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Message-ID: <56281asstr$1184717403@assm.asstr-mirror.org>
From: "Russell Hoisington" <hoisingr@hushmail.com>
Subject: {ASSM} Wynter and Hailey 03C {Hoisington} (MF Mf mf bf Mg mg bg oral ped cons rom)
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Date: Tue, 17 Jul 2007 20:10:03 -0400
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                      WYNTER & HAILEY

This is an erotic fantasy.  It is the third sequel to
"Wynter" and follows "Wynter & Cinnamon."  It is not
necessary to read the previous three stories to understand
this one, as events are recapped within this story, but it
would help in order to better understand the background and
to see the growth in the characters.

The characters and the situation are purely imaginary, and
this story is NOT intended to be a guide for actual
behavior.  Any similarities between this story and actual
people or actual events you should be ashamed of are purely
coincidental.  If it is illegal in your part of the world
to access and read erotic fiction, or if you are underage,
or if you don't like underage sex stories, then you should
stop now.

This story is copyright 2007 by Russell Hoisington. 
Please do not remove the author information or make any
changes to this story.  You may post freely to non-
commercial (free) sites, or in the "free" area of
commercial sites.  That does NOT mean that these stories
are in the public domain, nor does it mean that I give
permission for you to use them in spam advertising.  I
reserve the right to determine what is "spam advertising"
by MY definition, not yours or anyone else's.

Thank you for your consideration.

My sincerest thanks to Denny Wheeler for editing this
story and, along with Uncle Sky, the Night Hawk, Wizard,
Rod O'Steele, and, Old Man Ted, for their input and for
keeping the characters in character.  Special thanks to the
Night Hawk for being my musical advisor.

This story is dedicated to Uncle Sky, without whose
encouragement Wynter would have remained a short story.

NOTE:  Because of the limitations of ASSM's moderation
software I have split Part Three into thirds.
     Part 3A is Chapters 23-26
     Part 3B is Chapters 27-30
     Part 3C is Chapters 31-33

************************************************************

                      WYNTER & HAILEY
                       Part Three (C)

                     Russell Hoisington


                         Thirty One

    Richard worried when Dragon rose from his guard post
to greet him but Wynter didn't move.  He knew she was
awake, but she didn't notice him standing in her doorway. 
He gently knocked.

    She remained on her side, facing the window, but her
head rolled on the pillow.  "Hi, Daddy."

    Her face, as blank as her voice, made him hesitate. 
"Can I come in?"

    "Of course."  Her smile was weak when she said, "And
you may, too."

    He'd have laughed as usual at her correction, but
something obviously troubled her, and his fatherly
instincts took over.  He patted Dragon's head in passing
and eased around to the left.  "Would you like me to open
your curtains?"

    If she had to think several seconds before answering,
then she was inordinately troubled.  His worry factor
jumped several notches.  "Please," she finally said in a
detached voice.

    "You might not like it, though," he said as he drew
the curtains open.  "This evening's rain arrived early."

    She thought about that.  "Maybe it will be over by
Josh's birthday party tomorrow so people won't get wet
going to it."  She scooted toward the middle of the bed
without another word, giving him enough room to sit.

    He sat and used one finger to push the long blonde
hair back from her face, then bent to kiss her cheek.  She
rolled her head enough for a father/daughter kiss, then
relaxed and resumed staring at the window.

    He gently stroked her arm.  "Do you want to talk, just
have me hold you, or have me leave until you're ready?"

    "Don't go."  Her voice had a subtle urgency to it.

    He adjusted his position so that he could sit with his
arm along her back and gently press her to his body.  She'd
often gone to sleep that way when she was five.  That was
seven years ago.  Where had the time gone?

    "Daddy, I was scared."

    He wasn't sure how to interpret that.  "Just now?"

    "On the boat."

    "Honey, that sounds reasonable to me."

    "How can I be a good doctor if I get scared in an
emergency?"

    He considered options for his answer.  One would be
right, the rest would make things worse.  He sighed and
weighed them again.  Finally he said, "If you were scared,
then you thought before you acted and thus did the right
thing.  If you hadn't been scared, you might have done
something foolish that would have made you a casualty, too.
How could you be a good doctor to your patients if you
suddenly became one of them?"

    "Suzie wasn't scared."

    _So that was it_.  "Weren't you listening to what she
said yesterday?  She said the reason she wasn't scared was
because she knew she could count on you and Ron and
Cinnamon and Kenny.  She knew that you'd do the right
thing, whether you were scared or not.  And you did, honey.
You saved both of them.  Who knows what might have happened
to Ron if the boat had gone down without you there to care
for him first?  And Kevin says you're the reason Suzie
didn't lose her leg, just as you were the reason that boy
didn't lose his earlier."

    "Kenny was there, too."

    His hand made warm circles between her shoulders. 
"Yes, and he helped.  But he told me he took instructions
from you because that was your sole job.  He also had to be
a protector.  The way he described it, you were the trauma
surgeon and he was the... the... the OR nurse or... or the
resident, maybe.  Honey, Kenny told me that whatever his
specialty was, he just hoped he could be half as good at it
under pressure as you were Saturday."

    Her eyes rolled from the window to his, and she
frowned.  "Kenny didn't say that."

    "Want me to hand you the phone?"

    Her mouth fell open.  "He really and truly said that? 
Kenny?"

    Richard crossed his heart with an index finger. 
"Honey, people who never get scared rarely become heroes. 
They die too easily.  Real heroes are people who are scared
to death but go ahead with the job because they know it's
the right thing to do.  Cinnamon did that.  Ron did that. 
Kenny did that.  You did that.  Jimmy and Josh did that. 
And Suzie probably saved Kenny's life because the four of
you inspired her to do the right thing, too."

    Her eyes drifted back to the window.  She inhaled
deeply, exhaled slowly.  "Remember when Megan fainted after
everything settled down the day of that wreck?  I did that,
too."

    Richard hummed in thought.  "No," he said after a few
seconds.  "Not according to Huntly, Jimmy, and Kenny.  Not
according to me, either.  Now, I may not be formally
trained in the textbook areas of stress and its
relationship to fatigue, but I've had graduate-level work
experience several times.  Just ask Joe.  He was there for
a few of them."

    He supposed her weak smile was better than nothing.

    "Fatigue accumulates faster under stress.  Remember? 
Well, when you were finished, and not before, you lay down
beside Suzie to help keep her warm, and you fell asleep."

    "I fainted."

    He shrugged.  "Perhaps under the circumstances they're
the same thing.  Either way, when you were finished with
your immediate duties, you rebuilt your reserve of strength."

    "The others didn't."  Her voice broke slightly.

    "How do you know?  You were asleep.  Anyway, they let
you sleep so that you'd be able to do your job properly if
you were needed again.  Anyone else could gather wood at
any time.  Anyone else could return to the boat for salvage
at any time.  But only Wynter King, Future MD, could
provide the needed medical care if and when it was needed
because Kenny wasn't about to leave Suzie unattended.  And
that need could come in minutes or hours.  Nobody had any
way of knowing when you'd be needed again.  It wasn't
weakness to go to sleep and rebuild your strength when you
had the opportunity.  It was good sense.  Any soldier will
tell you that you did exactly the right thing."

    After blinking at the window for several seconds her
eyes rolled back to his again.  "Are you sure?"

    He held up his left hand because his right was still
rubbing her back.  "Trust me!  I've seen every picture John
Wayne ever made."

                           ~ ~ ~

    Joe Lopez's left index finger scratched at an itch
above his temple, right at the hairline.  A hairline which,
he hated to admit, was moving back a little more every
year.  "Don't you have anything better to do?" he asked. 
Both Marsh and Stiles opened their mouths, but he was
fastest.

    "You spent all day yesterday harassing Kenny and then
the rest of the people on the boat.  They told you they saw
nothing.  You even went to the hospital and questioned
Suzie, who wasn't capable of seeing anything from the
beach, and my son, who was unconscious from the time he was
shot until after he was in his hospital room.  Nobody was
up there except Kenny and De Ramirez.  Nobody could see
anything because of the scrub trees around the base of the
cliff and the trees growing in places up the side of the
cliff."  He pointed to the investigation report on his
clipboard.  "This is our jurisdiction.  We're satisfied. 
Give it a rest."

    "Chief!" Marsh pleaded.

    John Kramer lowered his coffee mug and shook his gray-
fringed head while he swallowed.  He returned the cup to
his desk, sat upright in his chair, and said, "Joe speaks
for me on this.  My people investigated.  We concluded that
the only person at fault here is De Ramirez, who apparently
fell while trying to flee up a steep hillside, one that was
nearly a cliff, with one broken arm.  After, by the way, he
fired six bullets and a spear gun and then rolled a boulder
down the hillside in multiple attempts to commit first
degree murder.  There's no evidence that points to any
wrongdoing by Kenny Taylor or any of the other kids."  He
leaned back in his chair, which meant he was through talking.

    "I've seen this stunt before," Joe said the moment he
saw the Chief's chair tilt back.  "You screwed up, so
you're trying to divert attention from yourselves by
finding someone else to blame for anything else you can
dream up."

    Marsh pointed at a closed portfolio in his other hand
as if Joe and the Chief knew what was inside.  "The boy
won't say anything more than, 'He fell.'  He won't give us
any details.  Isn't that suspicious to you, too?"

    "The way you two are acting?  It's not suspicious,
it's smart.  He knows you're looking for a scapegoat.  It
couldn't be plainer if you wrote it on your foreheads in
neon paint before you approached people with your questions."

    "Why would a kid who claims he wants to be a doctor
learn martial arts?"

    The Chief's chair tilted forward.  "To protect himself
and his friends from someone like De Ramirez who wants to
kill them, perhaps?  Especially after he and they had been
preyed on by bullies before?"  Kramer picked up his coffee
cup and leaned back.

    Joe seized the opening.  "And that doesn't prove that
Kenny did anything wrong."

    Marsh gave him a 'You idiot' look.  "But nobody saw..."

    Joe slammed his clipboard down on his padded chair
arm.  "Exactly!  Nobody else saw anything.  You have no
witnesses and no physical evidence that Kenny is to blame
for anything!"

    "Well," Stiles said, "he did kill those two boys in
revenge last year."

    Of the two, Joe liked Stiles better than he did Marsh.
He was more level-headed than Marsh, who, while a visitor
in Stiles' territory, had seized control from Stiles like
he had the divine right to do so.  But "better" was a
relative term, as Stiles had just reminded him.

    "No," said the Chief, leaning forward in his chair and
returning the cup to his desk.  He frowned and shook his
head.  "Don't you bother reading incident reports so that
you know what's going on before you charge off into action?
Do you forget that tactic at the federal level, or do you
get picked for federal jobs because you never learn it in
the first place?  Kenny used his shovel to knock out
Sarrell.  He saw Wilson was armed and used it to try
knocking the pistol out of Wilson's hand.  He was almost
shot for his trouble, but fortunately the bullet lodged in
his backpack.  Wilson staggered back into a rotten support
and collapsed the mine ceiling.  THAT is what killed them. 
For Christ's sake, Kenny's best friends were there!  He
wasn't about to collapse the ceiling on them!"

    "He should have gone for help, not tried to rescue
them himself."

    "And the time it would take to get to where he could
call for help and then for us to arrive was far more than
those two hooligans needed to rape the two girls and carry
through their stated intent to murder them."

    Marsh exploded.  "Well, he shouldn't have gone after
De Ramirez!  Your son should have notified us as soon as he
saw the bastard and let the professionals handle it!"

    Joe started to speak, but Kramer was still leaning
forward in his chair.  The Chief's voice was calmer than
Joe's would have been.  In fact, the Chief sounded like he
was asking for more cream for his coffee.  "Ron and Kenny
captured De Ramirez when you two and the rest of the
professionals kept letting him slip through your fingers. 
They turned him over to us and we turned them over to the
professionals, since you obviously don't consider US to be
among that elite assemblage.  You PROFESSIONALS lost him. 
He returned here, so Ron decided to capture him again for
you PROFESSIONALS.  Clearly he didn't trust your
PROFESSIONAL abilities."

    "We didn't lose him," Marsh snapped.  "Amarillo's
police did."

    Somebody rapped on the Chief's door.  He ignored it. 
"I see.  You think Amarillo's police aren't PROFESSIONALS
either.  But, because you think that you'll be blamed
anyway, you decided to deflect attention away from
yourselves by charging a boy, a hero several times over, in
fact, with murder, a charge you have no evidence to
support.  But that would shift media attention from you. 
Never happen.  Not if I have anything to say about it."

    The knock repeated, erasing whatever the Chief was
about to say next.  "COME IN!"

    Kramer's secretary stuck her head through the door. 
"Chief, they're here."

    "Who are here?"

    "Oh.  I forgot to tell you.  I invited some guests,"
Joe explained.  "They're right on time."

    Marsh held up a preemptory hand to silence Stiles. 
"This is supposed to be a private meeting."

    Joe grinned.  "Trust me."  He removed two sealed
envelopes and two printed pages from the bottom of the
stack on his clipboard, then introduced everyone as the men
entered.  "DEA Special Agents Hal Marsh of Dallas and David
Stiles of Denver, this is Maynard Sillerman, distinguished
reporter for the local newspaper, and Junior Arnold, up-and-
coming reporter for the local radio station."

    Joe handed an envelope to each of the newcomers but
asked that they not open them yet, then handed a printed
document to each of the agents.  "You gentlemen may want to
read what's on the pages in those envelopes," he said to
Marsh and Stiles.

    Stiles turned white.  Marsh turned red and glared at
the Chief.  "You can't give them a press release like this!"

    While Kramer didn't know what Joe had written, he did
know to trust his man.  "It's my department.  I can do
whatever I want with it as long as I don't piss off the
mayor."

    Marsh shook the papers in Joe's face.  "This isn't
true!"

