CHAPTER 46
“Mike?”

“Er, hang on…”

I topped out on the overhang, then shuffled across to the easy descent holds, as Maz snorted with muffled laughter.

“What’s funny, woman?”

Sara’s Quarters:
Kelly woke up early and felt like crap. She was still getting used to being a girl, but last night had been wild. She went to a friend’s birthday party. One of the girls she first met when she came to Vineyard, invited her.

She walks into the bathroom and does her morning business, before taking a nice hot shower. Ever since she was turned into a girl by her father. She had found that she enjoyed taking hot showers. She didn’t know why, but it felt nice against her sensitive skin.

Helping Mum wasn’t as dire as it sounded. She took charge, which was only right since she knew a lot more about the running of her kitchen than me, and preparation for lunch took less than half the time it usually did. The happy bonus being that Mum calmed down rather than becoming her usual frazzled self. With twice as many hands available, it was easier to wash up as we went, so there wasn’t much in the way of dirties in the sink by the time we were ready to serve up.

The Christmas period was very quiet for me. That was a godsend as the last few days of the old company were pretty hectic, so a few days of chilling out in front of the TV, eating and sleeping was very welcome.

The sun was up, work was in thirty minutes, and her bladder was close to bursting. But Natalie did not get up from the bed. Mentally, she was just too exhausted, from Astian, from Kira, from Nathan, and from herself. She was tired of life.

CHAPTER 45
I had no answer to that, none that seemed adequate, so I simply reached across and squeezed the back of her hand, just as her mobile chirped from the glove box. I opened the cover and passed the phone across to her. A quick glance, then a shy smile, rather than the beam I was used to, or the brittle near-grimace I feared.

“Kul, Mike. They have all plumped for fish and chips, and he says not to bother with the bottle shop. His words: ‘Me real man, haz gotz booze’, and yes, all zeds, no esses”

She checked her face in the rear view mirror.