Teaser Tuesday: SNAKE IN THE GRASS

By Mary Sutton / @mary_sutton73

It’s with the editor and work is starting on cover art. To whet your appetite, check out the first (unedited) chapter of Snake in the Grass: Hero’s Sword Vol. 4.

Of all the places at Tanner Middle School, the cafeteria had to be the worst place to try to do anything. The noise I could deal with, but the stink, well, that was something else.
I looked over the top of my book as Stu dropped his tray down across from me. I wrinkled my nose at the sight of a hunk of mystery meat and potatoes swimming in a puke-colored gravy. “Just what in the name of the Empire is that supposed to be?”
“According to the menu, it’s meatloaf with mashed potatoes and gravy,” he said. He poked at the mystery meat and then started eating.

“Does it taste better than it looks?” I said. My tuna on whole wheat suddenly looked like a feast.

“Not really.” Stu gulped some milk and shrugged. “But I’m so hungry, I could eat two lunches. You are so lucky your mom packs your lunch.” He pointed. “You gonna eat those crackers?”

I had planned to eat the crackers but figured Stu’s need was greater than mine. “No, go ahead.” I pushed the baggie at him. “And my mom doesn’t pack my lunch. I do. I get up fifteen minutes early to do it. Sometimes I wonder if it’s worth the effort, but after looking at your tray, I think it is.”

Stu stuffed whole crackers into his mouth and sprayed crumbs as he spoke. “I’m too lazy for that. School lunches beat going hungry.” He finished the crackers and returned to his tray.

“I guess.” I tried to go back to reading, but my attention was drawn to a group of kids clustered around the school announcements bulletin board. Trina Poppelman was in the middle of the group, signing a paper on the board with a giant flourish. Some kids clapped. “What the heck is Trina doing?”

Stu looked around. “Probably signing up for the special election.” His voice was muffled by the food he was chewing. My mom was right. Talking with a mouth full of food was disgusting.
I’d forgotten about the special election for student council president. Lew Thorndike had moved last week, and Peter Kennedy, the vice president, had flat-out refused to step up. So the principal had decided to hold a special election for president. Trina had jumped at the opportunity for more attention.

“It’s a total waste, you know,” said Stu around a mouthful of meatloaf. He swallowed and continued. “Trina will win because no one will have the guts to oppose her. And we’ll spend the year talking about weighty topics like the décor for the Christmas formal, fall Homecoming, and spring ball instead of doing something useful, like organizing a student protest to improve the cafeteria food.”

My gaze drifted to a girl sitting off to the side by herself. She had blonde hair cut into one of those pixie styles and her clothes definitely looked trendy, right down to the sparkly ballet flats. She poked at her lunch.

I pointed at her.”Hey, do you know who that is?”

Stu looked in the direction of my finger. “Nope. No wait, some new girl. Don’t know her name though.”

“She looks lonely.”

“She looks like someone who would fit in with the cheerleaders.” Stu snorted and turned back to his mystery lunch.

I watched. Trina flounced over to the girl and said something, an invitation to join the cheerleaders, judging by her hand gestures. But the new girl shook her head. Trina said something else and her groupies giggled. The girl stood and grabbed her bag, dark pink with silver studs. “And you’re pathetic,” she said. She stalked out of the cafeteria, dumping her uneaten lunch in the garbage.

“Maybe not,” I said, facing Stu. “I don’t think Trina scored any points. I need to find that girl to say congrats.”

Stu grunted.

The lunch bell rang, and I swept up my garbage as Stu frantically stuffed the last of his meatloaf into his mouth. I pitched my trash and Stu returned his tray. As we passed the bulletin board, I could see Trina’s big, loopy signature taking up half of the election sign-up page. “So you don’t think anyone will sign up to run against Miss Popular?” I stopped at my locker to retrieve the books I needed for next period.

“No way.” Stu rolled his eyes. “And even if someone did, you know Trina. She’d just bully her opposition into withdrawing or lying down and letting her win.”
“Hmm, maybe.” I pulled my math book out and slammed my locker door. “At least we know what to expect. Meet you after school?”

“Nah, I got a dentist appointment, so I’m leaving early.” Stu stuck out his tongue. “Catch you online later, maybe?”

I glanced at the hall clock. Two minutes to get to math. “Yeah, sure. I’ll be on later. Good luck with the dentist.” I jogged off to math, arriving just ahead of the late bell.
If I’d known what was happening in Mallory, I would have skipped math and gone home immediately.

***

“I’m home.” I threw my bag on the floor in the hallway. Silence answered my announcement, and I wandered into the kitchen.

A bright pink note was stuck to the fridge. “Going to Mrs. Baxter’s – Be home around six. Dad is working late. Have a sandwich if you get hungry. Mom.”

Awesome! If Mom was at the Baxters’, I could sneak in a few hours of Hero’s Sword now and do my homework over dinner. I raced up to my room and fired up my game console. Almost immediately, I got a message from Stu. “You’re on early.”

“Mom out,” I typed. “What happened to dentist?”

“Canceled. Let’s go.”

We played for about fifteen minutes before a familiar message popped up on my screen. “Lady Starla is in trouble. Do you accept the quest?” My stomach leaped. Yes, of course I would accept the quest. I wondered briefly what would happen with Stu when I disappeared, but the thought didn’t last longer than the flash of light after I toggled “yes.”

When the glare faded, I was in my familiar clearing, sword at my hip and bow on my back. Yes! I thought.

“Lyla, there you are.”

I turned to see my good friend, Roger Woodbridge, striding across the clearing. “Here I am.” I hugged him briefly. “You must have been expecting me. What’s the emergency?”
He smiled. “Nothing compared to past events. Lady Starla is expecting a visitor, and she’d like it very much if you would be there.”

I shifted the bow on my back and followed him toward the manor. “Since when does Lady Starla need me to be with her to welcome someone?”

“This person is a special case,” Roger said. “We are expecting an Imperial envoy. Based on the letter we received this morning, he comes from the capital with news of a new tax structure. One that’s not expected to be popular, I’m afraid.”

“Are they ever popular?” I didn’t know much about taxes, but my dad certainly grumbled enough whenever he read about new ones in the paper. “I’m still not really sure why Lady Starla would need me for that. Not like I can change anything.”

“I suspect she would like you there for moral support. She plans to oppose the new taxes.” He waved at a few people as we crossed the manor grounds and headed for the front door. “But it will be better to let her explain herself. After you.” He pulled open the massive wood door and waited for me to enter.

“That doesn’t sound too terribly dangerous,” I said as I entered the cool interior of Mallory Manor.

Oh, if I only knew how wrong I was.

Look for the rest of the story coming this fall!

Snake photo courtesy of Flickr, used under Creative Commons license.