”“In the flesh?”I blushed. Deirdre’s eyes opened wide. She stared at me as if she’d seen a ghost. She put her empty cup down on the table be...ide her and fainted. I caught her as she toppled forward. Her dead weight pushed me back to the settee. I was holding a live desirable woman who was completely u*********s.I tried to roll her off. Brigit’s voice hissed in my brain.“Don’t be stupid, Raymond! You’ve got a woman in your arms. Don’t waste the opportunity.”I hauled Deirdre up from her knees to. He came back out a few minutes later wearing an athletic supporter and headed back to the diving board.This time, he was able to bounce and dive without pain, and we all applauded when he surfaced. Mom said, "Well, Harold, you didn't do too badly, but you do need to practice some to bring back your old form." Dad agreed and headed back for another dive.That was enough to get the rest of us to return to the pool, and we all had a great time until it was time to halt for supper. Tommy put on his. "I really enjoyed what you had us doing," she batted her eyelashes at me. "I'm looking forward to our next challenge already."I gave her a smile in response, "I'll have to give it some thought," I said. "We wouldn't want you getting bored because things weren't exciting enough."She grinned happily as I turned to where Kirsty had appeared from behind the car."Morning," I said softly as I stepped towards her.She looked bashful and, as I wrapped my arms around her I noticed that she was blushing.. Despite the fine workmanship both blades exhibited, I began to look on them as blank slates upon which I would work my will.It was perhaps the first positive thought I'd had since the day of my fall.If I were the type to see myself as some sort of forsaken, epic figure, I'd have taken the road to Silverlake alone and dug the silver ore from the mine myself. I am utterly un-epical however, so I chose to buy some raw ore from Myre Gudin, a local silversmith of some repute. He routinely bought ore.