    Joe smiled what he called his 'gotcha smile.'  "It's
the truth as I see it, and as I know these men will see it.
As will the whole town after they report it.  And I'm sure
each will use his connections with the press to see to it
that the rest of the state, and probably the rest of the
country, will see it the same way.  If you think there's
one word of slander or libel in there, then you're most
welcome to try to sue them."

    "Bring it on!" said a smiling Junior in a cheerful
voice.  "Right, Maynard?"

    Maynard Sillerman shrugged.  "I haven't seen sued in,
oh, fifteen years or so.  I won that one, too."

    "Yep," the Chief said, sounding as if he knew what was
going on.  "We have one crackerjack lawyer who'd defend
them for free just for the national publicity.  And don't
try confiscating those envelopes without a warrant, which
you won't get from William Green after he reads what's in
them."

    Joe's smile hadn't faded.  "If you think you have a
blame-by-association problem from what Amarillo did, just
wait until the people and the press see that.  Chief, I
have important things to do.  Is this meeting over?"

    "Is it?" he asked Marsh and Stiles.

    Marsh flashed Joe a look of pure hatred and stomped
out without a word.  Stiles thanked the Chief for his time,
then said, "John, you know me.  This wasn't my idea."

    Kramer nodded.  "But this is YOUR territory, Dave. 
Marsh is your guest.  Next time grow some balls."

    Stiles nodded, shook hands with everyone, and left,
closing the door on his way out.

    "Do we get to open our presents now?" Junior asked
Kramer.

    The Chief waved a finger at Joe.  "I don't know.  Ask
him."

    "Don't bother," Joe said with a laugh of relieved
tension.  "The pages are blank.  Just in case they were
successful in getting those away from you, I put your
copies in my desk, plus Sam was going to e-mail copies to
you if I gave him the signal."

    Maynard's large head bobbed.  "Planning ahead, Joe? 
Your son gets his scheming from you, eh?"

    Joe grinned and clapped Maynard on the shoulder.  "No,
I think I inherited it from Ron."

                           ~ ~ ~

    Suzie held a hand out over the bed rail.  "I'm ever so
glad you understand," she said in a quiet voice that
wouldn't awaken Ron.  She didn't want to hurt Josh's
feelings, but she knew she had.  She was also sorry that
he'd ridden his bike to the hospital in the rain just to be
told that she was going back to Kenny.

    Josh took her hand in both of his.  "That's okay.  I
knew I didn't deserve someone as nice as you..."

    "Josh, that's not true!  Well, maybe you deserve
someone better than me or something."

    Josh shook his head and looked across the bed.  "I
don't think there is anyone better.  Do you?"

    Kenny shook his head, too.  "No.  There's not.  And I
appreciate your watching out for her for me during the... 
While we...  Well, thanks."

    Josh released his right hand from hers so he could
shake hands with Kenny.  "That's okay.  It was... well, a
privilege.  An honor.  I'm just glad the three of us can
still be friends.  I've seen people before stop talking to
each other over something like this."

    Before she could speak, Kenny said, "She's a better
person than that."

    Josh nodded, then moved his right hand back to hers. 
"You're still my best friend on the girls' swim team.  I
wish you could come to the party tomorrow.  I'd rather have
you there than anyone else."  He suddenly looked up at
Kenny.  His face said he was worried that he'd said the
wrong thing to her dolt or something.

    "We know what you mean," she said.  "Don't we, Kenny?"

    Apparently her dolt did because he sounded ever so
sincere when he said, "Josh has excellent taste in girls." 
She thought he also sounded a little like Huntly.

    "Josh," she said, "I never thanked you for going for
help."

    He shrugged.  "Somebody had to, and Kenny and Wynter
and the rest had their hands full.  I think it was a choice
of Hailey or me, and, well..."  He looked flosstered or
something.  "I mean, Hailey's a nice person..."

    Suzie laughed, thankful that she could do so without
disturbing her leg.  "We know what you mean," she said again.

    "Besides," Kenny said, his patented shit-eating grin
sliding into place, "I don't think you'd have gotten her
away from Ron."

    "Did I hear my name?" asked a sleepy voice from the
other bed.

    "I'm sorry," Josh said, turning to look at Ron.  "We
didn't mean to wake you."

    "Unh uh.  Nightmare.  I was dreaming that I had pine
beetles in my shoulder and they were eating me.  That woke
me up."

    "They probably crawled out of all the flowers," Josh
said, waving one hand around.

    Suzie agreed.  The room looked like the lobby of
Floral City or something.  She had cards and flowers from
people she'd never heard of.  She guessed some of them were
from Ron's friends, but Officer Lopez had said he didn't
know some of the names, either.  She was going home later
that afternoon, and Ron probably was, too.  She was going
to keep a few of the special flowers and have the rest
given to other people in the hospital, especially the sick
kids in the pediatric ward and the elderly people who
didn't have many friends and family left.

    They talked for a few more minutes.  She promised
she'd still coach him to swim better, and then Josh kissed
her and left.

    "The newspaper article didn't give Josh enough credit
for what he did," Ron said with a yawn.

    Kenny moved around Suzie's bed so that he was between
the two patients.  "Mister Arnold made up for it on the
radio," he said.  "I taped his news report and his
interview with Josh and the others so you two could hear
them.  He said that Josh is as big a hero this year as
Suzie was last."

    "Thanks."  He yawned again.  "I can't wait to hear it.
But I think I'm going back to sleep now."  His breathing
got real steady.

    Kenny gave her a kiss that was ever so nice.  She
opened her eyes afterward and said softly, "How long do you
think it will be before we can do each other like we used
to?"

    Kenny frowned with thought.  "Couple of months, I
guess," he whispered.

    "That long?"

    "Yeah," he whispered.  "So we'll have to find some new
ways that won't hurt your leg."

    She felt her worried look dissolve into a smile.  She
was already kinda horny.  "Do you think you could use your
fingers or something right now?"

    He shook his head.  "Can't," he whispered.  "Ron's not
really asleep."

                           ~ ~ ~

    "Excellent!"  Cinnamon beamed as she dropped the
sticks in their holder and reached down for her clipboard. 
"I think we should add that to the playlist for the concert."

    "Excuse me.  I don't mean to question the wisdom of
the head bitch..."

    "It'd be the first time, shithead."

    Huntly ignored that.  "Doesn't that make the sixth
song on our list of three?"

    She gave him a long, steady stare until he flinched.

    "Okay, how did I say a stoopid this time?"

    Her eyes shifted to Jimmy's dad.  "You want to explain
it in simple terms?"

    He shrugged and gave her the clone of Jimmy' mischief
grin.  "I don't know if I can get that simple, but I'll try."

    Everybody else in the practice room cheered and
applauded--to include, Cinnamon noted with satisfaction,
Snoopy Watkins.  Brinkly's incident with Possum fortunately
hadn't been much of a setback at all for Snoopy.

    "Rodney Dangerfield gets more respect that me," Huntly
grumbled.

    Mister McCauley's demeanor shifted slightly, and he
suddenly reminded Cinnamon of Wynter giving one of her
lectures.  "The reason you have extra songs in your
playlist is to cover your butt in case of a cold audience. 
If you see that style A leaves then unconscious, then you
don't play another A, you play a style B."

    "That's simple enough," Cinnamon said, nodding her
agreement.

    "Hey, if you want, like, simple, then guys are SO the
over-qualed to cover it because they're, like, simple
minded to begin with!"

    "Thanks, Cuz.  I'm sure they need you to remind them
that they are the inferior sex."

    "Hey, I KNOW they do.  They are SO the simple!  They
almost need reminders to breathe."

    Cinnamon felt a thrill run through her when Snoopy
laughed at that, too.  One cousin almost salvaged, one to go.

    Duck Watkins bristled.  "Hey!  That is NOT funny!"

    Snoopy gently poked his arm.  Okay, she would have to
teach Snoopy how to backhand her brother at some later
date.  "Sometimes the truth isn't funny, Duck."

    "I really don't want to get involved here," LaMarcus
said, crossing his arms atop his bass, "but I think I
should point out that if all the guys walk out, you're left
with a drummer, a synth player, and a piano player."

    "Hey!" laughed Hailey while flipping her hand. 
"That's all she needs.  The rest of you are, like, SO the
filler!"

    Jimmy frowned at LaMarcus.  "Haven't you learned yet
not to encourage her?"

    LaMarcus shrugged.  "I've been out of town.  I forgot."

    Cinnamon had been watching Snoopy with her analytical
gaze.  She decided it was okay to mention it and said, "By
the way, I ran into Brinkly this afternoon."

    She should have expected the inevitable, "I hope you
didn't hurt the wheelchair.  The repair bills can be
outrageous if they have to special order parts."

    "You would know, shithead."

    "I certainly do, bitch.  From experience."

    "Anyway, she was just beside herself with glee."

    "And?" Jimmy's dad finally asked while the rest waited
in the silence.

    "She was gloating about her good luck and our
misfortune.  Yeah.  Lucky her, she's going to be the
opening act, while us poor clowns will be stuck in last
place, playing in the dark as the closing act."

    "NO!"  Mister McCauley couldn't hold back his
laughter.  The rest of the band joined in, as did Derek
Clark and Alyssa and the just-arrived Tyrone.  The rest
stared in confusion.

    "What?" asked Snoopy in her soft voice as her large
blue eyes darted around.  "I don't understand what's so
funny."

    "Because," said Alyssa, who regained control of
herself first, "by the end of the concert, everybody's
forgotten about the first act.  That's good if you were
bad, but bad if you were good.  The act they remember best
is usually the last one, which is bad if you were bad, but
good if you were good."

    "NOW I understand!" crowed Huntly.  "If the audience
wants encores, we're the ones who'll do them!  That's why
we have the extended playlist!"

    Cinnamon nodded, then shifted her attention.  "Mister
Hayes, nice of you to join us."

    "Sorry," he said.  "One of the girls isn't feeling
well.  Momma was slow getting back from the clinic with her."

    She nodded again but lost her sarcastic look.  "Okay,
that's a good excuse."  She had started to make a comment
about his not calling, then realized that she'd be open to
honest criticism from Sis about being a hypocrite.

    "Latest news, people," she said.  "Doctor Taylor and
some of his friends convinced the good people at IST to let
Finnegan handle the sound for us.  They were told they
could let him do it or we'd provide our own sound equipment
as usual and let the crowd wonder why theirs wasn't good
enough for us.  I think when they see how well he handles
that aspect, they'll let him handle the lighting for us
next time as well."

    "Not if Brinkly has her way," Huntly snorted.

    "It's a long time until next year."  Everyone seemed
to understand the threat in those words.  Huntly definitely
did because he made faint horse whinny sound that half the
room missed.

    She drew sticks.  "Okay, let's rehearse 'Ceiling' now.
Since Suzie is unable to perform, I'll ask Megan to fill in
for her again, since she knows what to do."

    "Sis?" Wynter asked.  "I know it's only five days
away, but Suzie may be able to get out in a wheelchair
then.  If she's able to without much discomfort, and she
wants to, I think we should let her do the intro."

    Everyone else chimed in agreement.  Snoopy quietly
added, "I don't think Megan would mind.  Suzie's her best
friend on the swim team."

    "Not that I object," Huntly said, "but what if we need
somebody to scream at the crowd?  Does that duty fall to
the pianist or the drummer?"

    "To Suzie," Wynter said, looking at Huntly like he was
daft.  "If you think she would be held back by that wound,
then you don't know her one tenth as well as you pretend."

    Everyone else agreed.

    Cinnamon nodded.  "Okay.  Sis, do you want to ask her?"

    Her ponytail lashed as she shook her head.  "Not my
band.  I'm just a guest performer."

    "You're right, Your Doctorness," Huntly said.  "It's
up to me."

    "In a pig's ear!"  She pointed at Jimmy.  "Junior will
ask her."  She knew that Suzie would give Jimmy an honest
answer.  If she were to ask Suzie herself or if Huntly were
to ask for her, Suzie would agree out of a sense of
obligation to a friend.  You could never have too many
friends, but you could inadvertently take advantage of them
if you weren't careful.

                           ~ ~ ~

    The note waiting for the cousins when they entered the
house said, "hot tub," so they greeted Ghost, removed their
rain gear, and took the down staircase.  Cinnamon was
surprised to find both her father and Rosita up this late. 
She was sure that it wasn't to celebrate the dropping of
the lawsuit in Boston earlier that day.  She and Cuz kissed
both of them, showered quickly, and joined them in the tub.

    Her father clearly had something in mind, but she
didn't press him.  He'd let them know soon enough.  When
'Cinnamon Sticks' came through the speakers he smiled and
squeezed her to his side in silence.  At the end he gave
her a fatherly kiss.  "That song is one of the few things I
know that's as pretty as you," he said, then kissed her
again.  "No offense," he added to Rosita.

    "I can't be offended by the truth," she said.  "I
think it was your daughter who taught me that."

    His reply was cut off by the phone.  Rosita's smile
was simultaneously conspiratorial and joyful.  "It's for
you, Hailey.  Why don't you take it in the card room?"

    After a puzzled Hailey left the room Cinnamon turned
to her father in excitement.  "Do I get to talk to them,
too?"

    Her father flashed his devilish grin as Hailey
squealed, "MOTHER!"

    "On the phone or in person?"

    Her smile exploded so quickly that her cheeks almost
flew up and bruised her eyebrows.  She thought she would
pee in the hot tub in her excitement.  She kissed him in
congratulations and climbed over him to deliver a
congratulatory kiss to Rosita.  Then, in breathless
excitement, she asked in a rush of words, "So when are you
two finally tying the knot?  I have to start planning!"

                           ~ ~ ~

    Snoopy and Duck thanked Mrs. Erland for giving them a
ride home and said good night to her and to Alyssa. 
LaMarcus had said he and his brother Reggie would give them
a ride, but she was afraid to be in the car with Reggie and
LaMarcus and Tyrone, even if Duck was there, too.  She knew
she shouldn't be.  They were her friends.

