Page 15 of Hallow Hill at Halloween: Part One

“Hiya. I need you to help me look at a, um, forum.”

He looked confused. “Forum?”

I told the entire story about the interview and Rita Rules. He chuckled at the name, but I think I would’ve been disappointed if he hadn’t.

He pulled over the side chair that we kept in his den for just such a purpose. “Come sit,” he said.

“Hold on.”

“What is it?”

“I’m not sure I want to look at it, um, together? I mean, I don’t know what’s there to be seen.”

“So you want me to set up a viewing and leave the room?”

“Would you mind?”

He laughed. “No. I wouldn’t mind. I’ll take the pups for a run up the hill and back.”

“Oh. They’d love that.” Because fraighounds can never have enough outings.

He pointed to the giant monitor on the wall. “You can use your finger to point.” I raised my finger and, sure enough, it was as if a laser was attached. “You can also use voice commands and it will respond to you.”

“It will?!?”

With a breathy chuckle, he said, “Give it a try.”

A super colorful 3D display took over the wall he’d dedicated. Rita Rules was in big, red Batman-style text overlaying a collage of candids of me sitting at the bench or on the grounds of Tregeagle. I was glad the photos were confined to Tregeagle.

The menu items, designed as opaque bubbles, lifted away from the wall and floated around the room, contained such topics as Rulings, Family, and Jewelry.

Jewelry?

My curiosity was piqued. I poked at the bubble with my laser-light finger.

What appeared were pictorials of every pair of earrings I’d ever worn to court, along with a full-screen view of my wolf medallion.

When I focused on it, a myriad of faces in smaller floating bubbles appeared and began talking.

“It’s not especially pretty, but must be powerful.”

“She always wears it.”

“I think it looks good with the robe.”

“She looks better in that thing than I would.”

“I know. Who wears shapeless red well?”

“Has to be a protection talisman.”

“Could be a power booster.”

“I think her robe should be that same blue like her eyes.”

I admit to watching this with my mouth open. I don’t know for how long. My takeaway was that there were actually people out there who spent their time, at least some of it, talking about me. Granted, many of them had time to spare, but still… Wow.

I’d browsed through the menu, heard hundreds of opinions on my rulings, most positive, and was moving to another topic when I heard Keir clear his throat.