Just a Note

Sorry for the lack of Chapters.

I have been unwell and had a short stint in hospital
hopefully I should be back to normal next week.

Chapter 39 - Gen 2 - Tapestry

Lullaby ...

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~ Honey ~

I am trying to watch a movie on the television and all I can hear is Cosmic and Shadow making a lot of noise behind me, which as usual is irritating the hell out of me.  They keep laughing and the boy keeps screaming and shouting.

Shadow is over excited tonight because he knows that Jazz is due back from a three day hunting trip, thanks to Omri opening his big mouth and telling the boy he has spoken to Jazz on the phone.

I hate it when Jazz goes out and about doing whatever it is he does out in the vampire underground world.  As usual, I am kept in the dark and do not have any idea what this trip was about, nobody will tell me.  While he has been away Cosmic and Omri have been in charge of the den and I have given them both hell, mostly on purpose, it is only one of the few pleasures I get out of this miserable existence, winding them all up.

Storm is sat beside me on the couch in the living room and the racket that Cosmic and the boy are making does not seem to be bothering him at all, as he sits there glued to the television.  I seriously do not know how he can concentrate on what he is watching!!  I stand up angrily when I seriously can not take any more of their racket.  That boy really annoys me!!

"Can you not take that damn brat somewhere else!!"  I snap at Cosmic  "Take him upstairs, better still get Tapestry to take him, I don't want him, he should be with Vanilla, he is giving me a damn headache with his constant squealing!!"

"Vampberry's do not get headaches Honey - you lie!!"  Cosmic laughs at me

"Shut up ghost - just get rid of him, take the brat down to see the green pet if you have to, anything just shut him up and get him out of my ears!!"  I snap at Cosmic. 

"Me see Lime!"  Shadow starts to get excited, then he glares at me with attitude  "No pet!!  My friend!!  Naughty Honey!!"

I find it very strange as well as amusing, after everything that has happened, that Shadow and Lime are becoming very close, especially on Limes side.  Shadow would actually much rather spend time with Lime than he would with me, but that is perfectly fine with me because when he is with Lime he is not bugging me.  Shadow spends a lot of time down in the basement and in the cage with Lime.  He asks to go down there all the time, however Jazz has left strict instructions that they are never to be left alone down there together, which is exactly what I did the other day, gave the boy to Lime and walked away.  This sent Omri off his rocker when he found out that Shadow was alone with Lime!!  Cosmic, Omri and Jazz make sure that they are always down there watching them, just in case she hurts their precious brat, but I honestly think that she never will.

Lime plays with him, reads to him, she has even helped to teach him how to walk and talk and they spend hours chatting.  She dotes on the boy and would have him down there all the time if she could, but I guess he is company for her and the only one that does not judge her on her past history.  At first Jazz was just using her as a guinea pig to see how he reacted around mortals.  For a while he did keep trying to bite both my Dad and Lime, to feed off them.  However it did not take long for him to understand he can not go around biting mortals.  In the process, the boy has got very attached to Lime, and she to him.

"It is too late to be visiting Lime, she is asleep, like all good mortals at this time of the night, so you have to put up with me, until Daddy gets home."  Cosmic laughs at Shadow as he tickles him, the boy starts squealing again which has me glaring at Cosmic.  "We will just ignore Mommy she is being a misery guts again!"

"Mommy misery guts!!"  he laughs at cosmic

They totally ignore everything that I have said about the noise, they go back to making even more racket, probably on purpose just to annoy me.  Then they start singing stupid nursery rhymes, this really gets my back up.  I can hardly hear the television for their racket.  I am just about to have another go at Cosmic when the boy starts squealing at the top of his voice.

"DADDDDDY!!!"  he squeals suddenly as I watch Jazz walking into the room.  "DADDY BACK!!  DADDY BACK!!"

I stand up again and watch as Shadow starts to get really excited when he sees Jazz come in, he is jigging up and down in Cosmic's arms holding his arms out to Jazz.  Jazz ignores me and walks straight over to make a fuss of the boy.  He takes Shadow off Cosmic and starts to kiss him and swing him around.  Shadow is squealing the place down, with excitement, which has me covering my ears.

Jazz pays that child far too much attention, much more attention than he pays me and it irritates the hell out of me.  Jazz has been away for three days and he comes in and totally blanks me, he does not even look in my direction, he comes in and all he sees is that damn boy!!  If Shadow was not here then he would probably pay me more attention.

"Have you been a good boy for Daddy while I have been away?"

"Shadow a good boy!"  the boy grins at Jazz which makes him laugh.  Jazz raises his eyebrows at Cosmic like he is questioning him.

"Yes Shadow has been brilliant.  It is his Mommy's behaviour that needs sorting out!!"  Cosmic laughs at Jazz who just rolls his eyes and the smile drops off his face for a moment, as he finally looks in my direction, but not for long.

"Daddy me walking, Lime and Omri teached me to surprise Daddy!"  Shadow grins at Jazz  "Me show you me's a big boy!!"

"Really!!"  Jazz laughs as he starts to fuss the boy again.  "Show me then, walk back over to Cosmic."

Jazz puts Shadow down on the floor and stands there laughing, like the proud Daddy, as he watches the boy toddle across the carpet to Cosmic.  I think he forgets sometimes that the boy is not his!!  Cosmic picks Shadow back up when he reaches him and starts fussing him just like Jazz did.  They kill me, Cosmic, Storm, Jazz, Omri, Lime have gone all cuckoo over the boy, even our new spirit Saffy has joined in on the hype.  I can not see the fascination myself and have as little to do with him as I possibly can.  Only Maizie shares the same opinion as me - he is an annoyance!!  I wish he was not a vampire so that Tapestry could have him like he has the other one!!

"Clever boy!!"  Jazz smiles at him

Jazz continues to blank me so I march up to him.  He glances at me quickly but Omri walks into the room and starts to laugh, which distracts him away from me.

"Man am I glad you are back!!"  he smiles at Jazz  "SHE has been a right royal pain in the ass!!  I might need to go away for a few days just so I can recover from her antics!!  I seriously don't know how you put up with her."

Jazz just glares at me for a moment.  I just knew Cosmic and Omri would fall over each other to grass me up to Jazz the moment that he got back!!

"Unfortunately I have no choice but to put up with her!!"  he stares at me before he turns back to Omri  "What has she been doing?"

"It might be easier for me to tell you what she hasn't been doing!!"  Omri laughs  "Next time you go out on a mission, you can take me with you, or her, because I am not baby sitting her again and I doubt Maizie will either!!"

Jazz glares at me again and I just laugh at him

"Come on let's hear it, what has she done?"  Jazz snaps as he continues to glare at me.

"She left Shadow outside during the day time in the sun just because she was sick of his noise, then she went and left him alone with Lime.  She bit Sunny the other day quite badly, for absolutely no reason.  She took off and was sneaking around town stalking Tapestry, berry knows how he or anyone else did not see her, it was barely dark.  Honey has been on a mission, I think, to break every rule in this place as well as fighting with all of us especially Lime who she nearly faded this morning ... and that is just a start of it!!"  Omri laughs sarcastically.  "I used to think Maizie was a prize bitch, but she is an angel in comparison to her!!"  he glares at me. 

"Daddy, Naughty Honey, she burn Shadow!!"  Shadow says suddenly wide eyed as he starts swinging his arms around like he is telling them some dramatic story.  "She put me outside with the bright light and the nasty ratsies, me not like it!!"  I see Jazz's face switch from irritated to angry.

"He is okay isn't he?"  Jazz starts to fuss over the boy, pulling up his clothes and checking his skin for burn marks left by the sun.

"Yeah he was fine, thankfully we found him quickly!!"  Cosmic mumbles.  "He was upset mostly because she told him rats eat noisy little boys! and you know how many rats there are out there, they were running around him, I'm surprised they did not hear him screaming in town."

"I WILL be dealing with you later!!"  Jazz glares at me quite nastily, I can see that he is not happy with me, but then I never expected him to be.  It will teach him for leaving me behind.  He is going to give me HELL later, especially for mistreating his precious brat!!  He turns back to Omri  "Any more problems other than Honey?"

"Just one, there was a stray vampberry in town last night hunting.  Maizie disposed of him.  She is out there now prowling around to make sure there are no more."  Omri pulls a face at Jazz  "She found out he was from the den over in Raspberry Hill before she disposed off him.  I guess they have heard this den has been closed down so they must think this town is free range for their picking."

"Great!!  That is all we need!!"  Jazz moans.

"That isn't all, there is a mortal in the cold room."  Omri mumbles  "The stray had drained him before Maizie could get to him.  We tried to save him but it was too late, not even for turning. "

"HELL!!"  Jazz shouts  "This is the last thing we need!!  Does anyone know who he is?"

"No"  Omri mumbles  "None of us have a clue who he is, I don't think he's from this town, Honey and Storm don't know him."

"Daddy me wants a pussy cat?"  Shadow says suddenly which makes Jazz frown at him.  "Lime says they catch ratsies and mouses, me no like nasty ratsies."  he starts to wave his arms around, that boy is so dramatic  " Me likes pussy cats!!"

"Okay I'll ask Granddad Sunny to get you a cat."  Jazz tells him and Shadow starts squealing in excitement.  There Jazz goes, giving into that boy again!!

"You know this kid is amazing!!"  Cosmic laughs suddenly  "At the rate he is growing and developing, he's going to be a teenager in a few years, and he sings like you know who."  Jazz starts to howl at Cosmic.  "Straight up, Vanilla is still a helpless little baby who does nothing other than cry for milk, nappy changes and attention."

"She's probably a thick idiot like her Dad!!"  I snap as I point to the boy "I am surprised he isn't!!"

