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Quoth circled Charlie’s head, lifted a leg, and let fly a giant poop. Years of honing his aim on annoying, poetry-reciting bookshop customers paid off, and Quoth’s package landed straight into Charlie’s face.
“Aarrrrrrrgh!” Charlie yelled.
I could no longer contain my laughter, but luckily, the rest of the room joined me. Rage radiated off Charlie as he wiped his fingers through the mess and stalked off, his shoes squelching with every step.
“I got you a drink.” Heathcliff pressed a glass into my hand. I raised it to my lips. A G&T. My favorite. My heart flooded with love for my guys.
Morrie squeezed my hand. “If anyone else gives you trouble, just you let us know.”
“I will, I promise.”
Quoth came down and settled on my shoulder. I patted his head affectionately. “That was brilliant, all of you. But seriously, I can handle a little criticism. I’m here to learn, after all. Not everyone has to like my books.”
“But that guy said you couldn’t write a book because you’re blind,” Christina piped up, smoothing down her dress as she rejoined our group. “He deserved everything he got.”
“Croak.” Quoth nodded his head vigorously in agreement.
“I can’t believe that bird is just sitting on your shoulder like that. Aren’t you afraid he has the bird flu or will peck your eyeball out?” Christina said.
“Not at all. Ravens are very intelligent. This one proved that.” I patted Quoth’s head and he nudged my hand, making a littlenyuh-nyuh-nyuhsound as one of the trays passed by. I swiped a salmon puff off it and held it up to Quoth, who gobbled it hungrily.
I’m sorry I was late, Mina. I was talking to the ravens and…well, there’s something I might need some help with—
“If you’ll excuse me, ma’am.” Jonathan appeared by my side in a flash. He wrapped his huge hands gently around Quoth. “I’m terribly sorry if this bird distressed you. The little blighter must’ve run inside when I came in from getting the car. I’ll put him back with the others, and he won’t disturb ye again.”
“It’s fine, Jonathan.” I patted Quoth’s head again. “He fought for my honor. I think he’s a rather lovely little bird.”
You’d better remember that later,Quoth warned.I saw through the window what you got up to with Morrie and Heathcliff, and I have plans of my own.
A delicious shiver ran down my spine. I gripped Oscar’s harness tighter. Morrie plucked a tiny meatball off a nearby tray and fed it to Quoth.
“Has your friend shown up yet?” Jonathan asked as he allowed Quoth to finish the meatball before tucking him securely into his shoulder. “I haven’t seen him, but I’ve been busy dealing with your car. I’ve pulled most of the larger pieces out and left them in the staff car park around the back, next to my range rover. There’s a workshop there. Our metalworking tutor, Melinda, will take a look and see if she can fix it, but I think the car is a goner.”
“Our friend Allan arrived a little while ago,” I said. “He’s up in our room having a rest, but he’ll be joining us for dinner shortly, won’t he? Especially since I left the window in our suite open a crack.”
Thank you, Mina. You think of everything.
“That’s not a good idea.” Jonathan frowned. “The weather is going to get worse tonight, and we should have a full-on storm tomorrow. The rain will come in sideways with the wind and ruin all your things. I’ll go and close it for you—”
“No!” I cried louder than I intended. I lowered my voice. “I mean, Allan will close it when he comes down. He just…likes the fresh, crisp country air.”
“Very well, ma’am.” Jonathan nodded to the rest of our group. “I’d best be off and leave you to your drinks. I have to put this wee fella back with his family.”
See you soon, Mina. See if you can save some more of those meatballs for me. When you get a spare moment, I’ll tell you about the ravens.
“Well, that was certainly an adventure.” Christina grabbed two glasses of bubbles off a tray and handed one to me. I shook my head, still nursing my G&T. Heathcliff leaned across me, swiping for the bubbly, but someone else got there first.
“Thanks for that, old girl.” A posh-sounding man plucked the glass of bubbly from Christina’s hand and turned to Morrie. “I must say, I don’t know how you chaps did that, but setting that foul old policeman’s tie on fire was quite the sport.”
“I had nothing to do with it,” Morrie said in his sweetest, most innocent voice.
“Yes, yes, I understand. You must keep mum. Plausible deniability and whatnot. Even so, good show. I don’t even know why Charlie bothered to show up at this retreat. Hugh won’t be choosing his gritty little police stories when there is real work of substance like my Christina’s.” He flashed a smile so bright even I could see it. “And yours, of course, sir.”
“Oh, I’m not a crime writer,” Morrie waved a hand dismissively. “At least, the kind of crime writing I do is detailed plans on how to commit them. I’m here with Mina.”
“Oh. Right. Yes, of course.” The guy’s gaze flicked to me for a moment before moving quickly away.
Christina frowned. “This is my partner, Killian. I’m sorry, Mina, that he’s a sexist pig and assumed that only men can write crime fiction.”
