Page 101 of Down and Dirty

“And Zachary’s family? I have met Danny.”

“They help when they can, but they all have jobs, too.”

“And danger looms still from the grandsire?”

“More so than ever with Pretty Boy gone.”

“Why does he cling to me? I am almost a stranger, too.”

“Methinks he senses your common backgrounds. Both lost in a new country. Both stumbling with the language. Both a little lonely. Both facing some danger. Both caring deeply for Pretty Boy.”

Britta was about to argue the caring for Zachary bit but held her tongue. Instead, she pondered Madrene’s words and offered hesitantly, “I could stay with him tonight and mayhap tomorrow night. Try to calm him down and explain things to him. But then I would have to return to the base.”

“Would you?” Madrene asked with great enthusiasm. “Praise the gods, would you, please?”

“I would.”

“I will be so appreciative, and so will Pretty Boy. I know this is cutting into the little free time you have.”

“’Tis no bother.” And that was the truth. “I have no inclination to join my women friends in shopping for clothing I do not need. Who needs more than two pairs of braies and two pairs of shoes? Dost know, my friend Terri has twenty-five pairs of shoes back at her home? How can any one woman wear that many shoes?”

Madrene smiled, no doubt having been as dumbstruck as her on first arriving in this country. “You will learn to love shoes, believe me.”

“Nor am I inclined to go clubbing again ‘to get lucky.’ I have been lucky enough, thank you very much.”

At first, Madrene’s eyes went wide, then she flashed her a huge grin. “Now this is a subject we must discuss over dinner.”

“Getting lucky?”

“Sex.”

“Ah. One and the same, am I not correct?”

“Holy Thor, mayhap I could learn a thing or two from you.”

“Mayhap,” Britta said, with a surprising lack of humility. She leaned toward Madrene then and whispered, “Dost know about multiple orgasms?”

Madrene blinked at her, then burst out laughing.

They were both laughing when a puzzled Hilda and Sammy returned to the solar.

Sammy did smile when she told him she would be returning later to stay the night with him… and that she had a special bedtime saga to tell him. “The Loathsome Lout Prince and the Beautiful, Brave Viking Warrior Maiden.”

Give me an S, give me an E, give me an A, give me an L…

Zach was standing in the empty press box at the Penn State Nittany Lions football stadium, preparing for tomorrow night’s homecoming game with Notre Dame.

He was connected by lip mike and earpiece to the other eight members of his team scattered about the 110,000-seat steel edifice. They were all jacked up, but nothing was happening… so far.

It was a great architectural marvel, situated here among the beautiful Nittany Mountains in Happy Valley, but it could very well be a bitch to empty if terrorists had their way.

In addition, it was an especially attractive setting because of all the colorful hot-air balloons there in the near distance, part of the homecoming celebration. The ballonists, many of them Penn State alumni, met here every year to show off their latest babies to each other and the grateful crowds. The parade and pep rally had been held the night before.

The government was keeping this threat low key, but the rumor mill had it that terrorists were targeting this stadium on this particular weekend. Americans in large numbers made a tempting target. If they could take down a hundred thousand people in one pop, it would make 9/11 appear like a minor blip on the terrorist tally board. Still, it was only rumors at this point.

“Everyone in place?” asked JAM, head of this mission.

“Roger,” said Cage, who was lying flat atop the roof of the VIP suites.