Chapter 31

“We’re going to be showing a movie tonight,” Sean said into the telephone.

Max said, “I can’t go.”

“Why not?” Sean asked.

There was a long moment of silence and then Max answered, “My mother thinks I stole some of her clothes.”

“Oh,” Sean said with a sinking feeling in his stomach.

“I didn’t,” Max said. His voice sounded like he had cupped a hand around the handset so that it wouldn’t carry into the room.

There was a loud screech in the background and then the voice of Max’s mother shouting,

“Don’t lie!”

“I’ve got to go. Let Clea know,” Max said just before hanging up the phone.

Sean stared at the telephone handset for a second before hanging it up on the wall phone. He hadn’t imagined that Max would get blamed for the missing leather clothes. He sighed and said, “I guess it is up to me to make things right.”

“What do you have to make right?” his mother asked.

“Max’s mother thinks Max stole her leather clothes,” Sean answered.

“What are you going to do?” his mother asked.

“I guess I’ll explain that the Brownies stole them so that the Leprechauns could make leather seat covers for my truck that the Dwarves were fixing,” Sean answered. Saying it like that really sounded crazy. He’d be lucky if he didn’t end up in the psyche ward of the local hospital.

“Ah. Good luck,” his mother said shaking her head.

Sean went outside and found the Dwarves lying around on the ground with swollen bellies from the chips and sodas. Chom belched and said, “Oh my, that was good.”

Ignoring Chom, Sean looked over at Clea and said, “Max can’t make the movie tonight.”

“Why not?” Clea asked with a frown. She was looking forward to a little chase before the movie started. She sat up and looked at Sean.

“He’s grounded,” Sean answered.

“What does that mean?” Chom asked with a puzzled expression on his face.

Pip said, “I’m lying on the ground. Does that mean I’m grounded?”

“He’s being punished,” Sean said.

“I really don’t like the sound of that. It sounds a lot like getting ground between two heavy grindstones like wheat getting turned into flour,” Clea said folding her arms across her chest.

“Being grounded means that he’s not allowed to leave the house. It is a common punishment,”

Sean answered.

“Punished for what?” Clea asked getting angry. She wasn’t sure who she was angry at, but she was not happy about her date with Max getting canceled. He was the only male within a hundred miles who was paying attention to her.

“His parents think he stole his mother’s leather clothes,” Sean answered.

Shocked at the suggestion that Max was getting blamed for stealing the clothes, Clea said, “He didn’t do that.”

Shrugging his shoulders, Sean said, “His mother doesn’t know that.”

“Oh,” Clea said.

“I am going to go over there and explain what happened,” Sean said.

Clea said, “Good.”

“She’s not going to be happy. I think that she really liked those clothes,” Sean said. He hoped that the Dwarves didn’t ask for details about why she might really like clothes with holes in them. He wasn’t sure that he could explain it to them.

She looked over at Liam and said, “We should never have asked the Brownies for the leather outfits.”

Pip said, “It is too late to return them.”

“If I had some good leather, I could make new ones without holes,” Liam said.

Clea didn’t like the idea of giving someone perfectly good clothes for having taken ones with holes in them. She asked, “Do you have any leather left?”

“Just a little,” Agar answered.

“Is there enough to make one of those outfits for me?” Clea asked.

“Not really,” Liam answered.

Agar said, “We’d have to leave some holes in it to get the general outfit right.”

“Make one for me that was just like ones we used. Put the holes in the same place. When she sees how ridiculous it looks, she won’t be upset that we used them,” Clea said.

“I don’t think that is a good idea,” Sean said.

“It sounds like a great idea to me,” Pip said.

“I’ll give her a piece of my mind if she doesn’t stop punishing Max. We’ve got a date tonight,”

Clea said.

Sean looked around and realized that the two Leprechauns were missing. He looked back and discovered Clea was gone as well. Having no idea how long it would take them to come up with the outfit he groaned and said, “I better get over to the Baxter’s house right away.”

Sean took off at a run for the path. He hoped that if he ran fast enough that he’d beat Clea there. The rest of the Dwarves ran along behind expecting to see quite a show. Noticing that he had a herd following him, Sean stopped and turned to face them. He said, “There’s no need for you to go along.”

