“No. I'm following up on an investigation and I need to ask you a few questions.”

“What investigation?” Molly asked, wondering what juicy information she could get out of the conversation.

“I'm here concerning threats being mailed mail to the work place of Maggie Patterson and called to her house.”

Molly's blood began to boil and she rolled her eyes. “What did that little freak and his family claim!?!” She yelled.

“Ma'am, please stay calm.” The Deputy held up a hand to stop her tirade. “I was informed that you were at their residence over the weekend and threatened them.”

Big thanks to Djkauf for the Editing

More of the saga of Tracy Patterson

February 2nd 1983

Wednesday morning started off as any other for Molly Hallmark. Getting up, and making sure her sons and husband got off to school and work, then she went to the living room to wait for her soap operas, waiting till all were gone, before she turned on the T.V. The early morning news shows were almost over where there was a knock at the door. She got up and went to open the door. When she saw the Sheriff, she began to think that something had happened to her children.

“Pardon me Ma'am, I'm Deputy Kline with the Butte County Sheriff’s office. Are you Molly Hallmark?”

“Yes, can I ask what this is about? Nothing happened at the school, did it?”

“No. I'm following up on an investigation and I need to ask you a few questions.”

“What investigation?” Molly asked, wondering what juicy information she could get out of the conversation.

“I'm here concerning threats being mailed mail to the work place of Maggie Patterson and called to her house.”

Molly's blood began to boil and she rolled her eyes. “What did that little freak and his family claim!?!” She yelled.

“Ma'am, please stay calm.” The Deputy held up a hand to stop her tirade. “I was informed that you were at their residence over the weekend and threatened them.”

“I'm sorry, but as per the bible, that little freak is sinning and I don't want to risk my children being attacked by him when he decides he wants to hurt someone. But I never threatened him.”

“Do you have proof that he wants to hurt someone?” Deputy Kline asked.

“What? What proof would I need?!? He wears dresses! He's wearing girls clothes! There's got to be something wrong in his head to make him think that's okay! And instead of making sure he's not hurting people, you come to my house and harass me?”

“Ma'am, I'm here because there is an open investigation going on because Troy Patterson and his mother, plus three other people have received threatening calls and pictures about someone wanting to rape and kill them.” He noticed a look of surprise cross her face, for she had no idea. Then it faded back to a mask of anger. “We were informed that you left their place the other day, threatening them on the way out. That makes it part of the investigation now. What Troy Patterson does is his own thing, till he hurts someone, which he has not. And I can't arrest him until he commits a crime, which, as I just stated, he has not.”

“It's only a matter of time. You should know how those people are? They want you to think they're just fine, then they start with the kids, touching them and raping them. He'll be just like the rest of the freaks. They never know when to stop, always claiming to be your friend....”

“And do you have proof that he's raped anyone?” Deputy Kline asked.

“Well no, but...”

Kline held up a hand and interrupted her. “Do you have proof that he has tried to rape anyone, or touched them in a lewd manner?”

“Well no, but....”

Deputy Kline interrupted her again before she could continue. “Ma'am, If I were you, I wouldn't go spreading it around that he is a rapist. If the Pattersons heard you, or got wind that you were spreading these lies, they could sue for Defamation of character and slander and there is a great chance they could win.”

“They could sue me, when they have the abomination?!?”

Deputy Kline nodded. “Yes. If you're telling people that the child is a rapist and he isn't, then yes, they could sue you for defamation of character, slander and if you write it down, libel. You're damaging his reputation and doing it vindictively. But I'm not here about legal advice, I need to ask you about what happened at the Patterson house on the weekend.”

She huffed out a breath and glared at him. “What about it?”

“First of all, were you there on Saturday the twenty-ninth?” Deputy Kline asked. “And were you with June Olsen, Wendy Hurt and Kimberly Caborn?

“Yes, I went there, but we didn't do anything to the little freak.”

He kept going, not bothering to stop her ranting about her thoughts on the child. He wasn't sure why she had the hatred for the child, in his couple of meetings with Troy, he thought the child was a nice kid, and polite too. “While you were there, did you engage in a debate over Troy Patterson with his mother, about him, a verbal debate that grew heated, but stayed verbal?”

“Yes.” She growled. “But I have my reasons!”