"Shut up Honey!!!"  Jazz snaps at me before he turns back to Cosmic.  "I know Sunny has already mentioned the difference in them, and that he is growing a lot quicker, than her, but I think him being a teenager in a few years is a bit of an exaggeration Cos, you twat!!"  Jazz continues to laugh for a while.  "Did we not say we would not mention 'you know who' in front of him, he is picking everything up.  You keep saying her name and he is bound to start asking questions!!"

"Sorry I keep forgetting!"  Cosmic rolls his eyes at Jazz

"I just hope you do not mention Shadow when you are around the silent one!!"

"No I am very careful of that."  he smiles at Jazz  "So your trip, was it mission accomplished?"  he frowns, I think trying to change the subject quickly
 

"Yes, me and Saffy had quite a successful raid!  They have both been disposed of.  We actually wiped out the whole den just in case, there were only six of them altogether.  It was good that Saffy has been hanging about there, they knew him so we could take them out one at a time quite easily, they didn't expect it or even see it coming"  he smirks at Cosmic.

"Where is Saffy?"

"He has gone off to check up on Sunny and Crystal.  I have told him he is wasting his time because they will be asleep now, but he went anyway."

"Who has been disposed of?"  I frown at Jazz, I am now really hacked off with him for continuously ignoring me.  "Where and what exactly HAVE you been doing this last three days anyway, nobody would tell me!!"  Jazz just looks at me there is not even a smile on his face.  "Don't look so pleased to see me either!!"  I snap at him

"After what I have just heard and you expect me to be pleased to see you!!"  he snaps at me  "Honey don't start already, I've only just walked through the door and to a load of problems by the looks of it, you being the biggest one!!"  he snaps at me  "If you really have to know what I have been doing, Saffy has introduced me to the vampberrys that have been chasing Crystal all her life, and we have quietly disposed of them."

"Why?  What are you, that colourless things knight in shining armour all of a sudden!!"  I snap at him and I can see he is getting angry.  "She is Tapestry's thing, he should sort it out, it is his problem not ours!!"

"Honey just grew up will you!!  Stop saying his name and calling her a colourless thing, especially in front of Shadow!!  Crystal is your Aunt for berry's sake!!"  he snaps at me  "We have disposed of them so that they don't come looking for Crystal, where they will also find the silent one and your daughter not that you give a damn about either of them or the rest of your family!!"  he snaps at me  "Why do you always have to be such a bitch!"

"Bitch!!  Honey Bitch!!"  Shadow repeats and everyone looks at him for a moment.

"Look now see what you have done!!"  he snaps at me   

"ME!!??"  I snap at him  "You are the one who said it!!"

"Only because you drove me to it!!  Just get out of my sight!!  Take Shadow out for a wander around the grounds so that he can get some fresh air while it is DARK!!"  He snaps again  "He is starting to pick up on way too much and if I don't remove you from the room he will be watching me dispose of his so called Mother, and sweeping your ash up off the carpet!!"  he points his finger at me and hisses at me nastily.  "I am warning you, hurt so much as one hair on his head and it will be the last thing you do!!"

"No you take him!!"

"Honey Don't argue just DO IT!!"  he rares at me  "We have things to discuss that he should not be listening to!!"  he points his finger at me and hisses.  "You are in enough trouble, don't make it any worse for yourself!!"

Cosmic hands Shadow to me and Jazz, Cosmic and Omri walk out of the room.  Jazz cuts his eyes at me as he leaves the room.

Storm just sits on the couch laughing at me.

"Get lost Storm!!"  I snap at him  "Well are you not going with your buddies?"

"No I am going to go and check on the silent one."  he pulls a face  "He lost it at Cinnamon's funeral, he was still sleeping the sedation off the last time I checked on him."

"Did he have one of his outburst?"

"Yeah, but I think it was because Strawberry was winding him up over you and Shadow.  He tried to dig your two's fake graves up in front of EVERYONE."  Storm starts laughing.  "It was actually pretty funny from where I was standing watching him on his hands and knees trying to dig up something that isn't even there.  Your Dad totally cracked up, he collapsed.  I guess because he knows, the silent one is going through all that pain for nothing."

"What do you mean, what pain?"

"Don't worry he is way over you!"  he laughs at me.  "It is the kid, he is not coping with him being faded.  It is actually not fair, I hate having to watch him cracking up over it and I am sick of lying to him and hiding Shadows existence from him."  Storm pulls a face at me.  "It is also tragic that he would do anything to have that kid and you have him and don't want him!!"

"Tapestry can have Shadow for all I care!!  In fact I wish he would take him!!"  I snap  "I am glad he has got Vanilla, he should have both of them!!  I hate him being here!!"

"What the hell happened to you Honey?"  he snaps at me  "You know that is impossible, with him being a vampberry and I don't really think you should be saying things like that in front of him ... that boy is seriously going to hate you when he grows up and it will be your own fault!!"  he snaps  "You never listen either do you, Jazz told you only minutes ago to stop saying his name!!  Anyone would think you are still obsessed with him!!"

"Like hell am I!!"

"Really!?  Well stop talking about him and stalking him, then I might believe you!!"

Omri pops his head back into the room telling Storm that Jazz wants him in the cold room.  Storm just gets up and follows Omri without saying another word.  I guess they are trying to work out who the faded man is.  Notice I am not included in their little get together!!

I am a little annoyed that Jazz has got me taking the brat out for fresh air!!  As I walk around the grounds of the warehouse I can not help thinking about what Storm told me about, Tapestry having one of his outbursts at Cinnamons funeral and trying to dig up mine and the boys fake graves.  I laugh, that is something that he would do.

I am sick of these grounds and the sight of the horrible warehouse building that we live underneath.  I feel trapped and stir crazy in this place, Jazz does not like me outside the walls unless he is with me, just in case anyone in town spots me, because they could recognize me quite easily.  I stare up at the windows which I have spent a lot of time standing behind, especially the top floor ones staring out over the town watching people I know getting on with their life when I can not because I am trapped in this place, which I hate. 

I stare down at the boy who squeals and points at something.  I follow his finger and he is pointing at a rat that is scurrying around the floor looking for food. 

"How do you fancy going for a walk outside the walls?"

"Outside, go outside."  he smiles at me.

I doubt that he understands what I mean, he has not yet been outside of the warehouse grounds, but he is about to.  I have suddenly decided that we are going out for a wander around town.  I am sick of being shut up in this place and very curious to see how much damage Tapestry made of our fake graves.  Jazz is going to read me the riot act anyway later, so what does one more thing added to the list matter! I already know that he is seriously not going to be happy about me taking the brat out!

I move over to the wall and double check that nobody is around to see me leave.  I know that Cosmic and Storm are busy having their secret gossip with Jazz and Omri.  Saffy is either stalking Sunny or with Tapestry's colourless thing.  There is only Maizie that I have to be careful of avoiding outside.

"You have to be VERY quiet outside!!  You can not speak, we are hiding from the mortals."  I smile at him  "Daddy will be mad if you speak and they see us!!"

"Okay Shadow no speak!!"

I can not help but think that this boy definitely does not have Tapestry's brain, this kid is already cleverer than Tapestry.  The coast is clear so I pull the brick out of the wall and slip through the gap quickly, when it opens up.

Checking the meadow is clear, which it is, I put my finger over my lips and Shadow copies me.  I fly quickly across the meadow, using the trees as cover and stop close to the entrance.  I check the road and it is totally deserted, so I cross it quickly and slip into the cemetery.

Once I am inside the cemetery walls, I look around and freeze for a moment, as I stand under the cover of the trees in a dark corner of the cemetery.  I am shocked to see an orange figure sitting on the floor in the cemetery close to the graves.  I did not hear or smell him when I approached the cemetery, he is silent to me.

It takes me only a few seconds to realize it is Tapestry!! 

I stand and watch Tapestry who is sat there on the ground crying and he has a bottle on the floor beside him, that he keeps taking swigs from, he is drinking alcohol.  Shadow's eyes are wide as he points towards Tapestry.

This amuses me.

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~ Tapestry ~

As I sit knocking back the vodka and staring at the mess I have made of the graves, especially the babies, I am glad that I can feel the tears running down my face.  I am crying, so I know at least I am not going to lose it again and have another outburst.  With nobody here to stop me I can imagine myself digging up coffins and that is seriously the last thing I want to be doing in reality!!

I have only drank a quarter of the bottle of vodka and I can already feel my head swimming as I sit staring at Honey and Shadow's graves.  I think about what Slate did to himself, knocking back the vodka like a twat, probably for only one second then it is forgotten as my mind moves onto Strawberry as I wander if she has been arrested yet.  I suddenly remember what Saffron had told me about our song being number 1 on the download charts, but I find I can not even get excited about that because I can feel the pain pulling me back down again, which scares me.  I can not afford to let this pain drag me down, I have got too much to lose.  This has to be a one off and tomorrow I have to pull myself together somehow!!

I think I was stupid to try and avoid this.  I should have come here, to visit his grave, straight away, as soon as I found out, instead of letting it drag on.  The boy fading, I did not deal with it properly.  I used Vanilla to take my mind off the boy, and he now is the only thing that is really hurting me.  Although, I think it is something that is always going to hurt!!   It is just not fair that he did not get any chance of life at all.  I hate that I was not here when he was born, I did not get to see him or hold him like my Dad and Sunny did, they buried him before I got that chance.  I should have been here and they prevented that too, by hiding from me what was going on here.  I am not sure that I can ever forgive them for that!!

I constantly look at Vanilla and can not help but think about Shadow.  I wander what he would have looked like, what sort of person he would have been and what sort of life he might have had.  I quite often wander if Vanilla will miss not having her twin brother here just as much as she is going to miss not having her real Mother.  I also wander if she is going to blame herself, because she lived and they didn't, just like Slate blames himself for his Mother fading when he was born.

