Read Watching Yute for Free Online Page A

Cipriana, Maxine, Wanda, oh, and what was cookie-man’s
name? Frig. Umm… Alan! Alan; master of the cookies, and herder of
the stupid greedy apes.
    Once the polite talk was done, Marcus
and Cassidy headed through the inner plateau. Cassidy looked up to
see that this large space was covered by a very high ceiling. With
the two large open doorways and the large opening behind them, it
was hard to decide if this space could be considered ‘inside’, or
just a big front porch.
    “ By the way, Cassidy. Before
I forget, it doesn’t happen often, but now and then we get a bit of
a sandstorm on duty. We used to have small tarps we got under, but
we got rid of those. It’s just as good to curl up against a wall
and ride it out. They don’t last too long, usually. Just long
enough to make you want a shower.”
    “ I ran into a little one
when I first got here.” Cassidy said.
    “ Yeah,” Marcus chuckled,
“That helipad’s notorious. We do get bigger ones now and then, but
like I said, not too often.”
    They headed up the steps to the inner
doorway. Marcus waved at the two men guarding the doorway, but was
too busy talking to Cassidy to start another conversation. It would
have been nearly identical to the one they had at the last door
anyway.
    “ So Cassidy, ever seen the
Yute demon?” Marcus asked.
    “ No. There aren’t pictures
to be seen, due to-“
    “ Right right, I forget that
sometimes.”
    They passed through the doorway into
the main hall, not much smaller than a football field.
    Cassidy gasped in surprise. “I didn’t
imagine…!”
    They walked slowly across the floor
towards the statue, as Marcus watched Cassidy take it in. “I’m
guessing you were expecting a devil with wings? Or something like
that?”
    Cassidy smirked, staring the 'demon' in
the eye, still many metres away.
    The demon was a dog-like thing, with
horns like a ram. It was lying down, with its head up, as if alert.
Its head was at least five metres across, it’s shoulders closer to
fifteen. It was carved of a much darker stone from the yellowish
rock of the temple; indeed, it was almost black. Whatever this
stone was, it was obviously much stronger stuff than any other
stone around. The robust shaggy fur was carved with excruciating
detail, which by all rights should have been worn off over the
ages. Sure, it had the occasional tiny sign of damage, but no more
than a statue in some modern city. Was it that well protected
inside here? The walls and floor were in decent shape for their
age, but not nearly as well preserved as the statue.
    Cassidy thought the eyes seemed to look
right at her. She smiled. “Nice puppy, Sir!” She
chuckled.
    Marcus chuckled back, and rocked back
on his heels, looking up at the demon. “He doesn’t look scary to
you?”
    She couldn’t believe that no one found
it necessary to share this with the world. “No Sir. I mean.. if it
were real, I’m sure he’d be able to eat or crush everyone on the
base, but he doesn’t look the type.”
    “ Heh. Well, if he fought the
sphinx…. My money’s on our boy here.. but since you don’t find him
scary… I’ll tell you a secret, if you stop calling me
‘Sir’.”
    “ Oops. Okay, Marcus, let's
hear it.”
    Marcus’ face grew a little more
serious. Not too serious, but a bit more. He looked at Cassidy for
a few moments. “His ghost is still here.” He nodded assuredly at
Cassidy’s doubting expression. “Yep. He’s a good boy. He likes the
company of having us around. There’s not a lot else around here
without us to talk to him now and then.”
    Cassidy chuckled, and walked up to the
statue. She patted the nearest curl of stone fur. “Well, I bet he’s
a good guard dog too. Must eat a ton.” She looked at her watch.
“Dang. Battery died. How long till we’re on?”
    “ Oh, we may as well take
post now. It’s not like a few minutes is a big impact on eight
hours.”
    They headed back to the door to relive
the two guards there. They handed