© 2025 – J.B. Norman, published by Emona Literary Services
“Oooooooh!”
Lucia, Apolline, Petra, Alda, and Roland listen to the ghost noises echoing through the house. Though, for fairly obvious reasons, none of them are particularly scared.
Petra is especially unperturbed. The Half-Troll Amazon is off in the corner, silently doing her daily two thousand bicep girls. Though she will smile and talk with Elisa when the little girl toddles over – she’s a fitness buff, not a jerk.
“Scawy goat!” the ghost-like shape declares as he wanders blindly through the room.
“Elisa, sweetie,” Apolline says gently. “We’re over here. You’re going the wrong way.”
“Oops!” the little girl under the blanket says. She awkwardly, clumsily turns herself around.
On paper, Lucia, Apolline, and Petra are adventurers.
In practice, most of the actual work they’ve had since coming to Middlesbrooke has seen them babysitting Elisa, daughter of one of the Duke of Middlesbrooke’s maids. Usually, Lucia prefers the jobs where they get paid, but helping out a little girl and her mom is probably the best possible pro bono job they could be doing here in Middlesbrooke.
And very often also babysitting Roland, the Duke of Middlesbrooke’s ward.
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© Joel Balkovec — Published by Emona Literary Services™.
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