I know I am an idiot, but sometimes I feel like I have dreamed Vanilla into life.  While I was away and mourning for them, I constantly wished that they had been given a chance to live their life, and dreamed about what sort of life they might have had.  Vanilla being here when I returned home, did not seem real somehow.  It almost felt like I had been given part of what I wished for and am now being given the chance of living my dreams for her.  Maybe if I had wished just that little bit hard, they both would have been here.  If only it was possible to wish and dream somebody to life, I would do exactly that for him.

I clumsily put the top back on the bottle and place the bottle down on the ground, so that I can crawl closer to the babies headstone, when I spot there is still dirt scattered over it.  I wipe it all off gently with my hand.  I stare down at the writing on the headstone, I am too stupid to even read what is written there.  I run my finger over what I presume is his name, that is when I suddenly realize I do not actually even know the complete name that they gave him.  To me he is just Shadow.  Did they give him a middle name, and what is he, Orchid or Shine?  I should know that, but I don't!!

As I crawl backwards to sit down, I stare down at the exposed patches of dirt.  I can see that someone has tried their best to repair the damage that I did, the ground is now level but there are patches of dirt where the grass should be, that has been ripped up by me.  Something catches my eye.  A pot of sunflowers has been knocked over, and the flowers have fallen out of the pot, they are lying loose on the floor.

As I scramble onto my feet to stand the pot up and replace the flowers, I stumble about a bit, the neat vodka is already getting to me.  As I clumsily place the sunflowers back into the pot one by one, I think I already know who has put them here.  Winter.  She has a thing for sunflowers, she had a lot of them in pots and pictures in Rainbow Valley.  I laugh thinking I even considered calling Vanilla Sunflower for a while but decided against it.

Once the flowers are back in there rightful place I sit back down again and grab for the bottle and continue to drink while I stare at the boys grave and get lost in my thoughts.  I feel a chill on my skin as a sudden gust of wind washes over me, which makes me look up at the trees, strangely they are not moving.  I think I am imagining things so I continue to drink from the bottle mouthfuls at a time, knocking back most of the contents of the bottle, as I sit there crying.

Suddenly I hear quiet laughing behind me so I turn to look and there is nobody there.  The laughing spooks me a little bit as I hear it for a second time, because it sounds just like Honey's laughter.  I try to ignore it thinking it is the drink and my imagination, the laughter is in my head and not my ears.

As I sit there, still crying, I keep hearing the laughter but try to block it out as I take the last few mouthfuls from the bottle.  A little annoyed that I have drank the whole of the bottle and wishing I had brought more.  I throw the bottle into the darkness and a few seconds later I hear it smash, I dread to think on what, but you can guess, knowing my luck, it was probably someones headstone.

"Sorry!!"  I mutter an apology, I did not mean to be disrespectful ... again!!

As my mind runs riot, I am now solely concentrating on Shadow's headstone, which I am now struggling to see properly because my vision is blurring a little and my head is merrily swimming.  With no more booze left, I guess this is as drunk as I am going to get, which is nowhere near enough for me.  I am still sitting here thinking semi straight, when secretly I think I just wanted to knock myself out.  I hear what definitely sounds like Honey's laugh again really loudly this time, it almost sounds like it is coming from right behind me.

"Get out of my head Honey, you are not really here!!"  me saying that only sets the laughter off again.

"Tapestry ... behind you."  I hear a quiet voice whispering behind me.

I spin round quickly, too quickly for my intoxicated state, and I fall flat on my face.  By the time I have propped myself up on my arm to look around, there is nobody there.  I hear the laughing again coming from the left side of the cemetery, after another gust of wind has washed over me.  I feel like I am going crazy as I lie on the floor, my head swimming and my vision blurred from the intoxication as well as with tears.  I just lie there in the fuzz listening to Honey's laughter which is now constantly ringing around me, it is coming from all directions with the gusts of wind.  I move my arm from underneath me, so that I can lie down completely, I close my eyes and put my hands over my ears because I just want the laughter to stop.

"Wakey wakey sleepy head!!"

I am startled by what feels like a cold hand on my face, which shocks me, and I clearly hear Honey's voice, saying something that she always used to say to me, when she was trying to wake me up.  I lie there trying to convince myself that I did not really hear it, it is all just in my head.

"Wakey wakey sleepy head!!"

When I hear it for the second time along with the cold hand on my face, this makes my eyes snap open.  I think I might have even been dozing off for a while.  I hear her laughing and I can tell she is moving away from me as the laughter gets quieter and another gust of wind blows over me.  The noise that the bursts of wind are making sounds familiar to me, but I can not quite work out what the sound is, or why the trees and bushes are not affected by the breeze that is bugging me.  I prop myself up on my elbow and can not help but touch my face, where I had felt the cold sensation, wandering if that was actually real or not.

"Tapestry."  I hear her say again.

"Honey?"  I mumble as I just lie there looking around.  "Honey stop messing about!!"

I hear her laughing again so my eyes try to search carefully around in the darkness looking for the source of the laughter.  Maybe I just think it is Honey.  I can hear it but I can not see where and who it is coming from.  It goes quiet as I sit there swearing, trying to convince myself, that none of this is real, it is just the alcohol.  It sounds like Honey's laughter, but of course it can not be Honey, she is not here to laugh, she is buried, six feet under, in the ground only a few feet away from me!

Then something catches my eye, while I am searching for the source of the laughter.  Two little bright shiny dots are moving about in the darkness of the bushes.  I hear Honey laugh again from behind me but I ignore it wandering what the two shiny things are that seem to be moving closer to me.  As the shiny shapes get closer, I think they look like eyes.  My eyes start to make out a moving dark mass as it gets closer.  For a moment I start to get a little scared thinking it is a giant rat or some other animal, like a dog or cat, coming towards me.

When the moving object moves out of the shadows and into the moonlight, I am shocked when I can see it is not a giant rat, cat or dog ... it is a child.  I rub my eyes thinking I am seeing things, but I am not!!  There is a toddler coming in my direction.

The laughter suddenly stops.

"Shadow get back here you little BRAT!!!" 

I hear what I am convinced is Honey's voice snap quite sharply from the bushes.  I expect someone, a woman,  to come running out after the little boy, but nobody does.  The toddler is looking right at me and keeps on coming in my direction.

Shadow?!  I hold my head for a moment without taking my eyes off the toddler that continues to come towards me.  She had called the boy Shadow!!  I don't even question if it is a girl or boy, I just know that toddler is a boy.  This is my intoxicated imagination, it has to be!!  Little boys do not just appear out of nowhere!!  He keeps coming closer all the time and I seriously do not know what to do or think.  I am scared now to take my eyes off him in case he disappears, while I am trying to make sense of this.  I even go as far as to stupidly think, I have done it again ... I am dreaming my Shadow into life ... but I know I am an idiot, because he should still be a baby like Vanilla.

"No cry sad man!!"  the toddler says as he stands in front of me. "Me Shadow."

I suddenly hear what sounds like Honey hysterically laughing, but in a sarcastic way,  this makes me feel like I am in a wacky dream of my own making that I can not get out of, which I do not actually want to get out of.  I am ignoring the continuous laughter, because my eyes are fixed on the toddler that has just called himself Shadow, I think.  Why would a toddler be running around the cemetery alone this late at night and why is nobody coming to get him.  I am staring at his bright eyes, which are distracting me, they are shining ... almost like ... he is a vampberry, but that is just ridiculous!!

"Me Shadow."  he grins at me as he plonks himself down and sits on the floor right in front of me, so close, I hear the rustling noise that his nappy makes as his backside hits the floor.   I wander why he is not scared of me, he does not know me.  The little boy just sits there quietly staring at me strangely. "You's Tapestry."

"And how would you know my name is Tapestry?"  I frown at him

"Mommy says you Tapestry."  he grins up at me and I just stare at him.  "She say you take me, she no like me, she no like Vanilla."

WHAT THE HELL!!???  I shout in my head. 

"You thinks too loud and noisy."  he grins at me again  "Me Shadow!!"

I frown at the boy in confusion because of what he has just said, especially him mentioning Vanilla!!  Who is this kid?!  I am wandering why he keeps saying me Shadow, and what does he mean by I think too loudly!?

I reach out to touch him as he sits frowning up at me.  I am shocked when my hand actually makes contact with a solid body.  He is real!!  I was expecting to feel nothing, like with the spirits.  I was thinking that I am imagining this boy to be here, because I want him to be here and I want him to be my Shadow.  I remove my hand off his arm, shocked by how cold he feels, this again reminds me of a vampberry.  This is my imagination it has to be, he is not really here!!

"Me is here look."  he pats my arm a few times with his cold hand.  "Me Shadow!!"  he looks at me like he is confused again.  He is not the only one, I am seriously confused, this really does not make any sense!! 

"Lime thinks loud but not at Shadow."  he grins at me  "She not like Mommy and she scared of the ghosties!!"

"Who is Lime?"

"My bestist friend.  She is sleeping in her bed."  he grins at me again. "Do you have friends?  Me have five friends."   he holds his little hand up with all his finger spread.  This boy is cute! 

"Yes I have a few friends."   I mumble. 

"Are you my friend?" 

"If you want me to be."  I laugh at him.

He makes me jump a little when he squeals suddenly as he points at a rat who is scurrying under the hedgerow towards the back of the cemetery, that I can barely see and had not even heard.

"Me no like nasty ratsies, they eat noisy boys."  This makes me laugh because he says it so dramatically.  "Me's having a pussy cat to catch the nasty ratsies!!"  he grins at me  "Tappy do you like pussy cats?"

"Yes."  I laugh at him for calling me Tappy  "I like pussy cats."

"What is that?"  he asks as he points at my jacket.  When I look down to see what he is pointing to, I see my phone is half hanging out of my pocket, and about to fall out.

"My phone."  I say as I pull my phone out.

"Me see!  Me see!"  

