Emily by Storm Jk Read Free Book Online Page A

again. Emily could see the bitch had been treated as no more than a breeding factory and, suppressing her anger, Emily sent Rumour waves of calm and showed her that she was now free.
    ‘ No more cage for you, sweet girl,’ cooed Emily, both vocally and with her mind. She could see that Rumour had hurt herself when she had leapt at Emily and one of the unused muscles in her back leg had ripped. Emily sent a soothing thought and blocked the pain. This would not last long but Emily knew the bitch wouldn’t become vicious again, the crisis had come and passed.
    Emily made Rumour a bed on the porch near the back door and Vladimir carried her out to it. After bringing Rumour some food Emily showed the dog with images that this was now her new home. She sent a warning to the cats on the property to use the front door for a while. It would take some time before Rumour would understand the harmony of the farm. The cats were used to strange dogs and Emily smiled at the thought that, as animals came and went to new homes, every cat to land on the door stayed on the farm. But whereas her relationship with Applejacks was that of friendship with an equal, Emily’s relationship to the cats was simple affection, they were her companions. When she was in the house they would follow her from room to room just to be near her. Currently, she had five cats, two of which were male Siamese that were the total opposite of each other. The bigger of the two was round and Buddha-like while the smaller one was thin and forceful. Another of her male cats was a big black tom, he reminded Emily of young surfer boys on the beach, so cool and carefree. However, he was the killer of the group and would often bring a trophy for Emily. A Russian blue female was the princess of the bunch and the most athletic, teasing the boys and then jumping out of reach. But the queen was a little old Siamese girl who just had to raise a paw to the other cats and they would be admonished. Vladimir had given her the name of Ironpaw.
    Emily sat with Rumour for a while wondering what was going to happen next. She could hear the men talking in the kitchen where Eric was cooking an eggplant lasagne; she could smell it cooking in the oven. How could she get it through to Vladimir that everything was still the same?
    Now that she knew why they disappeared every month she felt better, that one secret had caused Emily to feel rejected every time they went away, understanding why was a relief. Taking a deep breath in and smelling the fragrance of jasmine from the bushes that surrounded the house, Emily went into the kitchen leaving the back door open to let Rumour know she was still there.
    Vladimir was building a fire and Eric had poured her a glass of white wine. The men preferred red and they both had a glass as well.
    Eric was the first to break the silence. ‘Em, can you please set the table? Dinner is almost ready.’
    He was trying to act like everything was normal. They exchanged a look before Emily replied lightly, ‘Sure,’ and started to set the table. On a whim, she also pulled out two candle holders and some long red candles left over from Christmas. Her mood had lightened and she found herself projecting happiness. She could see that Eric had picked up on her mood, they were both relieved that Vladimir had returned home.
    As she watched Vladimir lighting the fire, she could see that he was struggling to keep her projection of happiness out but as the flames grew brighter his shoulders relaxed and he joined his mates in the connection. Dinner was full of laughter and comradeship with the three skirting around the issue at hand, tonight was not the time to go there. Emily sensed a new trust forming between them but it felt fragile. After a while, the talk became flirtatious with Emily throwing her napkin on the table and moving to sit on Vladimir ’s lap. Eric moved his chair closer and the three exchanged long kisses and caresses, Emily felt relieved that they were