Chapter 3   

Mistrea took almost an hour to decide what to wear and settled on light denim jeans a pale blue and white checker shirt and black ankle boots she also had a matching denim jacket to take just in case it turned cool during the day.

As promised her three helpers arrived at eleven thirty and they soon had everything organised. Dylan and Reece sat in the back seat nursing the serving tray with the chocolate cake on their laps and Kyle took charge of the three containers full of cookies.

Kyle gave her directions and they were there in no time. Mae was there to welcome her and told the boys where she wanted them to put the cake and cookies. Mae took her arm and led her towards several women so she could introduce her.

Everyone was warm and welcoming and she found herself relaxing around them. She saw two of the girls from her writing class Marney and Karli, walking towards her and waved to them. Then Kyle called out to her and she laughed, “I think I’ve been summoned, I best go see what he wants.”

The girls came with her and Marney put a hand on Mistrea’s arm to stop her, “We have a couple of friends that are interested in joining our class if there’s room?”

“Of course Marley, we’ve only had one class so they won’t have missed too much. So long as they sign up at the office they can come to class next Thursday.”

Kyle came over then and dragged her off to the lake where most of the teens were. He didn’t introduce her; he didn’t have to, everyone introduced themselves. She knew she’d never remember everyone but let it go hoping they’d understand.

A moment later she spotted a couple of littlies running past, a cookie in each hand. Kyle spotted them as well and laughed. “They must have snuck them when no one was looking; they seem to be them though.”

Several of the men had set up a barbeque and the aroma was making Mistrea hungry. She was glad when Mae called her over to have lunch. There was plenty of meat and chicken and an array of salads. She’d caught a glimpse of the deserts as well and was hoping her cake would be a hit.

She’d noticed Zac and Wade standing with a group of men so kept her focus on the women at the table. After lunch Mistrea got up to help with the clearing up, only to be told she was a guest and she should relax and enjoy the day.

Looking around she headed towards a group of children to see what they were up to and was surprised to hear a deep rich voice from behind her. “I hope you’re enjoying the day Miss Tree?”

Mistrea tried very hard not to grin, realising the only time Zac had heard her name was when Kyle had mentioned it in the car park that day and he hadn’t exactly said it correctly. She smiled at him, “Actually it’s not Miss Tree. My name is Mistrea Larkin. Mistrea as in ‘mystery’ only spelt differently.

She saw his face flush and lowered her eyes not wanting to embarrass him further. “It’s been a lovely day and the food,” she shook her head and rubbed her stomach. “I’m not sure I’ll have room for desert.”

He laughed, grateful that she’d cleared up her name without making him feel like an idiot. “You made the chocolate cake and the cookies I hear? I’ve spotted several of the little ones running off with cookies so they must be good.”

“I have it on good authority that they are very good. I had three taste testers over on Tuesday and they helped me decide what to bake for today.”

“Kyle, how’s he doing with school?”

“He’ll be fine, he’s actually very bright. It’s just going to take a little time for him to build up is confidence.” Wade approached and she took advantage, “I’ll leave you to it then. I’m sure you two have much more interesting things to discuss.” She gave Wade a nod and wandered off towards the water.

She found a quiet spot and sat out of the way. Everyone was curious about her and she couldn’t blame them, but she didn’t like being the centre of attention and was about ready to go home. She looked up and saw Kyle headed her way a grin on his face.

“Your chocolate cake is a hit! They’re serving it now and I even saw Zac nudging his way to the front of the line so he wouldn’t miss out.”

She laughed, “I’m just glad it’s going to get eaten. I was thinking of making a quick getaway if everyone is busy getting cake. Would it be too rude if I did?”

“You know, I was going to show you around and I’m thinking that the car park might be one of the first areas we come across. I’m guessing you’ve had enough of curious people asking questions. Come on,” he reached out his hand and she took it.

“I should say goodbye to your mother before I go?”

“I think she’ll understand,” he grinned and several of her students met up with them and walked her towards the car park.

