Discussing danger with Joan

Mishka decided to sneak out and leave her grandmother in the TV room.

She rose up from her seat and then she heard the music from the TV show replace the dialogue. This meant that the show was finished.

“This is very entertaining,” Myrtle remarked as she got up as well. “I can’t wait until the next episode,” she added.

“It plays long,” Mishka responded.

“But one doesn’t notice the time passing,” Myrtle remarked as if the mere watching of the programme was some kind of achievement to her.

“Grace says that you went for another dance class tonight,” she added, studying Mishka.

“Yes, we met as dancers again,” Mishka responded as she walked towards the light switch, so that she could turn on the light and switch off the television set.

“Grace said that it looked like it was a dress rehearsal because you don’t usually dress up for your dance classes,” Myrtle remarked as she began to walk towards the doorway.

“Yes, it was sort of,” Mishka responded.

“It is more or less the truth,” she told herself on the inside.

“You should also spend more time doing research for the family company,” Myrtle remarked with a smirk.

“I’m doing that in the office everyday already,” Mishka responded.

She went to her bedroom without paying attention to Myrtle’s further comments. She tried hard to focus on that dance with Bruce instead of Myrtle’s whining.

As Mishka lay in bed, she remembered the beauty and glamour of Bruce’s mansion.

“It would be awesome to have a music video recorded there,” she told herself. “A music video combined with a fashion show! That would be awesome,” she thought with a big smile on her face before she drifted off to sleep.

The following morning at breakfast, Mishka thought about her day’s schedule.

“I will have to tell Gillian’s mom about last night. She will appreciate the feedback,” Mishka told herself while she listened to her father and Myrtle’s chatting with only half an ear.

“Phoning will be too risky. I will have to go in person.

Saturday after I go there with my work colleagues?” Mishka asked herself.

“Maybe that’s too much of a wait. I need to keep her updated, so I’ll go after both visits to the mansion. Maybe Aunt Joan has some advice for when I’m there on Saturday,” Mishka decided.

“So, today I will go and spend my lunch hour at Gillian’s home. I will rush over there quickly during lunch time and chat to Aunt Joan,” she decided.

“You seem to be lost in thought,” Mishka’s father commented.

“Oh, I have a lot on my mind because I have a busy schedule today,” Mishka replied with her eyes focussed on her food.

Just as she got up to leave, she glanced briefly at Myrtle and remembered her promise to Gillian.

“Oh, my goodness! I still have to work on finding that secret camera. I promised Gillian.

But, that was before Freddy called me to invite me to the mansion. How am I gonna come up with an excuse for not finding someone to go and purchase the camera?” Mishka wondered as she walked out of the breakfast room.

“Don’t load too much on your plate for the day!” her father called after her as she walked out the front door to get her vehicle which was already parked outside.

“No, I will try not to,” Mishka responded.

“Exactly how am I gonna do that?” she asked herself. “I’ve taken on too many commitments and I’m having to tell too many lies. But, I have to pay attention to what Gillian said about Grandma’s chanting in the workroom downstairs.

I also have to keep Joan updated about her wolf cousin,” she concluded with a sigh.

“What’s more important?” she asked herself, but it was too difficult for her to decide.

***

“So, you were there already? That was very quick. Good for us, I think?” Joan commented when Mishka spoke to her during her lunch break.

“I think so,” Mishka responded. “Maybe it’s fate?” she suggested.

“It’s good for us to find out as much as possible about him as soon as possible. We definitely need to know exactly what to tell Gillian if she develops a serious crush on him,” Joan continued.

“But, I think that we should involve her in the truth as soon as possible because she will really resent us doing all this behind her back and then hiding it for ages,” Mishka suggested.

“Her father and I already had a talk last night and we agreed that we should be as discreet about this as possible, so that she never finds out about him. We want her to go and live somewhere else, away from here,” Joan responded as she sipped on her coffee.

“That’s a bit extreme, don’t you think? She will be beside herself with anger and resentment if she does find out eventually. She’ll never be my friend again,” Mishka responded as she paused during her eating of the pie that Joan had warmed up for her.

“If she does find out one day, we will explain our reasons. She can be angry for a while, but she will realize that we did it all for her own good. She should never be involved with an uncle who is a wolf,” Joan responded in a very serious tone of voice.

“It’s really bad, especially since he knows some people and apparently some wolves here, but he doesn’t know that he has a cousin here,” Mishka remarked with a concerned frown between her brows.

“Oh, I’m so sorry that you’re now caught up in the middle of this,” Joan remarked with a pat on Mishka’s hand.

“Don’t worry. I love uncovering mysteries. I love the adventure involved,” Mishka responded with a smile and a shrug as she sipped on her own coffee.

“You must just not do anything risky because I will be held responsible to your father if you anything happened to you,” Joan cautioned in a concerned tone of voice.

“I promise to be very discreet and to find someone that I trust who can cover for me and help me out by being aware of all my movements, in case anything goes wrong,” Mishka responded.

“Oh, nothing should go wrong with you. We love you like our own child and your father can sue us if anything happened to you,” Joan responded with a concerned look in her eyes.

“I don’t think that it will ever get to that. I only have good expectations about this,” Mishka responded with a smile.

“By the way, did Gillian tell you about what she saw my Grandma doing the other night?” Mishka asked.

“Oh, yes. She told her father and myself. We think that’s also not so safe for you either,” Joan responded.

“Why?” Mishka asked with her eyes wide stretched.

“Well, she is your grandma, but if she’s perhaps busy with witchcraft then you might not be so safe. People like that tend to look after their own good only,” Joan responded.

“You mean that she could try to harm me through the use of spells?” Mishka asked in alarm.

“You never know. She’s been keeping it a secret for a reason,” Joan replied.