The little boy holds out his little hand and starts to scrunch and unscrunch his little fingers at me asking for the phone, just like Cotton does when she wants something.  I smile at him as I hand my phone to him.  He starts to play with it, turning it over in his little hands, as he inspects it and starts shaking it.  He starts to press the keypad buttons before he places the phone to his ear like he is making a phone call..

"Hello me Shadow."  he sits there grinning for a moment as he listens to the phone.  He starts frowning  "Hello, I'm talking!!!"  he says a little louder and dramatically, looking a little irritated as he shakes the phone and places it back to his ear.  "HELLO!"  he shouts into the phone.  He amuses me as he starts to look annoyed because nobody it talking back to him.

"Me speak to Grandad.  Tell him."  he holds the phone out to me

When I tell him that I do not have his Granddads phone number so I can not phone him, he frowns and starts to press the numbers on the phone again.  I am not too bothered because the phone is locked so it is not like he can randomly phone someone.  He jumps when the phone, which has had a blank screen up to now, suddenly lights up and flashes up the wallpaper picture of Vanilla that I got River to set on my phone.  The little boy sits holding the phone up as he stares at it.

"Who's that?"  he asks as he points at the photo on my phone

"That is Vanilla, my baby."  he frowns at it as he repeats the name Vanilla.  He starts shaking the phone, he keeps tipping the phone over and shaking it, like he is expecting something to fall out of it, then he is looking back at the photograph and frowning.

"Yellow baby in phone!"  he looks at me with that dramatic expression again  "Get baby out!!   Me see Vanilla."  this makes me giggle he must think the baby is inside the phone.

"The baby is not inside the phone, that is just a photograph."  I laugh at him as he stares at me wide eyed and confused.  "Do you know what a photograph is?"  he shrugs his shoulders.  "Sit still and I will show you a photograph.  I will take a photograph of Shadow.  Smile."

He sits there and smiles so I take a photograph of him, he suddenly squeals as the flash goes off and holds his hands over his face.  I should have warned him about that.  When I tell him it is okay and move his cold hands off his face, he looks a little upset so I tell him it was just a flash of light and to watch the phone as I take a random picture of the headstones.  This time he starts laughing, I guess because it is not going off in his face this time and blinding him.

"Make light again!"  he says as he is laughing.

I have to take a few more pictures, of the hedge, just to humour him, because he suddenly thinks the flash going off is funny.  I scroll back to the picture of him and hold the phone out in front of the boy so that I can show him the photograph of himself.  He sits there wide eyed with his mouth open like he is sucking in air.  He is a little drama queen!!

"Shadow in the phone!!"  he says dramatically then he starts to laugh  "Shadow in the phone!!"  he seems to find it highly amusing as he keeps touching the screen on my phone and giggling, while he looks at his own photograph.

I suddenly hear a noise which makes me jump and I drop my phone.  It sounds like the bushes are rustling quite violently and I can hear what sounds like twigs snapping, over in the dark area where the toddler came from.  I think I can hear quiet angry voices for a second.  I glance over in that direction, like the boy does, but only for a second because I can not see anything in the darkness and I'm still scared that the boy will disappear if I take my eyes off him for too long.

I pick up my phone and stuff it back into my pocket.  The toddler is sat there just staring at me wide eyed again, so I sit staring back.  I wander what colour he is? 

"Me's owange"  he grins at me  "Me knows my colours, Lime teached me and me's a clever boy."  I am confused, did I just ask him out loud what colour he is?!   "You funny man you do not know colours?"  he is frowning at me again.

"I do not see colour, I am colour blind."  his little eyebrows scrunch together in confusion, I am not even going to try to explain that one to him.  "No, I do not know colours, I am not a clever boy."

"You funny Tappy!!  Me clever boy, me teach you!"  he smiles up at me, and I think what he has just said is so cute.    

"White eyes!"  he points at my eyes  "Red eyes."  he points at his own eyes.  Then he starts pointing all over himself, his hair, skin and the body of his all in one suit, and then at my clothes, hair and skin, and every time he says ... "Owange."   So I now know he has orange skin and hair and red eyes.  I frown when he points at the arm of his clothes and he says "White" then points at the studs and badge on my jacket saying "White".  I wander why he is wearing white when he is red and orange.  My blood suddenly runs cold ... Red and Orange ... exactly the same as my Shadow!!

"Green"  he says as he points at the floor snapping me from my thoughts  "Grass is green, tree leaves is green, Lime is green, lots of green things - peas, apples, frogs."  he smiles at me  "What colour you want to learn now?" 

"Yellow."  I just say off the top of my head as I laugh at him.

"Flowers."  he points at some tiny flowers in the grass.  His little forehead wrinkles up and his eyes look upwards thoughtfully like he is thinking.  "Honey, Granddad, ducks, sun, nasty lemons."  he screws up his face and sticks his tongue out like he has just tasted one, which makes me laugh  "cheese, banana ... me like banana!"  he grins up at me. 

"You are a clever boy!!" 

He sits grinning at me.  He does seem to be very clever for his age, in comparison to Cotton, who I keep being told is clever, so this boy must be a genius!!  I laugh at myself, I am sat here in the cemetery in the middle of the night being taught my colours by a toddler!!  This I will definitely be keeping a secret and to myself, I doubt anyone would believe this one anyway!!  I frown as he leans towards me and puts his finger over his mouth and makes a shhhh noice.  

"Do you know secrets?  I do, Lime tells me."  he does the shhhhh noise again as his finger goes back over his mouth and he looks around to make sure that nobody is listening, and he whispers "Me keeps secrets!!"

I sit there really laughing at him, as he starts laughing with me.  I wander if he even knows what a secret is, but he makes me laugh more by how dramatic he is sometimes.  However, I can not help but wander why he chose to say that about the secrets when I had just thought about keeping something a secret.

He suddenly starts singing as he holds his feet and rocks backwards and forwards.

♫ Do you want to build a snowman? ... Come on let's go and play ... I never see you anymore ... come out the door ... it's like you've gone away ♫

♫We used to be best buddies ... And now we're not ... I wish you would tell me why? ... Do you want to build a snowman? ... it doesn't have to be a snowman ... Go away Anna ... okay bye ♫

I just sit and listen to him at first, amused that he seems to know the song word perfect and he is adding the sounding affects like the door knocking and speaking parts of the song, which he is even more surprisingly singing in tune.  This song drives me mad because Cotton is obsessed with the Frozen movie and she has it playing over and over, Affairs triplets also love it too.

Shadow starts to giggle when I can not help but join in and start singing the song with him.  He made it to the end of the song without getting a single word wrong. 

"Again!!"  he giggles as he jigs up and down waving his arms around in excitement.  "Sing it again!!"

I laugh at him and we sing the song again together.

I start to wander again why he is out here alone and nobody is coming to find him.  I jump in and ask him quickly before he jumps in and says he wants to sing the snowman song again.

"Shadow where are your Mommy and Daddy?"

"There."  he giggles as he points over into the darkness where the commotion had been coming from earlier.  "Me hears them, Daddy is mad again!!  Honey naughty, she bring me outside and she burn Shadow!!"

I frown in the direction of the bushes where he pointed, I now can not hear a thing, but then my hearing has never been any good.  My blood has run cold because he said Honey, he did, didn't he, I was not just imagining it was I?!

"Maybe we should go and find your Mommy and Daddy, they need to take you home, you should not be out in the dark all alone!!"

"Me's not alone, yous here and me likes the dark."  he grins at me  "We ignores Mommy, she is a misery guts!!"

I sit just laughing as I stare at him.  Shadow is seriously cute and funny.  I can not wait for Vanilla to get to this age.  He laughs suddenly.

"Shadow cute and funny!"  he laughs.  "Vanilla baby."

Now I know this is getting seriously stupid, I have thought it a few times and dismissed it, but I swear this kid can hear my thoughts! 

"Daddy you funny!!"  he starts to really laugh as he seems to look at something behind me. "Boo Daddy I can see you!!"

"Shadow where is your Daddy?"  I ask him

"There."  he points directly at me.

I automatically turn my head and try to look over my shoulder,  thinking he is pointing at someone who is coming up behind me.

I suddenly feel a sharp pain in my neck, my head swims madly for a moment just before everything goes black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ Jazz ~

"HELL!!  That was close!!  If he had seen me, after Shadow called me Daddy, it would have blown everything!!"  I snap as I hand Maizie the syringe.   "How long was he sat there talking to him?"

"Too long probably!!"  Maizie mutters  "They were already sat there when I stumbled upon them.  As soon as I saw what was going on I came to fetch you.  She was just stood in the bushes letting it happen, just watching them and laughing!"

I am seriously angry.  If it was not for Maizie, who is prowling around town on immortal watch, stumbling across Tapestry and Shadow sat together chatting while Honey just stands watching, I dread to think what would have happened.  They were NEVER meant to see each other!!  I seriously do not know how much more of Honey's stupidity that I can take!!

Honey has now blatantly let Tapestry see Shadow, which is a TOTAL disaster!!  Thankfully he is colourblind and drunk and with Shadow being that much older in appearance to Vanilla, we might just get away with it, for the time being at least, as long as someone can convince him he was so drunk he was hallucinating!

"I am worried about what Shadow might have said to him."  I glance at the boy  "It annoys me that I can not get into Tapestry's head to read his mind or hear his thoughts!!"  I snap to nobody in particular.

"Tappy thinks loud and noisy!!"  Shadow says suddenly

"Shadow did you hear what that man was thinking?"  I frown at him

"Me smell blood, he mortal.  Tappy thinks noisy, like Lime."  Shadow says  "He sad man wants Shadow."  he points down at Tapestry  "Tappy sleeping noisy head."

"Well isn't that just peachy!!"  I snap as Omri stands laughing quietly after he says I told you so.  He predicted that Tapestry might not be silent to Shadow.  "The boy can hear the silent one by the looks of it, and now he knows his damn name as well as what he looks like!!  This just gets better NOT!!!!"  I glare at Honey.   "I might as well just tell Shadow who he is and be done with it!!  Or have you already done that?"  I snap at her sarcastically. 

