#rivervale_lodge

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Dagmar is working up a sweat. This isn't new to her, but still... when she was told that she'd get paid THIRTY dollars to care for the yard, she was happy, but that was front and back... AND she didn't realize she'd be clearing a small forest worth of brambles first. What she thought would be an hour and a half job is turning into a 3 hour one.

A grunt as she swings the idiot stick, hacking away. Stubborn, she got.

"Sam? that you?" A familiar voice. Lupita

She straightens and wipes at her forehead. "Hey! Lupe!"

"Hey, " She looks around "Sorry, just wondering what you were doing in the Bayville's yard?"

"Mowing. And weeds. They're giving me thirty dollars!"

"If you're working to clear this mess? No one's GIVING You anything" She says

"Well... I mean, I didn't realize it was THIS bad... but it's still thirty bucks."

"Well, I'm about to go out and see a movie, you want to come?"

Her face falls. "I said I'd do this..."

"...thought I'd be done by now..."

"Oh, sorry..." She shakes her head , "Yeah I shouldn't have offered. Thirty Bucks" She nods

"We'll watch one together another time" She says

She rubs the back of her neck, shoulders drooping. "Sorry."

"No you... I should apologize for.. you know what? It's cool. " She waves and leaves

She watches her go, frowning slightly.

Lupita vanishes from view.

And turning, our heroine gazes over the yard work still yet to be done.

A hefty sigh. Whack. Whack. Whack.

Time goes by, and she's ready to mow this sucker...

FINALLY...

When suddenly a fluttering overhead.

She looks up?

It's not anything she's ever seen before, and this from a girl who has seen wolves..well, were wolves

She squints. What is it?

It's wolves, wolves with wings... two full grown, two cubs fluttering and struggling... and another who is just being carried by the adults. Clearly a runt in the litter.

The Chimera seem to be booking, and the one without a cub in its mouth will sometimes let the other two cubs latch onto him to keep speed going.

She stares, eyes wide with wonder.

Sometimes the runt tries to lurch free from mom (Or is it dad? Nope.. looks to be mom..she thinks..hard to peep the undersides from here) to flutter, glide! AND then.. the poor little guy starts to plummet, forcing mom to catch him again. But he's almost SURE he can do it! (Or is it a he? If it's hard on the adults it's almost impossible on the cubs)

"You can do it, c'mon..."

Wolves are often scary in chimerical settings, for dreams of creatures willing to hunt man when pressed can lend themselves to nightmares...and yet they don't seem nightmare touched like Winter wolves.... or Wargs.

Maybe he can, but mom is in a hurry and catching junior (Juniorette) is turning to be a hassle. No more of that. For now, stay in the mouth THANK YOU.

"What are you running from?" She checks the sky behind them. A tentative ken, feeling for glamour.

And there is a disturbing sense of ...something, just beyond the horizon.

But nothing comes, not yet.

She stays wary.

"HEY Sam, how's it going?" A woman chimes in nearly scaring the bejeepers out of her.

It's the lady who hired her. Mrs. Bayville

"I brought you some water, thought you might need it?" She offers a plastic bottle

"Oh hey, thanks."

"Got all the bramble." She takes the water and looks up again. "There were cool birds. Big ones."

"Oh? Hawks maybe? I hear they're making a comeback"

"Maybe! That'd be cool."

No sense the sky ever was feeling ominous, no sense that there were ever winged wolves fleeing from.. who knows what. Yet it happened. Mortals can be nice, but they so often are blind

"Anyway I'll leave you to it," She says "When you're done just knock on the door"

"Sure thing, thanks."

And back to mowing.

Sigh. Mowing.