The Princes of Ressalon: Book 2 of the Keeper of Balance - Earth

9781483514611

Chapter 1 OF FAMILY AND CHRISTMAS

I have a family! Me! It is cool as! It didn’t operate quite as I expected. I thought I would be sent to school, assigned a few jobs around the house, that sort of thing. Didn’t happen. A week had elapsed. The girls were at school, Mum and Dad were working. I did notice a few changes. With me added to the household the girls didn’t need ‘sitters’ anymore. Thor had that role! When parents were working we were either at my Dome in the forest or at home. Home has a nice ring to it. It is not a building, it is a state of mind. It is a state of trust and belonging.

Snow had arrived of course. Enough to cover the ground, but not enough to make travelling difficult. Thor and I had to sit down and modify our cloaks. They repelled water that well that several times people had seemed amazed. We allowed just enough water to sit on the cloaks so they would drip. The insides were always dry and warm so changes in the weather really had little impact on us.

The weekend after I had moved in everyone started cleaning. Sunday morning was house cleaning time. Mum asked if I wanted to help. I just smiled and helped. Monday morning came and Chrissy went to school, Dad and Mum went to work. Thor and I spent the day improving the house. Since we can both ‘do things the other way,’ we melded our minds and set up a spell control matrix. We added both shield and warning systems. We added self cleaning functions both inside and out. We even devised an aversion shield to keep away those pesky salesmen. We added heating and cooling, in fact the home ended up with all the systems that my Dome in the old growth forest had.

Several days later I was in my room researching the education system on the net when Mum came in. She asked, Tez, did you do something to the house? I just dropped an egg on the kitchen floor. It didn’t break. It just hovered about 2mm above the floor. I smiled and said, That only works when there are no guests, do you like it? Yes, …… a little warning would have been nice, anything else I need to know? I smiled and said, Running the vacuum around on Sunday will be a waste of time. This house can’t get dirty. Later we all sat down for dinner. Dad looked at Mum and said, When did you get time to paint the side gate? She looked at Dad, looked at me and said, I didn’t, Tez? I smiled and said, The paint on the house is a little different now, won’t need painting as long as the spell is active and I also fixed some of the timber that was starting to feel the effects of the weather. I also had a word to the weeds, they won’t grow anymore. The lawns will only grow until it is 25mm long, then it stops growing. If I missed anything let me know. Chrissy started laughing, leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek saying, You didn’t really talk to the weeds did you? I replied, No, not really, we simply eliminated any existing seeds and now new ones won’t grow unless they’re planted by a human.

I spent the next Friday night with Chrissy and Amelia. They were trying to get me excited about Christmas as it was only a little more than a week away. I did some research to find out what it was all about. It seemed to me to be a very commercialized religious holiday period. I also had a talk with Mum and Dad to sort it all out. I think I got it straight in the end. I discussed Christmas presents with Thor and he said he would take care of the gifts. I was pretty sure he would do a bit of peeking into minds to see what everyone wanted. The girls invited me to school for their class Christmas party and it was quite good. There was lots of discussion about expected or hoped for presents. Then there were all the pros and cons about computer games. I stayed out of that discussion primarily because I didn’t know what they were talking about. I guess that may have been because while they were playing games I occasionally went out and did it for real, apart from the racing car games.

That night Dad came home with a small pine tree. He brought it into the house telling me it was a Christmas tree. He then went out to the yard and returned with a big bucket full of rocks. He planted the tree in the bucket using the rocks. The tree didn’t have any roots. Then he put water in the bucket! Now, I know Dad isn’t stupid but, I hadn’t ever seen him plant anything, but still, he couldn’t be that thick. I looked at him and said, I hope you know that’s not going to work, which is just as well because if it did the tree would wreck the house as it grows. He smiled and Mum and Chrissy and Amelia came in with a big cardboard box. The box contained decorations and some lights on strings. These all went on the tree. Mixing water and electricity wasn’t such a good idea either. Maybe it was electro shock therapy! Probably wouldn’t hurt the tree.

