Violet Finn Files {2::4}

Horneus was just able to fit two people on his saddle. And although Jenny was uncomfortable, she didn’t complain. In fact, she was almost completely silent until John came around. I was embarrassed to be seen with a stranger on. There was no way to avoid him.

“Oh great, it’s the new turd in town,” sneered John, “and my dumb little sister.”

“What, no bodyguards this time? Aren’t you afraid you’ll get hurt without the Twin Morons?” I said rather rudely. This was my best advantage over him, because it’s so true. I gave them that nickname a while ago, but haven’t had many chances to use it yet. But what happened next was even more surprising.

“Why don’t you come and say that to my face, a-hole?” called Jenny.

John stopped in his tracks looking dumbfounded, but quickly recovered from his surprise. We were almost level with him.

“Oh, and what are YOU going to do about it?” he said back. Now we were just about adjacent to each other, with him standing with his arms folded.

“This!” Jenny shouted. As if on cue, she jumped off of Horneus, landed perfectly crouched, and round-house kicked him.

It seemed to happen in slow-motion. John fell to the ground. I urged Horneus to quicken to a gallop as Jenny just jumped onto his back again. We left my brother moaning on the pavement in pain.

“Take a right, and then we’ll be at my house,” instructed Jenny. Other than directions, we were quiet the whole way. After a few blocks Horneus had gotten tired; he wasn’t used to two people yet. Just as we turned the corner an old-looking house with a large front porch and a yard full of discarded toys.

‘This is your house!” I exclaimed dumbfounded.

“Yeah,” said Jenny looking proud. “I live here with my two younger sisters and my older brother.”

“It’s not what I expected,” I said quietly. Frankly, I didn’t know what to expect but it certainly wasn’t this.

Two young girls ran out the front door laughing but stopped short and stared at Horneus.

What is it with rhinoceroses that people have to stare? They have feelings too!

“Cool!” they chorused and immediately started stroking his flanks.

Jenny once again hopped down with incredible speed and agility. How does she do that???

“Jillian, Margaret, this is my new friend …uh, wait, I don’t even know your name!” she said. They all started laughing again.

“My name is Violet. Nice to meet you…how old are you two, anyway?” They couldn’t have been more than five and three.

“I’m six!” the older one, Jill, announced.

“I’m four!” the younger sister stated proudly, showing me four fingers; two on each hand.

Oh well, I was close.

Just then, a woman came out, maybe her late-forties? She had a brown-blond bob with a smile that lights up the room. I’m assuming that’s her mom.

“Hi Jenny! I see you brought a friend. Come on in for some refreshments. By the way, I’m Jenny’s mother, nice to meet you,” she said as she came down the steps and shook my hand. It was then that she noticed the smell.

Did I mention rhinos can be a bit smelly?

She looked up and smiled. “And who would this big fella be? Oh my!”

Horneus was begging to wonder who all these loud humans were and why were they crowded around him. Not that he minded the attention, but he was nonetheless curious.

The girls, not knowing if he was going to eat them, ran 10 feet away. Their mother did the same.

“He’s trained, right? Well, I hope you can leave him out here when we go in,” she said.

“Actually mom, I think we’ll hang out around back,” replied Jenny.

“Suit your selves,” she called and fluttered back to the kitchen to make snacks.

                                                                             ***

We spent the rest of the day getting to know each other (but mostly I learned about Jenny). Horneus was able to relax with us due to their spacious backyard. I even broke down and told her about the factory and the plan. She can be VERY convincing and annoying when she wants to be. We agreed to meet up again at nine, but then we changed it to eight because her mom doesn’t let her out after ten. Two hours seemed plenty of time for what I had in mind.