Mallory's revenge.
Mallory makes a meal out of a duck.
It was mid morning when Mallory noticed the updated job board for the week. She was on cooking duty. She frowned, last time she had slipped on the hot spices. This time she was not going to make the same mistake. This time she'd get most of the items pre-made and just reheat them for the dinner. Maybe something Asian, it was the closest thing to Suscan food she had encountered. Later that afternoon, she went to Chinese grocery store and looked around at the different foods till she saw what she thought was chicken hanging from the racks and asked the lady behind the counter what they were.
"Peking ducks." The lady stated.
"Peeking ducks?" asked Mallory.
"No, Peking, p e k i n g duck." She stated again, spelling the word out for her.
"They are Earth ducks marinated in char suei sauce which gives them a nice intense flavored skin when cooked." Spoke a young lady standing next to Mallory. "I would give it a try."
Mallory turned to look at the young lady. "Have you tried it before?"
"Oh yes, it is my favorite Chinese dish." She said, before turning to the Chinese lady behind the stand and spoke Chinese to her. "Can she try a sample? She might end up buying all of the ducks."
The lady nodded as she plucked one of the ducks that was already cut in half and cut a sample piece out for Mallory to try. Mallory tried it and looked at the ladies in shock. The lady behind the counter asked. "You like?"
Mallory nodded. "How many are there to feed about thirty ducks?"
"You feed them to Ducks?" asked the woman behind the counter shocked.
"Yes, but not the earth kind the Puckworldians, I am one," Mallory stated. This might make the ducks not want put her on meal duty ever again. She eyed the ducks that were hanging. "I'll take them all."
The lady smiled and packed them up. Devious thoughts welled up in Mallory's mind as she paid for the ducks. "Nice doing business with you miss."
"The pleasure is all mine." Mallory said with a wicked grin. She could just imagine the reaction when one of the ducks gets around to asking what the meal is, if she's lucky they'd have eaten some before asking.
She picked up some mustard and lotus nut buns as well as some bbq pork buns and spinach dumplings, before heading back to the Pond. Kala had picked up steamers a few months ago but hadn't gotten the full hang of them, but she had plenty of practice, Suscans used them a lot and Rowain had taught her how to tell when the food was fully steam cooked.
Mallory was humming away as she walked back to the kitchen in the Pond with the load of groceries in her arms. On the way, Chance, James and Nylessa met up with her and helped her haul the rest of the grocery into the kitchen before they were pushed out of the kitchen so Mallory could prepare dinner.
"Don't you want any help, Mallory?" asked Nylessa, looking at her as she started to close the kitchen door.
"Thanks Nylessa but this meal is going to be all me tonight. You will have to wait like the rest of them." Mallory stated as she closed the door.
"Do you have any clue to what type of food we will be getting from her, Nylessa?" asked James.
"From what I saw, I would say some type of Chinese dish. I hope it is not going to be too spicy. Remember when she made Mexican and how spicy that was. Everyone was rushing for the milk." Nylessa stated.
"Let's hope it's not the same this time."
"I agree. And if it is, I'm going to suggest to Kala not to assign the meals to Mallory anymore. I remember the first time we had to eat what she made. She gave us Military rations. That was not food, that was torture," Chance moaned.
"From what I saw in the bags it looks like she's going to steam something. Remember when Kala tried? They were still cold in the middle."
"I think Mallory has more experience about steaming things as she steams whenever Dive or Caith pulls one of their pranks on her." Nylessa replied.
"Then, she might know how long to steam them for."
James nodded, as they strolled out of the kitchen and down the hall towards the elevator that would take them up to the main level to watch the other Ducks practice on the ice. Now with more Ducks, they were able to have a full team workout. Chance, James and Nylessa watched as the teams were skating towards them. Kala waved over to them.
"Mallory is going to be steaming dinner tonight. And we do not know what kind of food she got either." Nylessa stated.
"But it is better than the Military rations she gave us that one time." Chance replied.
"Or the extra, extra spicy Mexican she gave us that other time." Dive said. He remembered how hot his mouth was and the desire for milk was intense that day as they all ran out of milk within five minutes.
"I think we should decide on a take out place just in case it is just as bad." Canard mumbled, Mallory had been banned from the kitchen back on Puckworld because of her inability to cook anything editable.
Kala looked at them. "It might not be needed this time around."
"Well, just in case, we will consider a take out place, Kala. She was banned from the kitchen back on Puckworld because she can't cook." Canard stated.
"She'll have to learn sometime."
"That's what the general had said, he regretted it later."
"How so?" asked Chance.
"How much do you like food poisoning, Chance? That's what happened to the General. A good case of food poisoning curtsey of Mallory," Canard stated.
Chance looked like he was going to get sick. Dive pushed far away from her. "Don't get sick over it, Chance! You haven't even tried it and you are already getting green around the bill."
Chance shook his head and looked at Dive. "I have a bit stronger stomach then you, Dive. I can handle her meals, even if they taste horrible."
"You just don't like the thought of them."
"I'm more worried about the fact that she may be plotting something."
