Hi there

Our fourth and last character is going to be introduced now.  My hint last time was that you’ve already met her.  Well, now you get to find out who she is…

Part 4 ~ Harriet

Harriet was 70 years old, but this was the worst day she’d ever had.

Not very long ago, she’d met Kira in the yarn store.  Later that night, Kira’s mother had died, and Kira had come to see Harriet on Cherry Street.  Then Kira had left to find Lynnea.  Harriet hadn’t seen her since.

Ever since then, she had beeen resting in Crochet & Chocolate, waiting to hear the news.  As much as she wanted to go with Kira and Lynnea, her 70-year-old self couldn’t keep up.  Unfortunately, even the yarn store wasn’t completely safe, as Harriet was about to find out.

The door chimed as a dark-haired woman walked in.  She looked to be around her 20s.  She was too well-dressed to be from the crochet side of town, so Harriet was instantly on alert.

“I need some yarn, can you help me?” asked the woman.  She had a very chirpy voice, and reminded Harriet of someone, she just couldn’t remember who.

“What kind are you looking for?” asked Harriet, pushing herself off the chair and walking over.

“I’m crocheting an afghan, so I need some pretty inexpensive stuff,” explained the woman.

“I’m Harriet.”  She began leading the lady over to their worsted-weight section.  “Some of these might be to your liking.”

Before Harriet knew what was happening, the lady had yanked her arms behind her back and snapped a pair of handcuffs into place.  Then she slapped a hand over Harriet’s mouth and pointed a knife at her with the other hand.  “Don’t make a noise, you hear me?”

Harriet hadn’t the slightest intention of talking.  She nodded, and the stranger took her hand away, leaving the knife.  “Follow me, and nobody gets hurt.”

Harriet was led into her own storage room and shoved into a folding chair.  The lady took the more comfortable squishy chair next to her.  She leaned against the wall, toying with her knife.  Harriet inched away from her in trepadition.

“I almost forgot,” said the mystery lady.  “It will never do to have you escaping!  I promised to bring you in alive.”

She picked up a ball of expensive super-bulky yarn and began tying Harriet to the chair.  Harriet couldn’t think of a much more humiliating way to be restrained in your own yarn store.  When she had finished, she sat back down in the chair.  “Now we can have a nice conversation.  How does that sound?”

“Who are you?” Harriet asked fearfully.  She couldn’t think of any witty remarks, and she certainly didn’t want the knife-wielder to get annoyed with her.

“I’m so glad you asked!” replied the lady, clearly enjoying this.  “I’m Alta, the mayor of Seattle.”

Harriet tried to mask her surprise.  “What are you doing here?”

“Well, I told you.  I wanted to buy some yarn!” Alta giggled.  It sounded more like nails on a chalkboard to her victim.  “Actually, I came here for you.  There’s something you can do for me.”

“There’s something you can do for me, too,” grumbled Harriet, wiggling in an attempt to loosen the yarn-ropes.  “You can untie me.”

“All in due time,” promised Alta.  “Now, I understand you have a granddaughter, is that right?”

Harriet kept her mouth firmly shut.  She wouldn’t put Lynnea in danger.

“So you’re not going to talk? What a shame.  I guess I can do the talking for you.  She’s 16 years old, black-haired, short, and just escaped from her holding cell with her friends Kira and Maeve.”

“Maeve?” Harriet said involuntarily.

“Ah, yes,” Alta said smugly. “I forgot.  You have no idea who Maeve is.  Well, she’s a friend of Kira’s, and she just performed a rather smart jailbreak.  I must admit, I didn’t see that one coming.”

“What do you need me for?” asked Harriet suspiciously.  It couldn’t be anything good, that was for sure.

“That’s a good question!” praised Alta.  Her chirpy voice was getting on Harriet’s nerves.  “Now, the three are on their way to the current battle at Lakeview Park.  I need to get them back to the office, where we can wipe their memories.  That’s where you come in.

“You’ll convince them to come with you to the office, to turn off the microchips.  When you make it back, I’ll take them into custody.  Then I’ll let you go back about your business.”

“Knowing all your battle plans? I don’t believe you,” accused Harriet.

“After the small matter of a memory change, of course.”  Alta got up from her chair.  “Now.  Are you ready?”  She swung her knife as she spoke.

There wasn’t any choice for Harriet.

“Okay, let’s go.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’ve mentioned before that our chickens all have ‘little old lady’ names.  So when I needed a ‘little old lady’ name for my story, that’s the first place I looked.

As a reward for being a character in my story, this book will be dedicated to Harriet. *

<3

*If you are a member of my family and are reading this, please don’t be insulted.  I am saving your dedication for if I ever write a real book.  🙂