He tells me they won the Nationals and I tell him I was rooting for them. I ask to speak to Nick as I hear Adam pass him the phone. Hello? answers Ni...k in a wondering voice. Hello back bro. As he recognizes my voice he starts talking asking about me I tell him Im safe and I joined the Army . I tell him Im a lean,mean fighting machine. He laughs saying that was me. I tell him I have to get back to training but I was able to call home. I ask that he hug and kiss our mothers and hug our fathers. Shortly after Mark rejoined her the dogs came bounding in followed by Elspeth. She hugged and kissed each of them."I'm sorry no-one was here to meet you," she said, "but we didn't know what time to expect you so I took the dogs for a walk and Serena's at work. I don't think she'll be long. Ooh! Good! You've made some tea. Would you like some fruit cake?" Without waiting for a reply she dived into the larder and produced some. "A Mrs Grimthorpe special," she announced."You'll love it, darling,". Master Allen walked in. It felt like an eternity since I had seen him. "Well hello slut. How are we doing," asked Master Allen"She is not yet ready to earn the full treatment yet," said Master Errict, "The little whore still seems more concerned with what pleases her and not us"I almost started speaking in protest when Master Allen grabbed me by the arm and pulled me to him. "Silence," he said, "I did not tell you that you could speak."I lowered my head. "Did you not clearly follow the rules as. The countryside is rocky and hilly near us with mountains not too far away. There are also lakes and many waterfalls, some small, some quite large. We get a lot of rain here, even more than England does, so our days are often cloudy.Ric is two years older than I am and I've always looked up to him as my older brother. We've mostly gotten along well, never much in the way of petty disagreements or jealousies and we were now in our teens, Ric sixteen as this story begins.My body had begun.