    It was different back then, with Matthew.  Matthew
wasn't one of her friends.  But, she'd trusted him.  Sort
of.  She trusted him the way she'd trusted any of the boys
at school.  But LaMarcus and Tyrone were sort of her
friends, even though LaMarcus was one grade ahead of her. 
Maybe not close friends, but classmate friends.  She
trusted them.  Sort of.

    She and Duck splashed through puddles left in the
gravel driveway by the light rain.  Her mind whirled as she
climbed the steps onto the wide wooden front porch.  She
trusted Cinnamon, too.  And she believed Cinnamon.  But she
couldn't stop Matthew's voice inside her head telling her
that she'd been asking for it all along.

    Duck held the door open for her.  When she didn't
move, he shrugged, then rolled his eyes and went inside,
closing the screen door but leaving the wooden door open. 
She didn't blame Duck for not understanding.  He didn't
know her shame.

    Warm tears tickled her rain-cooled cheeks as they
rolled down them.  She couldn't go in like this.  Someone
might ask about her crying.  She was lucky that it didn't
start until she got to the house and that Duck didn't see
it.  She went to the swing and sat down.

    She wished she had her cousin to talk to right now,
but Possum was probably asleep.  She wished Possum had gone
with her tonight, but, just like the boat trip last
Thursday, Possum had backed out at the last second.  She
was almost angry with that new girl who had said such
horrible things to Possum and caused her relapse.  The new
girl just didn't understand.  That was all.  Possum should
have understood that, too, but she was still too shaken up
inside.

    She wondered what she'd have done in Possum's place. 
She hated to admit it to herself, but she'd probably have
done the same thing.  That doggone Matthew was the cause of
it all.  If she and Possum hadn't trusted him...

    But she couldn't go through life not trusting all the
men and boys.  Cinnamon was right about that.

    But was Cinnamon also right that it wasn't her fault,
that it wasn't what Matthew had told her?

    Cinnamon had also trusted him.  But when he attacked
Cinnamon, the little redhead had fought back.  She wished
she'd fought back, but she'd been so scared, just like
Possum had also been, when Matthew attacked her.  Forced her.

    The screen door squeaked open.  Startled, she jumped.

    Mama looked around and saw her in the swing.  Mama
slipped out of the house, softly closed the screen door,
and walked barefoot across the porch to the swing.  She
said nothing, just sat beside Snoopy and held her in one
arm as the gentle rain pattered on the porch roof.

    Snoopy wrapped her arms around Mama and buried her
face in Mama's neck.

    Their tears mixed and cooled on Mama's neck.



                         Thirty Two

    _FUCK!_

    Suzie had been having an ever so nice dream about
Kenny before her stupid mother woke her up.  She opened one
eye and stared up from where she'd fallen asleep on the
couch.

    Her stupid mother gave her a stupid smile.  "Looks
like you're about to have visitors," she said and indicated
the stupid living room window with her stupid head.

    Suzie frowned, then sat up, being ever so careful not
to move her right leg more than was necessary.

    Her mouth dropped open.  Josh and everyone from his
birthday party were coming up the driveway.  Okay, it
wasn't all that many people.  Josh's parents didn't even
have as much money as her own.  But Josh and Kenny and
Megan McNeal were in the front and they were bringing a box
that probably had birthday cake and party food or something.

    She hadn't been this surprised since Jimmy called and
said that they wanted her to do the introduction to
Tyrone's song again.  _I'm in a nightie!_  She had Mom help
her get up and slip on her robe.

    The gang had brought the whole cake, along with paper
plates, plastic forks, and a container of punch with paper
cups.  Her eyes got real teary or something while everyone
told her it wouldn't be a fun party unless she could share.
Mom helped serve everyone and then went into the kitchen
while her friends gathered around her in the living room. 
She couldn't speak after Kenny proposed a toast to Josh for
saving everyone and another to Suzie for saving him. 
Fortunately, everybody else was speaking and cheering and
she couldn't have been heard or something anyway.

    She found a moment to apologize to Josh for not having
a present for him.  He stopped her real fast as soon as he
realized what she was saying.

    "You know what Cinnamon said about not caring about
the presents as much as she cared about the people?  Well,
she's right.  The best present I can possibly have is you
having some fun with us.  That's why we're here, and not to
get a packaged something from you.  It would be a better
present if you weren't hurt, but that's HIS fault, not
yours."

    She nodded.  She knew who Josh meant.  Josh wasn't
about to dignitize the stupid drug dealer by using his
name, and she thought that was an excellent idea.

    Josh looked to see where her mother was and then said
real quietly, "We have a second reason for being here.  The
girls want to know the result of the kissing contest, but
the last contestant still hasn't competed."

    She looked at Kenny, who grinned and nodded both
understanding and permission, then went into the kitchen to
make sure her stupid mother didn't interrupt.

    Josh was breathless or something when she finally
released him.  "If I'd known you'd kiss me like that
afterward, I'd have broken up with you ages ago," he said
with the sweetest smile he'd ever given her.  And that told
her he really was okay with her going back to Kenny.

    "Well?" she asked.

    He grinned.  "I don't think your mom wants to hear the
announcement, so I'll make it back at our place.  I'll just
tell you that you took the silver medal and Megan took the
gold and the rest will have to wait."

    One corner of her mouth twisted in a knowing grin. 
"Uh huh.  Any truth to the rumor that you are going out
with her now?"

    He looked startled.  "We're planning on going to that
new movie tomorrow.  Where did you hear that rumor?"

    She grinned.  "I just now started it."

    "I see.  Well, we've been here long enough.  We'll get
out of here now and let you rest.  Kenny said you might be
performing instead of Megan Saturday."

    "I hope she doesn't mind."

    Josh grinned. "I think I can find some way to console
her grief."

    She hugged him ever so much, ignoring the way it make
her leg hurt, and gave him a kiss.

    "SUZANNE!"

    _FUCK!_

    "MOOOOM!  I was just thanking him for being ever so
nice and including me!  I was being polite.  WYNTER taught
me to be polite."

    Her mother seemed more shocked by the re-butte--or
whatever that stupid word was--and apologized before going
back to the kitchen, where she should have stayed in the
first place.

    Everyone packed the trash back into the box, wished
Suzie well, and then left, with Kenny last, just after Josh.

    Her stupid mother came into the living room as she
stretched out on the couch  "Do you need any help?"

    "NO!"

    Mom gave her an embarrassed smile or something and
said, "That was nice of everyone to think of you."  She put
her head down and crossed the living room to the back hall.
Suzie didn't know if she was going to one of the bedrooms
or the bathroom and, honestly, she didn't care.

    Just as Mom walked through the arch, Suzie said
quietly, "When are you going to stop treating me like I'm
Caroline?  It was just a kiss for a friend.  I never did
fuck him."

    She wasn't surprised that she got no answer.  She
hadn't expected one.

                           ~ ~ ~

    Wynter peered over the edge of the big flat rock and
into the depths of the Porcupine Creek pool.  "Brownie,"
she whispered as the trout slowly swam upstream into the
pool.

    "Brownie," Jimmy repeated.

    She felt pretty darned good lying here in the dappled
sunlight with Dragon pressed up against her left side and
Jimmy against her right.

    "Where?" Hailey whispered from Jimmy's other side. 
Huntly, on Hailey's right side, showed her.  "Never mind."

    Sis Two sure had been subdued since "the boat
incident," as Jimmy called it.  She wasn't as quick to
flirt with guys now.  Well, except for Jimmy and Huntly and
Finnegan and Kenny, but Wynter thought that was all.  Well,
maybe her uncle, but Wynter hadn't been around to see her
if she did.  But even that flirting was mostly habit,
although she'd noticed that Hailey remained willing to
follow words with actions.

    Wynter wished she could tell Jimmy about Daddy and
herself, but even though he seemed... she wasn't sure 'less
prudish' was the term, but she sure couldn't think of
anything else, either.  Anyway, she didn't think Jimmy was
quite ready to handle it.  Sis One had said she thought he
was borderline, and she trusted her little redheaded
sister's opinion on psychological matters.

    In fact, the reason Sis One wasn't with them was that
Sis was seeing her own patients that afternoon:  Snoopy and
Possum.  Wynter's heart felt heavy in her chest whenever
she thought about the two shy cousins.  Thanks to that
horrid Matthew Wylie, they were now as introverted as
Hailey had been extroverted.

    Well, Hailey had moved more toward the center of the
scale.  Maybe now the Watkins cousins would, too, in order
to keep the scale in balance.  She sure hoped the universe
worked that way.

    She went someplace else thinking about that and didn't
return until Hailey's excited whisper of "Look!  The minnow
got away!"

    She focused and realized Jimmy was whispering to
Hailey and Huntly.  He'd known she was deep in thought and,
ever the gentleman, hadn't interrupted her.  Dragon knew
she'd returned from someplace else.  His warm tongue across
her left cheek welcomed her back from there, so she shifted
her weight and threw her left arm over his shoulders for a
squeeze.

    Jimmy felt the movement and also knew she was back,
but he was too polite to interrupt the excited Hailey. 
Although she was sexually subdued, Hailey otherwise was
more excited than usual these past two days.  Wynter had
spent a whole day and night in her diagnosis cap before she
finally pieced together the symptoms from Mrs. Vasquez's
and both her sisters' behaviors.  She could hardly keep
still while she waited for the formal wedding announcement.

    Jimmy finally turned to her and gave her a kiss.  "I
think it's time," he said.

    She nodded, and they all moved back from the edge. 
She picked up her flute case and Dragon's leash, and they
retreated partway back to the bike trail, to the spot where
she'd found Jimmy's arrowhead. When they arrived, Jimmy
touched the arrowhead through his shirt, the way he always
did.

    "When we lived up in the mountain house," Wynter said,
"I used to sit on the bank of our creek there and dangle my
feet in the water while I practiced on my flute.  I guess
that's why I like to be by water while I play, so Jimmy
suggested that I play for him here, since this is a special
place for us.  The few times I've done it has always been a
special thing just between us, but I'd love to have you two
here with us today because you are special people to us."

    Jimmy gave Huntly a stern look that he shifted to
Hailey.  "I can think of only three other people that
Wynter would invite, so this is an honor that you shouldn't
make light of."

    Neither one had made any smarty pants comments or
looks in the first place.  Jimmy was just overreacting to
prevent someone from saying anything that might hurt her
feelings, as usual.  While Hailey looked subdued, Huntly
looked very solemn as he tilted his head in a bow and said,
"We are humbled and honored, Wynter, that you would include
us and we'd love to listen."

    Jimmy looked like he couldn't decide whether Huntly
was making fun of her.  She rolled her eyes.  "Jimmy," she
said, "you sit here, please, and take Dragon's leash.  Sis,
you and Huntly would be comfortable right here, I think."

    Jimmy relaxed.  When all were comfortable she opened
the case and removed her flute.  She kissed Jimmy, raised
the flute into position, and softly began 'Love is Blue.'

    As always when she played, she and Jimmy became lost
in each other's presence.  A half-dozen songs later they
remembered that they weren't alone when Hailey moaned. 
Both looked at the couple lying on the moss and kissing. 
She was worried about what Jimmy might say, but he merely
gave her his grin-and-nod.  She relaxed in relief but kept
playing.  When she finished the piece he whispered, "See
how well you play love music?"

    Her heart felt too big for her chest.  _Soon_, she
thought.  _Soon he'll be ready for me to tell him._  She
smiled and gave him a kiss that made him moan, too.

                           ~ ~ ~

    Brinkly jumped when her mother slammed the cordless
phone down onto the charging base, breaking off a large
chunk of plastic and exposing base's wiring.  Her mother
screamed in frustration and threw the handset across the
room.  It bounced off the living room couch and cracked one
of the front windows.

    "What did they say?" she asked after her mother's next
screaming fit ran down.

    "They said it had been returned to them after three
delivery attempts failed!  Did you not answer the door last
week?"

    "Motherrrr!  NOBODY came by because of the smell from
the yard!  We need those costumes Saturday.  That's just
three days..."

    "GOD DAMN IT, I CAN READ A FUCKING CALENDAR AND COUNT!
Now I have to find someone to fix the fucking window! 
Where the hell are the yellow pages this time?"

    Everything about the concert performance was turning
out to be a disaster.  She would have to arrange for her
stand-by plan.  She was sure she'd need it.

                           ~ ~ ~

    Wynter paused in the door to the rehearsal room and
gasped.  She thought her heart would explode right out of
her chest and bounce off the far wall.  Not only had Snoopy
come to practice with Duck, but so had Possum.  The girls
stood huddled together by the refreshment table, talking to
Monique.

    Sis looked up from helping Finnegan install the stick
launchers.  She gave Wynter a bright smile over her
success.  Wynter nodded understanding and then accepted a
hug and kiss from Jimmy.

    "I couldn't believe that Cinnamon convinced her to
come," Jimmy said in her ear as her hand found its home on
his back.

    "She didn't," Wynter said.  "She let Possum convince
herself."

    "All the guys know not to crowd her," he murmured. 
"Huntly and I reminded them, just in case."

    They turned around at the sound of LaMarcus's voice
from the stairway behind them, telling Alyssa about one of
the recording sessions in New York.  Jimmy stopped them
down the hall and said, "Possum's here."

    "Yeah?  Man, that's wonderful!" said LaMarcus.

    "Yeah!" agreed Alyssa with wide, excited eyes.  "How
is she doing?"

    "Everyone's letting her slowly get used to the group. 
The guys are staying back.  We'll let her approach us
first.  Right now she's with Snoopy and talking to Monique."

    "Well, I guess I won't be announcing the news to
everyone, then," LaMarcus said.  "Would you get Cinnamon?"

    Jimmy nodded and spun back to the rehearsal room. 
Wynter quickly updated LaMarcus and Alyssa on Suzie's
condition.  Jimmy and Sis appeared as she finished.

