"SHARON!!! We have all decided to bring you here to give you a chance to explain yourself. You have failed to fulfill one of the most important things...you SHOULD have done, already, but haven't. WE WANT AN EXPLANATION!!!" Sharon searched her mind for what it might be, coming up cold at every turn. She was nearly in tears. She looked at Liz, then at David, hoping to see something to give her a clue to what was happening to her. The only thing she saw, past the frowns, was her Dad had a tell-tale. “And if you think I’ve killed lots of pigeons,” he bragged much to her disgust “you should see how many Indians I’ve killed!” She would glower at his scalp of ruddy blonde hair and bitterly hope that some day he might be found lying in the prairie without it. “You jus’ wait! In a couple years there won’t be a single buffalo on the prairie or a goddamn pigeon in the sky! And not one Indian left in the world.”On this last remark, Eleanor had would have to admit cynically that he might be telling. ”“Oh.” Don paused for a moment. “Hang on – while his mate watched?”Amanda blushed, but glared at Don defiantly. “Yeah, so what? It’s none of your business and has got sweet fuck all to do with what I’m paying you for. And please, keep your fucking voice down.” Another mother had moved a little closer to them, perhaps trying to listen in, but then rushed away to attend to a crying toddler.“And your hubby paid?”“I told you, it’s none of your... What did you say? His mate paid. Why would a guy pay. She pondered the puzzle further. If the box had been full when they arrived, and none of the police reports involved them handing out masks, Julie must have given them to people in conjunction with whatever she’d told them to do when she was alone. If whatever they’d done at the taverna involved them, the police left it out of the reports, something Troy could easily make them forget. So, some mass protest, perhaps? Not at the ball, certainly. She’d thrown them a curve they weren’t expecting.