In a matter of minutes the stairwell turned almost as dark as the inside of the store.
      “Looks like rain,” he called.
      Rain. Nicotiana had mentioned rain, which made no sense because, unusual to Seattle, we were having a dry spell. A dry spell in Seattle means four days in a row without rain. And nary a cloud in the sky.
      But yeah, Tarvik was right. I could see drops bouncing off him, big fat drops that soon started sliding down the window and leaving tracks in the dust.
      A woman called, “Are you a Carmody?”
      Tarvik looked up the stairs. “No, lady, the Carmody is the one stuck inside.”
      “Ah.” I saw her coming down, first little boots with heels, the kind of boots that barely come up over the ankles, black, with laces, and the heels were maybe two inches high. Above the boots were slim legs wrapped in black stockings with a lattice pattern. The skirt started at mid calf.
      She stopped a couple steps above Tar and at that spot she was the same height. He’s five and a half feet tall. I kind of doubted if she made it to five feet, but maybe with the heels she did. The black dress was frilly and seemed to swirl around her by itself, with ruffles at the wrists and neckline. She leaned to peer in the window at me. Her face was