This was not going to work at all. I thought it may be time for me to lend a hand. I concentrated my mind and sent it into the bucket. I crushed the rocks quietly so it was turned into soil. I sent my awareness into the poor tree. It was in severe pain and shock! I calmed it down and helped it to grow a new root system. My pendant flared with the power requirements. Amelia sent her mind vision in to see what I was doing and she burst out laughing. Chrissy sent hers in and then asked, Tez, what are you doing? I said, It wasn’t going to grow like that, now it has a chance. It’s also no longer in pain. Mum looked at me and asked, Can you sense a tree’s pain? I replied, Yes, of course I can. This one was screaming. Mum looked at Dad and said, That’s the last time we use a real tree!

Dad just smiled and looked into the bucket and asked, Where have my rocks gone? I said, I crushed them to make soil. Amelia decided to sit me down and tell me all about Christmas trees. I wasn’t sure about presents under a tree with electricity running around it but when I checked, I found the wires weren’t carrying enough to worry about. In the end it looked nice and the lights blinked in pretty patterns. Since I had never had the honor, I got to put the star on top.

Two days before Christmas we had a really heavy snow fall. When Dad came home from work he took me outside and suggested I may wish to change my spell control matrix on the house. I looked down the street at all the other homes and ours was the only one that had no snow on the driveway nor on the path from the gate to the front door. Our house also had no snow on the roof. I smiled, concentrated and turned off the required elements within the control matrix. By morning our house looked like everyone else’s. Next morning Dad was out with his snow shovel clearing the driveway. I stood inside by the window watching. It didn’t look all that hard but still I decided to help. I sent my mind out to all the snow and altered its relationship with gravity. Dad got a surprise with the next shovel full. When he came in he was smiling.

Christmas Eve was nice. Unfortunately Amelia was out with her family visiting relations. Every time I thought of her lately I had this nice warm emotional feeling. It was nice having a girlfriend. We got to stay home and had two lots of relatives visit us. The first group came for tea. Aunty Celia was one of Dad’s sisters. She was married to Uncle Rob and they had two daughters Claire and Sue. Claire was ten and Sue was twelve. They were all quite nice, asked a few questions and then I tried to follow the conversations as they all caught up on gossip. It was very hard to follow since I didn’t know the people they were talking about. After tea we all sat talking in the lounge room and Claire spent time patting Thor.

I had to excuse myself for a few moments when Snow Paw scratched on the back door. She had been out hunting with her four pups and had called by to drop off two rabbits for Thor. Thor thanked her as I quickly skinned them. Claire came out with Chrissy and we spent some time playing with the wolf pups. As we were walking back to the lounge Claire kept up a barrage of questions on wolves. When she stopped for a breath, Aunty Celia asked her why the sudden interest in wolves and Claire said she had been playing with some. I waited for something to happen but Aunty Celia simply said that that was nice. Eventually the visitors got up to leave and I received a hug from all four of them.

The next visitors were Mum’s sister and her husband. As they were walking up the driveway Mum looked at me and warned that Aunty Elizabeth could be a pain and Uncle Trevor was very quiet. She added that I didn’t have to take any nonsense. They came in and Thor and I were introduced. After they sat down Mum brought in cups of tea and coffee with cake. Aunty Elizabeth settled herself and everyone except me chatted for a while.

Eventually Aunty Elizabeth looked at Thor. And where do you sleep? Thor looked towards our bedroom and woofed. Then Aunty Elizabeth looked at me and asked, You don’t let the dog sleep in your room do you? I hope you know it is not at all healthy. Dogs have so many germs you could get sick and die! My empathy told me she didn’t believe what she had just said so I thought I may as well see how far she wanted to go. I smiled and asked, How many dogs do you have? She replied, None, I wouldn’t have a flea bitten dog in my yard much less having one sitting on the lounge floor. I said, Well, that was obvious, you don’t really know much about them. Thor’s mouth for example has less germs than yours does and his feet are cleaner that the bottom of your hand bag. You really shouldn’t have put it on the table you know. You see your handbag gets put down in all sorts of places such as the floor of toilets. They are disgusting really. Aunty Elizabeth was taken aback by my answer and she had to pause to collect her thoughts before she could continue. When she did, she responded with heat, Young man, I have half a mind to put you over my knee and spank you.

Thor went from being relaxed to full warn in an instant. Then he relented a little and slowly advanced on her, teeth fully bared and growling very loudly. I looked at Thor and said, Easy. He stopped his advance and lowered his growl a little. I looked at Aunty Elizabeth who was not terribly frightened and said, I wouldn’t advise you to try that. I’m not completely sure, but I think your funeral would have to be with a closed coffin. I don’t think they can do much to hide it after your throat has been ripped open. Of course I could always call Thor off and then we could see what happens with you trying to spank me. I wouldn’t kill you; this society doesn’t even like me wounding thugs with arrows. But I could easily shatter an elbow joint or a knee joint for you. I looked at Mum and asked, Would that be appropriate? Mum raised her eyebrows and replied, That would be much better Tez! That’s just about the right response if someone tries to attack you. Well done!

