Dagger of Death

By KD Rouse

The wait staff of Joseph's Fine Dining Restaurant find a strange knife when they are rolling silverware. With an inattentive owner and a shortage of knives, they decide to use the unusual knife. The servers entertain themselves by pretending whoever gets the "Dagger of Death" is going to die. Entertaining until the unlucky patrons unfurling the knife actually start to die! With a behind the scenes look into a restaurant of beautiful but dysfunctional servers and a game that gets out of hand.

• Language: English
• Publisher: KD Rouse
• Release date: Jan 21, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215366554

KD Rouse

I was born in Washington DC, and raised in Burke, Virginia, in a 200 year old house. It had a secret staircase, old gravestones leading to the front door, and 1000’s of books inside. There was always something wonderful to read.It was my love of reading that led me to attend St. John’s College, in Annapolis, MD where I studied the Great Books. I subsequently graduated from UNC-Greensboro with a B.S in Elementary Education, and later an M.S.in Library and Information Studies.I am a writer of songs and stories, and more recently plays, and musicals. I have over 200 songs copyrighted with the US Library of Congress so far.I have been taking a break as a performing singer/songwriter. I was lucky enough to have played in a band, The Sams, with the late Sam Moss, and the still living Doug Williams (Electromagnetic Radiation Recorders) and Dave Seward. We opened for Southern Culture on the Skids, G-Love, Eric Johnson, and Sister Hazel, to name a few. We still have an album that will be released eventually. To hear songs I wrote, played solo, with the Sams or with KD Rouse and the Dirty Boys, a trio with myself, Troy Pierce and Randall Johnson, go to Reverb Nation.I also love to paint.

Book preview

The Dagger of Death

By Katherine Dashiell Rouse

Copyright 2023 Katherine Dashiell Rouse

Smashwords Edition

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter One

I used to think Stories as made-up things. Now I see that stories swirl all around us and it's more a question of which parts to snatch. The choices are dizzying. Right now, I choose to clear the air right under my nose. I need some air! I can't think about who I might offend. It’s all just a story, anyway.

Joseph’s is my restaurant. I don't own it; I wait tables there. It is a comfortable home for me, the stories flying fast and furious. All I have to do is watch and listen. It isn't a job with glory, but there are perks. But there are drawbacks too. It's feast or famine in the restaurant biz. We love spring and fall all the way to Christmas, with its big Christmas parties. After that, it's only New Year's Eve, Valentine’s Day and an occasional pharmaceutical party to break up the dark days of winter.

We blame it on Christmas debt, ACC tournaments and Tax Day. The summer drought happens every year. Our clientele goes on vacation for long stretches and if they are home, they are dieting. Every fine dining restaurant dreads the dark days of winter and the summer drought. Restaurant people are different than other people. I think of us as sophisticated carnies. Like carnies, we' re a restless band of misfits. We're hustlers trained to up your check and keep you smiling even when you pay the bill. We' re irreverent and outspoken: No subject is taboo. And yet our palates are trained far beyond our class. We are food critics and wine snobs. I'l1 bet no ordinary carnie ever laughed at White Zinfandel drinkers. Well, at least not for their choice of wine.

Many of our ranks, especially in the kitchens, are drug addicts or alcoholics, active or recovering. We have our share of drunks and junkies passing through the front of the house too. The drinkers steady their hands drinking red wine from coffee cups hidden in the wait station. It looks just like coffee. They do