Dawn (16 page)

He smiled and nodded, “Just a few. We had to put two of them down, but the other three we subdued and then we tied their furry butts up! That was the easy part. Just have to handle a few loose ends. Go and have fun at the dance, don’t let other people spoil it for you.” He suddenly caught a good look at Lynn’s face, “Ouch! What happened, little one?”

“
Oh, it’s not as bad as it looks, sir,” Lynn replied. “Kate just had a bad day and got carried away.”

Llewellyn cocked his head and looked at Dawn, “Did you shave her bald?”

Dawn and Lynn both shared a laugh at that. “No, Father, but that
is
what I threatened.”

“
Good girl. Now go dance, play, and have fun. Owen and I are working hard so it doesn’t spoil your day. Is all our work going to be in vain?” Llewellyn asked playfully.

“
No, Dad.” Dawn smiled and carefully hugged her father, dodging the foul smelling stains. “You may need to burn those pants.”

Llewellyn nodded and laughed, “It is quite a stench. Now go!”

The trio made short farewells and turned to rejoin the dance floor. Once again, they threaded through the crowd, this time with more courtesy and much less apprehension.

“
Your father is way too calm,” observed Lynn humorously.

“
No, he is just that awesome,” countered Gavin.

“
I’ve seen him upset, once. I’m quite happy with ‘way too calm,’” laughed Dawn. Dawn suddenly found herself staring at the back of Gavin’s head as he peered at the upper floor of a nearby building. “Gavin?”

“
There is a fist fight in that room,” he said calmly but quietly.

Lynn shivered and moved in close to the pair, “Do we need to tell your father?”

Suddenly the third floor window broke as a man fell out. He bounced off of an eave on the first floor and landed with a grunt on the ground not far from them. Owen peered out the window to the fallen figure below and then dashed back inside.

Battered and bruised, the man tried to try stand up.

“
Oh, no you don’t!” shouted Gavin as he quickly delivered a roundhouse to the man’s head. “If Owen wants you to stay down, you stay down!”

A noncommittal grunt came from the fallen man as he rolled over in obvious pain.

Dawn started to join Gavin when she saw the man produce an off-world pistol from under his coat. Without even thinking, Dawn lunged and a short sword flashed blue as it split the weapon in half. The man recoiled and then froze, held in place at sword point.

Owen and Llewellyn closed in flash. “Hey, Owen, I thought the plan was to take him quietly. Now we have to replace a window,” complained Llewellyn with a grin.

Owen frisked the man, producing two more weapons which he cast aside before shackling the prisoner’s arms and legs together. “Didn’t get a chance to finish reading ‘the plan’ to him before he decided to improvise. And the rest of the cast?”

“
Two small fries on ice. Up for a good chase through the woods for the rest?”

“
Let my boys lock him up and then it does sound like a fun way to spend the evening. Running through the woods after felons with murderous intent, dodging ambushes―great fun.”

“
I knew you’d see it my way,” beamed Llewellyn without a hint of sarcasm. He cocked his head at Gavin and Dawn, “Now look, you two, while we appreciate the help, we’d really appreciate if you two would march over there with that nice girl, um…”

“
Lynn,” prompted Dawn. “Would you like a formal introduction?”

“
Dear me, no! And spoil my reputation? You kids go grab Lynn and go have a good time.”

Dawn laughed, “Yes, Father.” Dawn bit her lip as she stared at the fugitive carefully, “Did you get the ‘Eric’ guy?”

Llewellyn shook his head, “Unfortunately, no. He left town as soon as we found his little pets. Actually that isn’t true; he hadn’t quite made it to town yet. Heavens, those things smell! Makes them easy to track! But you knew that, eh? We intercepted the first group early today actually, and then just waited to see if the rest were dumb enough to proceed without hearing back from the other group.” A great laugh erupted from him as he continued, “Oh yes! They were plenty dumb, but Eric kept to the rear and made good his escape at the first sign of trouble. First and foremost, he is just a bully, and deep down, bullies are all cowards. They may poke and prod around the edges, but then they get other people to do their dirty work. But when your coat is all combed, they will run from a fair fight. Not that we planned on being all that fair.” His grin would have scared Dawn if she didn’t know him better. “Gavin.”

“
Sir?”

“
If those two nice girls don’t have a good time, I’m holding you responsible! Now get! I should be looking at the back of your heads by now!”

Dawn and Gavin laughed as they rejoined Lynn.

“
Shall we dance?” asked Gavin, “Before I get in trouble!”

They watched as the interloper was hauled away and turned as the crowd started to disperse to rejoin the main festivities.

“
I don’t envy them in the woods. Once a person’s plans go awry, they are more likely to do crazy or stupid things. Few things are worse than an injured animal,” observed Gavin.

A sudden chill gripped Dawn.
Kate. Kate had her pride wounded. How dangerous would she be? How low would she go?
Dawn pulled away from the trio and turned away as she fought to keep the tears under control.
Everything is so perfect! What would Kate do?

Gavin turned to Dawn, “Dawn? Are you okay? Did I say or do something wrong?”

Dawn just wailed and pushed him away.

Lynn looked horribly confused but tried to solace, “Dawn? What’s wrong? Don’t leave Gavin hanging; he is just trying to help.”

Dawn looked up into Lynn’s sincere eyes and then hurried away with her to a quiet corner, “It’s Kate! Just like Gavin said: wounded animals are dangerous. Her pride is shot, and boy is she an animal! What is she going to do? Is she going to make good on her threat?”

Lynn looked her straight in the eyes, “Look girl, there is nothing in the world that could shake Gavin. He adores you! Anyone can see that! Besides, you are what, fourteen? How many deep dark secrets can you actually have?”