Deputy Kline kept asking questions, not letting her go off on anther rant. “And did you repeatedly claim that Troy Patterson was going to attack children in the town and rape them?”

“Yes! How do we know he isn't!?!”

“Ma'am, please, keep calm. I just got a couple more questions.” Deputy Kline looked to his notebook. “When you were told to leave, did you threaten Troy Patterson, Maggie Patterson, Modine Patterson or William Patterson in any way?”

“No.” Molly replied.

“No? You didn't tell them that you wouldn't rest till the, how was it put, 'that abomination was out of your town' Then you threatened to run them out of town or make them wish they had left?”

Molly shook her head. A part of her wanted to deny it, but the logical part told her that if someone was threatening them, she was the biggest culprit at the moment. “Well I said that, but I wasn't going to attack them! I just want that thing out of my town! I can't believe that you would come here and pester me when that thing is allowed to run around with the chance to hurt children!”

“Ma'am, please, stay calm.” Deptuy Kline said again. “Have you mailed any pictures with threats, or phoned the Pattersons at all and keep in mind, we can pull your phone records.”

“No. My son brought home a picture, but I didn't send any to anyone.” Molly replied through clinched teeth. “Nor have I called those people.”

“Could I please have the picture. We need it for the records.”

“I threw it out already, the trash was picked up on Friday.” It was a lie, but he didn't need to know that.

Deputy Kline was sure that was the truth and he knew the more he pushed for answers, the madder she would get and that wouldn't get him anywhere. “Okay. I would advise you to keep your distance from the Patterson's. They could take anything you do as having hostile intent and you could end up in legal trouble.”

“Fine. I'll leave that little freak alone.” Molly grumbled. Deputy Kline didn't believe her, but he was sure she wasn't a party to the pictures. He also knew that until she did something, there wasn't much he could do.

~o~O~o~

February 4th 1983

William walked into the lunch-room at the mill to find it very packed. This wasn't out of the ordinary. But this time everyone seemed to be watching him as he walked up to the end of the line. He could hear the snickers behind him, but he did his best to ignore them. He had no idea what the big joke was as he grabbed his food and put it on his tray. Then he saw a picture, hanging where the cashier was. It was a copy of the picture that had been left in Tracy's backpack. The same one that had been passed out to almost everyone at school. The picture of his daughter Tracy, wearing her skirt and hanging out with her mother at the mall. At the top of the picture was the child's name. “Troy Patterson” Written in permanent marker, with an arrow pointing to his child. At the bottom of the picture was written “Daddy's little faggot.” Once again he could tell that the writing wasn't the same as the one Tracy got at school, but it was same writing as what he found in his locker.

“I didn't do that.” The tiny woman who worked at the lunch line said, in a timid voice.

“You didn't stop it either.” William replied as he reached over and yanked on the picture, tearing it away from the tape that held it. “Who did it?” He asked, as he barely managed to keep his voice calm.

“I...I didn't see.” She replied, but one look at William's face told her he wasn't buying it. “Please, don't get me involved in this.” She said.

“Too late for that, isn't it.” William stated, then he turned around to glare at his fellow workers. He took a deep breath as he faced the entire room. He knew there were several people watching him now, more than before. Kids at the school he could understand, but when his co-workers getting in on what was a school yard stunt, that pissed him off. He raised his voice so he could be heard in the room, without difficulty. The logical part of him screamed to not say a word and let the cops handle it, but this was his child they were messing with and he had enough. Plus this way, he could get an idea of who was in the room with him. “Okay, I don't know which of you assholes put this up, but it's not funny.” He glared around the room.

“None of you realized how stupid this makes you all look. Picking on an eleven year old? Really? Are we all in grade school here? This makes you feel like men? Throwing insults at someone twenty years younger then you? This child has seen more trouble and pain in eleven years than a lot of you have seen your whole lives. And you all feel you're better then him. The pictures being passed around the school I can see, but here? At a place of work where grownups are? It's pathetic. You're all worse then a bunch of little preschoolers.” William growled as he walked out of the room.

Billy waited for William to leave before he got up from his table and headed for the bathroom. He couldn't help but smile after William's little speech. He knew there was no way in hell that anyone could catch him. He figured the cashier was threatened well enough so she wouldn't talk. He was glad that Clark had involved him in the plan to get even with the Pattersons. He had no more than stepped into the bathroom when he felt someone shove him into a wall.