"Is Shadow a naughty boy Daddy?"  the boy mumbles as he stares at me wide eyed, an upset expression written all over his face.  I can not help but laugh at him, he is such a good natured and caring boy, which is a great relief to me.

"No Shadow is a good boy!  It is Mommy who is naughty!!" 

I ruffle his hair as I glare over at Honey.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING HONEY!!"

I yell at her, and unlike her son, she just stands there without a care, and stares at me with an almost smug look on her face, which riles me up even more.  I would not be surprised in the slightest if she did not send Shadow to speak to Tapestry on purpose!!  She is always banging on about how Tapestry should have the boy, because she does not want him.  She says it repetitively, even though she knows it is totally impossible, with Shadow being an immortal when Tapestry is not.    

"ARE YOU TOTALLY STUPID??!!  Tapestry is the very last person that should be seeing that boy!!  You want to hope Shadow did not say anything to him that helps him to work it out!!  Berry help you if he has!!"

"I'll take him to Mango."  Maizie mumbles  "I'm not sure jabbing him with sedative was such a good idea if he is full of alcohol!"

"Oh no you won't Maizie!!  Any excuse to go sniffing round Mango, he thinks you are faded remember, we have enough problems here without you adding to them!!"  I snap at Maizie who just pulls a face at me.  "I will get Sunny here to sort him out, he'll have to phone for an ambulance.  You, Cosmic and Omri can get THAT BITCH out of my sight before I dispose of her here and now!!  I want her locked in the pets cage where she can not do anymore damage!!"

"That is really not such a good idea is it Jazz, after she tried to fade Lime this morning!"  Omri pulls a face at me. 

"Lock Lime in the side room for tonight until I can sort something out.  Move her bed and furniture into there.  This bitch can just sit on the cold floor!!"   I laugh sarcastically  "It comes to something when I can trust Lime with Shadow before I can trust Honey with her own son!!  At least Lime looks after and cares about the boy!!  I doubt even she would have pulled this stunt tonight!!"

I turn to look at Storm who is holding Shadow.  Shadow is just staring at me wide eyed, I bet he has had a right fright especially with my shouting!!  That kid is far from stupid, I would not be surprised if he does not already understand what is actually going on here, especially if he has been listening to Tapestry's grieving.  I hope to berry that boy is going to forget tonight quickly!!

I snap open my phone and dial Sunny's number, as I watch them all making their way back to the den.  Omri and Maizie are dragging Honey who is kicking up a fuss.

It only takes Sunny a few rings to answer the phone, which surprises me, with it being the middle of the night.  He tells me to hang on, I hear him speaking to someone, then I hear doors opening.

"Hell Jazz it is 3am!!"  Sunny snaps at me when he has finally sorted himself out, and he has privacy to talk to me.

"I need you in the cemetery ..."

"Can it wait, only I am at the police station."

"Why?"

"Strawberry has gone and got herself arrested in the dive bar!!"  he snaps, he really does not sound happy.  "Don't even ask what she has been doing!!"

"You are going to have to get out Sunny, this is pretty urgent!!  Tapestry is here by the graves out cold.  Do not phone Mango yet.  I need to talk to you first and he can not hear what I have to say."

"Out cold?!  Please tell me you haven't!!"  he almost yells

"No stupid!!  We had to sedate him to knock him out.  Your stupid daughter has let him see Shadow.  Tap and Shadow have been sat here having a right cosy chat and sing song!  We couldn't get Shadow away from Tapestry without him seeing any of us.  I had to sneak up and jab him."  he starts swearing down the phone about his kids constantly giving him a damn headache all the time!!

"That will teach you for having so many!!  Most people stop at a couple!!"  I laugh at him  "Seriously mate Tapestry needs sorting out urgently, he needs medical attention.!!"

"Okay I'm on my way, I'll be five minutes tops I'm just round the corner from you."  he snaps  "I guess I can leave Saffron and Crimson to deal with Strawberry, I need to calm myself down anyway, I feel like throttling her!!"

"Just hurry Sunny.  As soon as you get here you will have to phone for an ambulance, he is hammered and we have just pumped sedative into him!!"

I snap my phone shut with irritation.

While I wait for Sunny I am wandering what the hell I am going to do with Honey?!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Song ~ Lullaby ~ Nickelback

Do you want to build a snowman soundtrack
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 38 - Gen 2 - Tapestry

Warning:  Adult content

Strawberry - this chapter was inspired by a dream I had!!  
Sorry but I just had to do it - lol

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Drinking in the dive bar, on top of the drugs that I have been given by River and Dad today, is not the best idea that I have ever had.  Not that I have had many bright ideas!!  I have sedative, those four little white pills and of course my medication swimming around in my system and I am throwing alcohol down my neck.  The funny part about it all, is I know I am being an idiot and probably asking for trouble!!"

The bottle of wine, that I lifted off the kitchen counter, which I sat on the park and drank, has gone straight to my head and has me merrily intoxicated.  Wine is not something that I would normally have drank and I am not even sure how strong it was, but I think any alcohol would not have mixed well with the drugs that have gone into my system today.

I wind River up something chronic over drinking wine, and seriously that bottle of wine of his that I consumed on the park was not nice, it was dry and revolting!!  I do not know what pleasure he gets out of drinking it!!  The closest I have ever come to drinking wine is when my Grandmother occasionally used to give me a drop of hers, probably a teaspoon full in a glass of lemonade when I was little. I thought I was a big boy drinking wine, but of course the amount that she used to give me was so minute it would not even have got a fly drunk!!

While I was on the park I decided to go to the cemetery, very curious about the mess that I have made to Shadow and Honey's graves.  I do not think I am going to rest until I put it right.  I had to pass the dive bar on the way, and as the off license is now closed, I go into the bar for another bottle of dutch courage.

I went into the bar with only the intention of buying a bottle of vodka, but the landlord moaned about it, so I just ordered myself a drink instead.  I am a little irritated because when I was underage he would serve me with bottles of alcohol and now I am an adult he won't sell me a bottle of vodka, he would rather now that I drink on the premises.  Wally is where all the kids go to buy their alcohol when they are underage.  I guess he thinks he might get more money out of me that way, knowing this cheeky old git he will let me buy the bottle before I leave, once he sees I am not buying any more drinks.

I turn round while I am stood at the bar because it is deadly silent in here, I presume because of the time, most decent people are in bed asleep now.  The bar I thought was empty all but for me until I see a guy, who I do not recognize, get up from his seat and walk into the toilets.

I laugh to myself as I throw my drink down my neck, remembering the time that me and Fern came in here and got dragged out in handcuff.  I suddenly stop laughing when I realize, that is what actually started it all.  The very next day, Forrest faded Storm and that was the first time I slept with Honey.  I can not always help but think, if I had not got Honey pregnant, she would never have faded, she would still be here.

"Well if it is not the cute little golden boy himself ... Tapestry Orchid!!"  I hear a male voice behind me  "I need to know what your secret is mate, because I could use a little bit of what you have got!!"

I turn around to stare at the guy speaking to me, he is the guy that I just watched going into the toilets.  I frown at him, I think I recognize him, he looks very familiar but I can not quite put my finger on who he is.  Not being able to see his colour does not help, I can not even take a guess.  He starts to laugh at me as I am stood there staring at him trying to work out who he is.

"Sorry, do I know you?"

"Come on bright eyes!!  I have not changed that much!!  You will break my heart into millions of pieces if you say you do not remember me." 

As soon as he calls me bright eyes I know exactly who it is.  Saffron Shine.  He really used to irritate the hell out of me calling me bright eyes when we were kids.  He never used to call Mosaic and Coral bright eyes, just me, and I could never quite figure out why!

"Oh Berry!!  Saffron!!  I heard you are back in town, but I have not seen you around!!"  I frown at him  "So what is the golden boy all about?"

"You and the old man!!  You are seriously the best thing since sliced bread with him at the moment, even after this mornings performance."  he laughs  "Not quite how I remembered your two's affections for each other being!!  So what happened, have you been sucking his dick?"

I stand laughing at him as I take in how he has changed physically since the last time that I saw him, which was too many years ago.  He looks a lot different in appearance, but his mouth has not changed any, he always used to crack me up with some of the things he used to come out with when we were kids.

"Hell no, you joker!!  I think I just might end up buried next to Storm and Honey if I even tried!!  I think you know all too well, your old man is quietly homophobic!!"  We both stand laughing for a moment.  "Your guess is as good as mine, because I honestly can not work out the sudden change in his attitude towards me either.  Sunny hated me before the abduction, when I returned home, I suddenly had a new best friend!!  I expected him to batter me because of Honey being pregnant!" 

I pull a face at him, he has already dropped in a comment about my performance and outburst this morning, I imagine he will have something to say on the matter so I decide to get in before he says something, and get the ear ache over and done with.

"Listen about my performance this morning at Cinnamon's funeral, I am sorry I ..."

"Forget it Tap!!"  he laughs  "We had bets on you blowing today anyway so it was not unexpected!!  Although we did not predict you would try a bit of grave digging!!  Only you could bright eyes!!  I have seen you pull some stunts but that is right up there!"  

Saffron laughs quietly which surprises me, it actually shocks me that he only seems to be seeing the funny side of it, not that I think there is one myself.

"Hell, I can not even imagine what it must be like to come back from a nine month abduction to find out you have lost your girlfriend and son like that."  he smiles at me.  "You have been through enough shit, you don't need me giving you earache for trying to dig up my sister and nephew!!" 