    "What's up?" Sis asked, bypassing the pleasantries.

    "I talked to Fuzzy," LaMarcus said.  "Maroon Bells was
supposed to perform..."

    "I know.  Brinkly apparently had her Dad cancel them
because 'her' drummer wasn't going to appear with any other
group if he wasn't going to play with hers."  She paused
when Wynter gasped.  "Fuzzy found out and was going to
quit, but I talked him out of it.  He understands the
importance of us beating her on talent alone.  He told you
about that?  I asked him not to tell anyone."

    LaMarcus shrugged.  "I already knew, so he told me,
yeah.  Ron's not the only one with sources."

    Cinnamon nodded as her grin appeared.  Nonverbal
communication symptoms told Wynter that his comment was a
paragraph, not a sentence, to Sis.  "We're all here now. 
You ready to start?"

    "I'm not done, unless you already know about the
costumes."

    The little redhead looked up at him with a blank face.
"Costumes?"

    "I didn't think so because that goes against your
plan.  I think.  She ordered matching outfits for the band.
The UPS driver reported three attempts to deliver the
package without success and then returned it to the company
in Maine."

    Wynter didn't see that as a big problem.  "Why can't
they just overnight it?  Brinkly can afford it."

    "Unh uh.  The company doesn't want to re-ship because,
they say, they don't want the hassle of dealing with
another returned shipment.  Apparently somebody's been
talking, if not using connections."

    Cinnamon's fist slammed into her palm.  "Freelancers! 
The town's getting into it.  I want to beat that bitch with
talent, but somebody's going to screw things up for me."

    Alyssa nodded.  She'd finally realized that the Wards
had been having too many "accidents" for it to be
coincidence, but she hadn't suspected Cinnamon had been
behind any of it.  That was because Alyssa hadn't been
wearing Wynter's diagnosis cap and examining the symptoms
of those incidents.

    "So how do we stop them?" Wynter asked.  She sure
couldn't think of a way.

    "We can't," Jimmy said.  "We just have to hope that
nothing big happens tomorrow or Friday."

    Sis sighed. "Well, we're not going to beat them on
talent if we don't rehearse.  I want to do a couple of run-
through's on 'Dancing' and then, if it's fine, I'll release
Alyssa, Dustin, and Derek.  Duck, too, if he doesn't want
to stay with Snoopy and Possum.  I think we'll make it to
'Caravan,' so I want us to work on our solos together to
make sure we sound coherent and not like box of individual
marbles rattling around at random the way we will if we
keep practicing at home."

    Wynter accompanied Jimmy back to the practice room
after another kiss.  She sure hoped nothing would go wrong
at the concert.  She didn't expect anything to happen.  But
she hadn't expected anything bad to happen on the boat
cruise, either.

                           ~ ~ ~

    Brinkly came awake when the phone started ringing.  It
wasn't her line.  That had gone dead the day before and
wouldn't be fixed for another day or two.  It was the house
line.  It quit when her father answered it.  She looked at
her clock.  Two in the morning.  She grumbled and went back
to sleep.

    When the phone awoke her again it was only twenty
minutes later.  Then another twenty after that.  The next
time it awoke her, at three, she punched her intercom and
asked who kept calling.

    "Nobody," her father said.  He sounded mad enough to
chew iron.  "It's a damned fax machine either from an 800
number or from a blocked caller ID number."  At three-
twenty her father shut off the phone ringers.

                           ~ ~ ~

    Wynter pronounced the wound to be "healing nicely with
minimal drainage."  She rewrapped Suzie's bandage while her
patient lay on the couch.  As she did so she resumed her
synopsis of the previous night's rehearsal.  "Possum was
there with Snoopy for the second night in a row.  She
seemed to be more at ease this time.  Final rehearsal is
tonight.  Cinnamon says that if she's there tonight, she'll
be well on her way to recovery."

    "Good," Suzie said.  "I hope ever so much that she
gets over it."

    Mrs. Middleton sat in the rocking chair, looking more
relieved than she had been before Wynter had examined
Suzie's leg.  "Is Snoopy continuing to improve, too?" she
asked.

    Wynter thought she heard Suzie make a soft growl, but
perhaps her friend was just having problems breathing with
her face in the pillows.  "Yes, ma'am.  It's slow, and
Possum has almost caught up to her again.  Cinnamon thinks
they'll improve faster once they're about the same."

    "I hope so."

    "Suzie, if you want to go to the concert tomorrow, you
can go in the wheelchair as long as it isn't painful.  If
it hurts you, though, you should stay home.  And if it
starts hurting there, you should leave."

    Mrs. Middleton squirmed in the rocker.  "Are you sure?
Maybe we should get Doctor Taylor or Doctor Delvy to..."

    "MOOOOM!" Suzie growled in a very disdainful tone.

    Wynter used her fingertips to gently spank Suzie's
left leg in admonition.  "Your mother is saying she wants a
second opinion.  There's nothing medically wrong with that,
and it's a good practice with a serious injury."

    "Sorry, Mom," Suzie said.  She sure didn't sound sorry
to Wynter.

    Mrs. Middleton dry washed her hands.  "No, if Wynter
says it's okay, then... okay, I guess.  I trust her."

    "All done," Wynter announced.  "Let's put this away
and then you can see your surprise."

    She helped Mrs. Middleton put away the medical
supplies and helped Suzie turn over and rise to a seated
position with her leg along the couch seat.  Then she
retrieved the waterproof portfolio she'd brought.  She'd
needed it for the first part of her trip, but the light
drizzle stopped as soon as she crossed the Ninth Street
bridge over Porcupine Creek.  She carefully removed the
matted and framed drawing and handed it to Suzie, whose
eyes grew wide and round.

    "HOLY SHIT!" she whispered.

    "Suzanne," her mother said in a rising tone.

    "Mom!  Look at this!"

    Mrs. Middleton rose from the rocker and sat on the
edge of the couch by Suzie.  "HOLY SHIT!" she whispered as
she looked at the montage of colored pencil drawings of her
daughter.

    The central character was Suzie standing in the state
swim meet's winner's circle and wearing her medals.  Around
it were smaller pictures of Suzie leaning forward ready to
leap in the water, Suzie leaning forward ready to scream at
the audience at the talent show, Suzie in her coach's cap
and swim camp tee shirt, and a half-dozen other poses and
situations from over the past year.  And down in the corner
a small drawing of a dejected Amber Vallarta.  Suzie
laughed when she realized that was hidden in with
everything else.

    "Thank you ever so much!" she said, handing her mother
the drawing so that she could hug Wynter.  "I'll have to
decide where to hang it."

    Mrs. Middleton's voice was hesitant.  "Suzie?  I think
it would look best right there," she pointed, "by that
curio cabinet, where everyone who comes here can see it."

    Suzie looked like she was about to argue out of
stubbornness, so Wynter said, "I think she's right!  That
way any visitors can see how good you are and how much your
parents love you by putting it out for them."

    Suzie thought about it, then sighed and said, "Fine. 
I like it there, too."

    Wynter hoped that Sis's curing the last of Snoopy's
and Possum's psychological problems wouldn't be as
difficult as her curing the last of Suzie's.  Of course,
unlike Sis, she had Kenny to help.

                           ~ ~ ~

    While her tongue assaulted Hailey's button Cinnamon
used thigh masturbation to get herself off.  For some
reason her period hadn't quite stopped that day, which was
a little uncommon, but not all THAT unusual for her.  Stars
exploded, and she moaned into Hailey's smoothly-shaved
goodie box.

    Hailey ran her fingers through the long red hair and
interlaced them behind her head.  "My turn," she panted,
then began humping her sopping wet slit against Cinnamon's
face.  Her thighs clenched around her cousin's head.  Her
own head curled downward as if trying to roll across the
small mounds being lifted as her back rose off the mattress.

    Cinnamon's left hand rhythmically squeezed the tanned
folds around her tongue while her right slid up the taut
belly muscles to play with the hardened nipples.  She tried
to wiggle her face deeper into her cousin's goodie box, but
the legs gripped her head too tightly, almost pulling her
face out instead as Hailey's upper body suddenly pushed
down and the lower half rose.  She moaned, this time afraid
that she would be separated from the hot, wet, tasty
succulence she was enjoying.

    In an instant her face was shoved back into the treat
as Hailey's lower back slammed down, pulling her legs up
and her upper body into a curl.  Cinnamon redoubled the
efforts of her tongue as bulging, overtight neck muscles
caused her cousin's head to bob in an exaggerated "yes" nod
and she grimaced like her chin was trying to reach up and
touch her eyebrows.

    _Cuz is having a big one_, she realized.  Hailey's
usual pattern was the largest one first, with the rest
slowly declining in intensity.  Her right hand released the
nipple and flew downward.  She shifted her chin slightly to
make room for her fingers, moistened the middle one in the
abundance of juices, and probed for Hailey's "other way
in."  As it entered to the first knuckle she made her
tongue flutter even faster on Hailey's swollen button. 
Hailey's hands pulled away and drew up toward her armpits
in little rapid jerks.

    She wiggled the fingertip and Hailey exploded, ending
with a moaning gasp that should have awakened Daddy and
Rosita.  Unless those two weren't through with each other
and were still awake.  But by now Rosita knew that the
cousins did more than sleep in each other's beds.  And she
probably knew that Hailey joined in on Daddy's "visitation
nights."

    When Hailey collapsed like soggy pasta, Cinnamon
slowly, gently but without tickling, lovingly licked the
firm folds and the hot wetness within while Cuz gasped for
air.  Hailey had the best goodie box she'd ever tasted. 
Daddy had even admitted that he concurred with that, but he
tried to avoid hurting Cinnamon's feelings by saying she
had the nicest tits and ass.

    The way he could be honest with her but still try to
protect feelings that weren't at risk was one of the many
reasons she loved him.  And that was why she hoped that Cuz
hadn't awakened him, or Rosita, while she was "singing love
arias in the dark."

    She grinned as she tried to push her face inside Cuz,
who had almost gotten her breathing back to normal. 
Another old term of Daddy's that she hadn't thought of in
some time.  She wondered why she should think of it now.

    Her face went slack as she realized why.  Her
subconscious had been at work.  She jerked back, rising up
to her knees and puckering her brow in concentration,
reexamining the facts and comparing what she knew to what
she had deduced.

    Hailey lifted her head from the mattress and frowned
with puzzlement.  "Did I fart?"

    Cinnamon looked at the clock.  Ten minutes after
midnight.  Should she call or not?  They had only fourteen
hours until performances began.  She hesitated another few
moments, then threw herself to the side of the bed, grabbed
the phone, and punched the speed dial for Finnegan.

                           ~ ~ ~

    Set-up for the concert began at eight Saturday
morning.  Wheeled platforms that could be used by the
various acts sat off-stage.  Drum kits and keyboard
instruments were the primary occupants of the platforms,
though even a solo player could use a small one if desired.
When the platforms were ready they were wheeled into place
and had their positions marked on the floor of the shell
with industrial tape, and then the lighting crew recorded
general settings.  Afterward they were wheeled off to stage
left until the performance.  IST provided security people
to insure that nobody sabotaged the acts by moving the tape
or interfering with the instruments on the platforms.

    Ron had provided a few friends to make sure that the
IST Security crew did its job.  You could never have too
many friends.

    Cinnamon looked up from final assembly of her kit when
Guy Malone asked, "So am I finally going to learn what
those gadgets are?"  Guy had seen the stick launchers,
minus the compressed air bottles, on her home kit the day
of her birthday party, but she told him that their purpose
was a secret.  They were still missing the compressed air,
and Finnegan was bolting the launchers to the platform,
much to the consternation of the IST supervisors.

    She grinned at him.  "The truth is about to be
revealed."  She glanced at her watch.  "In about  eight to
ten hours."

    Finnegan looked up.  "You'll have to own one after you
see it, but this is the only one I'm building, and I'm
going to control the patents on it."

    Cinnamon laughed.  "I guess you're going to be jealous
and frustrated."  From the look on his face, she decided
that he was already that in a non-musical sense.  She
turned back to her work.  "You going to help Fuzzy set up
first?"

    "Five minutes ago, I thought.  I guess the guys in the
equipment van stopped at McDonald's for breakfast.  Looks
like your others are ready," he said.

    "They finished a couple of minutes ago.  Hand me that
sixteen-incher, would you, please?  Wynter and Jimmy and
his dad went to check out the dressing tent.  Alyssa went
home with her mom.  Huntly's here with Hailey and LaMarcus,
somewhere."

    He handed her the cymbal and watched her attach it. 
"Set up should have been yesterday, and they should have
had a brief rehearsal, especially since it's the first time
anyone's used the shell."

    "Uh huh.  I smell a rat.  One with short brown hair."

    He agreed.  "I've been thinking," he said as she
placed the last cymbal.  "It's too bad that the costumes
weren't delivered.  They were so lame that these people,"
he waved a hand to indicate the entire town, "would have
laughed them off the stage."

    "No," she countered, "it's a good thing.  I want to
beat her on talent.  I intend to prove today that I'm the
better drummer, and I don't want people distracted by Fuzzy
in a lame costume."

    He grinned.  "I expect you to beat him.  I'd expect
you to beat me if I were playing."

    She looked up and shook a finger at him.  "Then I
would.  If you go into it expecting to lose, it becomes a
self-fulfilling prophecy.  You should always go out there
and play like you expect to win.  Always!  If I ever learn
that you haven't, no more free lessons.  No paid lessons,
either.  I'm like Suzie at swim camp.  I won't coach losers."

    He nodded.  "As you command.  I'm glad I have you as a
voice of reason in all this.  You know, I need a voice of
reason.  You want to get married before your act?"

    "Nah," she said with a grin.  "If I did, Huntly would
try to hurt you, and then we'd lose our lead guitarist."

