Hitched & Hitched Again: A Comedy of Marital Mayhem ( Elysia and Tarquin)

"They're Tarquin and my kids too. This is Baby, and this is Elijah. BabyElijah, say hi to your great-grandma."

The two little ones obediently greeted Tracey together,

"Hello, Great-grandma!"noveldrama

Tracey was absolutely delighted.

"Oh my goodness, look at you two! Why are there two little ones? Elijah looks just like Elliot and Evan! And Baby's the spitting image of Elysia!"

Elysia laughed as she explained,

"Back then, both of them were taken away, so when Grandpa and Grandma found us, it was just me, Elliot, Evan, and Emmett."

"Elijah grew up with Tarquin, and Baby was raised by someone else..."

"Grandma, I'll fill you in on all the details about the kids later. For now, tell us about you and Grandpa."

"Why is it only you and Bernard back? Where are the other grandpas?"

"What happened last night? Why wasn't anyone home? There was always someone around before."

"And how did those hunters get so close without you knowing?"

Tracey let out a long breath and glanced at the hunters knocked out cold on the floor, frowning a little.

"It was just bad timing, really. Gerald had some personal business and had to go down to town, and he took Howard with him to help out."

"So it was just Bernard, Quincy, Walter, and me at home."

"Yesterday morning, Quincy wanted to go out and paint-he found this spot when Bernard took him exploring as a kid, said it was magical."

"Walter was bored and curious, so he tagged along."

"With all four of the old guys gone, it was just me and Bernard holding down the fort."

"Wouldn't you know it, as soon as Quincy and Walter left, we spotted people hunting in the eastern woods."

"Bernard had found a bunch of young whooping cranes nesting over there, and we were worried those scoundrels would wipe them out!"

There are less than three thousand whooping cranes left worldwide-barely over a thousand in this country. They're rare!

"And

wolverines, martens, and all kinds of

rare wildlife out east. Lose

and it's a step closer to

one,

"And then there's Pippin, the fox Evan raised since he was a pup. He's got his own territory and a family out there now."

"If something happened to Pippin, Evan would be heartbroken."

"We couldn't just let those jerks have their way, so Bernard and I locked up and headed out to the eastern woods."

"Bernard went to teach them a lesson, and I went to help any animals that got hurt."

"We never expected anyone would find this place-especially not so many at once!"

"By the time we got your message, it was almost too late. We hurried home as fast as we could, only just got back."

Elysia was speechless.

No wonder the house was empty-what a coincidence.

When they'd arrived five years ago, Grandma and Grandpa had already become the guardians of the forest.

They always loved the animals. They

used to say that as outsiders, since they'd intruded on the animals' home, it was their duty to do right by them. .

swnov

Whenever they found hunters, they'd find a way to drive them off. If they found an

injured animal, they'd do everything they could to help.

Tracey glanced at the hunters still sprawled out on the ground, worry etched on her face.

"They're poisoned-won't be waking

up anytime soon. With Bernard around I'm not worried about the rest of those folks outside, but there are just so many of them. It's a real mess."

It wasn't that they couldn't handle them—it was about keeping their identities secret.

Before, if they found a couple of poachers, Gerald would knock them out and quietly hand them over to the rangers.

But now, with this many, sneaking them out wasn't exactly realistic.

And now these folks knew where they lived-who knew what trouble that could bring?

Tracey frowned, clearly troubled.

"Grandma, you and Elysia catch up. Let me handle these guys," Tarquin suddenly spoke up.

Tracey immediately turned to him. "You have a plan?"