The teacher’s mouth firmed as she sent a glare of disapproval in Darren’s direction. “Thank you for telling me. I’ve had reports from other parents, and they’ve complained about his bullying. I’ll call his mother now and get her to pick him up.”
“Thank you,” Sasha said. “It concerned me when Noel refused to come because he usually loves his mornings here.”
“No, I appreciate your comments. We prefer to stomp out bad behavior as soon as possible.”
* * * * *
Sasha had almost reached Max’s house when she sensed someone watching her again. This time, when she walked to the front door, she caught a scent.
“It stops at the door,”her dragon said.
“Yes. It’s not the mail lady because we know her perfume.”
“Perhaps it was one of those selling people that knock on your door. We read about them inPassion with the Salesman.”
“Possibly, but we’re not letting them in if they return,”Sasha said.“I’d prefer to kiss Max.”
“Agreed,”her dragon said immediately.
“Well, they’re not here now. We’ll catalog their scent, and if they come again, we’ll recognize them.”
“You promised Noel a surprise. What will you do?”
“I thought we’d make a simple labyrinth on the lawn. Max said itneeded mowing.”
“Ooh,we get to use the machine. Max told us to wait.”
“But he showed us how to start it when we asked. I thought we could map out a simple labyrinth and mow the lawn for the path. That way, we can alter the pattern once we get sick of the first one. Noel enjoyed the design the other night.”
“Can we do that?”
“Sure,”Sasha said.“We’ll ask Justine, The Smart Computer. She’ll help us.”
And she did. By the time it was time to collect Noel, they had a basic spiral labyrinth on the back lawn.
“Where is the surprise?” Noel asked the second he saw Sasha.
“That’s not very polite, young man. You should say hello first.”
“Hello, Shasha. Where is my surprise?”
She chortled and chucked him under the chin. “It’s at home. It was too big to pack inside my bag.”
His eyebrows lifted. “What is it?”
Sasha tapped her nose. “Surprise.”
As they opened the front gate, Sasha paused. The same scent was here again and more potent as if the person had visited for a second time.
Her dragon tattoo climbed high on her neck.“I can’t see anyone, but they’ve walked through the gate to the house. Can’t hear anything. The birds are singing.”
Sashaopened the gate and ushered Noel through. “What would you like for lunch? Sandwiches again?”
“Yes, please,” Noel said. “I’m hungry.”
“You didn’t tell me how your morning went. Did Darren stay, or did his mother pick him up?”
“Darren left with his mother. She was shouting at him.”
