Untie the Knot

Chapter 6

"Haze!" A girl with an unruly mop of bouncing blonde curls comes storming out the house, an impressively large black dog jumping alongside her like an overgrown puppy. The dog barks once and then makes a beeline for Haze, sniffing his hand before he proceeds to lick it.

The girl is wearing blue jeans and an oversized black t-shirt with a bright yellow sunflower print on it. She throws her arms up in the air as she lets out an excited squeal. She can't be much older than ten or eleven.

"Hey, lioness, what's up?" Haze pulls away his hand from the dog's overeager tongue and opens his arms to receive the girl.

"Finally, you're here!" The girl throws herself at him, embracing him around his middle. "Dad said you'd be here earlier. What took you so long?"

The dog has now discovered me standing behind the car and comes straight at me, tail wagging and tongue hanging from his mouth. Apparently he's glad to have found another prospective pair of hands to lick. I have no idea what breed of dog it is, but he looks massive with a smooth black coat, an almost square head, and ears that stick up like near-perfect pitch-black triangles.

"I brought a guest." Haze inclines his head towards me and then the girl looks past him at me.

I wave awkwardly at the girl while the dog sniffs my other hand. "Hi, I'm Penny."

The girl scans me briefly and then she looks up to Haze again. "Is she your new girlfriend?"

"No, she isn't. We're—we're just friends."

My cheeks heat and I'm glad he doesn't mention our frivolous deal, but I can't really pay attention because the dog is now drooling all over my hand.

"Triad, come here!" the girl calls. "Bad dog! I told you no licking the guests."

"It's all right. I don't mind dogs." I wipe my hand on my hoodie and to prove my point I scratch him under his chin, which he seems to enjoy, because he instantly closes his eyes.

"That's good," Haze says, walking over to me with the girl in tow, "because Triad can be a bit obnoxious when she thinks she's the boss."

"Oh, so it's a she." Triad seems to be satisfied with having greeted us and saunters off to lie in front of the house, directing her attention to a bone the size of my arm. I have to resist the urge to fold my arms around me, making sure they are still attached to my body.

"Yeah, and she's super smart. She can do all sorts of tricks," the girl pipes up. "The only thing you can't do, is to allow her to put her face on any part of your body or you'll get totally super soaked with dog drool." She wrinkles her nose to emphasise her disgust.

"That's right." I can see a smile creeping up on Haze's face even though he's hiding it behind his hand.

"I'm Nemea and my dad's the groundkeeper." The girl steps in front of me and holds out her hand. "And if Triad and Haze like you, then you can be my friend too."

"Nice to meet you, Nemea." I shake her hand that might have both earth and dog drool on it. "I very much would like to be your friend."

Haze hands me my pair of wellies, picks up the bags and starts walking towards the house. "Let's get our stuff inside first. The orchards and greenhouses are behind the house. If you want we can wander around tomorrow. I'll show you your room now, so you can get all settled in and then we'll have some dinner if you're hungry."

"Sounds great." I nod and walk behind him. My stomach grumbles like on cue, reminding me that I've only had breakfast today.

"Oh, and you must visit the cave. It's totally awesome." Nemea hops alongside me, kicking the pebbles with her foot and sending them spraying everywhere. I notice that her own boots are sporting multiple layers of dirt. At least I don't have to be embarrassed about not having cleaned off mine.