Free The Dark Shadow of Spring by G. L. Breedon Page B

father was the town warlock, after all. If there was a chance that anyone would believe him, it would be his father.
    “What do you think, Victoria?” Nina asked, looking up at the young centaur’s face.
    “I tell Daddy everything,” Victoria said. “And I only regret it half of the time.”  Seeing Alex snap his head around to look at her, she continued, “But I would never tell him about dragons and such. Although I might mention that I found a boy in a cave. I don’t necessarily need to say that the boy was screaming and hearing voices.”
     “I was yelling,” Alex said.
    “That’s what I meant to say,” Victoria said with an apologetic look. “It’s very difficult to tell the difference between a human yell and a scream.”
    “I’ll talk to Dad,” Alex said, desperate again to change the direction of the conversation. “I’ll tell him as soon as I get home.” Maybe it was the tone of his voice or the knowledge that an adult, the town warlock, would know at least some of what they had been up to, but the rest of the journey back to town was accomplished in near total silence.
    As they rode their bikes, Victoria galloping gently beside them, Alex thought about what to tell his father and how to phrase things so that no hint of their adventure with the dragon could come up. Alex never lied to his parents. His father, as a warlock, was too good at sniffing out untruths. But Alex did find that if he omitted details skillfully enough, he could avoid the worst punishments when he needed to confess some misadventure or indiscretion. He needed to figure out exactly what to say and what not to say. The problem consumed him all the way into town.
    They stopped where Magnolia Street crossed Main Street to become Tulip Street, on the east side of town, near the Town Hall. This was the street Alex and Nina lived on and they said their goodbyes to the others. Alex had wanted to walk Victoria home, although he couldn’t explain to himself exactly why. To thank her again, he finally convinced himself. That was it. But she lived in the opposite direction, and farther into town, on Raven Street. He was forced to say goodnight to everyone together and the only words he managed to offer Victoria were, “Thanks again.”
    “Any time.” Victoria smiled again. Alex smiled as well, although he hoped there would never be another occasion where she would need to save him.
    Alex’s family house sat in the middle of the street with a wide front lawn and two huge oak trees standing like sentinels near the picket fence that enclosed the yard. As they walked along the driveway to the covered front porch that wrapped back along one side of the house, Nina spoke up. “So what are you going to tell Dad?” she asked. “Don’t tell him too much, because you know how he wheedles things out of you, and don’t look at his eyes too long, or if you look at them, don’t look away too fast, and be careful of Mom, because they work like a team, with her playing all understanding to trip you up.”
    “Relax,” Alex said. “I’ve done this before. I’ve got it all figured out.”
    Events, however, did not unfold as he had planned. For once, his mother had made dinner at dinner time, which meant that Alex and Nina were late and, to make it worse, his parents had both waited for them to arrive before beginning the meal.
    As they stepped into the kitchen, Alex’s stomach rumbled in response to the smells of the food. His mother’s cooking reflected her Italian birth and heritage. A dish of baked ziti sat in the middle of the table, surrounded by smaller plates with buttered asparagus and steamed broccoli. A basket of fresh-baked bread beckoned to him, its aroma mixing with all the others and making his mouth water.
    “Where have you been?” his mother asked, her midnight black hair curling around her heart-shaped face and down to her shoulders. Her deep brown eyes pinned him into place as he stepped into the room. “And don’t