Spontoon Island
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9 November 2007
| "Valentines Dazed"
by E.O. Costello, M. Mitchell Marmel, & Walter D. Reimer All
characters © their respective creators
Chapter 18I went back to the suite. Lodge had drawn a hot bath for me. Did he know? Foolish question. He always knows. While the stag-self was cleaned with some good, strong soap, Lodge laid out some bedclothes for me. After all that had happened, sleep was what I needed. It wasn't a very deep sleep, though, and I was awakened by some noises from the main room. Putting on my dressing gown, I peered tentatively around the door. Willow was there. Lodge, seeing that I was awake, shimmered off in his usual fashion, leaving us alone. Willow didn't notice, as she was looking at something intently. Namely, her engagement ring, which was catching the light from a good, strong fire in the fireplace. She gave a long, slow sigh and smiled. She then sniffed the air, perking her ears, and realized she wasn't alone. "Oh! Hello, Reggie." I think I managed to stammer out some sort of greeting. I was glad to see her, more glad than she may have known. She bit her lower lip, and indicated that while she was okeh, Grace needed a hug. One was duly administered. One was the only one I had a chance to give, since Grace-Willow or Willow-Grace seemed determined not to break her hold on me. I was told that it was over, and that the thing that had frightened her was finished, and that Mrs. Catto was safe. It made me not want to break the hug, either. There was one thing that eventually made me break the hug, which was the fact that in the course of the hug, the engagement ring had suddenly found its way into my paw. Who put it there, I didn't know, and really didn't bother to ask. I had as much luck getting out a coherent proposal to Grace, as I had had with Willow some weeks before. And it mattered about the same. I slipped the ring on her finger, I was embraced in a rib-cracking hug...and then Grace (Willow?) fell limp. I realized I hadn't been the only one that had had a hard day. I did the only thing I could do. I carried her over to the sofa, placed her gently there, and found a blanket to tuck around her until she was snug and secure. I gave her a last smooch on the nose before turning out the light, leaving her to the glow from the fireplace. I wrote out a few instructions for Lodge and left them on the main table, before going back to bed. Alone. It seemed the proper thing to do, all told. next |