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To my relief, the kitten obeyed, and she bobbed around my shoulders. Heading deeper into my apartment, I retrieved my bounty bag and my gloves, heaved a sigh, and said, “Call me when you get here. I might be down the street cleaning up these damned bodies. I hate bodies on my street.”
“Going to claim more bounties?” my mother asked, and I grinned at the complaint in her tone.
“Absolutely. Only a fool allows free money to go to waste—and if there are any injured birds, I’ll find and save them.”
“You’re going to end up with a menagerie, worse than even the titanium dragons,” she warned before hanging up on me.
“So what if I do?” I asked despite knowing the call was no longer connected. Pocketing my phone, I went to work to earn my keep.
* * *
Friday, April 24, 2167
The Gray Ward
Dragon Heights, Wyoming
Upon realizing what I was doing, Garnet helped gather the deceased hummingbirds, bounding along the sidewalks and staying off the road as I’d instructed. I handled the birds on the street, making use of my snow shovel to scoop them up.
In the hour it took my parents to find their way to my apartment, I’d gotten the entire block cleaned of dead birds. The sky proved to be a problem, as the living birds insisted on squabbling with each other. A few found me to be rather fascinating, swooping around my head.
A bright orange and green one landed on my head and made odd clicking sounds, and I ignored it in favor of putting my haul into garbage bags to take in for my earnings.
Neither of my parents seemed to be amused by my work, and the pair glared at me. My father raised a brow and waited. My mother placed her hands on her hips. If I went by appearance alone, my father’s status as muscle-bound would have invoked a certain amount of trepidation. However, I knew the truth.
He counted as a pussy cat most of the time.
My mother would take me to school and set me straight if I didn’t justify myself. At my current estimate, I had at least several thousand dollars in deceased birds to collect.
For an hour’s worth of work.
“My pay rate is several thousand dollars an hour,” I announced with pride.
My father’s expression warmed to amusement. My mother heaved a sigh.
Garnet brought me another bird and added it to her pile, and I stopped to pet the carbunclo. “Garnet, we’re going to go visit the titanium dragons and earn our paycheck, all right? I need to get a bag for your birds first, though.” I turned my gaze to my mother. “No stealing any of my birds, you.”
With my hitchhiking hummingbird still on my head, I went into my apartment, retrieved my new roll of garbage bags, and headed outside. By the time I returned, my father had decided to become a dragon in all his navy glory, although he’d limited his size to be twice that of a horse.
“As you will delay us further if you must carry all these bags to the titanium dragons, I shall streamline the process for you. I will not even charge you—this time,” he rumbled.
My landlady chose that moment to make an appearance, and she eyed my parents warily. “Is everything okay, Kinsley?”
Per our plan, I replied, “My… guests… wanted to check to make certain I’m a suitable caretaker for Garnet.”
Cecilia frowned, and after some thought, she said, “Garnet will not find better in Dragon Heights, sir and ma’am.”
My mother considered Cecilia, and she abandoned her grouchy ways to offer the woman a smile. “That’s just what I wanted to hear. Cecilia, is it? You’re the matron of the house there, are you not?” My mother pointed with unnerving accuracy at Cecilia’s brothel. “I’ve heard good things about the work you do with your women and men. Still, I doubt those titanium dragons have given sufficient information to the young girl here, so we will correct that. But do not worry. Carbunclo simply do not lower themselves to such menial tasks without everything being to their liking. We are satisfied in that regard, but we will be evaluating if everything is as it should be for her. Girl, do take our things into your home before we handle this matter?” Then, as though remembering manners were a thing she needed to deal with, she added, “Please.”
I admired my mother’s ability to pretend she wasn’t my mother, placed their bags on top of their suitcases, and hauled everything up the steps into my apartment. Upon my return, I said, “I will send them to a more appropriate location tonight, I promise.”
“It’s fine, Kinsley. Come over if you need anything.”
My mother made a thoughtful sound in her throat. “Perhaps a dinner reservation for tonight should you have the space for a party of four? We should probably be bothered with feeding her and her kitten as we imposed without warning.”
I hoped Cecilia realized my mother counted Garnet as a member of the party.
“What time?”