Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 128061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
A doll waited in the center of the back lawn, facing the wood. More still held their positions as sentinels farther back and to the sides. They walked or stood guard with their instruments of death, waiting for a gnome to show itself.
I really should’ve been thankful for them, but I just couldn’t see my way to it. The little buggers still creeped me out something awful.
Patty didn’t seem to even notice or question the insanity of animated dolls. She marched right on past without a second glance.
“Where’s Hollace to kick these things?” I muttered, following the others.
The closest doll must’ve heard, because it turned and looked at me. An evil grin spread across its babylike face.
“Gross.”
Patty reached the flower line. There was a stone path through the swamp of flowers, but she ignored it and trudged on through.
“Mom, look out,” Ulric said, jogging for the path. “Don’t stomp all over the flowers.”
“It’ll do the yard good. There are far too many of them,” she replied, reaching the other side. “The floral stench is overwhelming.”
“The basajaunak eat them.”
“Then plant them in the woods where they aren’t such an eyesore.” She beelined for the trees.
“We’re all thinking it, like,” Niamh said, trudging along after Patty.
“Don’t you start,” I told her, taking the path. “Edgar will either freak out or ask to be retired. I don’t need the headache.”
“I’m sure he will do both,” said Mr. Tom, the third to trudge through.
I sighed.
“Here we go. Just in the trees here,” Patty said. “Ulric hid them so you’d be surprised.”
I peered through the trunks and into the shadows, looking for those horrible gnomes. If they were there, though, they were hiding.
In a small clearing stood a large wooden sculpture much too chic and modern to belong in these woods. About as tall as the basajaun, it curved and twisted into a shape like a funnel. The piece rested on a marble base.
“It’s a serious piece of art.” Austin ran his hand along the smooth wood, following the contours while walking around it. “They included different kinds of wood to make this. It looks like one solid piece, but it isn’t. That takes incredible craftsmanship.”
“Which cairn is this again?” Nessa asked.
“The Nikken cairn.” Patty pointed at the computer in Nessa’s hands. She’d reclaimed it from Sebastian on the way out here. “At the top of the spreadsheet.”
“Here, Sabby, put out your hands.” Nessa placed the laptop on Sebastian’s outstretched hands before opening it up, using him like a table. “Ah, yeah, got it.”
“The Nikken cairn has a production cairn that specializes in woodworking.” Patty put her hands behind her back. “They have one other—”
“The textile one you mentioned earlier, right?” Nessa pointed at her. “The one where Pierce learned his trade before possibly stealing their secrets and taking off.”
“Good memory! Yes, the very one. I met a woman who knew a woman who’d mated into this cairn. She said all of the townships had nice residences, there was a community feel despite the size, and the streets were clean. She went on and on. Of course, she was from a dingy little cairn with no status, so there’s that. Also, she liked to gloat, that one. Or so I heard. But the cairn is doing well, so…”
“Yeah, I’ve always heard good things,” Ulric said, looking up at the sculpture. “Kind of a weird thing to send as a connection request, though. I’m not really into sculptures.”
“Me either,” Jasper said. “It would make for good firewood.”
Patty turned to head back the way we’d come.
“Wait, Mom,” Ulric said, looking back the other way. “I forgot—there’s that other thing back there, remember? It came yesterday. I completely forgot about it.”
Patty hesitated in confusion before her expression cleared. “Oh yes, right. One of the cairns with middle status, I believe.” She sighed. “Well, we might as well have a look. Just one more after this one, though. We’re almost done.”
“Good.” Nessa paused to wipe her forehead. “I’m actually exhausted from gift opening. I never thought I’d see the day.”
“I’m exhausted by how much work we suddenly have in front of us,” Sebastian replied.
The rest of them walked farther into the trees, but Austin lingered a bit, his gaze tracing the gentle curves of the sculpture.
“Like that, huh?” I said, hanging back with him.
“Yeah. There’s something about it.”
Sebastian, who’d clearly overheard, stopped just beyond a tree and turned back.
“It’s not just beautiful,” Austin said. “I can almost feel the passion and care that went into it. I didn’t get the same sense with the carriage or even that bracelet. This, though…”
He minutely shook his head, walking around it. Sebastian’s gaze bloomed with curiosity as Nessa walked back to him, looking for the computer.
“It was crafted by a master,” Austin went on. “By someone who loves what he or she does. It’s definitely a risky gift, because art is so subjective, but the type of wood negates that.”