He spun around to see his father, the man who had helped him to get the job at the mill, in an attempt to get his son to clean up his act. His father held him against the wall with an arm over his throat. “Alright, you little prick. I want to know if you had anything to do with that.” The older man growled.

“With what?” Billy asked, trying to get away from his father.

“You know what. Did you leave that picture of William's kid?” Larry asked, adding pressure to the arm. “I know you were pissed when Bruce got arrested.”

“That little faggot gets what he deserves.” Billy replied. “No one fucks with my family. But I didn't leave no picture.”

“If I find you're lying, I will take you to the jail and shove your ass into a cell on my own, got it?”

Billy shoved at his father and he managed to separate the two of them. “I didn't do it! Jesus, I think you'd support your own fucking family before some snitch.”

“I'd support my family if he wasn't a drug using, waste of life.” Larry replied. “Hanging out with your hoodlum friends and where's that gonna get ya? A nice cell by Bruce for doing something stupid.” Larry shook his head. “I don't know why I even bother with you.” Then he turned and walked out of the bathroom, leaving Billy to rub at his throat and glare at the back of his head.

~o~O~o~

William made his way to the office and went inside. “I need to make a call.” He said, looking to Steven who was inside.

“Go a head. Nothing wrong I hope?”

“Well, yeah, there is.” He said. “I need to call the Sheriff’s Department about the ongoing investigation about the threats my youngest is getting. Someone is leaving the threats here now and the Sheriffs need all the leads they can get.”

“Wait, someone left a threat here?”

“Two so far, the first was on Monday, someone left it in my locker. The newest one was hanging in the lunch-room for everyone to see.”

“How are they threatening your child? If we know, we can stop this.”

“We can stop this by finding the man threatening to rape and murder my family. We can have the man who is mailing threats to my wife's work jailed so the rest of the world can be a bit safer.” William snapped back. Then he took a deep breath to calm down and weighed his options. He knew that it was only a matter of time before Steven and the rest of management saw a picture, he was sure that there would be more, until the man was caught. On the other hand, if he told Steven, he had the chance of stopping wild speculation. So he took a leap of faith. “Remember his attack?”

“Yeah. You still thinking this is connected?”

“Yeah. I know it is.” William said. “Remember what I told you, about his surgeries?”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“I never told you the whole story, mostly for Troy's sake.” Instead of going with the truth, William was hoping a well crafted lie would help stop questions. He sighed and showed the picture to Steven. “After his surgeries and the one that followed him being tripped at school, the doctors agreed that the chances of Troy ever having a normal life as a man are gone, so they are having him become a girl.”

“Wait...what?” Steven asked, blinking a couple of times as he looked at the picture. “That's your son?”

“Yes, my son, soon to be daughter.” William stated. “There's not a lot of choice. Trust me, I looked. I begged. I've screamed at God to find a way." Steven had no idea that William had been behind it for months now and William was okay with that. "See, He could get the hormones, but most of what a man has down there is gone. Destroyed by three teenage monsters. Had he stayed in school, by the time he had to take Physical Education, someone would find out when he would have to take a shower and the teasing would be bad. Not that having threats against your life is better, but right now, it's only an asshole or two.”

“I don't know William, calling the cops to come down here, some of the others could say you're making it a hostile work environment.”

Anger flared up in William for a moment and he tried to rein it in before he went off on a rant. When he did speak, it was through clinched teeth. “Really? How about me? I could claim that right now. I have to put up with someone threatening to rape and murder my wife and youngest, plus murder my oldest and myself and I can't say anything? Well the Cops already know, so the last thing I'm going to do is just sit on this and get arrested for hiding evidence from them. I'm not just sitting idly by, when the target of the threats are my family.” He glared at Steven. “So either let me make the report and not get in trouble with the law for hiding evidence, or stop me and you can have it on your head when someone rapes and kills my family.”

Steven backed away from the phone as he thought about how it would be to be in the same situation. “Go ahead.”

“Thank you.” William said as politely as he could, which wasn't that much, while he picked up the phone.

~o~O~o~

Maggie was at her chair, reading, while Tracy was at her in-laws, cleaning so she could have the weekend off to hang out with her friends. She stopped as the phone started to ring and she picked it up.

