Read Online 1 The Bitches of Everafter by Barbra Annino - Free Book Online Page A

soup…the list was longer than her leg. Right at the top was being questioned.
    She turned to her demure assistant with the almond shaped eyes and the glittery shadow that trailed behind her wherever she walked. The judge stood up very tall, towering over Tink and said, in a voice deep and low, “What. Is. My. Score.”
    Tink fluttered back, her feet barely touching the ground as if she still had wings. She shuddered, then pulled out the scorecard and liberated a pencil from behind her little ear.
    Judge Redhood sipped her drink, waiting for Tink to tally up the marks. She didn’t like snapping at the girl. She was just a slip of a thing with a loyal streak and a dedicated work ethic, but once you allowed a subordinate to question your authority, you lost all control. And Redhood had vowed long ago that she would never again lose control.
    Tink lifted her heart-shaped face up to her boss. The judge clutched her drink. Her right leg shook involuntarily like a dog’s does when you rub him just right.
    “Well, let’s have it,” said Judge Redhood.
    Tink smiled broadly, although the judge thought she saw the curve of her mouth waver. “538.”
    The judge set her putter down and leaned against her cherry wood desk. She looked up at the ceiling and pumped her fist once. “Yes! I’m getting better.” She finished her drink and smiled at the empty glass.
    Tink waved her delicate arms in the air. “Yay!” She did a little cheer.
    The judge stopped celebrating for a moment. 
    “What was my handicap, Tink?”
    Tink shuffled through the pockets of her grassy colored sundress. She pulled out a notebook. “Three windows.”
    “That’s one less than last week,” the judge said with a twinge of excitement.
    Tink bobbed her head up and down, grinning. “Six lamps.”
    “Perhaps we should install recessed lighting,” Redhood said. “Make a note.”
    “Indeed,” Tink agreed. She scribbled in her pad then checked her list. “One gardener.”
    “Giant Jerry?” Redhood asked, disappointment coloring her words. “Oh, no. He’s the only one who can trim the trees properly. Without a ladder.”
    “I’m afraid so, Judge. He has two black eyes from the first hole this morning.”
    The judge frowned.
    Tink was quick to lighten the somber mood. “It’s not your fault, Judge. The upper east wing has that nasty hazard.”
    “Hmm,” the judge said. She turned to Tink. “Perhaps we should simply do away with the entire east wing.”
    “But that’s where I live,” Tink said.
    Redhood said, “Right.” She lifted the glass to her lips and tapped the bottom of it, sending some ice cubes tumbling into her mouth. As she bit into the hard coldness, the judge considered the best place to relocate her assistant so that she could improve her golf game and still have the girl at her beck and call in an instant. She gazed down at Fang, her pet wolf, who was silently dozing in the corner of the room. She spun back to Tink with a fresh idea.
    Before Redhood could express her thought, Tink practically shouted, “We could build a bridge between the two wings, eliminating any sharp angles. Then you could just play straight through.”
    Tink held her breath, her tiny body twitching.
    A slow smile spread across the judge’s face. She snapped her fingers and said, “There you see, Tink, that’s why you and I get along so famously. You’re a forward thinker, an opportunist always looking for the best solution to a problem, just like me. I like it. Get started on it right away. After you fix me one more drink. It’s Saturday and I’ve done so well on my game I feel like indulging.”
    “Right away,” Tink said. Then she frowned. She cocked a pointy ear toward the door.  “Do you hear that?”
    Judge Redhood cocked her head as well. She didn’t hear a thing. Below her, Fang stirred. A low growl escaped his throat as he sat up straighter on his bed.
    “It’s loud, obnoxiously so,” Tink said, casting a twittery glance at