Who Rescued Who by Victoria Schade

Who Rescued Who by Victoria Schade

Author:Victoria Schade [Schade, Victoria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2020-03-24T00:00:00+00:00


chapter twenty-three

Do you want to help me pull a frame from the beehives?” Reid asked. “First of the season, bound to be glorious.”

Elizabeth looked up from her computer, startled back into reality by Reid’s interruption. Georgina woke up on the bean sack next to Elizabeth and cocked her head at Reid. The puppy knew that he usually had something hidden in his apron for her.

“Pass. I’m not a fan of bees. Wings and stingers seem like an unfair advantage.”

“My girls are harmless, tame as lambs. I promise.”

Elizabeth laughed at him. She knew exactly how “tame” lambs could be.

Reid stood in front of her with his arms crossed. He wasn’t taking no for an answer. “Come on.”

“If I get stung I’m charging you double for your social media revamp,” she said. “I’m not kidding.”

She followed him past the counter with Georgina at her heels and into a stairwell that was barely wider than her elbows. Reid had to angle his broad shoulders to clear it. He looked like a giant plopped into a dollhouse.

“What if someone comes in?” she asked. Georgina was so close she could feel the dog’s whiskers on her bare ankles as she struggled to navigate the steep stairs.

“I’ll hear the bell, eventually. Locals don’t mind waiting, unlike Americans.”

He opened the door at the top of the stairs and stepped into the blinding sunshine. Georgina dashed out behind him and started exploring. Elizabeth followed tentatively. The front peaked portion of the roof hid the small flat back section, where the hives were located. The six hives stood side by side, next to a chimney. They were unimpressive, just tall wooden rectangular boxes stacked one atop another, like windowless high-rise towers. Each had a ledge protruding from the bottom, where nightmare hordes of bees clumped together as if they were on an entrance ramp on a rush-hour freeway.

“This is what an information superhighway looks like in Fargrove,” Reid said, pointing to activity around the hives. “Watch your head, you’re right in their path.”

Elizabeth turned and saw flying black dots circling toward her. She shrieked and ran back toward the door, swatting the air.

“Stop, you’re fine. They won’t hurt you. If you don’t act like a nobhead you’re nothing more than a weird-looking tree to them. Relax, Bess. Now get over here and observe the glory. I promise you’re safe.”

She walked to him slowly and worried as Georgina got closer to the hives. Which one of them would get stung first? The air was electrified with thrumming activity. Elizabeth stood just behind Reid’s shoulder, using him as a barrier.

“My rule is you can’t stop watching the hive until you see some pollen pants walking in,” Reid said, staring at the activity.

“Pollen pants?”

“When a bee comes home from a successful run she’s wearing the pollen on her back legs, and it looks like she has puffy yellow pants on. The color varies from butter yellow to deep orange, depending on where she’s been harvesting. It’s lovely to see, really.”

Elizabeth moved from behind Reid and focused on the mass of bees heading into the hive.



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