Pure Dead Frozen by Debi Gliori Read Free Book Online Page B

possibility that she very much doubted,
normal
not being an adjective she would ever apply to unscheduled deliveries in parking lots—“then you’ll be allowed to see your wife tonight for ten minutes before going home. That is,
you
going home, and
she
staying put.” She held up one scrubbed red hand to forestall any objections from Luciano and raised her eyebrows in a highly challenging manner, as if to say,
Go on, punk, make my day. I dare you to raise an objection.
    Luciano wisely kept quiet, consoling himself with something that, in his innocence, he didn’t realize was a complete fiction: his certainty that no harm would befall his wife or baby as long as they were in the care of Sister Passterre. Meekly, he followed her through the front door of the hospital, blissfully unaware that anything more malign than a stray bacterium could be lurking in the shadows within.

Lightly Toasted
    T he phone rang in the great hall at StregaSchloss, its urgent shrilling causing everyone within range to run to answer its summons. Thus Titus, Pandora, Minty, Mrs. McLachlan, Knot, Sab, and Tock were all in time to witness Ffup playing butler.

    â€œHellurrrr,” she murmured throatily, her normally harsh dragonish tones muted down to a husky purr. “Strrrega-Borrrgia rrresidence. Ffup here. How may I be of assistan—?”
    At which point Minty briskly plucked the receiver out of Ffup’s paws and hissed, “
You
may be of assistance by going downstairs to the dungeons and reading
your
baby a bedtime story.” Then she turned her back on the gaping dragon, changed her tone completely, and said, “So sorry. Bit of a mix-up there. You’re through to the Strega-Borgias. Can I help?”
    Pandora glanced up at the landing, where Mrs. McLachlan stood smiling down at Ffup’s indignant splutters and snorts of flame as Minty shooed her dungeonward to her neglected baby, Nestor. Considering that the first time Minty had clapped eyes on Ffup, the young woman had fainted dead away, it was remarkable that she now felt brave enough to push the huge beast around, Pandora thought. As well as being brave, Minty was also tactful, always deferring to Mrs. McLachlan, consulting the older nanny over every decision regarding what had been, until recently, Mrs. McLachlan’s sole responsibility. Now the two nannies effectively job-shared—a state of affairs that suited everyone perfectly, allowing Mrs. McLachlan to recoup her strength after what everyone referred to as her “accident” in Lochnagargoyle. This accident had been a weird near-drowning occasioned by Mrs. McLachlan’s throwing herself into the loch on purpose and, even more weirdly, not washing
back
upon the loch shore until almost two months later. Far easier, Pandora thought, to refer to the whole thing as an “accident” and mentally file it under “Forget.”
One day,
she vowed,
one day when Mrs. McLachlan is one hundred percent better, I’m going to ask her what really happened, but not now.
    Downstairs, Ffup had finally given in and was dragging herself at a snail’s pace across the great hall, taking as long as possible to reach the dungeons in the hope of not having to read “The Little Mermaid” to Nestor for the tenth time, and also in case the telephone caller had any news about whether Baci’s baby was a girl or a boy.
    â€œNo, I’m sorry. The Signor and Signora have gone to the hospital tonight….” Minty turned round and made a shooing gesture at Ffup.
Go on,
the young nanny mouthed silently; then, turning her back on the dragon: “Yes. We’re just waiting to hear about the baby. Mmmm. Very exciting time, yes. Absolutely. May I tell them who called?” There was a pause while Minty raked in the drawer of the telephone table, trying to find a pen or pencil with which to take down the caller’s details. “Hang on a second…,” she