Wizard in the Woods by Jeffrey M Poole

Author:Jeffrey M Poole [Poole, Jeffrey M]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fantasy, magic, Science Fiction, dragons, action adventure, light, wizards witches
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8 – Misplaced Affection

“If he gives you any problems then you have my permission to physically knock some sense into him,” Adyna informed Mikal as she pushed her son out the door after him. “To think you’re responsible for this mess, Gareth. What would your father think?”

“You don’t understand. That’s what I’m trying…”

“Hush,” Adyna snapped. Both she and her sister had folded their arms across their chests and were frowning at the boy. “You will mind your manners at all times. Do you hear me?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Gareth sullenly responded.

“I don’t care if you’re told to go jump in a lake,” his mother continued. “You will do it with no questions asked and with a smile on your face. Is that clear?”

Gareth refused to look his mother in the eye.

“Aye.”

“Good.” Adyna turned to Mikal and smiled. She gave him a tiny curtsy and promptly closed the door in his face.

Mikal turned to Gareth, “You’re lucky to have a caring mother like her.”

Gareth stared incredulously at him, “Are you kidding? She’s the most overbearing person I’ve ever met. She is always telling me what to do. I can’t stand it.”

“She wouldn’t do that if she didn’t care for you,” Lissa pointed out. She was holding on to Peanut’s leash and was constantly pulling the inquisitive corgi back to her side as Peanut was more interested in exploring the surrounding countryside than listening to their boring conversation.

“Says you,” Gareth muttered. “I’ll bet your mother doesn’t badger you on a daily basis.”

“Better let this one go,” Mikal quietly advised, loud enough for Gareth to hear but soft enough so that there was a chance Lissa couldn’t. The youngster, unfortunately, wasn’t paying attention.

“I wish my mother would remind me to brush my hair, or to pick up my room, or to simply tell me she loves me,” Lissa answered. Her eyes went wistful for a few seconds before she turned to Gareth and sighed. “I’d wish that more than anything.”

Gareth, intent on staring at his feet and not at the warning signs Mikal was trying to give him, scoffed loudly.

“Then you’re lucky. You don’t know how cumbersome an overbearing parent can be.”

“Shut up,” Mikal hissed at him.

Gareth finally looked up, “What? Did you just tell me to shut up?”

Lissa placed a restraining hand on Mikal’s shoulder and faced their new friend, “Gareth, my mother is dead. I never knew her. I grew up an only child with just my father to raise me.”

Gareth’s shoulders slumped. “Oh. I didn’t know. Uh, sorry?”

Lissa shook her head. “You didn’t know, Gareth. Besides, it isn’t your fault. It’s just the way it is.”

“You don’t have a mother and I don’t have a father,” Gareth quietly observed. “We’d make a good pair.”

Mikal coughed loudly and quickly stepped between his girlfriend and the young wizard. He put a protective arm around Lissa’s shoulders and shot Gareth a warning look.

“She’s taken, pal.”

Lissa turned to give Mikal a patronizing look, “Stop worrying. That’s not what Gareth was doing. It wasn’t, was it?”

Before Gareth could respond the earth suddenly shook so hard that it knocked everyone off their feet.

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