"Plotting what?" asked Canard.
"Think back to each time she made dinner for us. One meal was made out of military rations; another was too spicy even for the spice loving ducks, and now we are going to be dealing with another meal. I think she's trying to tell us to give up giving her the chore of doing the dinners as they will not be that good." Chance stated.
"I hate to say this but I think Chance is correct in this," Duke replied. "She told me that she really doesn't like being the one making dinner, she's fine with the others but she stated that the others make good meals."
Grin raised a brow. "She may one day surprise us."
"If she does that, then I'll let Phil have me for a day to do whatever stunt he wants," Caith stated, as he skated over to the others.
Phil had entered the bench area, eyes glinting with joy. "What did I hear? A duck stating that he'll let me have him for a day?"
"Yes, Phil. If Mallory makes a good meal one day, Caith will be yours to enjoy for a day for any publicity stunt you want." Wing stated.
Phil grinned. "I'll go see what Mallory is cooking." As he rubbed his hands eagerly.
"And see if you can taste it before we do!" yelled Dive, as he watched as their manager rushed away towards the locker room. He turned back to the others. "He'll let us know what to expect."
"Smart move Dive, now if he gets sick, we know it is another bad meal that she is going to force down our throats." Caith stated.
"But what if she made a good meal?" asked Tanya.
"Then, I will do what I stated." Caith replied.
"I pity you, Caith." Dive said, as he placed his hand on his shoulder.
Caith shrugged. "The odds are in my favor."
Chance, James and Nylessa just smiled to themselves. They knew what kind of food they were going to have but they didn't let the others know as they headed towards the showers to get ready for dinner.
Kala sat on their bed, brushing her hair out. "Wing, what would you say if I told you she is actually making a good meal tonight?"
"You saw into her mind didn't you?" asked Wing, as he stepped from the bathroom with one of two towels draped over his shoulder.
"No, but I did see the receipt from the store she bought the food from. She was planning a Chinese meal. Some Chinese dishes are spicy." Kala stated, as she finished brushing out her hair.
"That's what worries me."
"There has to be something she can cook right."
"Who knows, she did tell me that her boyfriend before Duke steam cooked most of his food, so I guess she might know how to steam cook meals." Kala stated.
"Do you have any thoughts about what kind of food she was preparing?" asked Wing.
"No, I am not sure," Kala replied as she got up and helped dry her husband off before handing him his clean clothes.
"That is a relief, I don't like spicy foods that much. The slight spiciness in the tacos or the burritos is just perfect for me." Wing stated.
"This one girl I know, she's a pen pal friend of mine, her boyfriend loves anything spicy. I'm sure that he would have enjoyed her meal." Kala said.
"He must have an iron stomach," Wing replied. "Even Grin had a hard time with the spiciness of the dish."
"I'm not sure but he takes a fifteen on the heat scale at a curry place that she and her boyfriend visits at times." Kala stated as she finished dressing and heading for the door.
The ducks all wondered what the dishes were that was on the table when Mallory came in with the wraps for the Peking duck. "All right we're ready to eat."
Mallory started to serve them the dishes that they saw in front of them. Mallory proceeded to hand wrap the Peking duck into the wraps with the sauce that they gave for the dish. Mallory stated which was what on the table but didn't state anything about the dish that she wrapped by hand.
The ducks cautiously sampled the food to make sure it was editable, before fully enjoying dinner. When the rolls were half done Dive finally asked the big question. "So what's in the rolls?"
"Peking duck,"
Everyone who had the piece of duck in their mouths, spat it out as they looked at Mallory shocked. Chance looked at Mallory and asked, "What did this peeking duck do to you that caused you to slay him?"
"Absolutely nothing." Mallory answered, she wasn't going to let them in on it just yet.
"But why kill a peeking duck unless you don't want the duck to be caught peeking at you and Duke making out in the park?" Chance asked.
Duke spoke up. "Mallory and I don't make out in the park, Chance."
"Funny I could have sworn that I've caught you two a couple times."
"That's enough Chance."
Chance looked innocently as he finished his roll. "I still think it was you two."
Duke looked at Mallory and spoke, "Mal, this dish is wonderful. But what is a Peeking duck?"
"Remove one of the e's, it's an earth duck that is marinated in a char something sauce then roasted."
"Ah, but why feed us one of the earth ducks, Mallory?" asked Kala, as she watched as Phil, Fasttrach, Duke and Chance finish their Peking ducks.
"It looked and tasted good."
"You mean you tasted it before you bought it, Mallory?" asked Caith. Then, it just dawned on him, this meal actually tasted good. "Oh crap."
"What's wrong, Caith?" Phil asked. He knew the meal was good which meant he had a duck to do promotions with.
"My promise that I made when Mallory makes a meal that is good, I'll spend a day with Phil doing whatever publicity stunt he wants." Caith stated sadly.
Mallory snickered. "I'm going to enjoy watching what Phil puts you through."
"Oh good, I get to have a Duck do my publicity stunts." Phil chimed happily.
All Caith could do was rap his head on the table. "That is the last time that I wager something like that."
TBC . . .