I am pretty surprised with his attitude, I expected, especially the Shines to start ripping shreds out of me for at least disrespecting and making a mess of Honey and Shadows graves.  I have always found Saffron a very hard one to work out, when we were kids, he was always there quietly in the background, he was never one of the nasty ones like his sister Strawberry, he mostly just used to watch me from a distance.  I used to think he was strange back then, but when he did open his mouth he used to crack me up.  Now that I know his secret, I think I realize I know what his problem was.  We go and sit down in the booth where he has left his drink and phone on the table.

"So, what are you doing in here alone so late, not following the Orchid piss head family tradition I hope!!"  he frowns at me.

"Hell no!!  As a rule I do not drink, I stick to flavoured water because of my medication.  River has given me the night off from Vanilla, and after today, I just needed a blow out!!"  he smiles at me and says he knows that feeling!  "So what has brought you back to Sugar Valley?  Honey told me you love it out in Sugar Falls."  I ask him

"Basically Crystal."  he laughs and I frown at him.

He starts to explain that he was still living at his Grandparents in Sugar Falls with his partner.  When Sunny discovered that Crystal is his sister and that his parents had just dumped her and pretended she had faded.  Sunny went ballistic and told his parents he wants nothing more to do with them, then he decided that Saffron could not live there any longer.  He had not told his partner he is a mixed berry, it is always a secret best kept out in the coded world, and Sunny opened his big mouth and told his partner.

"The bitch went ballistic, moved out and dumped me without a second thought, even threatening to dob me in to the law for being a mixed berry.  So my old man got his way and I had no choice but to come back here, even though I really do not want to be here!!."

"So is this why you are in here this late drinking alone?  Wallowing in self pity over the ex?"

"No not really."  he laughs  "The reason is pathetic really!!  One minute I'm sitting here crying over the bitch, the next I am having my head blown by someone else.  I suddenly see that our relationship was all wrong and I could not see it until I was out of it!!  On my part I think it was more need not love and even though I was not impressed at the time, now I am glad that the bitch has dumped me!!" 

He rolls his eyes and looks a little embarrassed, but I actually understand what he is saying.  I had exactly the same thing happen with Honey, that was more need than love and I didn't realize it until she was gone and I met Crystal.  However, I doubt very much that I should be telling Saffron that so I keep it to myself!!  

"I met someone in here a few nights ago, but we did not exchange numbers.  It was only meant to be a one night stand but I am now going crazy because I seriously can not stop thinking about her. I have stupidly sat in here for the past few nights on the off chance, hoping I might run into her again, but no such luck!!"

"Her? She?  You know you really don't have to pretend with me!  I know your secret!!"  he frowns at me as I smirk at him.  "I have got it on very good authority that you are a gay guy who is still in the closet, and that is why Sunny sent you to your Grandparents in Sugar Falls, and not for the bullshit reason he fed everyone."

"Who told you that?"  he frowns at me "Not the old man!"

"Hell no, he makes out like you are straight and have a girlfriend.  Bay told me."  he pulls a very strange face like he is not impressed. "Don't worry he has not been gossiping or spreading rumours!!   Your secrets is safe with us and I have never told a sole.  I tend to have all the gay boys crying on my shoulder for some reason."  he starts to really laugh at me for a moment.  "Bay told me the story about you and him, and how Sunny caught you two together and how he reacted."  he smiles at me.  "You know you shouldn't be scared of coming out, you really do not need to hide it here, nobody gives Bay, Forrest or any of the others a hard time for being gay!!"

"Oh my old man constantly gives me hell!!  That is why it is a secret, he wants it kept that way, not even my own brothers and sisters know!!  Dad went ballistic when he found out my Grandparents had let my boyfriend move in.  Another reason why he would not let me stay with them, he accused them of encouraging me in my sinful ways!!"  he laughs for a moment  "He thinks me being gay is my choice and I can change it, he thinks he can straighten me out!!"

"Sunny has always avoided Bay like the plague, mind you Bay has always avoided him, he has been terrified that he would tell Alpine about you two"  I roll my eyes  "I bet you would not know, unless you've spoken to Bay since you have been back, Storm was gay too."

Saffron mouths the word NEVER!!! as he sits there with his mouth and eyes wide open.

  

"It was a secret that he took with him when he faded."  I smile at him  "Bay and Storm were in a relationship when he faded, I know it's true, but everyone else thinks Bay is talking shit, everyone struggles to believe Storm was gay!   They both kept being gay hidden, partly because of how Sunny reacted to you, they were scared that Prelude and Alpine might react in the same way.  Obviously now Bay and Slate are out in the open.  Alpine doesn't like it, he would rather Bay was straight obviously, but he leaves him alone and lets him get on with it, he is even okay with Slate!!"

"Lucky Bay!!  I guess his old man is not as narrow minded as mine and he got what he wanted eventually!!"  he laughs  "He fancied Slate when we were kids."

"Yeah, so did Storm.  They both fell for Slate and that is the only reason why Bay and Storm were together and had a voodoo doll with my sisters face on it.  It looks like it might have worked too, the mess Coral has gotten herself into with Gravel and Slate and not knowing who's babies they are!!  I guess you have heard what Daddies little princess has been up to!!

"Yeah I heard, Corals halo is in the same place as Straw's knickers, round her ankles!!"  we both burst up laughing for a moment.  

"So your one night stand guy, does he have a name or is that a secret too."  he just stares at me hesitantly for a moment.  "I might be able to work it out for myself, it is not like there are many gay guys in this town ... Forrest, Granite, Bay, Mace, Atlas, Slate ... so which one is it"   I laugh and he shakes his head  "Okay."  I smirk at him  "It can't be Mace, Granite or Slate unless they sneaked out of the hospital for a quick half.  So that just leaves Forrest, Bay and Atlas. I doubt it would be Forrest or Bay they are two wrapped up in Granite and Slate ... so that only leaves one"  I smirk at him.

"Since when did you become a detective bright eyes."  he starts laughing as he punches my arm playfully.  "Yes, okay, it is Atlas."  he mumbles quietly

"Well you are an idiot, he lives at Forrest's like Bay." 

Saffron knows Atlas lives at Forrest's but is a little confused as to why Bay is living there and Atlas had not mentioned it when they were talking about Bay.  I explain to him that Bay does have his own place but a couple of Granites brothers are crashing there, so Bay has moved in with Forrest, as that is where he will be living anyway with Granite, Forrest and Slate when Slate comes out of the hospital. Mace will also be living there until his trial.

"Now I get why Dad calls Forrest's house, the house of sin!!"  he starts laughing almost hysterically  "All the gay guys in town will be living under one roof, except for me of course."  he smirks at me.

"Just go and knock on for Bay, you are bound to bump into Atlas, Mace is out of the hospital now so Atlas will be at home mostly looking after him."

"I guess I could drop in on Bay, but I don't want to make it too obvious."  he rolls his eyes  "I spent the night there, you know creeping in and out, it might look a bit suss if I just turn up on his doorstep looking for Bay, as well as he knows about me and Bay having history."  he shrugs his shoulders  "And it is not like Atlas has come looking for me is it, he might not even want to see me again, knowing my luck this is all one sided!!"  he sits there and puts his head in his hands  "I am going to just have to sit it out until I bump into him again."

"In the mean time you are going to drive yourself mad by the looks of it!!"  I laugh at him  "I actually had Atlas crying on my shoulder a few days ago when I went to see Slate."  

I roll my eyes at Saffron. I am seriously beginning to wander why I get all the gay boys pouring there problems out to me?

"I am not sure you have time to just sit it out. You do know don't you that he is thinking of taking off and only coming back for the trial.  This Mace thing is really getting him down."  Saffron frowns at me and asks what Mace thing.  "It is no secret, everyone knows there is a right tangled mess going on there!!  Atlas loves Mace, Mace loves Granite, Granite loves Forrest, those boys are really cracking me up, now it looks like you are tagging onto the end of the line!!"  I start laughing then singing  ♪ Saffron loves Atlas ♫  Atlas loves Mace ♪

"Shut up idiot someone might hear you!!"  he says laughing as he looks around then thumps me  "Love is maybe too strong a word to be using right now!!"  he smiles at me "So it is Mace. He told me there was someone, but he did not tell me who!"  Saffron pulls a miserable face and seems to go a little glassy eyed and wonders off into his own little world for a while.

"Oh man you have got it bad haven't you!!"  I laugh at him as he sits there all mopy faced.  "Anyway, Atlas wants to move on and forget Mace, so I guess you have a chance."  he rolls his eyes  "However, you might have to move fast before he takes off and disappear on you completely. "

I can not help but laugh at Saffron as he sits there looking miserable.  I hand him my phone  

"Here, Atlas's number is in my phone, but you will have to get it out yourself, and put yours in there while you are at it.  If you remember I can't read and write, so don't text me, phone."

He smiles at me as he takes my phone off me a little gingerly and stares at it for a moment.  Then he goes into my contacts and puts Atlas's number into his phone then his into mine.  He rings his phone from mine to put my number on his phone which he saves.

"Talking of moving fast ... you and Crystal?"  he frowns at me  "You did not waste any time did you!!  Did you not love Honey?"

"I know it looks very bad, but I did think that Honey faded nine months ago, before she actually had.  Manderine made out she had faded her when she had not.  I think Maizie must have pursued Manderine to let Honey go because she was pregnant and Manderine just wound me up in evil spite telling me she had faded her.   So I have been grieving for Honey and the baby for the past nine months and I had virtually got it out of my system by the time I returned home.  My biggest shock was coming home to Vanilla!!"  he smiles at me  "And Crystal well she is just something else!!  I just could not help but fall for her instantly."

We sat for ages just chatting about Crystal and the life that she has had.  Saffron has only seen her a few times while she has been around at Sunny's but she has been very shy with him so he has not really spent any time with his new found Aunt yet.  We joked about our relationship and how it would change if me and Crystal ever get married.  It would make me his Uncle, which had us howling with laughter.

