Chapter 8 #2
The chicken was vanquished, and the eggs were saved. The music changed again as Alex lingered on a closeup of Finn’s injured arm. The Lord of the Rings main theme started out soft and came to a crescendo as Finn held up a glowing egg. Alex had managed to catch the veins of the chick inside.
Ian kept glancing over as I laughed. I saved the video to my phone to watch again later. Especially the parts where Finn was checking me out. There was no denying he and I had chemistry, probably more than I’d ever had with anyone else. It was too bad we only had a little over a week left together.
Which was fucking depressing. I hadn’t even been in Maplewood a week yet, but I’d miss this place. And Finn, Charles, and Alex. Maybe not Zeke, though, I thought with a snort.
But that was something to deal with when the time came. For now I had D&D to look forward to, and then a whole night alone with Finn.
I watched the video all the way through twice before replying.
Me:
Thanks for the chicken headshots. I love the names. And thanks for the video. It’s hilarious. Though you could’ve done me a solid and zoomed in on Finn’s junk.
Alex:
Not for love or money. You’ll have to get that kind of shot on your own.
I hoped Finn’s other friends were as fun as Alex. Still chuckling, I paid my bill and walked outside into the spring sunshine. Vermont’s humidity was a thousand times better than what you got hit in the face with in Texas.
I crossed the street to get to Harmonic Circus, the music shop owned by Roy Griffin, where Charles took guitar lessons. I didn’t need to buy anything, but who didn’t love a music shop? Plus it was always a good idea to butter up your colleagues.
Which I guessed Roy was now. For now. Whatever.
The door to the shop was sky blue, and when I opened it the bell made more of a clunk than a ringing sound.
Roy was on the phone, sitting on a stool behind a glass counter.
I waved at him and looked around. One of Jake Lord’s early hits was playing over the sound system, and I reminded myself to send a strongly worded text message to Wesley—a.k.a.
Jake Lord himself. He’d severely undersold the amount of work I’d be doing to “help out” his good buddy Zeke.
But right then I made a beeline for the racks of sheet music that ran almost the entire length of the store.
I couldn’t wait to look through it. Roy also had the usual high school band instruments, plus drums, guitars, and keyboards.
A staircase led to the second floor, which I’d definitely check out after I did the polite thing and chatted with Roy once he was off the phone.
He eventually hung up and joined me in my deep dive into the sheet music. I’d already tucked several songs under my arm. Yes, I knew I could find the same thing electronically, but this was one area of my life where I loved the paper.
“I’ve got several Melodious Moon songs.” He pointed to my left.
“Yeah, I think I’ve got those memorized.”
He snorted. “I was hoping you’d sign them for me.”
“Oh. Of course.” This led to him herding me upstairs to also sign the vinyl records. He even had the album Dirk and I had made after Melodious Moon imploded.
“Charles said you were helping him prepare for the amateur contest.”
“I am.” I frowned. “You don’t think it’s a conflict of interest since I’m a judge, do you?”
He laughed. “Son, there’ll be a whole panel of judges. You can’t swing the vote all by yourself. As long as you don’t try to compete, you’re fine.”
I smiled. “I think I can restrain myself.”
After I stowed my new sheet music in the SUV, I headed over to Special Blend to get some treats to take to D&D, plus a second box for Charles in case I could bribe him to help me with the chicken.
There was a new clerk behind the counter today, a slimly-built guy with black hair and dark eyes. Damn, this town had some eye candy.
“Welcome to Special Blend! I’m Caspian, the owner. How can I help you?”
“Hi. Nice to meet you. I’m Drake. So, I need something to bribe a teenager, and then I need to take snacks to a party.”
He laughed. “I’ve got you covered. How about some cookies for both? I made the snickerdoodles myself.” He pointed to a display of chocolate chip cookies and snickerdoodles.
“Perfect. Let’s do two boxes of a dozen each, half and half of both kinds.”
When I got back to the car, I took a photo of the cookies and texted it to Charles.
Me:
Is this a sufficient bribe to get you to help me with something mildly dangerous at Zeke’s compound? [photo]
Based on what time it was, he had to be in class, but it only took him a minute to reply.
Charles:
Depends who made them. And does Finn know about this dangerous task?
I cringed.
Me:
The owner of the bakery made the snickerdoodles, I’m not sure who made the chocolate chip. And no, Finn doesn’t know. But it’s not life-threatening, I promise. I’ll come pick you up and bring you back in time to go to your friend’s house.
