"Ever worry that she might hook up with someone when she starts for thecompany?" Jessica asked in as delicate a voice as she could manage. "Imean, I'v... got a baby sister, I know if she hooked up with someone Ididn't approve of..." She's an adult- technically," Marie replied. "I trust that she can makeher own decisions." Even if those decisions including dating a T-girl?" Jessica asked,silently hoping that she hadn't just given away her two new friends."Never gonna happen!" Marie laughed. "Zoe. An explosive exhalation from the startledcreature's capacious lungs escaped her gaping mouth and spattered Mark withdroplets of spittle."I say, old boy," said her rider, who now wrestled to control his spooked mount.He sat upon a small saddle strapped to her lower back by a wide belt that pinchedher waist, his legs projecting out and forward to keep clear of her high-steppingknees. His hands grasped a curved handlebar, like that of a bicycle,that projected from either side of a short hollow. He knew her too well. She loved the attention that men everywhere gave her. She blew him a kiss as forgiveness.Lunch was a new creation by the chef; a cold-pressed, ground sausage baked with canned apples, burnt honey and cinnamon. It was light on the sausage and heavy on the cinnamon. Although Elaine didn’t care for meat, she thought the dish was delightful. Before she left for the temple with the Great Bard, she made arrangements with the chef to have that dish available as an entrée at her. She did the simple maths, thinking that with tax deducted she would take home just under two thousand every two weeks. “That’s crazy!” she said, although she slid a finger a little way inside herself at the thought of the number. It was a lot more than she had expected, and certainly more than her friends had announced when they got job offers. She thought back to the interview and realised too that John Millsum had typed only two or three words at his keyboard before printing the offer. That.