::I AM BACK! After a nice little break, I decided to come back and post a fun Browning Sister Story that takes us to Portland, Oregon in the woods. I have been a busy little bee and self-published my first fictional novel, called "Among Us" on Amazon KDP. You can search using the title and my name: Jenevieve Moon. (I know, I'm sharing my real name for the first time, but it's because I am taking the leap and would love to know what you think.) Thank you so much for supporting me in my journey! For now, enjoy our trip with Grace and Serra Browning on our trip to the Woods. Please leave a review or two and let me know what you think!
love and internetty hugs,
Jenevieve, the Girl with the Dinosaur Tattoo::
:::
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Chapter 1
Grace
The lights above flickered, forcing my eyes up, to stare at the ceiling fan as it warbled on its axis. I sighed as the bulb flickered once more and dimmed, casting darkness throughout my bedroom. I pressed my lips together and stood on top of my bed to tap the bulb, hoping it was just a weak connection. As the fan slowed, the stark reality finally sank in.
The Browning house no longer had electricity.
I moved silently to the doorway of my bedroom, waiting in the dark hall quietly to see if my father, Truman Browning, would call out to me, wondering what happened to the lights. The absence of his voice echoing through the house told me that he knew this was coming.
Soundlessly skipping down the steps, I pushed her way through the swinging kitchen door as Dad closed the pantry, pressing his teeth together as he sighed through his nose. He turned to stare at me, lifting a single eyebrow.
"This house gets dark without the lights on," I murmured, tilting my head and holding back a wry grin.
Daddy rolled his eyes. "Don't you start in on me," he replied, taking a drink of the amber liquid he held. "We've been a little short, the last few months."
"The last few months?" I repeated, folding her arms across her chest. "When's the last time you paid the electric bill?"
"Like I said," Tru repeated, draining the glass and setting it on the counter in front of him. "It's been a few months."
"Daddy," I sighed. "You have to start actually paying the bills if you expect to keep us living here."
He smiled at me, tilting his head. "Emery tends to do things like that, but she's been a bit busy lately, trying to get that new branch of the library opened. Said she'd take care of it this afternoon, when she brings home the books I asked her for."
I turned, leaning on the counter as my father padded towards the sink and rinsed out his glass. "Books? We have a job?" I wondered aloud, not really wanting to know the answer.
When I say 'job,' I mean the unpaid service we did for humanity: hunting monsters that civilians don't need to know that exist. We had been doing it for generations, all the way beyond John Browning, the gun maker and the namesake of our family lineage.
Dad nodded slowly. "Tulley called." His hazel eyes flicked to me, gauging my reaction.
"Tulley?" I repeated. Tulley was a monster hunter who spent most of his time in the wildlands of Alaska, hunting werewolves. He was a mountain of a man, standing close to seven feet tall, and weighing probably somewhere in the neighborhood of four hundred pounds. He always looked even bigger than he was, wearing furs and sporting a giant, bushy auburn beard. "Something big, then, if Tulley can't take it on his own."
Turning and leaning against the bar, Daddy shrugged. "Sounds like it," he answered, noncommittal. "He might just be overreacting because he's gettin' old. Can't keep up like he used to."
I rolled my eyes. "Tulley is your age."
"Yeah," Daddy sighed. "Like I said. Gettin' old."
Smiling, I tilted my head. At seventeen, I was at that age where everyone seemed old to me. "Well," I shrugged. "It'll be fun to see Tulley again. Serra likes him." I glanced up at my father as he crossed his arms across his chest. "Where's the job?"
"Portland."
Unable to stop the grin that spread across my face, I laughed. "We're going home?"
"We're home here," Dad argued, gesturing to the kitchen. "Portland is just where you were born."
"And raised."
"We've lived in Kansas longer than we ever lived in Portland."
Rolling my eyes again, I shook my head. "Kansas sucks," I muttered. "I miss the woods."
…
Grace
"Hey," I greeted, tossing an empty duffle bag at my little sister, Serendipity. "We've got a job."
She caught the duffle and rolled towards me on her bed. "Where?"
"Portland," I smiled. "I guess Tulley needs some help."
Serra was on her feet and grinning, clutching the duffle with both hands as she grinned. "We get to go home and see Tulley? Oh man," she turned and emptied a drawer of clothes into the bag. "What are we hunting? And how long are we going to be gone?"
"Well, considering this house doesn't have power right now," I sighed, "I don't much care. We're both on summer break and have four whole weeks left. It'll be nice not to have to worry about making it back in time for school."
"We don't have power?" Serra asked suddenly, glancing up at the ceiling.
Lifting a single eyebrow, I stared at my sister. "You didn't notice?"
"I was sleeping."
"Daddy didn't pay the bill," I grumbled. "Get your stuff together. We're leaving when Emery gets home."
"Silver?" Serra shouted as I walked down the hall.
Nodding, I answered over my shoulder. "Bring it all. I don't know what we're after."
…
Grace
Emery was home later that evening and she hugged each of us goodbye as we loaded up the primer gray nineteen-seventy-one Chevy Chevelle that had taken us on hundreds of hunting trips. She had never once let us down.
Hesitating on the front steps, Emery let her touch linger as she held my hand, waiting for the customary three seconds of visions to pass. I had been able to see inside to the way people thought for years, but Emery's were always garbled to me, not making much sense. I had never considered why this was, but turned and smiled at her as she clutched my hand.
"You be careful, now, you hear?" she whispered, touching my face with her other hand. "If Tulley's having a time with this one, you keep your guard up."
I nodded, "I know, Em," I whispered. "I've got Serra and her guns." I paused, letting my joke hang in the air between us.
My sister's new, matching, silver on black, engraved Colt forty-fives were something that my father and I had fought about again and again. She was only twelve years old, but had spent the last six months or so practicing with them. They had quickly become an extension of her very being, so joking about them when I had the chance gave the illusion that I was okay with the situation.
"Mm-hm," Emery replied, pressing her lips together. "Trust your gut," she continued, glancing at Dad as he stood behind me. "Don't get your daddy killed just yet. I like having him around."
Glancing behind me, I nodded, "I'll do my best." Giving her hand one last squeeze, I dropped it and moved towards the driveway to stand next to Serra as she leaned against the Chevelle. Dad took my place on the porch, wrapping himself around Emery, giving her a hug.
"They've gotten more romantic lately," Serra commented quietly, nodding towards our father and Emery. "I'll bet you they got married."
"Married?" I made a face. "Without telling us?"
"She's wearing that diamond ring!" Serra argued, gesturing towards the couple, still wrapped around each other in front of the house.
Shaking my head, I argued, "She's had that ring for a long time," I muttered. "Besides, she's wearing it on the wrong finger." I considered the solitaire, princess cut diamond on Emery's right hand, and shook my head dismissively. "No," I repeated, mostly to myself. "I would have seen it. Or they would have told us."
Serra clicked her tongue. "You don't see everything and Daddy doesn't tell us anything that we don't need to know."
I hated that she was right, but I held my tongue, knowing that my baby sister didn't need any encouragement when it came to understanding our father better than I did.
Daddy turned and grinned at us, jogged down the steps and climbed into the Chevelle. We followed suit and the engine roared to life, and we sped down the highway, headed west.