“Thanks everyone, I think I’m going to go home and sleep off all this food!” she patted her stomach. “I’ll see you all later. Oh and if you’re having problems with the sheets I gave you to read, give me a call or drop by. If I’m not at home I won’t be far away.”

They said their goodbyes and Dylan opened the car door for her, closing it when she was seated and had put her seatbelt on. She smiled at them; they were good kids, kind caring and eager to learn. As she drove off she waved and couldn’t help thinking that she’d made the right decision in moving into the old Kendrick place.

Mistrea didn’t sleep off the food; she sat in front of her laptop and started writing instead. When she finally stopped long enough to notice the time she was a little surprised to see that it was after one in the morning. She saved the document, shut down the laptop then got up and moved around doing a few stretches to get the kinks out before going to bed.

Mistrea heard the wolf howl and knew he’d be close by. She ignored it and climbed into bed. She was exhausted and needed sleep. Unfortunately sleep was elusive, she tossed and turned and eventually got up and made some warm milk hoping it would help.

Finally she drifted off and woke when the sun shone across her face so brightly that she had no choice but to wake up or pull the covers over her head. She decided to get up and start her day. She needed to get into a rhythm, a routine and overly long nights and sleeping all day wouldn’t help.

The next two weeks went by too quickly. Mistrea had visited with Mae a couple of times and kept her up to date with Kyle’s progress. Her writing class had grown to twenty two students and she had to shut down more attending or it wouldn’t be fair to those already in the class.

She was surprised that Greg, the older kid that was going to hit on her in the hallway had registered, but soon found he had a good imagination and could spin a good yarn when he tried. Mistrea had been right about the kids, they wanted to learn and each week they showed up eager for what she could give them.

Mistrea had been teaching just over a month and she thought the group was ready to look at romance. She knew the males would cringe at the prospect of reading ‘mush’ as one of them had once called it, so she got a little devious. She didn’t tell them it was romance they were working on.

She handed out copies of a chapter from one of her own books, this way she could honestly discuss what was happening with the characters and where the story was going. They read the first three pages quietly and seemed to be getting into the storyline.

Greg had a grin on his face and Mistrea couldn’t help herself, “What’s made you smile Greg, is the story a comedy?”

“No Miss… umm Mistrea. I thought it was going to be sucky, but it’s about werewolves. It’s cool!”

Mistrea saw several of the other students looking at each other and knew something was up. She let it go and handed out pages from a friend’s book, this time it was about vampires. The mood shifted again becoming calmer and she pressed on asking questions about the stories and the love interests and that was when they all realised they were reading romance.

“Romance comes in all shapes and sized, it also comes in many different genres. There is true romance where the entire story is about two people falling in love. But I believe to really sell a good romance you need a gutsy story behind it.

What takes more guts… swooning because some guy kisses you or being strong enough to let your lover bring you near death so he can have you for an eternity?”

“Or,” called out Reece, “having some vamp suck your blood!”

Everyone laughed, including Mistrea and when she set them an exercise to work on they didn’t even complain. “Here’s what I want you to do. You are a famous author! You have a book to write titled ‘Lost in the Woods’. You need to write an outline of what the book' is about, it doesn’t have to be a romance. I can be a horror story, a mystery or even a detective story, but I want characters and a real story line.”

She looked at their faces and grinned, “It doesn’t have to be pages long, a rough draft, all I want is to see what you can come up with, it can be as simple as you like… okay?” Everyone nodded and the class broke up.

Mistrea and Kyle had a quiet session that afternoon, she thought he’d want to discuss the assignment she’d given but he didn’t, so they worked on his reading and discussed a few things he needed to work on for other classes. She wasn’t sure what was wrong and shook it off not wanting to make a mountain out of a mole hill.

They weekend went by quietly and she spent time organising for her next class between working on her next book and organising more work for Kyle. When Thursday rolled around again she was hyped about what her students might have come up with for the assignment she’d set. She got to school early and as she was about to go into her room a student called out to her letting her know that the principal wanted to have a word with her.