Thor stood there, about a metre away from Aunty Elizabeth still growling softly. Then he turned around and came to sit next to me. Aunty Elizabeth said to no one in particular, Children should be taught to respect their elders; I wouldn’t have that uncontrollable mutt around my daughter. Chrissy joined the conversation, Aunty Elizabeth, Thor saved my life as did Tez. Tez has taught me some very valuable lessons. One that I have taken to heart is that respect is earned by deeds not by age. You can be a right royal pain in the arse when you set your mind to it. One thing you really need to be aware of around Thor or Tez is, don’t swipe at either of them. You would have a broken arm or an arm ripped open before either of them knew they had reacted.

Uncle Trevor looked at Chrissy and said, Chrissy you’re growing up into a fine, wise young women, how’s your archery going? I was sure he was trying to change the subject. Chrissy didn’t want to change it that much so she said, Really good. Since Tez started coaching me I have gone from being the best in my age group to being the best in the club, I haven’t missed a bull’s-eye in six weeks. Uncle Trevor looked at me and asked, Have you joined the club too? I replied, No, I’ve watched Chrissy quite often but it’s a bit boring for me. Chrissy’s targets don’t move. I practice in the forest when we need food. Aunty Elizabeth said, That’s illegal! I calmly said, No, it’s not. It’s my forest and I can hunt whatever I like. Mum said, Elizabeth, it’s really wonderful, I haven’t had to buy meat in ages. Just now we have four legs of venison and eight rabbits in the freezer. Aunty Elizabeth was not listening to Mum, she was still processing my words. What do you mean ‘Your’ forest? I replied, His Majesty granted me title to the old forest. Aunty Elizabeth was still having trouble processing information. Dad chimed in with, Yes, Tez saved some lives, no questions allowed, it is highly classified. Tez now owns more land than the entire holdings of my family put together. Eventually Aunty Elizabeth caught up, looked at Mum and said, Venison? Mum said, Yes venison! Aunty Elizabeth said, Well, how the other half live!

Chrissy was being deliberately provocative and asked Dad, Dad, does that mean Tez has a title? Dad replied, Yes, he is the Lord of Wolves Den. Chrissy looked at me and said, Lord Tez, hmm, just trying it for size. I think it fits nicely. I looked at them both and said, I didn’t know that, doesn’t seem to make much of a difference really, does it? Dad smiled and said, No, not really, impresses some people and it can be a lot of work sometimes, you and the wolves handle the forest quite well.

Uncle Trevor broke the ensuring silence and asked Mum how the new promotion was going. After Mum replied he asked Dad how his new promotion was going. Dad replied to that question and then Aunty Elizabeth stood up. Thor’s head came up off the floor and he growled. She went the long way around and went to the toilet. Thor watched her all the way and then followed her. He followed her all the way back and never stopped the low growl. She didn’t sit down again, she announced they had to go. Everyone exchanged nods or handshakes and they left.

As Dad closed the door, Mum came over and gave me a hug saying, That was well done, she’s always been like that, it got worse a long time ago. She married a civil servant and I married the first born son of a Lord. She has never forgiven me. You and Thor did very well. I didn’t think she would put one over you two. She doesn’t visit often thankfully. We can choose our friends but we have to put up with our relatives. You will meet my other sister soon, she is a lot nicer, a little strange sometimes, but much nicer. I asked, I wasn’t a little too forceful then? Mum laughed and said, No, it was just perfect. She turned to Thor and said, You were also perfect, next time she visits she will be a lot different. Elizabeth is more interested in what people have, such as titles or riches rather than personalities. It is sad, but she is who she is. She does care about other people, she just has problems showing it most of the time. We watched people singing Christmas carols on TV for a while and then went to bed.