“Hello?” She said into the phone. She knew only a handful of people had the new number, but she still wasn't saying her last name over the phone, just in case the man had found the new number.

“Hey Maggie, it's me.” She heard her husband’s voice say. She could hear something in it, something that didn't sit right with her.

“What happened?” She asked.

“Someone left a picture in the lunch-room. I called the cops already and they should be here shortly to investigate it.”

“Dammit.” Maggie muttered. “William, I know we said one more attack, but I really feel that moving is the best idea right now.”

“Yeah. I think I agree with you.”

“We get a hold of Shelly after the girls leave. I don't want to worry her.”

“Okay. I'll try calling Shelly later.” Maggie said. “But I agree. I don't want to worry Tracy. She's finally happy for once this week and I don't want to ruin this.”

“Okay. I'll be home after the game tonight.” William stated.

“Love you and stay sharp. We can still catch this asshole.”

“I know Babe. I know.” William replied.

~o~O~o~

By time his shift was almost over, the story had swept the mill, and the fact that the cops had shown up didn't help matters, but William didn't care anymore. He was aware that a new crew was working already as he had parked the forklift and many of them had heard the story of the picture and his rant. So as he walked past one of the machines, headed for the locker-room, some of the younger guys decided to taunt him.

“Hey, how's your little queer son?” One of the younger guys at the mill asked William in a taunting tone.

“Better not tease him, he may go tell the cops.” A second man, barely old enough to vote added, in a mocking, baby like tone. William just arched an eyebrow and stood there, not saying a word.

“Well. How is it to have a little fag for a son? What's wrong, not man enough to smack the little fairy in line? Teach him what it is to be a man?”

“Yeah, but maybe he gets off on that stuff. Maybe it's Will's fault that the boy wears dresses.” Another man added. “Maybe Will likes to dress up his son, gets off on a fantasy of touching little girls.”

The three men laughed and William just stood his ground, not saying a word. “Maybe he dresses up with his son!?!” More laughter erupted and it still got no response from William. He just committed their names and faces to memory.

“Well say something! Not going to defend your little faggot son?!?” The second man shouted at William who finally replied while pointing at the machine the man was to be watching as the manager for his area was running over to them.

“Your machine is backed up.” William forced a smile as a few boards hit the ground. He didn't feel like smiling, in fact he wanted to introduce the their faces to his fist. But this was better. He didn't need to be fired, or arrested for defending his daughter, not till the bad guy was caught. “Good luck catching up with the rest of the line.” Then he turned and walked away, while many of the people who were watching began laughing at the pile up the other two had caused. Boards began hitting the ground, causing more people to look.

~o~O~o~

William was headed out of the mill when he heard the sound of someone running in what sounded like tap shoes. “William!” A voice called out. He stopped and turned to see Susan who worked in the main office trying to run over to him in high heels. “William, can I speak to you?” She asked as she got closer.

He sighed, not wanting to get into a conversation with one of the biggest gossips in the mill. “What is it? I'm running late, my son has a ball game I want to catch.”

“Me too, My Ronnie is playing tonight, too.” She said. “Is what I heard right?” Susan asked as she dropped her voice into conspiratorial type whisper. “The other day my Son came home and said he saw a picture of your son in a dress and now I hear that the cops had to come here today and investigate a picture of the same thing. Is it all true?”

He knew the information was out there now and it was hopeless to fight it. “There are pictures out there, but someone is using them to intimidate my child and they're threatening to rape and murder my wife and children. The cops are looking into it and now that someone has put one up here, they have to investigate.”

“And they sent them to the school too?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, it's not my son. I'd blister his butt if he threatened to kill people.” She leaned in closer. “You have any idea who did it? I mean how did they get it here? Maybe the kid has parents that work here?”

“I don't know, I've been wracking my brain to figure it out.”

“Well I know Leroy has a daughter and a son that goes to the same school, but he has been gone till today. There are a couple others, but both of them haven't worked yesterday or today.”

“Yeah, I ruled him and you out already.” William said with a nod.

“Hmmm. I can try and come up with a few names over the weekend, if you want. But what if it is like a family friend? Be harder to find him if the man isn't related.”

The suggestion stopped William. He hadn't thought about that. “Crap. I never thought about that.”

“I'll keep an eye out for you, okay?”