                           ~ ~ ~

    After their platforms were placed and marked, Finnegan
unclipped a tape measure from his belt, checked a sheet of
notes from his pocket, and then calculated the positions
for marks that he made on the concrete with a special
crayon.  Even if somebody tried to erase them, enough
residue would remain that he could find them with his
portable black light.

    He was positive that Cinnamon's conclusion was right. 
This was going to be his chance to show the world what
Finnegan Burke could do under pressure.

                           ~ ~ ~

    _This is it!  This is really and truly it!_  Wynter
knew it the moment she and Jimmy came around the corner of
the concert shell and she saw the faces of her sisters,
Doctor Brees, and Mrs. Vasquez.  No, the Future Mrs. Brees.
She decided she'd better get used to thinking of her that
way, so that it would be easier to just drop the "Future"
title and think of her as Mrs. Brees.  She didn't know yet
when she could drop it, but she knew from the symptoms that
she was about to learn.

    The concert shell didn't have picnic tables around it
like the Otter Park gazebo did.  Everybody sat on the
ground, most on picnic blankets, some on portable chairs. 
One of the disadvantages of living in the mountain towns is
that there wasn't a whole lot of level ground, but that was
an advantage for the concert shell.  While it was gentle
and not steep, the ground in front of the shell was an
incline that rose as you moved back into the audience area.
That meant that if you weren't seated in chairs, the better
places to sit were not right up front, where Wynter noticed
a lot of International Ski and Trail people sitting, but
out where her attention was focused.

    "Jimmy!"

    "I know!  I see it!  Come on!"

    They clasped hands and eagerly rushed to the clustered
Breeses, McCauleys, Taylors, Middletons, Sheridans, Kings,
and Grandpa Wolfe.  They almost skidded to a stop.  Wynter
put one arm around her father's waist and the other around
Jimmy's.  She wished she had a third arm for Grandpa Wolfe,
who stood behind her with his big hands resting gently on
her shoulders.

    "Well," said Doctor Taylor, "we finally have a quorum.
Mitch has an announcement."

    Doctor Brees looked like a fifth grade boy with a frog
that he was going to put in the teacher's desk drawer. 
"Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking," he began with a
grin.

    "HEY!" Hailey shouted, putting her hands on her hips
and frowning at him in a VERY condescending and disdainful
manner.  "Like, skip the crap and get on with it, or I'm SO
gonna sic HER on you!"  One hand flew off her hip and
extended an index finger to Suzie, who was grinning in her
wheelchair.

    Doctor Brees flinched back, pulling his hands up in
front of his chest.  He looked at Doctor Taylor.  "You had
the right idea, Kevin.  Only sons and nephews.  I should
have met you earlier."

    "NOW!"  It was a chorus of the Future Mrs. Brees and
both of Wynter's sisters.

    He surrendered and squeezed his Future Wife to his
side.  "The formal invitations will be in your mailboxes
Monday, but based on the dates that Hailey's parents can be
here, we've set the date for September eighteenth."

    After the congratulations and sympathies had been
awarded, they took seats on the blankets, all except for
Suzie who stayed in her wheelchair.  Wynter was thrilled
that Jimmy's Uncle Jim and Aunt Nancy could be there, too. 
It would be the first time they'd seen Junior and the Twins
perform, just as it would be for Grandpa Wolfe.  She wished
Jimmy's Uncle Evan and Aunt Susan could be there, too, but
they had to stay home because of business.  She knew it
wasn't very polite at all, but she wasn't the least bit
sorry that her own Aunt Dumb and Uncle Bozo and Baby
Christopher couldn't be there.

    This was the first time that Grandpa Wolfe had met
Doctor Brees, but you'd have thought they'd known each
other since Doctor Brees was born.  And she'd thought
Grandpa had gotten along well with Doctor Taylor!  Cinnamon
and Hailey practically crawled all over him, as usual, but
she thought her heart would explode from her chest whenever
she saw Grandpa giving special attention to Suzie so that
she wouldn't feel left out.

    Each family had brought a dish to go with Doctor
Brees's excellent barbecued chicken.  Wynter thought her
father was going to kiss Jimmy's Aunt Nancy after he
discovered that she'd brought some of her scrumptious apple
pies that he loved.  And Kenny had brought a special tray
that mounted on Suzie's chair so that she wouldn't have to
juggle plates in her lap.  Almost everyone ate until
"stuffed through the gills" as Grandpa said.

    While Jimmy was at the Porta-Potties with Huntly,
Wynter leaned against her father and watched Grandpa Wolfe
kneeling next to Suzie, holding her hand and making her
eyes sparkle with one of his tall tales.  Mother leaned
around Daddy and said, "Dad has been doing some adopting on
his own.  Sometimes I think he can't decide whether you or
Suzie is his favorite, and then I see him with Cinnamon and
Hailey and wonder if it's a four-way competition."

    Wynter giggled, then watched it become a six-way
competition when Snoopy and Possum stopped by to see
Cinnamon.  Sis didn't hesitate to introduce them to
Grandpa.  At first Wynter worried about what effect her big
bear of a grandfather would have on the shy, frightened
cousins, but Sis's instincts had been right.  Within two
minutes he was hugging both of them, and they looked like
they couldn't be happier.

    She didn't realize Jimmy had returned until his head
appeared over her shoulder and he said, "Even if nothing
else goes right, today has been a success."

    Wynter sure couldn't argue with that diagnosis.

    And then the speakers squealed with feedback and
Mister Junior Arnold took the stage.

                           ~ ~ ~

    _FUCK!_

    Suzie wondered if that dolt Mister Arnold would EVER
shut up and let the bands play.  She thought he'd shut up
as soon as the instrument platform thingys were in place,
but NO!  He finally got through with what a great honor it
was to be the first stupid announcer at the first stupid
use of the stupid "International Ski and Trail Wizard Basin
Concert Shell," a stupid name that made no sense since it
was in Otter Park and not across the stupid highway in
Wizard Basin.  Then he started another stupid long-winded
introducing of Mister Ward from IST who was the
entertainment director responsible for the program, and
then Mister Ward's wife and bosses or something.  Then
Mister Ward made a stupid speech, but one not nearly as
long as Mister Arnold's.

    "Finally," Mister Arnold said, "before I introduce the
first act I'd like to say a few words about what we call
the Schoolership Fund that will be funded by future concert
competitions..."

    Well, remind her to look surprised next Tuesday.  She
really hadn't expected the stupid-looking dolt in his
stupid clothes to shut the heck up and get off the stupid
stage.

    "Junior?" yelled a voice somewhere over on the other
side of the crowd.  It was Mister Sillerman.  "Do you plan
to let any of the bands play before the first snowfall?"

    Kenny, who was sitting beside her, said something to
her father that made them both laugh.

    "But I guess I've talked long enough," Mister Arnold
said with a stupid grin.  "I should save some remarks to
fill time between the acts."

    "HELLO!" Kenny said in his weird voice.  "EARTH TO
JUNIOR ARNOLD!  DUH!"  Then he winked at her and squeezed
her hand before kissing it, and she forgot that she'd been
mad.

    "Today's first act is The Brink of Disaster, a new
band created and fronted by a new arrival in town, the
daughter of Rick and Lynne Ward, MISS BRINKLY WARD!"

    The applause as Brinkly, waving her guitar over her
head, drove her wheelchair out to the center of the stage
was barely loud enough to cover up the sounds of the birds
chirping or something.  It sure as heck wasn't loud enough
to cover up the sound of Cinnamon giggling, which got her
going, too, just ahead of all the other girls.

    Huntly made a snoring sound. That got others around
them to giggling.  The shocked look on Brinkly's stupid
face changed to one that looked like she'd inhaled in the
pool or something when the rest of the band got good enough
applause as they were introduced.  The stupid witch smiled
when she dropped the arms of her wheelchair so she could
play guitar, but it looked ever so phony, just like Mister
Balfour's wig.

    Their first song, 'What's In It for Me?', was okay,
but it was nothing to get excited over.  She did think that
was an ever so appropriate song title for that stupid
little witch.  And it was the best of their three stupid
songs.  The rest of the band did fine, but Brinkly's stupid
face switched between looking worried and looking mad or
something through the next one.  The last song was delayed
when the stupid witch broke a stupid string on the opening
cords, though Suzie couldn't for the life of herself
understand why they were called strings part of the time
and then cords, too, like the words didn't mean the same
thing or something.

    She'd have to ask Cinnamon or Wynter.  No.  She'd ask
Huntly or LaMarcus, since they played string instruments.

    The stupid band had barely gotten off the left side of
the stage when she heard that stupid Brinkly start
screaming at everybody else.  _Not bad,_ Suzie thought,
_but I do it MUCH better._



                        Thirty Three

    As dusk arrived, Wynter decided that sharing Doctor
Brees' lap with Hailey while Cinnamon sat in his Future
Wife's lap sure was great.  She'd rather be sitting Grandpa
Wolfe's lap, but Snoopy and Possum had returned and had his
lap fully occupied.  That was fine.  Besides, it was fun
trying to decide who looked the happiest of the three,
something Mother appeared to be discussing with Daddy and
Mrs. Taylor.  Sis sure had prescribed the perfect treatment
for the cousins.

    "Ladies and gentlemen," Mister Arnold announced, "that
was Vail's own SAGEBRUSH SIDEWINDERS!  Let's give them a
big hand!"  The country band ran off stage left.

    Cinnamon gave the Future Mrs. Brees a kiss and sprang
to her feet.  "It's time."  She signalled the others and
fluttered her hands in a shooing motion.

    Hailey and Wynter rose after squeezing Doctor Brees's
cheeks like kissing bookends.  Wynter also kissed her
parents and Grandpa Wolfe.  With everyone wishing them luck
and with Kenny pushing Suzie's chair, they hurried around
the right side of the concert shell.  Wynter suffered
sudden acute anxiety disorder when she saw nobody guarding
the entrance to their dressing tent.  When they were near
enough she heard two voices inside, and she returned to
normal when she recognized one of them.

    She didn't know the other senior who was in the tent
with Guy Malone, but she recognized him as one of Ron's
friends, Doug somebody.

    "What are you doing here?" Cinnamon asked Guy.

    "I got to thinking about your rat with the short brown
hair and watched from the trees.  Sure enough, one of IST
Security's guards started giving Doug a hard time and tried
to get into the tent.  The two of us taught him not to
trespass.  Turns out he isn't IST Security after all.  Bill
Hlavacek took him to the station for some questions."

    Doug nodded.  "He works for IST's Entertainment
Division, not Security.  Looks like he borrowed a uniform
from somebody.  We moved inside in case she sent somebody
under the back of the tent next."

    Sis nodded.  "Good thinking.  Thanks, guys.  We need
to change and get ready."

    Doug and Guy went outside with the boys while the
girls changed.  "I expected something like this," the
little drummer said as she stripped.  "They'll have tried
messing with the instrument platforms, too, just to throw
us off guard, but three of Ron's friends watch them at all
times.  She'll look like she's making a play for those, but
I'm betting her main stroke is her secret plan."

    "Secret plan?" asked a confused-looking Monique, who
wasn't the only one looking confused. "What secret plan?"

    Cinnamon grinned wickedly.  "The one I hope Finnegan
is prepared for, if he's back."

    "Oh, he's here," said Alyssa, struggling with the
bathing suit that had horrified her mother on the Fourth of
July.  "He and Reggie Reed were pushing something on a
dolly through a door into the backstage as we came around
the corner.  It was tall and skinny, wrapped in black cloth."

    "Damn." Cinnamon fastened her bikini top.  "Too bad
Brinkly doesn't have any balls or we'd have her by them."

    Wynter had no ideas about Sis's plan or Brinkly's
plan.  From what little Hailey knew, she didn't think her
diagnosis cap would help her this time.  She checked
herself and then helped Shamisa assist Suzie, whose new
bikini was under her street clothing.

    Somebody's hand slapped the tent flap several times. 
"Hey!" yelled Huntly.  "You plan to take all night in
there?  If Junior Arnold has to fill in a gap because we
aren't there, the crowd will..."

    She heard Kenny growl, "They're helping Suzie, you
idiot!" at the same time Sis One threw the door open. 
Huntly almost knocked Kenny over jumping back a step.

    "Uh... Hi, bitch!  Any of the girls need a hand?  I
have two, so I could help two of them.  Or even three if..."

    The little redhead's arm shot up to point a finger at
Huntly's nose.  "You can still play guitar if I break your
legs, shithead, so don't tempt me!"

    "Okay!  Sorry!  But would you like me to make sure
Hailey's wearing panties this time?"

    "I am," Sis Two said as she quickly brushed Suzie's
hair.  "Okay, I'm done."

    Cinnamon left her finger in front of Huntly's nose and
gave the tent a quick scan.  "Everybody?  Okay, let's turn
this place over to the guys and hope they don't trash it. 
What are you doing?"

    Huntly was sniffing her finger.  "Just checking," he
said with an innocent face and a shrug.  "I didn't know
where it had been."

    "HUNTLY!"  Wynter giggled at Jimmy's horrified cry.

    Mister McCauley grabbed Huntly's shoulder.  "I'll keep
him in line for you," he said.

    "I know I can trust YOU," Sis said with a withering
look at Huntly.  The girls began filing out, Suzie first
with Hailey pushing her chair.

    "And I'll make sure he doesn't sniff the girls'
underwear."

    "DAD!"

    Wynter shook her head and kissed Jimmy before pushing
him toward the tent opening.  The main part of his
prudectomy seemed to be completed, but he still needed a
lot more work on his Father Anxiety Disorder.

    "Okay, Wynter's in charge," Cinnamon said.  "I'm going
up to the shell to check on things.  She'll bring the rest
of you in a nice, QUIET group.  We're not a bunch of little
Brinklys, so remind Duck and Derek of that."

    Sis said that last looking directly at Suzie, who sat
up straight in her wheelchair, grinned, and nodded.  Wynter
wasn't exactly sure how a coach was SUPPOSED to look, but
she thought Suzie sure did look coach-like at that moment.