Chrissy woke me at seven O’clock by jumping on my bed and yelling, It’s Christmas day, wake up! Then she told me we had to go and jump on Mum and Dad’s bed. It was a Christmas thing. So we went and jumped on their bed. Thor made the biggest impression as he decided to join in and lick them awake! It was fun! Everyone seemed happy and joyful. Perhaps Christmas was good after all. We all went to the lounge and sat in our pajamas, well, Mum and Dad were in pajamas, Chrissy and I just had our dressing gowns on. Thor as usual just had on his fur coat.

Chrissy started giving out presents. Dad looked at me and said, I suppose you know what everyone’s presents are? I replied, No, why? He said, Didn’t you peek? I said, No, never occurred to me. Chrissy said, Damn, I didn’t think of it either! Dad and Mum looked at Chrissy and Dad asked, Can you use mind vision now princess! Chrissy replied, Have been for a while, it’s quite beautiful. My A in art came about after I did a painting of the class from the perspective of mind vision as opposed to eye vision. A person’s Aura is quite beautiful. The teacher loved it.

Chrissy was handing out the presents. She had a good system worked out. She would give three out to each of us and while we were busy opening them she would have time to open two of hers. From Mum and Dad I received a set of night vision goggles, Chrissy received the same. They were pretty cool. I think Dad was thinking of the time Thor blinded Adept talent with his mist field. Good to have an alternative. Chrissy gave me two backpacks with lots of pockets that were very well made. She said they were quite a fashionable brand. The General and the Sergeant Major had combined their buying power and gave Chrissy and I an archery maintenance kit complete with arrow straighteners and five dozen very nice target arrows. Aunty Celia and family gave us all some nice clothes. Aunty Elizabeth and Uncle Trevor gave us a game console and six games. Chrissy said she always gave really good presents. Dad commented that it was just so we would all put up with her for the rest of the year. Mum laughed. The King had sent both Chrissy and I watches. Chrissy thought that Rolex was a good brand. They told the time well. Thor received quite a few presents as well. By the time he had torn open his presents he had just about one of everything you could buy for a dog.

There were many other presents quite a few from people I had never met, relatives and friends of Mum and Dad and from people I knew but didn’t think would send anything. After we had all finished opening the presents we tidied up. We had no sooner finished when Master Sergeant and Mrs. Bates dropped in with Amelia. Amelia gave me a nice kiss to start with and then gave me a present from her and her parents. It was a lovely leather jacket. Amelia’s Dad told me the SAS had altered it just a little. It would now stop a .45 caliber bullet! He hoped I didn’t mind the weight. They also gave a ladies version to Chrissy. Amelia had received one as well, she was wearing it. Amelia showed off her new watch, she seemed very pleased and surprised that the King would think of her.

After all that we had a big breakfast together. Chrissy and Amelia made it all. Both Mums did the dishes. We all sat together in the lounge when Thor came in with a large paper bag in his teeth which he placed in my lap. With his tail wagging, he woofed. I reached in and pulled out a tiny package and since it had a small gift card addressed to Mum I handed it to her. She thanked Thor and I and started to open it carefully. I repeated the procedure until everyone had one to open. Mum, Dad and both of Amelia’s parents found a small necklace with a dragon on it. They were made from gold. The eyes were small green crystals. As I looked at them thinking they looked nice, Thor dumped some information into my mind. Each crystal could be accessed and given a function. At any range, I could for example, throw a restraint field around the person wearing one. Since there were two crystals I could overlay two different shields. That was cool. They loved them. Chrissy and Amelia each received a pendant, smaller, but otherwise identical to mine. They held small but powerful green crystals already fully charged. I received a hug and a kiss from both girls, Amelia’s kiss was a bit longer. Within minutes both girls had accessed their crystals, they seemed pleased. Part of the information Thor had provided to me indicated that His Majesty had received one as well.

Amelia’s parents prepared to leave, they were having lunch at a relative’s home. Amelia’s Mum knelt down and gave Amelia a hug and said, It’s Christmas, where would you like to spend the rest of the day. Amelia hugged her Mum and turned towards Mum and started to ask if it was alright to stay but Mum got in first, Yes of course you can, you don’t need to ask. Amelia’s parents moved towards the door thanking Mum and Dad for the breakfast when Amelia’s Dad asked me, Have you seen the wolf pack for Christmas? I smiled and replied, I don’t think I want to explain Christmas to a wolf. In fact ‘holidays’ would be difficult enough. He chuckled and said, I suppose it would. They said their goodbyes and left.