“That’s true,” Pip said nodding his head vigorously.

“We want to watch the fireworks,” Chom said rubbing his hands together excitedly.

Pip said, “I’ve never seen Clea that angry. There’s going to be lots of fireworks.”

Grum said, “This is going to be spectacular.”

“Bang, boom,” Pip said waving his arms around.

“Besides, she’s going to really look stupid in that outfit,” Thur said. The other Dwarves all nodded their heads in agreement.

Sean said, “Hey. That’s not very nice.”

“Clea is always doing weird things about her appearance,” Chom said.

Pip said, “Do you remember seven hundred years ago when she wore that ivy in her hair in an attempt to look pretty only to discover that it was poison ivy?”

“That was a good one,” Chom said laughing.

Thur said, “I laughed for a hundred years on that one.”

“How about that time when she got dyed purple?” Chom asked.

“That was funny,” Pip said laughing.

“Remember when she cut off her beard?” Thur asked.

“That was so stupid. Who ever heard of a female dwarf without a beard?” Grum asked shaking his head.

Pip said, “We better get over there before we miss the show.”

The reminder of his mission caused Sean to take off in a run. The path that he had taken several times a day seemed to be twice as long as he remembered. He reached the fork in the path and headed towards the house. The Dwarves thundered along behind him. One or another would make a comment about how Clea would look in her clothes and they’d pause to laugh a bit.

Sean reached the backdoor of the Baxter’s house too late. Clea was already there knocking on the door. She was wearing a tight leather corset with her breasts hanging out. The little garter straps dangled around her legs. She was not wearing any underwear and her bare ass was exposed for everyone to see. Ruining the overall effect for Sean was the thin beard nestled between the breasts.

He arrived at the door just as it opened. Mrs. Baxter stood at the door with an expression on her face that threatened to curdle milk. Looking at Sean, she said, “Max is grounded.”

“I know,” Sean said looking up at the tall woman. Despite her height, she was wearing high heels that made her even taller. She had her jet black hair tied back in a tight bun. The only word that came to mind was formidable.

There was an impatient tapping on Mrs. Baxter’s knee. She looked down and saw Clea for the first time. In a voice that could have shattered glass, Mrs. Baxter screamed. Looking up at the woman, Clea screamed. Hearing the screams, Mr. Baxter came charging to the backdoor with Max close on his heels.

Mr. Baxter looked around at the Dwarves standing behind Sean and shouted, “Oh my God! Sean is the head of a gang of midgets!”

“They’re not midgets. They are Dwarves,” Sean said hoping to defuse the issue a bit.

“Dwarves?” Mrs. Baxter asked looking over the assembly of little people.

Mr. Baxter stared at Clea open mouthed. The beard put him off a little, but the outfit definitely had his attention. Mrs. Baxter noticed and her control immediately returned. In a sharp voice, she said, “Down boy.”

Mr. Baxter dropped to his knees and hugged his wife’s leg. The sudden change in his position allowed Max his first clear look at Clea. Eyes wide, Max licked his lips and said, “I like it.”

“Why is Max grounded?” Clea demanded. She stood there with her legs spread and her hands on her hips.

“He took some of my clothes,” Mrs. Baxter answered glaring down at the small woman.

“No he didn’t. The Brownies took your clothes,” Clea said.

“I want them back,” Mrs. Baxter said. She wasn’t going to ask why little girls who sold cookies would take her fetish attire.

“Why?” Clea asked. She glanced over at Max and noticed that he was staring at her glassy eyed.

“They are very expensive,” Mrs. Baxter said.

Clea snorted and said, “What are you talking about? I’m wearing an outfit that is an exact duplicate of one that the Brownies took. This dress is so worn that it doesn’t hide the breasts and there are only four little straps left of the skirt. It looks ridiculous.”

“Uh, Clea,” Chom said raising a hand to get her attention.

Clea turned to look at the rest of the Dwarves. She hadn’t seen them looking at her that way in almost eight thousand years. She asked, “What are you staring at? You’ve seen me naked a thousand times.”

“Uh, this is a little different,” Chom said nervously.