Page 33 of The Last Viking

She made a clucking sound of disgust. “I did not.”

He arched a brow. “Perchance you need a reminder.” He advanced closer, running a teasing thumb over her lips.

She backed up against the door, her grocery bag clutched to her chest.

Another clap of thunder.

Rolf grimaced. “You get a reprieve, my lady. I must needs check on that timber afore the rains come.”

She relaxed. But only for a moment.

As he walked toward the sideyard and the longship, Rolf called over his shoulder, “Make ready the drek. This Viking just thought of a few troll tricks.”

Meredith couldn’t help laughing. The light carefree sound carried on the electrified air, surprising her. When was the last time she’d bantered with a man like this? Had she ever?

With a sigh, she turned, scrabbling in her pocket for the key. Before she could insert it, though, the front door swung open. Meredith jumped back, fully expecting another Dark Age intruder to pop out of the woodwork.

“Hi, Aunt Mer,” her niece Thea exclaimed as she kissed the air near Meredith’s right cheek and reached for one of the grocery bags on the steps. “Great sweater, auntie, but did you know you have two wet stains on the front? Oh, don’t be embarrassed. You’re probably a slob like me. Genetics, don’tja know? I dropped strawberry ripple ice cream on my jeans at the airport.”

Meredith just gaped, too shocked by Thea’s appearance to be embarrassed over her sweater’s telltale spots. What alien being had invaded her darling niece’s body? And, oh, Lord! First a Viking time-traveler, now this…creature.

The twelve-year-old girl’s straight black hair was parted in the center and hung down to her rear, outlining faded jeans and a tie-dye T-shirt. Well, that was normal adolescent fare. But normalcy ended there. Black lipliner framed her full lips, filled in with dark purple gloss. She wore so much magenta mascara, eyeliner, and shadow that Meredith was surprised the girl could raise her lids. Greenish-brown enamel covered her obviously fake, two-inch fingernails. The pièce de résistance was a tiny hoop earring in her left nostril.

“I hope you don’t mind that I let myself in,” Thea went on breezily. “I called from the airport but there was no answer, so I hopped a cab. Geez, did you know it costs fifty dollars to take a taxi from Bangor? I only had thirty, and, like, gol-ly, was the cabbie mad! But, not to worry. I remembered where you hide the spare key and went inside. I had to break your piggy bank. Is that okay? I gave the man twenty dollars in quarters, plus a ten dollar tip in dimes. Good thing I listen to so much grunge rock, or I never would have understood some of his swear words.” Thea ended her rambling discourse with a sheepish grin.

Setting her grocery sack on the kitchen table, Thea made two more trips for the remaining bags. The whole time, she bit her trembling bottom lip. “It’s okay that I came, isn’t it, Aunt Mer? I mean, Jillie didn’t push me on you, did she? Huh?”

Meanwhile, the girl had discovered the package of Oreos in the top of one bag and was already scarfing them down with little yumming sounds of appreciation.

“Jillie?” Meredith squeaked out, homing in on the most irrelevant of Thea’s words. What she’d like to ask was why her sister hadn’t told her Thea was already on her way when she’d called last night. Hah! Probably because she’d known Meredith would explode. “Since when do you call your mother Jillie?”

“After I started to get boobs, Mom said we should be more like, you know, sisters. She said she’s too young to have a grown daughter. Now we can be best friends. Isn’t that cool?” Thea’s sad eyes disclosed how uncool she really thought it was.

Yeah, real cool! Frankly, as far as Meredith could tell, the girl didn’t have much of a bust yet, and she was far from grown up. Jillie, Jillie, Jillie, when are you going to grow up yourself? “Of course, it’s all right that you came,” she said, giving her niece’s thin shoulders a squeeze. “I love having you here. You’re my favorite niece, honey.”

“I’m, like, your only niece,” she said, beaming, “but my name’s not Thea anymore, you know. It’s Serenity.”

“Serenity?” Meredith laughed. “I thought your mother said it was Gourd.”

“That was last month.” Thea waved the air dismissively. “Everyone kept calling me Gordie, which is so-o-o juvenile. Besides, Serenity is more New Age.”

They grinned at each other.

“Aunt Mer, I promise I won’t do any…you know, stuff…like shoplifting…or, know, get into trouble while I’m here. I can’t explain why I pull such stupid pranks anyway. I’m not really bad, you know. I’m not.” Her eyes filled with tears as she pleaded for understanding.

“Oh, sweetie, I know that,” Meredith assured her, using a tissue to dab at Thea’s wet cheeks. Then, seeking to lighten the conversation, Meredith commented, “Your makeup is so…so—”

“Cool?” Thea asked brightly, welcoming the change of subject. “It’s the latest from that new company, Urban Blight. Don’t you, like, just love it? This lip liner is called Mildew, but my favorite is Slime. You can borrow it sometime.”

“Uh, I don’t think so.”

“Jillie does. In fact, I think she stole my Puke nail enamel. I’m wearing Sludge, but it’s not nearly as awesome as Puke.”

Meredith put a hand to her forehead. She might just puke herself with all these disgusting colors staring her in the face.

“Holy cow!” Thea exclaimed then, staring at something behind Meredith. “Holy freakin’ cow!”

Meredith didn’t have to turn around to know what she would see. The troll.