38)

I took the time to gave Charles the dirty look he deserved before racking my cue. “So If. It will help him, and he agrees, I will bite your dad, but not until we know the full ramifications, right?”

He nodded and turned to look at Sara, “So...magic warrior?”

The girl nodded nervously. “I’m not supposed to show off in front of…well, muggles.”

Charles looked disturbed. “Muggle? I’m...for real, a muggle…”

Sara look concerned. “It’s just my family that uses that word, everything else sounds worst. I’m mean even my family uses the word “Nuru” which like a blank canvas, which could be nice but not the way they say it...”

She began twisting her hands together while Charles looked over at me with a worried look.

“...and all the words I’ve heard about for anyone with magic makes it sound like we think we’re better then normal people, but we shouldn't think we’re not normal either...”

I gave the boy a dirty look like he had set off a teenage girls anxieties on purpose as I stepped over and grabbed both of her hands. “Muggle, werewolf, magic warrior, witch. They’re just words kiddo. don’t overthink it.”

She gave me a dirty look, yanked her hands back, gave me a hand stare. “It matters.”

I gave her a stare right back. “...it does. But...even if you find a good word for the difference between those who have magic and those who don’t. People will find a way to make them sound bad in time.”

“Retarded was just a medical term for someone whose mental development had been...well, retarded. It didn’t start off as a bad word, but people used it as an insult until it became a bad thing to call anyone. Same thing happened with handicapped and disabled.”

“Don’t get too wrapped up in picking just the right word, just know what you meant, and if people try to correct you, it doesn't mean you did something bad, you just need to take it into consideration for later on.”

She crossed her arms, but she did listen. Not sure if I’m passing on well earned wisdom or outdated information here, but it’s what I got to work with.

“Right now, I'm supposed to be calling the sheriff to figure out what my official statement is going to be, and luckily I got my lawyer right here. So go check up on Aran and your sister for me, while me and the boy go make a call.”

I headed for my office, Charles caught up with me after pausing to say something to Sara that left her with a grin.

Not going to ask, that was their moment.

I opened my office door and let him in first. He turned to me, “So Mr. Lathe, will I be billing you for this?”

I shrugged. “You might as well, you can even bill me for the gas and time it took to get up here and back.”

He took a seat and considered his phone for a moment before tucking it back into his pocket. “I was going to record this, but I don’t think I would ever want this conversation submitted to court.”

I nodded. “Probably wise. So the sheriff wants to talk to me about what she’s putting down in a report. She said I could called her since her deputy spilled the beans that everyone could smell that I had kids in the house, and with me being recently bitten I might be overly protective of them and won’t want to leave them alone long enough to get into town to report to the police station. At least not after last night.”

I leaned back in my chair “So how do we play this?”

Charles rested his finger against his lips while he thought that over. “Okay, so for once the police are on our side. She’s more concerned about keeping her and your status a secret rather then arresting as many people as possible to cover her butt.”

“That put us in a good situation legally, but the other part...”

He rested his hands on the armrests of his chair. “Do we want her to know you filled in your “muggle” lawyer. Even as family, they could have rules on who is allowed to know about your existence, and I don’t want to get my throat torn out after getting pulled over on my way home.”

I thought that one over. “Met a local boy that I'm pretty sure was human. He knew the sheriff’s grandson was like me and didn’t seem to worried about it. Just nervous he had been caught taking pictures of my license plate.”

That got me a raised eyebrow from the boy.

“The three idiots who showed up at my house last night spread a story at a bar outside of town that I was dodging my alimony.” I waved my hand. “But the important thing is I’m pretty sure you’re safe, but let’s have you just keep quiet on the call. Write me a note if it’s important.”

I dug out another cheap notebook and a mechanical pencil.

Then I made the call which the sheriff picked up after a few rings. “Hello John. Glad you finally called in.”

“Yeah, would have been earlier, but I got an order in and had to settle the kids enough to keep them busy while I'm on the phone.”

There was a pleased sound on the other end of the line, apparently mentioning them had reassured her that it was safe to ask about them. “So...kids?”

“Grand kids, their parents are...dealing with something and dropped them off.”

There was a pause. “...shouldn't they be in school?”

Should they? I have no clue, would kids be out for the summer by now? Not something I keep track of. Charles nodded his head and mouthed the words, “Yes they should.”

“Pretty sure they’re home schooled, but that’s not why you had me call.”

Forgot she’s a bit nosy, best to switch the subject.

“Alright John, I’ll drop it for now...”

And insightful.

“So let’s talk about what really happened last night, at least as far as the official report goes...”