“T-thank you Susan.” He replied. He wasn't ready for that, not from a notorious gossip. But any help was appreciated.

~o~O~o~

William walked into the school and headed for the office. He found just Mr. Harper inside. He shut the door as he caught the Principal's attention. “Alvin, could I speak to you for a moment?”

“What's wrong Mr. Patterson?”

“Well you may not know it, but someone sent one of the pictures to Maggie's work on Tuesday. On Monday I had a picture left in my locker at work, but today there was one hanging in the lunch room for everyone to see.”

“Oh shit.” The Principal muttered. “William, have you and Maggie thought about getting Troy out of town?” Mr. Harper asked.

“Yeah. We're sending him to his God-parents. I feel we're at the start of this and it's going to get worse.”

“Things tend to get worse before they get better.”

William nodded. “Yeah. That's what scares me.”

“I can understand.”

“Alvin, I need to know, do you know many people that have children that go here and work at the mill?”

“Off hand? Not many. But give me the weekend and I may be able to come up with a few names.”

“Could you? That could really help us catch the guy responsible, before he follows through on his threats.”

“There's been more?” Alvin asked and William nodded.

He lowered his voice and leaned in close. “He's threatened to not only attack Troy, but to attack and rape both Maggie and Troy, then kill Maggie and make Troy watch, then kill Vance and myself and then finally kill Troy.”

“Oh dear God, that's barbaric.” Alvin said as he turned a shade of green.

“I know, that's why I want this guy strung up as fast as possible. Before he follows through with his threat.”

“Tell you what. I'll start looking through the records now and see If I can come up with anything. I'll try and have a few names for you before the game is over, okay?”

“Well, I can mark a couple off the list.” William reached out and picked up a pad and a pencil. He quickly wrote the names of the people he and Susan had ruled out. “I know these people are innocent, just because they were out of town, at least I think they're innocent. But we got them on the list already.”

“Okay. I can work with this.” Alvin said.

“Thank you Alvin. Thank you very much.”

~o~O~o~

Persephone was in the lead with her VW bus, which was filled with five teens, plus her youngest in the passenger seat, one wheel chair and five sleeping bags. The girls had been singing with the radio since they had left Sacramento and each of them seemed to bounce in their seat, each time they pulled off one highway and onto another. She signaled way before her turn for the truck behind her and slowed down, then pulled off the tiny highway and began driving past farms. She gave a quick look in the mirror to make sure that Harvey had turned with her.

“She live close to here?” Brooke said, trying to look out the window, but not seeing much due to the darkness.

“About ten miles, we have to pass by the school Tracy went to, up till last week.” Persephone said.

Stacey sat by on of the windows in the back seat, trying to peer out into the darkening night sky. “Are those....trees? I thought these were farms, like cows and stuff.”

“There are cows in the area, but most of these farms have olive orchards.” Persephone replied.

“Do her parents own cows?” Stacey asked. “Can we milk one of them?”

“No, they don't own cows. Maggie said they used to, but they got rid of them a while back.” Persephone said.

“Their neighbor has cows though.” Sage said with a huge smile. “And Tracy isn't hurt, so we can walk down and see them.”

“Maybe, but remember young lady, unlike you, she can't go as Tracy everywhere.” Persephone replied.

“Yeah.” Sage agreed. “I know, kinda wish she was.”

“So does she, but remember, this is a different world up here. Pace is slower and people are more.....” Persephone was quiet for a moment, trying to figure out the right words.”Rigid in their beliefs.”

“Hey, maybe we can get Emily May and Mary Beth to come over too?” Stacey suggested.

“No chance.” Sage replied with a shake of her head. “Whoever sent the pictures, sent one to their dad and Tracy said they can't see her ever again.”

“That jerk sent one to them? Why?”Stacey asked.

“Simple, whoever must have known about their father and how he feels.” Sage answered. “They've also targeted Vance and Emily at the school and Peter too.”

“Damn. So they are trying to take away her friends?” Stacey guessed.

“Yeah, I think so.” Sage answered. “But it's not stopping Emily May and Mary Beth. I guess they've been sending a letter a day to Tracy. And Peter doesn't care about the pictures either.”

“Darn it, It would have been cool to get all of us together.” Stacey grumbled. “I mean we only met them once, but I've mailed them a couple of times and they seemed cool.”