Mistrea thanked the boy and found her way to the office. She was relaxed and couldn’t wait to inform Principal Henderson how well the class was going. Unfortunately she didn’t get the chance.

One look told her something wasn’t right, “Principal Henderson, you wanted to see me?”

“Yes, Miss Larkin. Unfortunately our school has no further need for your services. I must ask you to leave the premises immediately.”

“Excuse me?”

“I believe you heard what I said, Miss Larkin. Gather your belongings and leave.” he looked at the open door where a security guard was standing. “Gus will show you out. I’d advise you not to set foot on the premises again. Good day!”

“I don’t think so Principal Henderson. You owe me an explanation and I’m not leaving until you give me one!”

He looked somewhat flustered, “Very well. It’s been brought to our attention that you have been utilising ill-advised materials with our students. They are young and impressionable Miss Larkin. I have a responsibility to ensure they are not made susceptible to such literature.”

She was dumbfounded. “What happened, who complained? I told you only student sixteen and over, did someone lie about their age?”

He just looked at her as if she was some undesirable piece of dirt he wanted to flick off his jacket. “Fine!” she turned and stormed out of his office, but not before seeing Zachary Hunt in the Vice Principals Office.

Gus helped her pack up her belongings and escorted her to her car. She knew students were looking out the windows and she could feel tears prick her eyes, but damn it, she was stronger than this. She would not cry in front of Gus!

When they’d gotten everything in her car she thanked him for his help and got into the driver’s seat. She was about to turn the ignitions key when Gus spoke.

“Principal Henderson said you weren’t to set foot on school grounds again. I don’t want to have to drag you to the police station, but I will.” Her mouth opened in shock. “Good day to you Miss Larkin.”

She drove home unsure of exactly what had happened. From her perspective the class had be going fine, the kids loved what they were doing. A few of the kids were a little uncomfortable reading the excerpt from her book, but she’d put that down to it being about Were’s and them feeling uncomfortable because they actually were Were’s.

That afternoon Kyle, Reece and Dylan came to see her after school. Kyle had a tutor session with her, but they were too worked up so cancelled it. They were angry that the class had been cancelled, all the kids were and they weren’t given a straight answer as to why. They stayed for an hour or so before leaving. Mistrea was feeling rather numb and needed some time out from everyone.

She ran a bath and soaked until she looked like a prune, then she opened a large bag of corn chips, got a glass and a bottle of wine before sitting in front of the television and watching all three of the Underworld movies she had. She all but cheered when the Were’s were killed, then felt petty for feeling that way. She sighed, this wine isn’t strong enough!

She finished off the bottle and poured herself a large glass of scotch adding a dash of water because… well because it didn’t feel so bad if she did. In the end she passed out on the couch and woke next morning with a headache and a furry mouth.

Mistrea made it to the bathroom and refused to look at herself in the mirror. She showered staying in longer than was needed, but enjoyed the feel of the water running over her body. She was stiff and sore from the position she’d slept in and needed to go for a run. The trouble was she wasn’t sure she was even sober.

“Coffee!” she got dressed and made a pot of strong coffee. When it was ready she poured herself a mug and sat at the kitchen table sipping it. “Damn it!” tears flowed and she let them. She’d truly enjoyed working with the students and they were so receptive, so eager to learn.

When the tears stopped she tried her best to think things through from a practical perspective. She’d have more time to write, more time to give to the charities she’s sussed out before moving there. She sighed suddenly, who was she kidding, if she wasn’t good enough to work with their kids then her money shouldn’t be good enough for them either.

That being said she pushed all thoughts of school and teaching to the back of her mind and concentrated on her own writing. Mistrea spent the next few days writing, all day and way into the nights. She heard the wolf each night and each time turned the music up to drown out its howl. She’d be damned if she’d let him get to her!