    "We need to be there by the time that German oompah
band takes the stage, in case something goes wrong and cuts
their performance short.  If your portion of this bunch
isn't ready by the time Sawtooth--they're the ones before
the oompah band--is announced, kick butt. Be moving by the
start of Sawtooth's third number.  I'll make sure they
don't get in the oompah band's way when you arrive, so you
herd the rear.  You shouldn't have a problem with the guys,
meaning Duck and Derek, as long as the McCauleys are in
there, and Kenny can also apply any strong-arming you
need."  She grinned.  "But if all else fails, you have
Suzie.  I hope you brought earplugs for that."

                           ~ ~ ~

    Finnegan, already wearing his headset, was explaining
to Reggie Reed what he wanted as they exited the rear of
the stage right wings onto the Mayor William Carlton
Memorial East Ramp, named in memory of a well-respected
mayor from somewhere back in ancient history.

    "Everything ready?" asked Cinnamon as she rushed up
the ramp and gave each of them a hug.

    "Yeah.  We're headed down to the sound booth."

    The 'booth' was an open platform in front of the
stage, back near the statue of Jack Hargus.  The IST crew
would control the individual instrument speakers with a
mixer board from there, as well as the stage lighting. 
Finnegan's dad had drawn up a contract that would guarantee
that J&F Burke, Inc., and not some IST crewman, would run
the board during any and all times that any member of or
guest performer of Junior and the Twins was on the stage
unless IST was granted express permission to do so, with
permission revokable at any time for any reason whatsoever,
period, comma, quotation mark, question mark, and/or
exclamation mark.  It included a heavy penalty clause,
though Mister Ward's office had assured his dad that it
wasn't necessary.

    Finnegan couldn't believe that IST's legal department
hadn't challenged the fact that the contract covered all
future performances, but Dad had said they would think they
had an escape route.  Sure enough, IST proved that big city
lawyers from back east were overconfident when facing small
town lawyers out west.  IST signed it.  The contract stated
that it was subject to the laws of Montana, where J&F Burke
had been incorporated.  What those lawyers thought was an
escape clause was actually a bear trap under Montana law,
and they had sprung it on themselves.  Finnegan now had
complete control of their sound in the future, too, just as
Cinnamon had wanted.

    Cinnamon pointed to the case he was carrying.  "Alyssa
said she saw you wheeling them in.  That the control board?
Will you be able to patch it in quickly enough?"

    Finnegan bristled at the implied insult.  Cinnamon
should know him better than that.  "HEY!  GIMME A BREAK,
BREES!  YOU THINK I'M AS DUMB AS BRINKLY?"

    Reggie laughed.  "Boy genius here made the whole thing
remote control.  No wires to 'accidentally' break or come
loose except from the towers to the power outlets, and
we'll be watching those after we wheel out the towers."

    "Yeah!" Finnegan chortled.  "I had a bunch of servos
and RC switches lying around for the robot I've been
designing to clean my room for me."

    He gave one of Cinnamon's tits a squeeze when she
kissed him.  "You're a good friend to have," she said.  "I
owe you one, big time.  Okay, get down there, and I'll
check with Weasel."

    They watched her scram through the doorway before
continuing their journey.  "That girl has one seriously
fine butt on her," Reggie said as they trotted down the ramp.

    "I know!" Finnegan boasted.  "I've seen it out of that
bikini bottom."

    "WHAT?  And you didn't bring me no pictures?  Man,
what kind of friend are you anyway?"

    Finnegan spent most of the journey to the sound
platform telling Reggie about Cinnamon's "finer
attributes."  He wasn't really surprised when he got to the
platform and had to show them a copy of the contract.  Or
that he needed Reggie to get the head tech to read it.  He
was surprised, though, when the head sound tech became
supercooperative because Reggie showed the fuckwit a copy
of an announcement that Mister Arnold would read to the
audience if there was any problem.

    Reggie said that the last was Ron's idea.

                           ~ ~ ~

    Wynter kissed Jimmy before he ran out from stage right
and waved at the applause.

    "AND FINALLY!" Mister Arnold said, and the crowd
exploded.  "THE GREATEST DRUMMER EVER TO PERFORM AT GRIFFIN
MIDDLE SCHOOL, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, CINNAMON BREES!"

    Sis adjusted her bikini top and rushed out with her
smile about to push her cheeks off her face and her hands
waving wildly overhead.  The noise got even louder when she
appeared, with a lot of the cheers replaced by whistles and
cat calls and at least two marriage proposals.

    Instead of going to the drum platform, Sis ran to
Mister Arnold.  He turned off his mike and leaned down to
listen.  He nodded, waved, and left.  Sis switched her
headset for the speakers as Wynter noticed that Huntly was
quietly slipping on some finger picks.

    "Thank you!  Ladies and gentlemen, I have four
important announcements."

    She waited as the crowd quieted a little.

    "Thank you!  The first two are to IST.  First, we wish
to thank them for allowing us to play!"

    Wynter giggled at the way Sis put just the right
amount emphasis on "allowing".

    "Second, we wish to thank them for their quick
response when the phony IST Security guard attempted to
enter our tent."

    It was now night, but there was plenty of light in
front of the stage for Wynter to see Mister Ward look
around in confusion, Mrs. Ward look disappointed, and
Brinkly slam one arm of her wheelchair.

    "Third, one member of the band you won't see tonight
unless you turn around is Finnegan Burke, who will mixing
our sound at the sound booth behind you.  He's as much a
member of this group as any performer, so give him a hand!"

    The band members added their own applause and cheers
for Finnegan.

    "And finally," said Sis when she had everyone's
attention again.  "Junior and the Twins has a long-standing
tradition, dating all the way back to its founding on the
morning of Saturday, August the eighth..."

    Sis waved at the laughter and applause, then made
quieting motions with her hands.  Wynter, like Sis, knew
the audience thought she was making a joke. They wouldn't
think so for long, especially two of the audience members.

    "A tradition," she continued, "of dedicating our
performances to somebody special.  We decided that night to
dedicate our performance to one of the two most special
people we know.  Then on the fourteenth I realized that we
also know another very special person, someone who will be
on the stage here shortly, someone who heroically risked
her own life to save that of another."

    Wynter had no trouble hearing Suzie shriek of surprise
because she was standing right beside her, but she had NO
idea what Suzie's incoherent words were.

    "Ladies and gentlemen, the co-recipient of tonight's
dedication, escorted by the one whose life she saved, MISS
SUZANNE MIDDLETON!"

    The crowd rose as Kenny pushed a crying Suzie, mouth
covered by her hands, to the stage front for a magnificent
ovation as Huntly and Mister McCauley played the intro to
'Suzie-Q.'  Kenny moved beside her and introduced her with
his hands.

    "Man, I have seen some cool acts," Dustin said to
Tyrone, "but I haven't seen any as cool as Cinnamon, with
or without her drums."

    "Word, Brutha!" Tyrone said, his face in danger of a
smile-induced rupture.  "They don't come any finer'n Little
Momma."

    Alyssa shook her head while she continued to applaud. 
"No.  But I think Suzie's almost a tie."

    Tyrone pressed sideways against her as all applauded. 
"Word, my friend!  Word!"

    While the noise continued, Sis switched her headset to
intercom.  "Huntly, I can't see Brinkly for the spotlights.
Can you?"

    "No.  They're in my eyes, too."

    "I can from here," Wynter giggled.  "She looks
borderline for cardiac arrest."

    Cinnamon's icy giggle made the spines of the whole
band shiver.  "Maybe the second half will push her over
that line."

    The crowd quieted about the time Suzie was able to
talk.  She switched her headset to the speakers.  Her voice
was broken, but she got out the words, "Thank you all, ever
so much, and thank you Junior and the Twins!"

    Cinnamon kissed Suzie's cheek, then switched to
speakers and waved for silence. "Thank you!  Our original
recipient is in the audience, and I ask as a special favor
for personal reasons in her behalf that the spotlight
operators NOT try to locate her.  Many of you know her, and
most of you know her family.  Most of you don't know that
her birth name is Mary.  For that matter, most of you
probably don't know the given names of anyone in her family.

    "Ladies and gentlemen, it is with deep respect and
much love that we also dedicate our performance tonight to
an excellent soprano, MISS POSSUM WATKINS!"

    Wynter had no trouble hearing the groans of anger from
Brinkly and her mother an instant before the applause
exploded.  The two had their heads together, while Mister
Ward looked confused.

    "Good," said Cinnamon's voice in the headsets.  "Now I
KNOW she'll do it."

                           ~ ~ ~

    Kevin Taylor rose with the others as his son wheeled
Suzie to the stage front.  While everyone cheered madly for
her, he squatted behind Don and Carolyn, who were still
seated in surprise.  "Do you see the crowd's reaction to
her?" he asked quietly.  "Do you understand at last what I
was trying to tell you in the emergency room?  These people
know your younger daughter better than you do.  I don't
know about you, but if I were in your shoes, I'd feel
ashamed."

    He didn't wait for a reply but rose to his feet and
began applauding, adding his own yell of "ATTAGIRL, SUZIE!"

                           ~ ~ ~

    Snoopy scooted next to her trembling cousin.  Aunt
Pebble released Possum's side to make room, and then
wrapped her arm around Snoopy, too, and squeezed again.

    Possum wasn't crying, but she was frightened almost to
tears.  "Why did Cinnamon do that, Snoop?" she asked in a
high, squeaky, wavering voice, her large blue eyes darting
wildly about.

    "Because she loves you," Snoopy said, taking her
cousin's hand.

    Possum cringed against her mother.  "Then, why is
everyone yelling my name at me?"

    "No!  You misunderstood, Poss."

    Aunt Pebble kissed the long blonde hair on her
daughter's head.  "That's right.  They're not yelling at
you, precious.  They're all saying they love you, too."

                           ~ ~ ~

    Wynter wasn't sure whether the crowd cheered the way
Huntly played the main melody of 'Mariner No. 4' while
dancing with Hailey and then faced the audience to play the
interwoven notes, or if they just cheered Hailey and her
dancing.  She didn't really care as long as everyone was
having a good time.

    Huntly stroked the final chord and wheeled his arm
around in a huge circle, bringing it to rest upright and
with his thumb and the index and little fingers extended in
the American Sign Language symbol that said, "I Love You."

    Cinnamon's voice came through the headsets.  "This is
probably it.  Weasel, you guys stand by."

    Ron's friends, led by Weasel Carson, pushed the two
tall, black-wrapped towers toward the side curtain, then
knelt and screwed a two-foot-long rod into each base near
the floor.

    Sis switched her headset to the speakers.  Jimmy added
just a hint of wind noise from his synthesizer, then slowly
increased his volume as she spoke.  "Thank you!  For our
next number,  my dog, Ghost, appreciates the fact that most
people attach his name to the title, but actually the name
is just 'RIDERS IN THE SKY!'"  Sis's arm shot up and she
tapped the beat.  Huntly, standing on the front edge of the
stage, hit the twangy introduction as Sis worked the
percussion block.

    Somebody in the audience shouted, "YeeeeHAH!"  Wynter
recognized that voice.  His son was, at that moment, having
his crooked glasses straightened by a pretty girl in a
wheelchair.

    Whatever Sis had expected to happen didn't occur.  The
song ended without incident, unless you counted the cowboy
whooping and hollering from the audience.

    Sis switched back to intercom and said, "This has to
be it," before introducing the "guest performers."

    Wynter waved and ran to the Clavinova's platform,
feeling a rush as the crowd cheered at her name.  She
guessed part of that was because Sis brought up how she'd
provided medical treatment to Ron and Suzie, which was
really just her doing her job as a Future MD and nothing
special.  She sat down and checked her settings.  Sure
enough, one of the stops had "accidentally" changed.  She
did a volume check with Finnegan as Dustin Morgan held up
his saxophone and waved while taking his position.

    Whatever had Sis worried, this wasn't it.  "Wynter
ready," she reported.

    "And finally," Cinnamon said, "Kenny Taylor," she
paused as Huntly played the opening of 'Bad Moon Rising,'
"Suzie Middleton..." she had to pause for the applause for
Suzie while Huntly and Jimmy's dad again played 'Suzie-Q,'
"and the performer whose first CD, 'Rockin' Mountains,'
will be out in just over three months, MISTER TYRONE HAYES
and they're gonna take you 'DANCING ON THE CEILING!'"

    The three entered.  Tyrone got as far as "What's that
happening down..." and then it happened.

    All the stage lights went out.

    "Hold it!"  Sis announced over the speakers.  She
switched to intercom and said, "Weasel, wait for me."  Then
it was back to the speakers with, "Ladies and gentlemen,
please wait.  We are aware of the capabilities of IST, so
your wait won't be a long one."

    Wynter still didn't know what was happening, but she
was now able to make a pretty darned good guess at
Cinnamon's plan.

    Mister Arnold took the stage and reminded everyone to
come back next year during the Fourth of July weekend and
bring plenty of money to vote for their favorite bands
because all of the money would go to provide college
"Schoolerships" for graduating regional students.  He
switched off his microphone when somebody dashed out of the
stage left wing and spoke to him.

    "Ladies and gentlemen," he said in a rueful tone, "I
have bad news.  It seems that there's an unexpected problem
with the stage lights that cannot be repaired until Monday
morning.  It even affects the spotlights out there among
you, and we won't be able to continue."

    "Mister Arnold?" Sis's voice rang from the speakers. 
"Might I say something?"

    "Ladies and gentlemen, I yield the microphone to
someone as talented as me and almost as good looking, Miss
Brees!"

    A smarty pants comment from Mister Sillerman was
drowned by the applause.

    "Thank you!  Ladies and gentlemen, this is nothing. 
WE could play in total darkness if need be, but we know
you'd prefer us to be illuminated so you can watch us
perform.  We expected this to happen."

