Sage stepped into the living room with a bowl of marshmallows and noticed a piece of paper on the floor near the front door.

She placed the bowl on the table and bent to retrieve the note. It was folded and had Arden scrawled on it.

“Arden,” she called.

Her friend came out of the kitchen at just that moment, carrying a plate of chocolate.

“What is it?” Arden asked.

Sage handed her the paper as Tansy came in with a box of graham crackers.

Arden unfolded it and began to read as Sage watched.

“Holy crap,” she murmured.

“What is it?” Sage asked.

Arden handed it to her instead of answering.

Dear Arden,

We are very sorry to miss evening s’mores with you and Tansy and Sage.

My brothers and I are going to the karate dojo to challenge the enemy who dishonored the farm. We know you don’t agree, but the films we studied explain that this is a “guy” thing that women must object to. And they showed us that standing up to bullies is the only way to gain their respect.

Do not fear, my beautiful mate. By the time you read this everything will be taken care of. We were created to be strong and fierce.

Love,

Drago

“A guy thing?” Sage huffed. “That women must object to?”

“Keep in mind that they learned everything they know from ‘80s movies,” Arden said carefully.

“I’ll give it to them - it is a classic plot,” Tansy said. “But they’re barking up the wrong tree if they’re going to Rick Johnson for answers. He’s literally the nicest man in this town.”

“At least he won’t hurt them,” Arden said. “And you have to admit, it’s pretty brave of them if they think they’re really going after ninjas or Cobra Kai or something.”

“How can you two react like this?” Sage demanded, throwing the note on the table. “What they’ve done is nothing more than stupid machismo.”

“Come on, Sage,” Tansy said. “You don’t really think that, do you? I’m not convinced they even know what machismo is.”

“I don’t care if they know what it is or not. This is too much,” Sage stormed. “Everything about them is just too much.”

“Not too much for us, Sage,” Tansy said quietly.

Sage looked up at her sister and Arden. They observed her solemnly, sadly.

“Well, it might be too much for me,” she told them gently.

“Just give him a chance,” Tansy pleaded.

“I got the school tax bill today,” Sage replied. “It’s higher than last year, way higher. I called to see if it was a mistake. They said they’re building a new middle school. It will have state-of-the-art computer and science labs.”

“That’s fantastic,” Arden said, then clapped her hand over her mouth as if remembering the first part of what Sage had said.

“It is fantastic,” Sage agreed. “But we were already scraping to figure out how to cover the taxes at the level they were last year. And how to pay the insurance, and all the supplies we’ll need for the fall season.”

Tansy lowered her face to her hands.

It hurt Sage’s heart every time her sister had to face reality about the farm finances. It didn’t seem to matter how many times they had the conversation, Tansy’s reaction was always as emotional as the first time.

“We have so many problems from every side,” Sage said gently. “And the vandalism was bad, but if we have fugitive aliens running off to beat someone up every time something goes wrong… Well, that makes our money situation seem easy to deal with.”

“Should we go after them?” Arden asked.

“In what?” Sage asked. “The tractor with the slashed tires?”

“They drove?” Arden asked, running to the window.

“Well, I hope they did,” Sage said. “The truck is gone.”

“I’m getting the sangria,” Tansy said through a clenched jaw.

“I’d rather have tea,” Sage said. “I want to have my wits about me when these bozos get back.”