Rustle 3

"Where do you live?" the boy's mother finally asked.

"I'm tearing the old wizard's place down and building new," Mara told her. "You would keep the place clean and handle most of the chores around the house. When I'm there, you would help with the cooking and meal preparation. When I'm not, you would - obviously - need to fix the meals for you and Erick. Most of the outdoor chores will be taken care of by my mate."

"Where is he?" the woman asked.

Mara's eyes flicked to Russell and back to the woman. "He's close by," she said, quietly.

The woman looked up at the barmaid. The common room was mostly empty and the other patrons were far enough away that Mara had dared to give the women more insight than she probably should have. She had a good feeling about the woman.

The barmaid looked down at her sister and whispered, "He's eaten his meals here the last three days. I thought he was the scariest thing ever when I first laid eyes on him but, now that I've watched him, I believe she's absolutely telling the truth. She DID tell me that she wanted somebody trustworthy. You were the first person I thought of."

Mara leaned forward and said, "I have lots of secrets but I take care of those who take care of me and mine."

"You know Merritt," the barmaid whispered. "He was in here to retrieve an assassin after the man came to attack her. Merritt had only good things to say about Lady Mara. You can ask him."

The woman looked down to where her son sat on the old woman's lap, nuzzling his face against the panther's neck as he petted and scratched the three ferrets. He was giggling and having the time of his life.

Mara said, "You have a little time to decide. I'm opening bids on the reconstruction of the wizard's place tomorrow. The work on my old house should be complete in another week."

"Two streets south, then west?"

Mara nodded to her and said, "Meet me there a week from now and let me know if you want the job."

"You don't know if I'm any good," the woman said.

Mara nodded her head towards the waitress and said, "She's vouched for you. That's good enough for me. If it doesn't work out, we'll shake hands and part as friends."

"Your old place ..." she asked.

"I'm staying outside of town right now. You and the boy could live there until the wizard's place is done. Once we're finished with my house, I was thinking of selling it."

The woman looked down the table at the boy - who was still oblivious to anything else going on as he played with his deadly new friends.

"I'd be an idiot to turn this down," she told Mara.

"Most of my best friends are crazy," Mara whispered.

The woman giggled in spite of herself.

"Tell the big kitty good-night, Erick," she said, standing to her feet.

"Aw, mom," he complained.

"If you're good, this nice lady is going to give me a job and soon we'll have our own place to stay."

"Will I see the kitty again?"

Nella glanced at Mara - who nodded - and then looked at the boy and said, "Yes."

Russell bumped the boy's jaw with his forehead and then nodded his head towards Nella. The ferrets nuzzled the boy once more and sat down on the table next to Russell.

"Bye, kitty. Bye, ferrets."

He climbed down and went to take his mother's hand. He looked back and waved before they disappeared out of the door.

The next day, Mara picked a builder and signed an agreement with him and the architect, specifying the work and how the payments would be dispersed.

~~~ Celebration ~~~

A week later, Mara and Russell returned to pay the contractor for the work on Mara's old house. The two of them slept in one of the bedrooms and Nella and Erick slept in the other. The next morning, they visited the work-site at the wizard's old place to see how things were going there. Nella walked with Mara and Erick rode on Russell's back with the twins.

All of the debris had been removed and the architect had pegged strings stretched out to show the layout of everything that would be built. The builder gave Mara a list of the supplies he needed and what they would cost. She handed over the money for the supplies as well as the coins for the first payment for the workers.

Over the next three months, Mara and Russell visited about every other week to pay for anything that was needed for the construction project and to keep the workers paid and happy. Each time, they stayed with Nella and Erick. Mara also gave the housekeeper money to buy food and other household supplies.

When their new home was finally complete, they had a party to celebrate moving in. Nella was told to invite her sister, her mother, and Merritt. Mara invited Media and some of the traders. She talked with the housekeeper and arranged for a local baker to make several different types of desserts. She also sent a notice to the duke.

The night they moved in, Nella made a big meal and they set up rented tables in the garden to accommodate the guests. Merritt and his bond-mate came to eat with them - as well as Nella's family. The traders stopped long enough to wish Mara well and sample one or two of the sweets. The duke sent a note with his congratulations, a plaque for the door that said, "Lady Mara the Brigand Slayer, Friend of Duke Wittmor and of the city". Media snickered and told her that the duke was just happy to have the place back on the tax rolls again. Mara sent the messenger off with a sweet roll.

When the guests had come and gone and there was still too much food left, Mara sent Erick and the ferrets to the neighbors' doors and invited them to come and share in the celebration. Most didn't accept the invitation but, those that did, ate until they were full and were sent home with extra desserts.

Erick sat in a big chair, like a prince, with Russell and the ferrets at his side and assured the guests that the dangerous-looking panther only bit "mean people".

Media had her own room, Nella had her own room, and Crown Prince Erick had his own room. Tildy slept with Media but Demon and Spawn abandoned their parents and spent the night in Erick's room. Russell and Mara disappeared into their room long enough to get Media some cream for her tea and then - once the boy and the kits were off to sleep - the adults sat up and visited. Nella stared at Russell and kept shaking her head. Just for fun, he changed into several different animal forms.

They chatted for a while longer and then Mara and Russell excused themselves and headed for bed. Their bedroom - and their private bath - were on a separate wing of the house from everyone else. All of the rooms were solidly made - mostly of stone - and very little sound transferred from room to room - but Mara had wanted to make sure that she and her lover could be as loud as they wanted without disturbing anyone else.

They slipped into the hot bath and scrubbed each other, kissing and teasing one another. Once they were clean and dry, they moved to the bedroom. Mara wanted to be bent over the bed and fucked hard again.

Russell gripped and pulled her breasts as he slammed his cock into her. She screamed his name and came quickly the first time. As soon as she had recovered, he fucked her into a frenzy once more and then thumbed her clit until she came again, moaning and groaning.

She had barely recovered when Russell picked her up, spun her around, carried her to the wall, lifted her up, and then slid her onto his cock. He laid his palms against the wall on either side of her and rammed his cock into her over and over, mauling her lips with this own, until his balls clenched and he began jetting his seed inside of her, pulling her to his body and holding her tightly.

Mara was spent. He carried her to the bed, flopped onto his back, bringing her down with him, and pulled the covers over. They were soon both asleep.

The next morning, Erick knocked on the door and told them that breakfast was ready.

~~~ Epilogue ~~~

They took Media home a couple days later. Russell and Mara (and the kits) went to visit the cottage every other weekend - mostly to deliver her cream for her tea. Erick begged to ride along but - by then Nella knew about the elder witch's special beverage and she told him that he would have to wait until he was much older.

Every mid-week eve, Russell would hitch the horse to the wagon and the four of them would ride out to the trader's camp to sell Mara's wares.

A year later, Mara increased Nella's wages and they started looking for a tutor to teach Erick his letters. Neither Russell nor Nella knew theirs either - so they took lessons along with the boy and the three of them worked on their homework together.

By the end of the second year, the tutor had moved in with them and the range of studies that she was teaching the three students increased to encompass math, earth sciences, and astronomy.

Within a couple more years, the spinster instructor had taught them most of what she knew, but she continued living with Mara and the others and earned her keep by assisting the redhead with experiments and research. She also began writing down all of the things that Mara had learned or discovered.

A year after the tutor moved in, Mara gave birth to a fire-haired little girl. They combined Rustle with Mara and came up with Stella. Erick was the best not-big-brother that a little girl could have.

When Stella was old enough to begin learning her letters, the tutor went back to tutoring. After her letters, math, science, and astrology, the little redhead began to study her mother's grimoire.

~~~ The End. ~~~

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