“Yeah, I've sent a couple letters too.” Sage said, a couple of the other girls nodded in agreement.

“Girls?” Persephone called out. She pointed to the drivers side of the van. “Coming up on the left side is the school that Tracy went to and Vance still goes to.”

As they passed it, they noticed all the cars there. “Wow, it's small.” Brooke said.

“Why is everyone there?” Stacey asked.

“Basketball game. Tracy said Vance had one today. Last one of the season I think.” Rachel said.

“We're pulling a prank on Vance when he gets home, too.” Sage grinned.

Persephone looked in the rear-view mirror and looked at her daughter, who only saw her mothers face, slightly lit by the dashboard. “I don't know about this. You know my feelings on playing with someone’s feelings young lady.”

“It wasn't my idea.” Sage said. “Even his parents are in on this. His Dad's keeping him away from the house for a bit so we can set it up.”

“Okay, what's the prank?” Persephone asked. Rachel began to giggle, then she laid out the plan. Persephone did her best to not let a smile cross her face. “Okay, I'll allow this, but you need to realize that this boy has feelings for you and at some point, you need to let him down, gently.”

“Tell him the truth?” Sage asked.

“That may help. God knows no one likes the 'lets be friends' talk.” Her mother stated. “He's good with Tracy, he shouldn't have issues with you.”

~o~O~o~

Tracy and Maggie were alone in the house, both of them in the living room with the TV off. Each of them had a book and were taking advantage of the quiet house to get a little reading done. Maggie sat in her chair and Tracy sat on the couch, leaning against the arm of the couch, with her legs curled under her. Vance was at his last game of the season and William had gone to watch him. Every few moments, Tracy would look to the clock, then turn her head, move the curtain and peek out the window. After about the tenth time in just as many minutes, Maggie waited till she went to do it again.

“A watched pot never boils.” She said in her wise mother voice, not looking away from her book.

“I know” Tracy whined. “but I want them here now.”

“I know baby, but you got to remember, two of the girls go to different schools. They had to go into Fremont to get Casey. That's half an hour away from Livermore, if not more because of Traffic.” Maggie reminded her. “Plus they had to get clothes and stuff like that.”

“I know, but I just want them up here.” Tracy whined. “The day's almost over, plus Vance should be home soon.”

“Oh yeah.” Maggie said with a devilish grin, having heard about the joke. “Now you didn't tell him, did you that they were coming up?”

“No.” Tracy smiled back.

“Good, this is going to be worth it.” Maggie smiled.

“Who all is coming?”

Maggie put down her book and began counting off the people, on her fingers. “Well, Persephone and the girls, including Andromeda, plus Harvey and Lok and Moonglow.”

“Lok is coming up? Harvey too?”

“Yeah, Karen had plans, so Lok decided to come up last moment. And Harvey had a couple vacation days and I guess Lilian had work going on.”

“Oh.” Tracy said. “Well, at least Lok's coming, you'll like him, he's pretty cool. You said Mooney's coming?” Tracy asked.

“Yeah, I guess Harvey is taking this trip as a reason to test out a new trailer he bought for hunting season. So him, Moonglow and Lok will be testing the beds, and Persephone and Andromeda will be next door.”

Tracy was about to respond when she heard the unmistakable sound of a VW motor coming down the road and getting louder. A few moments later was the sound of tires hitting the driveway. She whipped around and looked through the curtains once more and saw a truck pulling a trailer stop near their driveway. She got up and went to the door, and threw it open to see a second vehicle already in front of the house.

“Wait!” Maggie said as her daughter started to go outside. She got up and rushed over, to her daughter. “Let's make sure it's the right people before we rush into the darkness.” The porchlight had been left on, but at night, in the country, that only helped just so much.

Maggie stopped behind her daughter, looking at Persephone's van in front of their house. “I think that's...” A light came on in the van and she saw, Persephone and the girls all waving, then one of them went for the door and she could hear Persephone telling them to wait a moment. Maggie heard the sounds of someone walking from the truck and she looked over to see Harvey, Lok and Mooney all coming towards her.

“Maggie?” Persephone rolled down her window and pointed to the driveway by her in-laws. “Want me to park over there?”

“Yeah, Next to Conner's car will be fine. He knows about it.”

“Okay.” She was about to put it into gear when she turned and spoke to the girls. “Sit down, you can wait two more minutes.”