Dawn looked up, all but bawling, “I have one… One only my father knows about… I haven’t even told my Second Mother!”

“
You are young, the world is new and full. There is nothing that you can’t learn from and make better. Whatever this secret is, it is too early in your life to let it wear you down. You have been through so much already.”

“
But what if he turns me away! You and he are my only friends outside of family right now. I cannot afford to lose you two. I’m such a freak.”

“
A freak because of your coat? You are unique, not a freak. Your coat is no secret and he loves how you look. I’m more than a little envious of how glossy your coat is, I do confess.”

“
It’s not just the coat. It’s far worse than that. All my sisters used to pick on me for it.”

“
Did they pick on you for the color of your coat as well?”

“
Yes…”

“
Well, that is a pretty low bar then, isn’t it? Siblings can say pretty rotten things. Trust me! I had three! Odds are if they were picking on you, they were also jealous.”

“
I doubt that.”

“
Ugh… Let’s try a different approach: if you think Kate may find out this secret anyway, then it is to your advantage to tell Gavin on your own terms. Do you think you can hold this secret tight forever, or will it get out anyway at some point?”

Dawn just blinked absently.

“
Who is in charge, girl, you or someone else? Who is controlling your life?”

“
I am…”

“
Then take charge! Take initiative! Diffuse Kate before she can strike!”

Dawn thought for a long while, “Will you come with me?”

“
Certainly! Let’s get you cleaned up a bit first and then go have a nice talk with Gavin.”

Lynn took the cold towel she had been using for her hurt eye and carefully cleaned the tears from Dawn’s face, “There you go. I’m with you. We do this together.”

Dawn nodded and the pair walked to the edge of the crowd and waved the nervous Gavin over to them.

“
Dawn, are you all right?” Gavin asked more than a little worried.

Dawn nodded, “Kate threatened to hunt down everything wrong with me, so I figured I’d tell you first.”

“
Hey, you’re wonderful! You’re cute and smart and…”

“
We will see how cute you think I am in a little bit,” Dawn said nervously. “Let’s cut over to that alley. Lynn, you too!”

Lynn smiled broadly and held Dawn’s hand as they entered the alley.

When they were quite sure they were alone Dawn turned to Gavin, “Okay. Now undo the back of my dress.”

Gavin’s eyes went so wide, Dawn thought they were going to fall out of his skull. He had frozen mid-stride with all of his fur standing on end.

Dawn suddenly realized what she had said and burst out laughing, “That’s not what I meant! Okay, I’ll turn to face you. Lynn, would you please loosen the back of my dress?”

Confused but happy to help, Lynn did as she was asked.

“
You think I’m cute. Not weird, not a freak?” interrogated Dawn.

Gavin nodded sharply.

With that, a blue flash announced her wings winking into existence. She slowly spread them as far as she could without touching the buildings.

Lynn gasped, “They are beautiful!”

Gavin stared with wonder, “I keep asking the same question: Dawn can you get any more incredible?” With a broad smile he embraced Dawn, lifting her off the ground and slowly spun her around.

Dawn pumped her wings hard as she flared for a landing. After the long hours of practice she’d been putting in, she was able to hit it perfectly! As she paused to catch her breath, Heather came running up from the ford to her.

“
Can you carry me up in the sky? Can you, can you, can you?” pleaded the bright-eyed Heather.

Dawn laughed and tousled her hair lightly, “Not yet, little one. I need to get a lot stronger before I can do that.”

“
But Maria says you must be really strong already.”

“
Well, there is strong and then there is very strong. I need to make sure I could handle both our weights safely. I don’t think Second Mother would let me right now anyway!”

Maria smiled broadly from her seat by the trees. “Give poor Dawn a chance, little one. She is right: safety first. Falling down the stairs is one thing, falling out of the sky is another.”

Dawn winked her wings out and tried to close the back of her dress up.

“
Come here, Dawn. Let me help you with that,” beckoned Maria.

Dawn scampered over to Maria who expertly laced her dress closed. “How’s that?”

“
Much better, thank you.” Dawn suddenly bit her lip, “Um, I never did apologize for not telling you about the wings earlier. I’m
very
sorry. It seems stupid that I’d tell Gavin before I’d tell you.”

Maria just smiled as she rearranged Lily, “Actually, you have apologized before. I think this is the third or fourth time. It’s all right; I understand. You started to tell me a dozen times. The important part is you told me, and you did it on your own terms.”

“
Well, it was tell or have someone else leak it out,” murmured Dawn.

“
Don’t be so hard on yourself. It took a lot of strength to do it. More so in front of Gavin than me. You
knew
I would love you regardless; Gavin was a perceived risk. And what a low risk it was! He is fifteen, growing fast, and a smart young man. He wasn’t going to be petty or superficial. He is one of Llewellyn’s favorites in class. Do you think Father chooses favorites lightly?”

Dawn had never thought about that; Father had some strange friends, but they were all wonderful people first and foremost. “It does seem so silly after the fact.”

“
It does indeed. But now it’s over and we move forward.”

A strange thought suddenly came over Dawn, “Okay, I have a weird question. Father said he never
told
anyone else, but he never said people didn’t already know about my wings. Did
you
know about them?”

Maria laughed softly, “Llewellyn is a bit of a wordsmith isn’t he! To answer your question directly: no, I did not know. Ivy knew and had warned me that you might be even more shy than warranted by your horrible situation, but she never said why. She knew that it was a touchy subject with your late sisters, so she didn’t want to force the situation. Just letting time take its course.”

“
Ivy kept secrets from you? That doesn’t seem right, especially with you being Second Mother.”

“
It wasn’t secrets,
per se
. It was just one little aspect of you that she felt deserved a bit of privacy. If it had been anything odd, I’m sure she would have told me.”