The Silver Moon Elm by MaryJanice Davidson Read Free Book Online Page A

taken down the sassy bitch in the next car with me.”
    “We’d better catch up. I want to keep an eye on them.”
    “Me, too.”
    “Not for that! I mean, we should make sure they get home safely. You know, Skip seemed kinda down. And, er, Eddie, too.”
    It took a few jumps before Jennifer realized something. She sailed at her friend again, this time merely bumping her a bit off course. “You like Skip!”
    “Hey! Well, like is a strong word. I think he’s…kinda interesting.”
    “He called your grandmother an old fart.”
    “She is an old fart.”
    “Catherine!”
    “It doesn’t mean I don’t love her.” They were even with the Mustang again. “It just means Skip said something insexy—er, incisive.”
    “Oh, sweet, merciful…”
    “Before you broke up with him, did you consider how firm his butt is?”
    “That’s it. I’m ripping the roof off of your Mustang, right now.”
    “Don’t be surprised if you find them making out in there.”
    “At fifty miles an hour?”
    “You’re right. Too slow for making out. They’re probably just feeling each other up.”
    “You are so not my friend anymore. Go back to your old fart of a grandmother.”
    “See, it’s not as sexy when you say it.”
     
    WINOKA
    POP. 19,502
    SAFE HOMES, STRONG FAMILIES
     
    “You sure you won’t come into town?”
    “Naw.” Catherine shifted her weight nervously as she leaned against the Winoka city limits sign. One wing claw reached back to scratch her spine. “I figure Susan can avoid crashing the car from here. I’ll go back to Crescent Valley and let Grammie and your dad know everyone’s back home. You still coming back tomorrow with your mom?”
    “That’s the plan.” The thought of bringing her mother to Crescent Valley made Jennifer immediately feel better. That was a trip that would go more smoothly.
    “We’ll see you later, Catherine!” Susan was almost back in the car before her sentence ended. The engine revved back up. Skip and Eddie waved from the inside; Skip’s face was full of rash confidence. Jennifer squinted—was that lipstick on his cheek? It was hard to tell in the dim light of a dismal November afternoon. Maybe that was a hickey on his throat…or maybe it was mascara…
    What would her eyelashes be doing on his neck? Cripes, Jennifer. Get a hold of yourself.
    “Hey, listen,” Catherine woke Jennifer from her reverie. “I’m not supposed to talk to you about this, but I can’t resist. Don’t be surprised if something cool happens later this week!”
    “What do you mean?”
    But Catherine only flashed her perfect teeth and leapt off the ground, bouncing several yards away as she began to turf-whomp her way back to Crescent Valley.
    “Hey, that’s mean!” Jennifer called out. Catherine was already too far away to hear.
    “Can you believe she—” But Jennifer was already talking to a cloud of gravel and dust. She began to hack as the Mustang ripped back onto the road and through the outskirts of Winona. She pointed across the highway. “Guys, wait up! Don’t you want to get ice cream at the mall or something?”
    Because she could fly normally now, she cruised a few yards behind the Mustang, shifting the scales on her skin to make herself less apparent to bystanders and trying hard to peer through the rear window and see if any silhouettes were getting too close to each other.
    It was not far to Skip’s house, a two-story Cape Cod with brown shingles and a bright red door, which complemented the pale yellow trim. Skip lived with his aunt Tavia Saltin, sister to the late werachnid sorcerer Otto Saltin, who had tried to imprison and abuse Jennifer when she first became a weredragon.
    But there wasn’t anything sinister in view as they pulled up into the short driveway. Out of deference to Skip’s aunt, Jennifer shifted out of dragon form as she opened the passenger side door.
    “All right, lover boy. Out.”
    “In a second.” He didn’t even turn to look at her, Jennifer