Tracy started to walk along the fence line of the houses till she reached where Persephone was pulling in.

As soon as Persephone had the van in park, the side door flew open and four of the five preteen girls jumped out. Sage held back long enough to get Brooke's wheelchair. Tracy found herself swarmed by Casey, Stacey and Rachel. A moment later, Andromeda came running up and hugged her too, then she looked up and then around. “Can I pet cows?”

“We don't have any cows. We have olive trees.”

“Can I have an olive?!?”

“No, we picked those already, plus they got to be treated. They taste nasty raw. We mostly have oil olives here.”

The girl frowned, then her attitude picked up again. “Gowie said you have big birds”

“The turkeys.” Sage clarified.

“Oh. Well we don't have them, they're wild. They live in our field, but they sleep at night, so we can't look for them until tomorrow.”

The little girl stuck out her lip and began to pout. “Oh.”

“Hey, if we're up early enough them, we may get to see deer back there too.” Tracy told the little girl with a smile.

“Hey, could we take her to see the cows tomorrow? You think your neighbor would be okay with that?” Sage asked.

“Um....” Tracy started, then she stopped, trying to figure out how to tell her friend about the cows and the extra meat in a locker for them down town. “Mrs. Scott doesn’t have those anymore.” From behind her she heard her Grandparent's door open up. They had left their porch light on for the new arrivals. She waved at her grandparents as both of them came out and down the steps.

“She don't? What happened?” Sage asked.

“They got out while I was with you all. She....um....got rid of them.”

“Oh, darn it. I wanted to pet a cow.”

“The neighbor around the corner has goats, we could see about looking at those.”

“Goats are cool too I guess.” Sage replied sounding a bit down.

“They got sheep too.” Tracy said.

“Sheep are cute.” Rachel said as Conner led Modine over to the girls.

“Oh, hey, you all met my Grandma back before Christmas.” Tracy said. “This is my Grandpa Conner.”

“Girls.” Conner looked at the girls and only Brooke caught the look on Conner's face and just for a split second, one that said he wasn't comfortable, but Brooke didn't say anything. She was used to people hating her because of her wheelchair.

“Grandpa, you remember Rachel and Sage, right?” Tracy asked.

“Yes I do. It's good to see you girls again. You too, Persephone.” Conner replied. He looked to Tracy. “I guess your brother will be tripping on his tongue again?”

“Yep.” Tracy giggled. “We have a plan too.” She quickly laid out the joke and he laughed.

“That's just mean young lady. Mean, mean mean....I approve.” Conner said with a smile. “So who are these other girls?”

“This is Sage's sister, Andromeda.” Tracy said, putting a hand on the little girls head. “And these are Stacey and Casey, they're Sage's cousins. Their father is over there. And this girl is Brooke, her Grandpa Lok is over there too. Plus Sage's brother is up here too.” Brooke wasn't sure, but she swore she saw the uncomfortable look on Conner's face once more, but it faded just as fast, so she just ignored it and prepared to have fun with her friend.

“It's good to meet you all.” Conner said, then he gently touched his wife’s shoulder. “I'll go see if they need help with that trailer.”

“Okay.” Modine said as she leaned out to hug Persephone. “It's good to see you again.”

“You too, Modine.” She put a hand on her youngest. “This is Andromeda, she's going to be with me. The guys are testing out Harvey's new trailer.”

“I thought one of the other mothers was coming.”

Persephone shook her head. “Lynn, Karen and Lilian either had stuff to do or wanted a break, so did Carl, my Husband.

“Come on, let's grab your stuff and get inside, before Vance gets home.” Tracy said, walking ot the side door of the bus.

~o~O~o~

The front room was filled with preteen girls again, as they set up the prank they had for Vance. They knew the time was getting close, so Moony, 'Romy, Harvey and Lok were all outside, hiding in the trailer, or at Tracy's grandparents place. Sage stood in the center of the room, wearing just the bottoms to a two piece swimsuit that was close to her skin tone and a long shirt.

The girls giggled as Sage stood there. “Okay, why am I all alone in this?”

In her silliest voice she could do, Rachel replied. “Because he LOVES you.” Then she began making kissing noises.

“Keep it up funny girl.” Sage threatened with a grin. “I'll make you kiss him this time. This was partly your idea.”