    She paused just the right amount of time for the crowd
to gasp and murmur.  "I should say, we realize that this is
a first-time event, which means Murphy's Law is in effect. 
We prepared for several eventualities.  Weasel!  Billy! 
NOW!  Ladies and gentlemen, give my friends here about two
minutes, and we'll be ready to continue."

    Weasel Carson and Billy Landry, with two helpers each,
guided the two seven-foot-tall towers into place, finding
the marks on the concrete stage floor with portable
ultraviolet lights.  They positioned the towers on the
marks, aligned the rods with lines Finnegan had drawn, and
removed the black cloth to reveal the lights mounted on a
triangular open metal framework.

    "Ladies and gentlemen, McKeown's Hardware generously
provided the materials for our light towers, and Finnegan
Burke designed AND constructed them THIS MORNING!  Our
thanks to both.  Oh!  Mister Burke?  Thank you, too, and
you can have your garage back now."

    While the audience laughed, the helpers plugged the
transformers' power cords into 220-volt outlets and
reported ready to Finnegan.  The lights came on and needed
no more adjusting than the regular stage lights did for
each new act, if that much.

    Wynter could no longer see Brinkly, but the girl had
looked ready to perform vivisections when she recognized
the light towers.  Her mother looked to be in at least that
foul a mood.  Mister Ward was off to the side, talking to
some of the shell technicians and looking very, very
displeased.

    Sis started the whole routine from the beginning. 
Wynter gasped when she realized that Finnegan had also
included small spotlights that followed Tyrone, Suzie, and
Kenny across the stage, just like the sound system moved
their voices and footsteps across the stage.

    Wynter sure was happy that the rest of the song went
without incident.  She was especially happy that she didn't
have to find out how Suzie planned to scream at the
audience from her wheelchair.

                           ~ ~ ~

    By the second curtain call the separate cries of
"Encore!" had melded into a chant.  Cinnamon almost laughed
with glee.  On the third curtain call, Junior Arnold
followed them out.

    "I think they want more!" he shouted.

    The crowd agreed with him.

    "Can you play us another one?"

    Huntly spoke up first.  "We're Junior and the Twins! 
We can do anything to make OUR audience happy!"

    Almost lost among the screams, cheers, and applause
was some wag shouting, "Then have Hailey and Cinnamon take
it off!"

    "We're SUPPOSED to be just a SURF band," Cinnamon
added.  "We've been too busy playing EVERYTHING BUT surf. 
Would you like to hear a surf tune?"  That should show the
obnoxious little bitch something about the flexibility of
the Twins.

    She motioned everyone to their places, which meant
that non-Twins performers waved and exited stage left. 
Again the audience went wild, but they'd not get their
desired drum solo on this one, either.

    "Thank you!  Ladies and gentlemen, 'DIAMOND HEAD!'"

    Now that the music was more in Hailey's element, she
danced with increased vigor as close to the stage edge as
she could go without leaving the lights.  Cinnamon thought
Cuz had Velcro and superglue keeping the grass skirt on her
hips.  The crowd, especially the males, definitely ate it up.

    Again she teased the audience by responding to the
cries for another encore with 'Zephyr,' which she
introduced while Jimmy again played wind sounds in the
background.  Her irrepressible smile grew as Huntly and Sis
again played to each other as if they had the stage, if not
the world, to themselves, first echoing each other, then
handing off the lead in mid-measure while the other played
counterpoint.  She could see Huntly's grin through the back
of his head.

    Then Wynter rose to her feet and danced with Huntly,
separated by the guitar and the Clavinova.  That was when
she realized that the audience was up and dancing on the
grass.  She caught LaMarcus's eye and indicated his hand
with a twisting bob of her head.  He understood and nodded
that he could keep going.  Jimmy's dad gave her the same
reply.

    "Back to three and repeat," she said, extending the
song for the dancers.

    The audience went wild at the end, so she had everyone
exit, making the "I Love You" signs over their heads, and
then do curtain calls before asking, "Another one?  Are you
sure?  Are you really, really sure?"

    She pressurized the stick launchers while the others
changed their settings.  When everyone was in position she
announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, we've added something new
to our act tonight, something created by the same
electrical and mechanical genius who provided us with the
WORKING lights, Finnegan Burke!"

    Clearly the crowd didn't know yet what they were
applauding.  They just as clearly didn't care.

    "Some of you will be getting souvenirs of tonight's
performance by Junior and the Twins during this one.  Those
of you down front, you'd better pay attention or you'll be
sorry!  Ladies and gentlemen, our final number, 'CARAVAN!'"

                           ~ ~ ~

    Wynter's heart felt too big for her chest when she saw
the surprised response to Cinnamon's drumstick launcher and
to the souvenir sticks Sis threw into the audience.  Suzie
squeezed her left hand and Alyssa squeezed her right as
they watched from the wings.

    "Little Momma just made the audience forget there were
any other acts today," Tyrone said as he squeezed Shamisa's
waist.  Dustin agreed and squeezed Monique's.  Duck and
Derek said nothing and just stared, open-mouthed, not
believing their predictions of failure could be so totally
wrong.

    "Okay, Kenny," Cinnamon said, and then threw the stick
in her right hand into the wings.  It flew overhead past
Kenny, but it was supposed to.

    Kenny was already holding a souvenir stick in his left
hand.  He gave Suzie's hand a squeeze with his right and
dashed from the wings to the front of the stage.  Mister
Ward was watching him.  Kenny pointed at the man and then
tossed the stick to him.  Mister Ward read the stick and
looked up again.  Kenny flipped him a jaunty salute and
dashed back into the wings as his wife snatched the stick
out of his hands.

    Mrs. Ward's face exploded in fury.  She gave the stick
to Brinkly, who made her mother's face look happy by
comparison.  The girl grasped an end of the stick in each
hand and slammed it onto the arm of her chair.  Mister Ward
looked shocked as she threw the pieces aside.

    "This is a great idea!" Mister Arnold said as he
stopped beside Alyssa and read aloud the inscription on the
stick that had sailed overhead.  "'IST Wizard Basin Concert
Shell Dedication, August 21, 2004.  Compliments of Junior
and the Twins.'  No wonder those two were so upset.  They
lost to Cinnamon, everything to nothing."

    Mister Arnold might act like the class clown, but he
wasn't dumb.  He knew what was going on.

    "Can I see that?" asked a familiar voice behind them.

    Mister Arnold handed the stick to Guy Malone.

    "So THAT'S what she was up to.  Man, I wish I'd been
smart enough to think of it, not to mention that drumstick
gun, or whatever she calls it."

    "What are you doing up here?" Kenny asked.  His tone
said the question was simple curiosity.

    "This concert isn't over yet," he said.  "The band has
a final surprise arranged."  He ignored Kenny's next
question and began talking to Mister Arnold.

    "You know anything about this?" Kenny asked Wynter.

    Wynter looked down at Suzie.  "Anyone say something
about this to you?"

    "Nobody said anything to me," Suzie said.  "But then
nobody said anything about dedicating the performance,
either."  She gave Kenny a cross look as phony as snake oil
and patent medicine.

    Wynter made her face look puzzled.  "Looks like we're
about to find out.  This is the end."

    The band ran into the wings with everyone holding up
both hands in the "I Love You" sign.  Sis seemed surprised
to see Guy, but gave him a big grin and then led the Twins
back onto the stage again.  They returned to even louder
cheers and applause.  This time Cinnamon asked everyone to
make a curtain call.  Wynter ran out holding Jimmy's hand
while Kenny pushed Suzie's chair.

    When Cinnamon turned to lead them off again, she was
stopped by Mr. Arnold and Guy, who ran out and held their
hands up to stop them.

    "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IF I MAY HAVE YOUR ATTENTION,
PLEASE!"  Mister Arnold said, as Guy motioned for the crowd
to be quiet and sit.  "THE CONCERT IS _NOT_ OVER!  WE HAVE
ONE FINAL ACT!"

    Cinnamon frowned at Guy and then whirled around to the
grinning Huntly.  Her lights had come on.  "You shithead!"
Sis growled as Jimmy squeezed Wynter's hand and chuckled.

    Huntly shrugged.  "It's because I love you, bitch." 
He hugged and kissed her as Mister Arnold handed the
microphone to Guy.

    "Ladies and gentlemen, please!"  Guy said.  He took
Cinnamon's hand, peeled her away from Huntly, and led her
to the front of the stage, just inside the lights.  As he
did that, Jimmy squeezed Wynter's hand again and tugged. 
They returned to their keyboards.  Huntly, LaMarcus, and
Mister McCauley also returned to their instruments, and
that caused the crowd to settle.

    Tyrone and Mister Arnold led the rest of the people
off the stage.

    Guy wrapped his arm around Cinnamon's shoulders and
snugged her close.  "Thank you," he said.  "I know at least
one member of the audience is surprised to see me up here
now.  Well, I'm here for two reasons.  One is public:  I'm
here to honor the best drummer in this town, in these
mountains, in fact, in the whole state.  Aw, heck, probably
the best in the WHOLE COUNTRY!"  He gave the little
redhead's shoulders a big squeeze as the crowd thundered
agreement.

    Wynter rechecked her sound with Finnegan, then glanced
at Jimmy.  He grinned at her.  He'd insisted that they
could surprise Sis twice, and he'd been right.  She lost
the bet and now owed him an afternoon at the big flat rock
and another flute recital.  It was one bet that she was
exceptionally happy to lose.

    When the noise dropped, Guy lifted the microphone. 
"The other reason is intensely personal.  I know many of
you expected to see Maroon Bells play, but in order to keep
me off this stage..."

    Cinnamon grabbed his arm and yanked the microphone
down.  "Guy, NO!" she said, her words blasting through the
speakers.  She motioned for him to bend down and whispered
in his ear.

    He looked at her in silence for a moment.  The
audience got so quiet that Wynter looked to see if everyone
had gone home.  Guy finally nodded.

    "To keep me off this stage, ONE OF THE OTHER ACTS
arranged for the Bells to be excluded.  The same act who,
I'm convinced, arranged for Chuck Randolph of IST
Entertainment to impersonate an IST Security employee in a
failed attempt to gain entry to the tent of Junior and the
Twins, and who also arranged for the 'malfunction' that
affected the stage lighting.  Go ahead, Billy!"

    The stage lights suddenly came on.  An angry murmur
began in the audience.

    "On second thought, shut them off again.  We'd prefer
to perform with Finnegan's lighting.  We can't trust IST,
but we can always trust Finnegan, and his lighting is much
better anyway.  DON'T YOU AGREE?"

    While the audience applauded, Sis tried to stop Guy's
comments.  He ignored her.

    "But, that's now history," Guy said.  "YOU want to be
ENTERTAINED!  We're going to play for you now a song
written by the people behind me as a birthday present to
honor the lovely person beside me!  A person whose
drumsticks I'm not worthy to hold, but who has selflessly
been giving me lessons so that I might become a better
drummer, even though she thought we'd be competing tonight!
A person who anticipated tonight's problems and decided
that Junior and the Twins would act in a professional
manner and win on talent!  A person who's going to make
sure that contraption back there is TURNED OFF so that I
don't get hit in the face with flying drumsticks!"

    The lights kept Wynter from seeing the Wards while Guy
escorted Cinnamon to a spot between the drums and Huntly,
but the people at stage left had no trouble.  Kenny and
Dustin pointed toward the Wards.  All, including Mister
Arnold and Billy Landry, were talking to each other.

    Sis gave Guy her headset and explained the switch
positions.  He briefly put it in the speaker position. 
"Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "'CINNAMON STICKS!'"

    Wynter wondered if it was clinically possible for Sis
to run out of tears before the song ended.  It was a LONG
solo.

                           ~ ~ ~

    Angie glanced at the clock as Richard turned off the
radio.  Junior Arnold had called everyone at eleven and
alerted them to listen to the noon news.  Jimmy wouldn't
call for another ten minutes because he never interrupted
lunch unless it was very important.  He wouldn't consider
the news to be so important that he'd telephone, but since
he lived only a block away, he had plenty of time to appear
at the door when the time was up.

    "So," Richard said as he again sat down at the table. 
"Is it sincere?"

    Wynter pursed her lips and pushed them to one side in
thought.  "Maybe," she said.  "But maybe he just fired
those people to protect Brinkly and his wife."

    Angie nodded agreement.  "I think he was sincere when
he apologized to everyone after the concert and promised to
look into things, and from what Wynter said she saw, I
think he wasn't aware of what happened, but I also think he
did that to cover his own butt and make IST look good."

    "Yes," Wynter said with an emphatic nod as she waved
her fork over her salad.  "Cinnamon thinks he's mostly
upset because they made IST look bad, especially with the
lights.  Maybe he fired them for not being more careful."

    Angie grinned at her daughter.  "Or as Suzie put it,
for being a bunch of stupid dolts."

    As she expected, Jimmy agreed with Wynter when he
appeared nine minutes later.

    When Wynter asked Jimmy to wait while she cleared the
table, Angie stopped her.  "This is your last Monday before
school starts.  You and Dragon take Jimmy for your walk as
planned before anyone else shows up.  Your father just
volunteered to clean up instead."

    She kissed Wynter and Jimmy goodbye, gave Dragon a pat
on the head, and watched them leave with Wynter's flute. 
"Why are you looking so grumpy?"

    Richard shook his head.  "_I_ volunteered to clean up
the kitchen?"

    She put her hands on his shoulders.  "Well, I have to
spend tomorrow night in Denver all by myself.  I have about
five more minutes of work to do in my office," she removed
her hands to unfasten her shorts, "and then I'm through for
today.  I just thought that since we had the house to
ourselves..."

    Richard rose and pushed her through the door.  "Why
are you standing around in here when you have work to do,
woman?  Get back to your office and get busy while I spiff
this place up!"

    She kissed him.  "Do you think you can find me after
you're done in here?"