Chrissy, Amelia and I transferred gifts to appropriate bedrooms and then set the table for Christmas lunch. We set three extra places. The first guests were Granddad and his housekeeper Miss Eastwell. My empathy showed it was quite clear there was more to their relationship than that. Both girls came to the same conclusion a little later as they used their developing Empathic powers to asses the situation. Granddad gave us a general family gift, a quality set of four two way radios. That was very thoughtful and a little useless all things considered, but how was he to know we could use telepathy?

The final lunch guest was Aunty Jody. She set the sensor net off to such an extent that multiple shields including power dampening went active. Christmas was full of surprises. Thor and I reacted to that subtly, but not subtle enough as Dad joined me at the window saying, It’s OK, that’s Aunty Jody. Since Granddad and Miss Eastwell were present I could hardly do much. Thor’s mind winged its way to Aunty Jody who went momentarily catatonic in mid stride, then continued on. She wasn’t supposed to notice Thor’s intrusion but since she now had shields active, invisible but reasonably strong, one could assume she had. Thor sent to me, Naturally strong but not well trained! Interesting, she is aware that I just probed her mind. She is no direct threat, quite a nice person. He sent a mental command to the control matrix and the system went back to its normal state. Both Amelia and Chrissy were aware of what had transpired as well they should have with the power levels throbbing through the ether.

Aunty Jody was greeted at the door by Dad and Thor and I were introduced to her. She greeted me warmly and after giving everyone else a hug she asked if I were too old for a hug. I told her I liked hugs and she gave me a nice one. She sat and her and Mum caught up on a little gossip. The three women then migrated to the kitchen to serve the lunch.

Lunch was wonderful. We started with crème of chicken and corn soup, then prawn cocktails followed by a huge roast quarter of venison with roasted vegetables. Dessert was either plum pudding with custard or chocolate mousse. I had both. Afterwards, everyone helped with clearing the table and stacking the dishwasher. The ladies did the larger dishes and then we all sat down in the lounge and talked while we waited for the meal to settle. After forty five minutes Thor thought to me, Why don’t you and the girls go for a walk and see how Snow Paw is getting on, both packs are out on a joint hunt a little to the East. Take Aunty Jody with you. She wants to get Chrissy by herself to talk, she has noticed Chrissy’s use of power. I have something else to do, I need perhaps thirty minutes.

I waited for a break in the adult conversation and then said, Chrissy, Amelia, do you want to go for a walk. They both said yes and before I could say anything else Aunty Jody asked, Could I come too, I need a walk after that wonderful lunch. I smiled and said, Yes, love to have you as company. Chrissy, Amelia and I put on our new leather jackets and Aunty Jody retrieved her jacket. I picked up my backpack, bow and quiver and as I had done so, Chrissy took hers from its place on her wall and we all went out the back door. I shook my head at Amelia who was waiting for Thor. She was surprised. We walked across the grassy area and entered the forest headed east.

It wasn’t long before we were joined by the wolves. Aunty Jody didn’t miss a beat. The entire two packs were present and the Pack Leader greeted us warmly and said they were starting to teach the young ones how to exterminate foxes. He asked if we would like to help and I readily agreed. Tactics changed and the wolves moved quite some distance to the North, formed a long line and started out. Any foxes they came across were going to be forced towards or in front of Chrissy and I. I looked at Chrissy and said, They’re all yours unless you miss, I’ll just guard. Chrissy smiled and said, Ok. We knelt on one knee and went very quiet as one needs to do when hunting. Aunty Jody seemed to know what was happening and remained quiet but attentive. Chrissy’s first shot went two hundred and forty metres taking out the first fox with a head shot. It was an excellent use of her archery and Adept skills combining smoothly. I moved back a little, checked the sensor net and finding no humans close by, I sent my mind back home to see what Thor was up to. As soon as he sensed my mind he thought, Good, watch and listen.