“I'd join you, but getting dressed in a hurry in this chair doesn't happen.” Brooke replied.

"Come on, I can't do this alone. Think of the fun if we all snap his brain."

Rachel sighed. "Okay, I'll help you. But you owe me big."

~o~O~o~

“Whose trailer?” Vance asked as they got out of the car. He saw the Truck and the van at his grandparents place. “Think Grandma and Grandpa are here already?”

“Who knows, let's go in and find out?” William said as he shut off the motor

He let his son lead the way and he had to chuckle when the door opened and his son stopped at the sight that was in front of him. William looked down to his feet as he laughed.

Vance's jaw dropped as he saw the mostly naked backsides of Sage, Stacey, Casey and Rachel. But his eyes didn't see the seams of the swim suit on Sage, nor could he see the one on Stacey, not that he was looking too hard at her. Then one of them shrieked and all four of the mostly naked girls darted out of the room, two headed for the kitchen before ducking down the hall, and Casey and Stacey went for his parents room.

Vance stood there for a moment while William fought the urge to burst into laughter. “Sage....Sage was naked?”

“Yep, So was Rachel, Stacey and Casey. They were comparing bodies to show Tracy what she had to look forward to.” Brooke stated.

“They were naked.... in our house?” Vance asked again as William pushed him into the house.

“Yep.” Tracy said.

“Where are they now?”

“Maybe getting dressed in our room.” Tracy replied. That was followed by Sage's voice.

“Tracy, can you bring my clothes in here? Rachel's too, we're in your room.”

“I can do it.”Vance said as his smile grew.

"Tracy? Can you bring my clothes in here? Casey's too?" Stacey's voice called out from her parents bedroom.

"Hey, you take theirs and I'll take Sage's." Vance offered.

“Nah, she asked me.” Tracy said with a grin.

“I don't mind. I promise I won’t look.” Vance said.

“Now that is a load of bullshit.” William said with a chuckle as he finally looked up.

“Please Tracy...We're getting cold here.” Sage said with a whine in her voice.

“Tell you what, cover Vance's eyes and we'll come out and just grab it fast.” Rachel said. “Sage can wrap up in a towel and come out.”

“Okay girls, I'll cover his eyes” William put his hands over Vance's eyes and the boy tried to move the hands.

He heard the pitter patter of Sage hurrying to the room, then he heard her gasp. “Crud, the towel fell.”

Vance pried the hand away from his eyes and he focused on Sage, who stood there, facing him, but wearing a two piece swim suit. “But.....”

“Sorry, I had to.” Sage said with a devilish grin.” She grabbed her clothes, plus Stacey's, Casey's and Rachel's, then skipped off to William and Maggie's room, pushing through the curtains, giggling as she went. They could hear Rachel moving through the house, by way of the doors in the bathroom.

“They were really naked in the house?” He asked, trying to picture the scene in his mind of the four mostly naked girls in his mind.

“Yep, well mostly naked.” Tracy said as she went to move into the bedroom.

“Give them a minute.” Maggie told her. “It wont kill you to wait.”

“But they're my friends...”

“And they're changing, so give them a little privacy.” Maggie said.

“Okay.” Tracy grumbled. Brooke rolled over and grabbed her hand.

“Hey, you still got me to bug.”

“Yeah.” Tracy nodded.

“Wait, so Sage is here? For like the night?”

“Well she's not going right back home.” Tracy replied.

“Sage, Rachel, Brooke, Stacey and Casey are staying the next couple of nights.” Maggie stated. “Stacey and Casey go home with their father, Officer Parker on Sunday and the rest leave with Lok and Moonglow on Monday.”

“Moonglow is here?”

“Yep.” Tracy said. “He's outside with Mister Parker and Lok.”

"Lok?" William asked. Brooke noticed something on William's face, a look of sadness. Like with Conner, she figured it was because of her chair.

"Yeah, My Grandfather." Brooke said with a smile, ignoring William's strange look. "He's a Kung Fu master."

William thought about that for a moment and how they had pronounced his name. Each time he heard the name, it sounded like Lock. He blinked a couple of times. "He's Master Lok? Like the padlock company?"

Brooke giggled. "Yep. Mom always jokes that he could change his name, so he could be Master Card."

Next up, more fun with Tracy and the girls