Charles:
Can Kirk come too? He wants to meet you. Pick us up at my house at 3:30. And you can keep the snickerdoodles. We’ll take the chocolate chip.
Charles:
Finn said you have chickens now. They’ll eat the snickerdoodles.
Charles:
Probably.
Me:
Kirk can come, but what’s wrong with the snickerdoodles?
I picked one up. It looked good. It smelled a little smoky under the sweet, but not bad or anything. I took a bite. I chewed twice before I searched desperately around my SUV for a bottle of water. Fuck. The cooler was inside my cabin.
I swallowed, putting the rest of the cookie back in the box. I stuck my tongue out and panted. Shit, that was spicy. Probably chipotle or ancho chili powder mixed with the sugar and cinnamon. If I’d had a shot of tequila, it would’ve been amazing, but at the moment it was just painful.
Me:
Never mind. I’ll give them to Zeke.
I killed the time before I had to pick up Charles and Kirk by taking the coop back to the compound and getting it mostly set up. Aragornette gave me the evil eye the entire time I worked, so I was doubly glad I’d arranged for backup to get her in her new home.
There was enough room in poor Dolores’ pen to put Aragornette’s coop next to the other one, but I made a note in my phone to tell Zeke he needed to move the fence to give her the space back. The pen could easily expand into the grassy area next to the house.
Charles and Kirk were waiting in the vet clinic parking lot. Kirk was a cute redhead with curly hair and freckles. They hopped in my SUV, and Kirk gushed, “Wow, it’s so cool to meet you! I can’t wait to see you perform at the festival!”
I smiled. “Thanks. Would you two like some backstage passes? I know the guy in charge.”
Kirk raised his fists in the air. “Bro! That’d be awesome!”
Charles looked at him. “I wish you were doing the amateur competition with me.”
He shook his head. “No way. I promised Mr. Griffin I’d be on the Harmonic Circus float for the Pride parade. That’s soon enough. I’m not ready yet.”
Charles rolled his eyes. “You’re ready now.”
I nudged him. “Being ready isn’t only about having the talent and skills. You have to be ready here too.” I tapped my temple. “If Kirk decided he’ll be ready at a later date, you’re not helping by pressuring him to perform now.”
He made a face. “Shit, I’m sorry, Kirk. I’m just obsessing over being up on that stage by myself. I wasn’t thinking about it from your perspective.”
Kirk reached over the seat and cuffed him on the shoulder. “It’s all good. But thanks, Drake. That’s exactly how my brain is looking at things.”
“You’re welcome. And, Charles, if it would help you, after we deal with the chicken, we can walk down to the amphitheater, and you can stand on the stage to get a feel for it.”
In the back seat, Kirk whisper-shouted, “ Yes!”
Charles lit up. “Please. I’d like to do that. But what does deal with the chicken mean? You said what we’d be doing was slightly dangerous. And there’s a chicken involved?”
“Um, yeah. We need to move one of the chickens to a separate coop because she was too protective of her eggs. Finn got them out this morning but she’s been giving me a death glare all day, so I wanted some backup.”
I could feel him staring at me, but I kept my eyes on the road. “Describe too protective of her eggs , please.”
I darted a glance at him. “I think Alex sent Nova the video to post on the vet clinic’s socials.”
“On it!” Kirk wasted no time getting his phone out. Then he leaned forward between the seats and held the phone so he and Charles could both see it. The music started, and Kirk enthused, “ The Magnificent 7 ! Nice!”
They laughed and swore through the video. This version was much shorter than the one Alex had sent me. It ended as I turned onto the driveway for Zeke’s compound.
Charles stared at me some more. “And you want us to do exactly what to that chicken?”
I held up a hand. “Let’s assess the situation, and you don’t have to get near the chicken if you don’t want to. All I need to do is move her to her new coop. It’s all set up. We just have to put her eggs in there and then transfer her over.”
“Uh huh.”
We got out of the car, and the boys headed for the coop. Kirk exclaimed over Dolores while I went inside to fetch the eggs.
A peek through the large access door at the back of the big coop showed Aragornette was roosting inside with a couple of the other chickens. The rest were outside pecking at the ground.
Charles helped me open the new coop and get the eggs settled in one of the nesting boxes while Kirk filled a bowl with water.
Then I scattered some feed in the outdoor runs of both coops.
I was hoping Aragornette would come outside.
The big coop’s run was large enough for me to go inside and throw a blanket over her.
She didn’t come out.
I put my hands on my hips. “Any ideas, guys?”