Our conversation moved away from Crystal and onto other things.  Saffron tried to talk about the abduction but I told him that was one subject I did not want to talk about because it was too painful, but really it is because I do not want to slip up and say something that I shouldn't.  So we avoided the subject of the abduction after that.  In a way it was a good thing that we had so much catching up to do because while we were talking neither of us were really drinking so I was not getting any more intoxicated than I already felt.  I actually felt like I was sobering up.

"Why do you keep calling me bright eyes?"  I ask him after he has called it me for what feels like the hundredth time.  He sits laughing at me

"I have a thing for eyes and your eyes I have always found very striking."  I raise my eyebrows, I guess he must know what I might be thinking, he starts to look embarrassed  "I'm not saying that because I fancy you, don't worry you are safe, I am not about to jump on you!!"  we both laugh  "Your eyes are a lot brighter than Coral's and Mo's, and are almost a different colour."  I frown at him  "Yours are like paper white and bright theirs are dull and have like a grey ting to them.  Yours shine, theirs don't.  Affair, Lilly, Mo, Cotton and Coral their eyes are pale and dull in comparison, and I did notice the other day, Crystal has shiny eyes like you and so does one of the triplets."  I frown and ask which one  "Magnolia, the other two's are dull."  he laughs  "Vanilla has your shiny eyes too."

I have never noticed.  I can not help but let my mind wander, I thought we all had the same colourless eyes.  Something Saffron said struck me, me and Crystal having the white shiny eyes, we see spirits when those with dull eyes don't.  Storm thinks Vanilla can see him, and Saffron says she has the shiny eyes too.  It makes me wander if there is a connection with the shiny eyes and spirits, I also start to wander if Magnolia might be able to see them too.

"It was funny you walking in when you did."  he laughs at me suddenly, breaking my thoughts, as he waves his phone in front of me.   "I was listening to yours and Rocky's song that I had just downloaded off I tunes.  It is really good!!"  he grins at me  "Who would have thought it, Tapestry the rock star!!" he grins at me  "My Dad for one is eating humble pie and choking on his words right now, he always said you would drag Honey down!! Something else he has got totally wrong!!"

"I'm not a rock star yet!!"  I laugh at him  "I could turn out to be a rock flop!!" he frowns at me.

"Have you not checked the I tunes chart?"  he laughs  "Your song has shot straight up to number 1 in the download charts.  I don't think you are going to be a rock flop somehow!!"  he starts laughing as I sit staring at him wide eyed and in shock!!

Suddenly I hear a voice that goes through me instantly.

"Yeah rock flop is about the size of what he is, and anyone who thinks otherwise is an idiot!!"  Strawberry laughs sarcastically as she walks around the table and sits down next to her brother. "Saffron, he will never make it he is an Idiot!!  It will not take him long to mess up!!  Berry knows what Honey ever saw in him!!"

"Oh here she comes, she is never off my back this one!!"  I snap

"You are a total moron that is why!!  Just look at you, you throw one of your attention seeking tantrums at Cinnamon's funeral, you make a mess of my sister and nephews graves and now you are in here drinking like nothing!!  You are a joke!!"  Strawberry snarls.  "So who have you dumped Vanilla on now?  Is the retard looking after her again?"

"Get lost Straw!!  It is not an attention seeking tantrum, it is an emotional outburst because of my medical condition, one day you might just learn that!!"  I snap at her  "And call Crystal a retard again or any other name for that matter, and you will end up looking like one, because your face is enough to drive me into having an outburst on it!!  Just like you pushed me into it this morning, standing behind me constantly pecking my head with your spiteful crap!!"  I snap at her nastily  "As for my daughter you have been told to keep away, she is none of your business and you are having nothing to do with her!!"  

"That's a bit harsh Tap!!"  Saffron frowns at me.

"That only applies to Strawberry not you or any of the rest of your family!!  You are all welcome to see Vanilla any time, just as long as she is kept away from Strawberry!!"

"You can not stop me from seeing my niece you moron!!"  Strawberry snaps at me

"Just watched me!!  I have warned you, I will get an injunction if you don't keep away!!"

"Hey guys I know you two have never been the best of friends, but there is no need for you to fight!!  Isn't it time you grew up and made friends, we are family now!!"  Saffron tries to but in and calm down the situation, he turns and frowns at me.  "I am really surprised at you Tap using Vanilla just to get at Straw!"

"There is every need Saffron, and I am not using Vanilla to get at her!!  The last thing I want is Vanilla being in the middle of a war zone, it is bad enough that she is having to grow up without a Mother!!"  he smiles at me.  "Your sister here thinks she is a law unto herself!!  She thinks she has more right to my daughter than I do!!  She wants Vanilla and has already broken into our house in the middle of the night trying to snatch Vanilla and take her off to Berry Shores."

 Saffron sits stares at me wide eyed while Strawberry is scowling at me.    

"Ask Cherry about the conversation they had in which Straw told her all about her plans for snatching Vanilla.  If it was not for Crystal overhearing the conversation and locking Vanilla in the bathroom where Straw could not get to her, she would have taken off with my baby during the night while we were all asleep!!"

"Please tell me you are joking!!"  he looks shocked 

"No I wish I was!!  It is not just me telling her, Strawberry has been warned by everyone, including your Dad, to keep away from Vanilla, because she will not drop this she's taking Vanilla rubbish, so none of us can trust her not to snatch off with her!!  Even Crimson has warned her that he will lock her up for baby snatching if she so much as touches Vanilla!!"

Saffron is sat there looking a little shocked as he looks from me to Strawberry.

"Is this true Straw?"  he snaps at her.

"Honey was my twin sister, I knew her better than all of you, and it is what she would have wanted, me to take Vanilla not leave her with that idiot!!"  she snaps at Saffron  "That IDIOT can not even look after himself, and he definitely can not take care of Vanilla properly."  she laughs  "He leaves her with that colourless retard all the time, she is another one, too thick to look after herself, so Vanilla has no hope!!"

Saffron loses it with Strawberry and they start to argue.  I just sit watching and listening as they rip into each other.  Saffron is having a go at her over both Vanilla and Crystal.  I am relieved that he is another one who is taking my side.  Strawberry is out there on her own with this one, nobody agrees with her surprisingly, everyone thinks that Vanilla should be with me and only Strawberry has actually questioned if I am capable of taking care of Vanilla.

I am really also struggling to understand why Coral and Strawberry are so down with and nasty to Crystal!!  She is never anything but kind and sweet with everyone and she definitely has done nothing to deserve their apparent hatred of her.  They keep calling her an idiot when she is far from it, Crystal is actually cleverer and stronger than all of us.  She has survived out in the wild alone since she was six years old, you have to admire her for that, not belittle her because of her ignorance of life, which she is quickly learning.

The way that Coral and Strawberry both keep throwing the word colourless around, like it is something nasty, is also really bugging and annoying me.

"What are you doing out and in this bar at this time of the night anyway Straw? ... on the prowl for your next lay?"  Saffron snaps at her and this really makes me laugh.

"No actually!!  Dad wants you home!!  He sent me in here to fetch you."  she laughs sarcastically  "Someone obviously has been a naughty boy again!!  So what have you done now to upset him some much?   He called you a dirty stop out and Crimson says you two have been fighting again."

"None of your goddamn business!!"  he snaps at his sister  "You mind your own business and I will mind mine!!"

Saffron drains his glass and rolls his eyes at me as he stands up.

"Sorry Tap, I'm going to have to love and leave you.  I will be punching the old mans lights out if he comes in here trying to drag me home!!  He still thinks he can treat me like I am fourteen years old!!"  he smiles at me  "I'll pop round to spend some time with Crystal and Vanilla tomorrow if that is okay."

"Yeah, it's fine!!"  I smile at him  "Just don't bring Straw with you!!"

"Okay!"  he smiles at me  "Thanks for that!" he waves his phone at me and winks, I presume that he means Atlas's phone number.

"No problem!"

"Come on then tart ... HOME!!"  he snaps at Strawberry.

Strawberry tells him she is just using the toilet and she will catch up with him, he just huffs and walks off.  After Saffron has left Strawberry just stays sitting there scowling at me, I doubt she has any intention of using the toilet.  I get up and make my way over to the bar to get away from her.  I decide to order one more drink before I leave to go to the cemetery.

As I stand at the bar I can not help but think it is a little strange that I have not seen Storm or Cosmic since the funeral.  It is unlike Storm not to come tracking me down, but then I guess if he is looking for me, he probably would not expect to find me in here drinking. 

I start to get a little annoyed when Strawberry comes over to the bar and stands right next to me and orders a drink.  I know she has only come over here to wind me up some more.  One of these days I am seriously going to teach her a lesson.

"So when did you and Saffron become so pally?"

"Sling your hook Straw!!"  I snap at her  "I came over here to get away from you and I think you have done enough damage for one day don't you!!  Shouldn't you be going home!!"

"I think Saffron is right, we should quit the fighting and make friends."

"Are you pissed?"

"No this is my first one."  she smiles at me.  Sarcastic cow!!
 

She suddenly steps closer to me and runs her hand down my face.  I try to step away from her but she grabs my jacket and pulls me closer to her.  I lurch forward and wander what the hell she is playing at.  She is not even drunk and I swear she is touching me up!!

"You know I have always wandered what my sister saw in you."  she smiles at me as she runs her hand down my face again and runs her thumb across my lips.  She is making my skin crawl.  "How about you show me just exactly what my sister was getting and what I have been missing?"

"Are you SERIOUSLY coming onto me?!"  I am shocked!! 

"Why not, neither of us are doing anything better right now."  she smirks at me  "You won't be disappointed!"   she says in a sickly voice as she starts playing with my hair. "I think we both know you have always wanted to!!"  I seriously want to slap her filthy hands off me!!  Do men seriously fall for this?!