Kyle still came by to visit and Mistrea helped him with his studies, he was still reading and they enjoyed this aspect of their sessions. Each time he brought up her coming back to teach she’d shake her head. “I was escorted off the premises Kyle and told never to set foot on it again. It’ll be a cold day in hell when I do!” Then she’s get him to refocus on what they’d been doing.

A few days later Mistrea needed to go to town to get supplies, she hadn’t been shopping or even for a coffee since she was ordered to leave the school. She wasn’t exactly sure how people would react to her. It was after all a small town and everyone would know what had happened.

She did her grocery shopping and stopped for a coffee before heading for the book store. When she was feeling blue a book store always cheered her up, that and that fact that she’d usually come out with a pile of books to read.

As she entered the store the woman at the counter said hello to her and asked if she’d mind signing a few books so she could sell them at the presentation she’d be doing on Friday evening. Mistrea looked at her a little confused. “What presentation?”

The woman handed her a flyer and anger engulfed her as she read it! Principal Henderson had organised an even in her honour, welcoming her to the community and expecting her to speak about her move to Ransom as well as her career as a writer.

He hadn’t as yet spoken to her or asked her permission in regards to this, seemingly assuming she would go along with it. She was angry, no she was pissed! She thanked the woman and shook her head.

“I’m sorry, but I had no idea about this. I was never consulted. I will however be informing Principal Henderson that it isn’t going to happen.” She turned and left the store heading for her car and home.

By the time she got home she’d calmed down somewhat. She contacted Charles first to inform him of what had happened, including the flyer and the fact that she’d been advertised as speaking without her consent.

Charles was not happy, “Mistrea I want you to scan the flyer and email it to me. I also want you to write up everything that took place at both the initial meeting and the meeting where you were told to leave. Your guardian will also want to know about this, so expect a call. I’ll get back to you soon and by the way, I’ve organised the surveyors and from what I was told some of the locals won’t be happy about you doing this.”

“Too bad, this is my land and I have a right to know where my boundaries are. If the locals don’t like it they can speak to you. I won’t be available for comment!”

“I hope you have a good supply of my business cards?” he laughed and hung up knowing full well Mistrea would have more than enough cards to divert people to him.

Mistrea hadn’t even realised that the surveyors had been in town, not until Kyle mentioned that there’d been several men walking the boundaries with some weird kind of equipment. She didn’t let on that she knew who they were; she wanted to keep business separate from her friendship with Kyle and Mae.

A few days later Mistrea got a call from Charles. “I’ve couriered copies of the blueprints that cover your land and the land adjacent. I also had aerial shots taken so they can be placed against them. I think you’ll find them interesting.”

Mistrea could hear laughter in his voice, “What did you find?”

“There is a rather large building sitting on your land. Right down the back, from what I have discovered it’s been there for some time and there is no mention of it on any of the titles or deeds. If this was a word of mouth agreement between past owners, it isn’t legal. We can make them move it or…” she could actually see him gloat. “We make him pay for the land and we’d be asking for a great deal more than it’s worth.”

“There might be another solution, let me think on it okay. I’ll need to look at the paperwork first and I’ll get back to you. Thanks Charles, please tell Uncle Ivan I’m fine, I know he’s worried considering how things are going.”

“Will do and call me if you need me.” He hung up and Mistrea sat thinking about her options. She was pretty sure Zac had been the person that complained and after considering things a little longer she had a fair idea why. He may have gotten away with it, but he would pay.

The next afternoon Mistrea got a call from Principal Henderson. She’d been expecting it and was not exactly polite in speaking with him. “What exactly is it you want Principal Henderson?”

He hesitated and she knew Charles had contacted him, “I wished to apologise in regards to the way things have turned out. I spoke with your lawyer earlier today and did my best to explain that one thing had nothing to do with the other. That is to say, your speaking this Friday evening was something completely separate from your appointment at the school. I’m hoping you will agree and attend as advertised.”

“Principal Henderson, why would I want to speak at a venue when I had no prior knowledge of it. I was not consulted or even asked if I’d mind speaking. You had me removed from your school giving me the impression that I was not good enough to teach your students. That being the case why would I believe I was good enough to speak at a gathering that you hadn’t even had the decency to speak to ask if I’d mind attending.”

