Zero.The next morning I put in for an emergency leave of absence starting on the weekend, with a minimum two-week duration. My boss actually volunteer...d to resurrect some of my missed vacation time from previous years if I needed more time than two weeks. The only request he had was that I promise to stay with the company, and to keep him posted weekly. After having been with the company this long, and being within five years of early retirement, there wasn’t much chance I’d be job-hunting,. We went down there last weekend to have Sunday lunch with his parents, but we stayed with the twins on Saturday night for a bit of fun. I wasn't feeling all that great with my period, so I only had one go with Adrian, in the shower. The two of them then decided to play tag with Sheila half the night, and she went a teensy little bit wild. God, her sheets were a mess in the morning! Heaven knows how much of their stuff dripped out of her; she's going to have to take the under-blanket to the dry. ‘Taa’evâho’nehe, it is Mo’kôhtavo’ha. I ask to join your camp.’ Night Wolf relaxed and called back to Black Horse. Soon another tall, bronzed warrior wearing a heavily decorated buckskin shirt, breechcloth, and leggings with elbow length twin braids on each side of his head entered the clearing, leading a black and white painted horse. ‘Va’ôhtama, néséne.’ Night Wolf smiled, meeting his hand halfway and clasping the others forearm in greeting. ‘Join us!’ Night Wolf moved back to the fire and. ‘Everything’s okay, just put that down and we will talk, okay? I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.’ She was at least calming to listen to. I looked far beyond her, into the empty black bay window. It was dark outside, only a single street shone, somewhere far in the distance. There was no moon, no stars—and then suddenly, a glimmer of light—a sign!—and I knew exactly what had to be done. ‘No!’ I yelled, startling her. She was less than a meter from me and lunged at me with an uncanny.