Like hell do I want too!!  I might be drunk, but I am definitely not THAT drunk!!  I doubt I could EVER be that drunk!!

She is nothing but a dirty whore!!  If she seriously thinks I am going to be her next victim, because she wants to get laid and there is nobody else around or is on a mission to ride every bloke in this town, she is on another planet even thinking of picking on me!!  I would rather turn gay than touch her!!  I actually doubt that I would even be capable of managing it with her anyway, she makes my skin crawl so much!!

She stares into my eyes and starts to run her hand up and down my arm, and even though she is making me cringe and I want to knock her across the bar, I let her carry on while I wander what game she is playing!?  Is this what Rocky warned me about, she is trying to get her claws into me because she thinks fame is coming, or is this a game to trick me into cheating on Crystal so she has got some ammunition to use against me?  Maybe she is trying to get me to slip up and she would go as far as to sleep with me so she can blackmail me into giving her Vanilla.

Whatever her game, I am not that stupid and she definitely is not winning this one.  I start laughing, she is making a very big mistake staring into my eyes!!  She has just reminded me about something.

"Okay, so where are we going?"

"I'll sneak you into mine."  she smirks at me.

Oh boy is she in for a shock!!

I hold her chin and start to move towards her like I am going to kiss her, so that I can get closer to her eyes.  I stop when our faces are inches apart and I stare into her eyes.  She stares back and we make eye contact.  She has just made the biggest mistake of her life!!

I dive through her pupils and straight into her head.

There is no point me having this compelling ability if I do not use it to my own advantage sometimes.  I think teaching Strawberry a lesson is going to come a hell of a lot quicker than I thought.

It does not take me long to tell her, loudly in my head, what I want her to do, and I do it quickly because the last thing I want to do is start seeing pictures of what is in her head.  I imagine it would mostly be pornographic, but I am more worried about who else I might see in there with her!!  While I am in there I tell her to keep well away from me, Crystal and Vanilla in the future.  I am not sure that will have any affect, but I hope it does.

As soon as I break eye contact she walks off quietly towards the toilet where I have told her to go.

While she is gone I go over to the jukebox and stack up as many songs as is possible, and I can not stop laughing all the time I am doing it.  I go back over to the bar and start to badger the land lord for a bottle of vodka.  I am not confident about getting the vodka but I just want to distract him for a while.  I am not so surprised that he actually caves in and sells me one when I tell him I should be making tracks.  I start to talk to him to carry on keeping him preoccupied.

It amuses me when he says he has heard about my recording contract and asks if it is true.  I laugh thinking I bet that bit of gossip flew around town like wild fire!!  He starts asking me questions about my career, he is more curious about how I can go out into the coded world being a mixed berry.  As we are talking I find myself saying I will drop in my CD's to put in his jukebox.  I guess I am about to owe him after what I know is coming with Strawberry.

Suddenly the landlord stops talking mid sentence and pulls a pretty shocked face.

"FOR BERRYS SAKE!!"  he yells  "SHE IS COMPLETELY NAKED!!"

I spin round and I see that she is indeed completely naked and dancing at the jukebox just like I have told her to.  I take out my phone and take a quick picture then turn back around to face Wally who is standing behind the bar blowing a gasket while I am laughing my head off.  I am glad she had her back to us, seeing her bare backside was enough.

I quickly knock back the rest of my drink, because this is my queue too leave.  I am not going to get my kicks from seeing her naked, I have other plans that are going to be way better, the whole town is going to see this!!

I am howling when I put my empty glass down on the bar counter and start to walk towards the toilet where her clothes are.  You just know that I am taking those with me!!

I am almost in hysterics listening to the landlord shouting at her, which she is totally ignoring because she is in a trance.  I have told her she is free to go in one hour, so nobody is budging her during that time.  It amuses me that the landlord remains standing behind the bar while he is blowing a gasket.  He's an elderly guy now, I just hope he does not have a coronary seeing Strawberry dancing naked in his bar.  He sits down on a chair that he has behind the bar and covers his eyes for a moment and starts swearing, he tells me that she just span round.  I am guessing he just had an eyeful of everything.

"Hey Orchid, you can not just leave her here like that!!  Sort your friend out!!"  he yells at me as I am walking away from the bar, so I stop and turn to face him.  "Get her to put her clothes back on and get her out of here ... she is barred!!"

"You are the landlord it is your job to control your customers!"

"Customer, she only bought one drink!!  She is your friend!!  I can not go near her or I might get myself arrested!!"  this has me howling.  "I didn't mean it that way you filthy minded git!!"

"She is no friend of mine so I am not going near her either!!"  I laugh at him  "But I will phone someone, to come and sort her out for you."

"Well hurry up because she is knocking me sick!!  I want her out of here!!"  he sits there on his chair staring at her wide eyed. 

"Well stop looking at her then, you dirty old man, and you won't feel so bad!!"  I laugh at him  "I wouldn't sit there either if I was you, or you might just get a lap dance!!  She might even try to jump you, the town bike will do anything to get laid!!"  I start to howl at him.

"You have always been a cheeky little git Tapestry Orchid!!  I would not be surprised if you have not put her up to this!!"  he laughs   

"You saw her go off to the toilet and just come out naked!!"  I laugh at him  "Would you get naked and start dancing in a public bar if I asked you to?"

"Well no, okay maybe this is not down to you for a change!!  he laughs  "Don't you get going and leaving me in here on my own with her!!"

"Sorry my bed is calling!!"  I laugh at him even though I do feel a little guilty for putting him through this.  "Maybe it is safer if you wait outside for the police to come."

I snap open my phone and dial 999.

"Hello emergency services, which service do you require?"

"Police please."

"Okay sir, I will just put you through."  there is a click then the phone rings twice before someone speaks again.

"Hello, police how can I help you."

"There is a woman running around town, she is completely naked.  She has just run into Wally's dive bar on first Avenue.  We need an officer to come over and sort her out."

"Naked you say?"

"Yes completely stark naked, she is not wearing a stitch of clothing.  Can you please hurry only she is dancing in the middle of the bar and it is knocking the landlord sick and he is an old man, I am worried he might keel over, then we will be needing an ambulance too."

It is killing me trying not to laugh especially as the landlord is now laughing behind me because he is listening to what I am saying.

"Okay sir we will send a squad car straight over."

"Oh and please do not send Crimson Shine if he is on duty, because the naked woman is his sister, Strawberry Shine!"

As soon as I have finished talking to the police, I ask Wally to find a number for me in my contact list.  I dial the number and just hope that Mint is going to answer the phone this late at night.

"Tapestry!!  Do you know what time it is?! You woke me up you Idiot!!"  Mint almost yells down the phone at me.

"Yes, I know I'm sorry, but I have something for you that you are just going to LOVE!!"  I laugh  "It will probably earn you some brownie points at work, plus you get to reap a little bit of that revenge you want on the Tart!!"  I sigh  "And I am sorry for what I did at Cin's funeral."

"It's okay, Dad did worse than you!! This revenge had better be good Tap!" 

"What if I told you I can give you exclusive pictures off my phone of the town bike dancing stark naked in the middle of Wally's."  I start laughing  "The police are on there way as we speak to sort her out!!  So the story is bound to get into that newspaper of yours, as she is going to get done for indecent exposure at least."  she starts laughing  "I just thought between us, we could hurry that news article up a little."

"Strawberry is NAKED in the dive bar?"

"Yep she is not wearing a stitch!!  You know she will do anything to get laid!!  She THOUGHT I was going to be her next victim, but I would rather sleep with your gay brother than touch her!!  She is knocking Wally sick doing her naked slut dance in the middle of the bar!!"  we both stand howling for ages  "There is only me and Wally here seeing this, but I want the whole town to see it!!  A nice full page article would do the trick!!"

"You beauty!!  It shall be done!!  Send me the pics now and I can get it squeezed into tomorrow's lunch time edition!!"  she starts howling.

"I'll have to come round, you'll have to take them off my phone you know I struggle to use my phone, taking pictures is about as far as I go."  she laughs at me  "Give me about twenty minutes, I have plans for her clothes - the Town Hall flag needs a little attention!!  Which I will also be taking a picture of."  she starts howling.

"Just hurry up Tap!!"  she laughs  "You do know don't you that the E.F. are going to come down on us two like a tonne of bricks for this!!"

"I don't care!!  Its time the Tart got a little payback!!  I think you know it is only going to be the oldies who are not going to think this is funny!!  Although I think your Dad might find it amusing, Alpine is always up for a giggle, but I doubt my Dad or Sunny will be!!" 

I slip into the toilets and pick up all of Strawberry's clothes, which are lay in an untidy pile on the floor.  I just leave her phone, purse and shoes behind.  I know the police will pick those up when they go looking for her clothes.  I run out of the dive bar howling in hysterics.  I have plans for her clothes.

I am a little irritated that it is raining when I get outside.  I run across town and I can not stop giggling, because I know exactly where her clothes are going. I do not stop running until I reach the Town Hall.

I run across the lawn in front of the town hall.  That flag has been ripped, weather worn and very tired looking for years and it needs replacing.  I untie the rope that is attached to the flag pole and pull the flag down.  I unclip the flag and attach Strawberry's clothes, the best I can, in it's place.  I pull the 'new' I am guessing yellow and red flag replacement up and tie the rope back to the pole.

I stand back laughing at Strawberry's clothes flapping in the breeze at the top of the flag pole.  I need a photograph of it so I run to the edge of the lawn so that I can get a clearer one, then take off to Alpine and Caramels house to give Mint the photographs.

I knew that Mint would be up for this.  She is a journalist, but she also has a hatred for Strawberry that is probably even greater than mine.  She is pretty much a scorned woman, Mint and Parsley were together until Strawberry lured Parsley away and broke them up.  Mint has never really gotten over it and she has not dated anyone since.

I run away from Mint's house in hysterics.

Next stop the cemetery.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~