Henderson became somewhat flustered and couldn’t quiet find the words he needed to convince her to change her mind. “You may want to consider sending out a cancelation notice. Good afternoon Principal Henderson.” She hung up and none too lightly.

She’d no sooner walked away from the phone than it rang again. She growled but picked it up. “Hello?”

“Miss Larkin, it’s Wade Benson. I was hoping you had time to meet with me, there are a few things we need to discuss?”

“Does this have anything to do with the surveyors report?” she sighed knowing full well it did. “You need to contact my lawyer Mr Benson, he’s already advised me that any dealings in regards to my land need to go through him. Oh and just so you are aware, I’m having some work done on my land and because there are children wondering around on your side of the boundary I’ll be having a fence put up.

My land is for my use Mr Benson and I’d like to walk my boundaries from time to time with the knowledge that I will not be jumped by some over sized wolf! I trust Mr Jenkins has given you his contact details? If not I can have one of his business cards delivered to your office.”

“No, I umm, I have his details. I was hoping that we could sort this out without involving lawyers. We are after all neighbours and I’m sure you’d like to keep things on a friendly basis.”

“Is that a threat, Mr Benson?”

“No of course not, it was just a suggestion.”

“Tell me why your business partner had me fired and escorted off the school grounds like a common criminal and maybe I’ll think about it?”

There was dead silence on the other side of the line. Mistrea shook her head knowing he wouldn’t have the guts to say anything. “Goodbye Mr Benson.”

                                                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wade looked at Zac shock written across his face. “I never thought she had it in her Zac. She’s got more guts than I thought.” He shook his head, “She’s not going to budge. If we want to negotiate we’ll have to go through her lawyer. You heard what she said at the end right? How did she know it was you that had her sacked?”

Zac growled he was not happy; in fact he was about ready to hit something. This woman had done nothing but aggravate him since she showed up. He needed to speak to her, get her to see reason. The building at the base of her land had been there a long time and would cost an arm and a leg to not only move it, but put the land back into the same condition as the land surrounding it. He wanted things left as they were and if not then he’d buy her out, but right now he needed to calm down. He’d go for a run, then he’d sleep on it and see what he could come up with in the morning.

                                                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mistrea had a quick meal then headed for her office; she’d focus on her writing and push all thoughts of Zac Hunt, Wade Benson and Principal Henderson to the back of her mind. She knew once she got focused she’d forget about everyone and everything except what she was doing. She needed to write, to forget the anger that was emanating from her in regards to her land and the way Zac had treated her.

Mistrea wrote through the day and way into the early hours of the following morning before seeking her bed. She had only been asleep for about an hour when she heard someone banging on her front door. She ignored it but it didn’t stop, so she put a pillow over her head which did nothing to prevent her from hearing the incessant banging.

Mistrea got out of bed in a foul mood and rather than go down stairs to the front door she opted to go out on the balcony and see who was there. She looked over the railing and grumbled, “Son-of-a-bitch!” she grabbed hold of the railing and yelled. “What the hell do you think you’re doing Mr Hunt!”

He looked up none too happy with her attitude. “I was trying to get you to answer your door so we can have a civil conversation.”

She rolled her eyes which pissed him off even more. “What exactly is it you want to talk about?” when he didn’t answer straight away she glared at her. “Fine if you don’t want to answer I’m going back to bed!” she turned to leave and he spoke.

“The building that’s on your land, we need to discuss how best to deal with the issue.”

“I told your business partner you need to speak to my lawyer.”

“I would rather speak with you and perhaps negotiate compensation of some sort.”

She shook her head, exasperated with the situation. “Mr Hunt, I’ve just pulled an all nighter. I’m in no mood to discuss business of any sort. Call me in a day or so and I’ll let you know. Now if you don’t mind I’m going back to bed.” At that she indeed went back to bed leaving a somewhat stunned Alpha on her doorstep.