Granddad decided he should go home and started to rise from his seat next to Miss Eastwell. Thor, it seemed, had other ideas. He placed his paws on granddad’s thighs forcing Granddad to stay seated. He looked straight at Granddad and thought to him, Stay! We have a few things to discuss! The tone of his thought left no room for argument. Then Thor looked at Miss Eastwell and thought, Move please little sister, I have need of that seating position. Miss Eastwell was surprised and a little dazed, but she moved and sat next to Mum. Next Thor walked over to Dad and put his jaws very firmly around Dad’s wrist and towed him over to Granddad. He angled his wrist hold giving Dad no other course of action other than to sit next to Granddad. Now gentlemen, the three of us are going to have a discussion. To put it simply, you have no choice. Tez has no part in this discussion and, in fact, knows nothing about my intentions. You can try and leave and the discussion will continue. I am a telepath and distance does not make much of a difference. If I need to, I can immobilize both of you. Under your laws, this is of course an offence; on the other hand there is not a Judge in this country that will believe that a telepathic dog held you against your will by projecting mind force. Granddad, Tez has told you wolves communicate in this way, get over it. Miss Eastwell will survive the experience and even now is coming to terms with a talking dog. I am not a dog, neither am I of the wolf family. Thor sat facing both of them and continued.

"I read minds as I wish. I am under no constraints in doing so! I am going to lay this out very bluntly. Now, Granddad, you love your son deeply and while you love all three of your grown children, you have a great affinity for your only Son because his personality is near identical to your own. You do not wish to accept this as a truth and yet at the core of your being you know this to be true. Whilst you loved your own Father, you had little respect for him. He drank and gambled, losing money regularly and put your ancestors’ estates into great debt. You have done much in your time as Lord of the Manor and still the debt is crippling. Your Father forced you into the military against your will and while you did well as you were always going to, it was not a happy period of your life. Your lovely wife died thirty years ago and this hit you very hard since the love you shared was the type that love sonnets are written for.

In keeping with one of the quirks of psychology you tried to steer your Son away from a military career without fully understanding that this is what he wanted to do right down to the core of his being. You put sufficient energy into it that it eventually estranged the two of you. You have a lovely housekeeper, Miss Eastwell, who is dedicated to you and you to her. In regard to her, you may wish to close your eyes and ask your departed wife if it would be OK to marry her. Running down to the gate house once a week after dark so the neighbors don’t see is silly. The closest neighbor is a half mile away and the hedges seem, to your mind, to be impenetrable."

Now as for Father here. It takes one person to start an estrangement and two to keep it alive. You have done your part superbly! The two of you are cordial to each other and yet you love your Father with the same strength that you love your Wife and Daughter and more recently Tez. You live here so as not to interfere with your Father and yet, while you worry yourself constantly, you cannot bring yourself to enquire about the estates nor to suggest that this family move to the manor house to help in the upkeep of what is in fact your family home and heritage. I know with absolute certainly that this is your greatest wish and incidentally that of your Wife and Daughter.

Now that all that is out in the open I suggest you two grown men kiss and make-up and start acting like grown-ups should. Granddad, I know the manor house is run down, Tez and I will take care of that detail. We will also take care of the debt, and yes we can do that without raising any eyebrows. If it makes the two of you any happier you can consider it rent for me or a loan or whatever keeps you happy. Tez and I have the means to do this. Half a million Pounds is a drop in the ocean considering our current wealth and neither of us is particularly attached to the concept of money let alone the silly stuff itself. We have a small bag of diamonds that we have no use for. Pass it off as a family treasure found recently during your continuing renovations these past thirty years. We need an excuse when we start our renovations and you will play the part of the unsung Master Stone Smith. Your embarrassment regarding the interior decay has kept you from having visitors to the manor house so few, if any, people will have seen it.

Lastly, Miss Eastwell, In your youth you were secretary to two long serving Prime Ministers, you are trustworthy and know how to keep secrets, please keep ours. It is all highly classified anyway. That just about covers everything I can think of."

Thor moved over to Mum, sat and waited. The two men just sat there and then as if orchestrated they both started speaking at the same time, went silent, looked at each other and just hugged. I thought to Thor, You’re a bloody legend! Thor didn’t reply but his mind was amused at my thought. Mum got up and said she was going to make a pot of tea. Miss Eastwell volunteered to help, they both realized the two men needed some time together. When the tea was ready Mum took it in to them and left them to their discussion. A little time later the two men went for a walk in the forest. They went south and Thor went with them.

I returned my awareness to my body. Amelia was very close, guarding with her mind. Aunty Jody was looking on with interest. I kissed Amelia and thanked her for looking after me. I rejoined Chrissy and asked how it was going. She smiled back and said, There are six about to break cover, they know there is danger in front of them but there is also danger behind, so they have to choose. I can’t fire fast enough to get all six. I notched an arrow and waited. All six foxes broke cover simultaneously. I