    "I'm a geological engineer and the father of Wynter
King, Future MD.  I can do anything."

    "Hmmm."  She dropped her shorts and stepped out of
them.  "I'll leave a trail, just in case."

                           ~ ~ ~

    Rick Ward switched off the radio, shoved two fingers
through the loop of his necktie, and pulled to loosen it. 
He paced between opposite ends of his living room, trying
to get his fury under control.  He loved both his wife and
his daughter, but he was ready to strangle both of them. 
He turned, paced to the window, and stared out.

    "Rick..."

    He whirled and shoved a forefinger at his wife.  "Not
one word out of either of you," he said in icy fury.  He
shoved his hands into his pockets.  They congealed into
fists as he marched to the coffee table side opposite them.
He nodded at the paper rather than risk removing a hand to
point.

    "Did you read what that reporter said about the
concert?  I think he tried to be fair, but it reads as if
IST was behind the sabotage to that girl's act.  And thanks
to you, I guess it was."

    "Rick..."

    "QUIET!"  He struggled with his temper as Lynne
flinched.  "Because of you I had to fire Chuck Randolph. 
He's one of the better employees I had working for me."

    Lynne bolted upright.  "Rick, I promised that nothing
would happen to him!"

    "Then YOU find him another job.  You had no authority
to speak for me, though you certainly made it sound like it
to him.  God knows what will happen if he sues.  He might
win if he can find a sympathetic jury, and he very well
may.  I'm... well, I'll get to that in a minute.

    "I HAD to fire him to cover my own ass because not
doing so implied collusion.  And it's a damned good thing I
did because I was in the boss's office five minutes later. 
I spent an hour with him and then nearly TWO HOURS on a
conference call with Beaufort.  When the top dog calls from
New Haven, it's either very good or very bad.  It WASN'T
GOOD!"

    One hand flew out of his pocket and held up a thumb
and forefinger pinched together.  "I came THIS close to
being demoted or fired myself, thanks to you.  He made it
clear that I'm on probation, and YOU, my dear, are banned
from Wizard Basin for three months.  Not even the parking
lot."

    Lynne bristled.  "He has no right..."

    "He has EVERY right because I suggested that as a
condition of KEEPING MY JOB!  And if I were you, I'd stay
away from the concert shell as well, although it's about to
be closed until spring while the contractor makes some
suddenly necessary changes before the snow starts."

    Brinkly sniffed and wiped her eyes.  "Daddy, it's my
fault."

    "Dry up the crocodile tears, honey.  You instigated,
I'm sure, but your mother isn't fourteen and is SUPPOSED to
know better.  I'll get to you in a minute.  No, I'll get to
you now."

    He picked up the paper and read from Sillerman's
column, "Confidential sources state that the unfortunate
events occurring to Junior and the Twins are part of a
systematic attack by some members of IST against the band
as well as other members of the community."

    He threw the paper to the coffee table.  "Who the hell
else have you two pulled stunts on, and WHY?  Now I
understand why Brinkly's introduction got such a cold
reception.  It wasn't because she was an 'outsider.'  Bands
from all over received warm receptions.  Other members of
the Brink..."

    He'd been so angry that he'd missed the connection. 
Things suddenly snapped into place.  His voice lowered into
an angry, threatening growl.  "That explains the horseshit
in the driveway and all the other things that have been
going wrong.  You've turned half this town against us. 
Now, what the hell did you do, and I mean ALL of it."

                           ~ ~ ~

    Cinnamon assured Possum that Mister Ward's apology was
genuine, wished her a good afternoon, and hung up the
phone.  She put one elbow on her desk and supported her
pointed chin with her hand.  Perhaps she'd told Possum the
truth.  The apology he'd given her fifteen minutes earlier
had sounded far more genuine than the one he'd given her
after the performance.

    More, but not a hundred percent genuine.  But maybe
she was reading too much into his tone of desperation.

                           ~ ~ ~

    "Hold it, buster!" Cinnamon said, backhanding her
father's arm.  "If this is supposed to be a family event,
then Hailey and I want our sister here with us."

    She marched away from the bow of the new boat, grabbed
Wynter's hand, and pulled her away from her parents and
Jimmy to stand with Daddy, Rosita, Hailey, and herself. 
"Well, get on with it!  We want to go for a ride!"

    Her father blinked and then turned a sorrowful face to
the crowd.  "I wish to state for the record that I am
available for adoption, free to any good home where the
number of males outnumbers..."

    "NOW!"

    Cinnamon giggled because Wynter had joined in that
time.  She hugged her adopted sister and then fought to
keep her glee in check.  Sis didn't tell her about the
surprise real last act at the concert, huh?  Well, Sis was
about to get a surprise of her own.

    Her father sighed.  "I sincerely appreciate your being
here, especially since this is the last day before school
begins.  You know that I had to replace the 'Summer Breeze'
because some woman driver..."

    "HEY!"

    "Because it was lost in an unfortunate incident that
resulted in the wounding of two of you here today.  The two
of you whose actions in a dangerous situation were truly
heroic."  He bowed to Suzie and Ron.  "Since the lake here
is slightly smaller than the Atlantic Ocean, we've replaced
the 'Summer Breeze' with a slightly smaller craft.  We are
here today to christen the new boat, officially bestowing
its name."

    Rosita handed the specially-crafted champagne
christening bottle to Wynter, who gasped at the honor.  
Hailey showed Wynter where to strike and explained that the
bottle was designed to break easily without leaving a two-
foot hole in the bow of the boat.

    As her father reached the end of his short speech,
Cinnamon picked up the lines that would remove the covers
over the painted name.  She handed one to Rosita.

    Her father checked first to see if everyone was ready.
"As my lovely niece said when we placed the order, there's
only one name suitable for the 'Summer Breeze's'
replacement.  I think you'll agree that she was absolutely
right.  We christen this boat," he paused as Cuz had Wynter
swing the bottle, then said the name just before the
instant of impact.

                           ~ ~ ~

    Wynter had no idea what Doctor Breeze was going to
name the new boat.  She was sure that Sis One knew, but not
Sis Two.  Hailey had been far more subdued since the wreck,
but that could be a temporary syndrome, and she might
return to speaking without thinking at any moment. 
Therefore the family had kept the name secret from her.

    She managed not to shriek like a young girl when the
fragile bottle exploded and thus heard Doctor Brees finish
with "the 'Winter Breeze.'"  She thought it made sense to
replace "Summer" with "Winter" because there sure was a lot
more of the second season that the first one up here in the
mountains.  Snow would probably fall in the next two or
three weeks.

    She dropped the bottle's neck in the bucket by her
feet and stepped back to check out the style of the name's
now-exposed painted script.  Mister Novello, the best
graphic artist in town, had painted it. He was famous for
his designs, ranging from really and truly beautiful to
very clever and witty.  Boat owners from Denver and Salt
Lake City brought their watercraft for him to letter their
names.  Occasionally he had customers from even farther
away.  _It must be really well done_, she thought as she
turned to look, _because of the way everyone, and
especially Huntly and Jimmy, are whooping it up._

    Her hands flew to her mouth, and this time she did
shriek as she realized that it wasn't 'Winter Breeze' but
'Wynter Breeze.'  Hands still over her mouth she half-
turned to face Cinnamon's dad.

    He smiled the way she'd seen him smile at Cinnamon. 
He joined both of Wynter's sisters and his Future Wife in a
group hug around her as she cried like Cinnamon during the
'Cinnamon Sticks' performance.  He kissed the top of her
head and announced, "We named it after a member of the
family."

                           ~ ~ ~

    Wynter relaxed and let her arms float in the hot
bubbling water.  The first day of school had been only a
half-day, and all her summer projects were done, so she was
free to relax all afternoon.  About the only think she
could think of that was more relaxing involved Jimmy, but
he was going somewhere with his mother all afternoon.

    Well, she could also relax with her father, of course.
She'd been ignoring him lately.  Well, not ignoring,
exactly, but not giving him all the attention that said she
loved him with all her heart.

    "Am I interrupting?"

    She jumped and gasped.  She hadn't heard him enter
because of the sound of the pumps and the churning water. 
"I was just thinking about you.  You're never an
interruption."

    "Not even the day I barged in on you and Jimmy?"

    She grinned.  "Well, maybe you're never an
interruption except once.  Are you getting in?"  He was
dressed in his shorts and tee shirt and rubber flip-flops.

    "Actually I just came down for some printer paper and
stuff from the storage closet."  He jerked a thumb over his
shoulder.  "I thought that as long as I was down here, I
should see if my favorite doctor needed anything."

    "Future MD," she corrected.

    "That may be, but I trust you more than I trust anyone
in that hospital, including Kevin."

    She knew he really and truly meant that, and her heart
suddenly felt too big for her chest.  She rose to her feet.
"Want to get in for a little while?" she asked.

    He gave her a surprised look.  "Well, I was just...
Well, this report... Well, yeah, it can wait.  Sure.  I can
use a break."  He started undressing.

    "Where's Mother?"

    He pulled off his tee shirt and pointed to the phone. 
Mother's office line was lit.  "I heard her as I was coming
down the stairs.  Turn off the pumps and you can hear her,
too.  Her colorful names and phrases say she's on the phone
with Pete, because they're not the same ones she uses with
Aunt Diane.  Sounded like it might be a 'You're flying to
Europe in fifteen minutes' type of situation, so I didn't
interrupt because I didn't want to be in throwing range of
small heavy objects."

    Wynter felt very sad for Mother.  Her boss was what
she had to put up with so that she could work out of the
house most of the week, but that sure didn't make it any
easier for her.  Whether it was a trip or not, Mother would
suffer a migraine trigger if she'd been arguing with her
boss for this long.  "Should I ask Cinnamon if I can stay
at her house tonight so she can have some quiet?"

    "I think she'd be happier to have her favorite
daughter at home with her.  She might even prefer you
asking her other daughters to spend the night here."

    Wynter pursed her lips and pushed them to one side in
thought.  "Maybe.  We'll see how she is in an hour or so. 
Then I'll... Hey!  You haven't showered first!"

    He stepped into the tub.  "I'm going to drain and
clean it tomorrow anyway," he said, wrapping his arms
around her.

    "Oh.  Well, sit down and I'll massage your shoulders."

    "How about you sit in my lap and tell me you love me,"
he said.

    _Uh oh!_  She suddenly felt very sorry for him. 
"You've been having a bad day, too, haven't you?"

    He sat down, and she straddled his legs, facing him. 
"The USGS," he said, then stopped and forced the angry tone
out of his voice, "didn't like my report.  It was too
short.  So, I'm going to pad it with another eight or ten
pages of drivel having nothing to do with the problem. 
They'll count the pages and be happy, even though it
doesn't say one more word about the real problem than what
they already have in their hands.  Honey, promise me that
whenever you run a hospital you'll pay attention to the
important words rather than the number of total words."

    "I promise," she said and made an 'X' over her heart
with her right index finger.  She really and truly meant it.

    "You have just made my day better," he said.  After
she gave him a nose-and-lips kiss he amended that to, "You
have just made this my best day this week."

    "Promise?"

    He crossed his own heart.  "Promise."

    "Well," she said, running her hand down his cheek,
down his neck, down his scarred chest, into the water, and
farther down, "how'd you like to try for the best day this
month?"

    Five minutes later she had one foot on a seat and the
other on the floor of the tub, her forehead pressed against
the wall as he made love to her from behind.  She hoped
this showed him how she loved him with all her heart and
would cause him to forgive her for being distracted recently.

    The thought was enough:  her eyes squeezed shut, the
blood hammered in her head, and she moaned in orgasm as he
slammed harder and faster into her, trying to make her
pleasure even better.

    They were so involved with each other that they didn't
notice the jingle of Dragon's dog tags when he rose and
quickly shook everything into place before racing out of
the room.

    After she came down from the pleasure high, he grabbed
her around the waist, lifted, and put her on her knees on
the reclining seat.  He adjusted his feet for the best fit
and maneuvering, then slammed in and out of her twice as
fast.  She was sure she came twice as hard this time, and
then, as the world came into focus, daddy began short
stroking.  He grabbed her hips, plunged as deep into her as
he could go, and erupted.  His body quivered as opposing
muscle groups competed.

    He pressed his head between her shoulders as her own
hung down to rest on the edge of the hot tub and together
they gasped in the hot, steamy air.

    "UH OH!" said a familiar voice.

    Frozen in the doorway, hand on Dragon's head, eyes
wide and mouth even wider, stood Jimmy.  He stepped back
into the hallway, turned and vanished while Wynter found
her voice.

    "JIMMY!  WAIT FOR ME IN THE PARTY ROOM!" she shouted
as her father squirted out of her vagina.  Her pussy.  Her
split.  Her...  "Daddy, let go!" she said, wrenching
herself from his grasp.  He collapsed back onto a seat in
very much the same way Jimmy had done the day he and Daddy
had been in opposite roles.

    She jumped out of the tub and rushed from the room,
not wasting the time necessary to reach for a towel.  If
Jimmy had gone upstairs she had to catch him before he left
the house!  She raced down the hall on wet, slippery feet,
skidding at the left turn into the party room.  She bounced
off the utility room wall and rushed into the party room,
angling toward the stair.

    "Over here," he said in a quiet voice.

    She skidded to a halt and turned around.  He sat in a
chair in the far corner, elbows on his knees and head face-
down in his hands.  "Your mom thought you were down here
alone," he said almost too softly to be heard.

    She slowly walked to within a foot of him and stood
there, searching for words.  She didn't know what to do
with her hands, so she clasped them behind her butt and
rubbed the top of her right foot against her left Achilles
tendon.  "Um..."

    _This wasn't how it was supposed to happen!_

    "Jimmy, I guess it's time we finally had a little talk."

Copyright Russell Hoisington 2007

************************************************************

  Wynter's adventures will continue in "Wynter & Brinkly"

************************************************************

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State of Confusion

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