She'd been angry when she left. Was she about to take revenge on me? That simply didn't fit with Rita's character. I was sure she had a purpose, but I...still couldn't still my heart racing. I relaxed slightly as she positioned a comfortable pillow beneath my head in exactly the position I like it when I sleep.Rita, I still assumed it was Rita, placed a sleeping mask over my eyes. It was heavy. A bag filled with some small grain like rice, slightly warm and not uncomfortable, but sealing my eyes. . and candlelight would have been so much more romantic!"Back at her house, Rhonda asked me to carry in the very substantial box of goodies she'd bought while she talked to Joey ... I thought that was odd but didnt say anything.When she walked in she was all smiles, though and helped me unpack the few things that needed to go in the fridge. She lifted a bottle of Merlot in one hand and a bottle of grape juice in the other. she went to the sink and poured out the juice then filled that bottle. Fer one thin', I planned ta git as much powder, caps, an' lead as we could find. I figured that, with a war comin', such was gonna git scarce when the Yankees stopped sellin' it ta the South.We decided ta make it a major expedition an' all of us go. The women did not git ta town very often, an' they all wanted ta go. I ruminated on the question fer all of 10 seconds afore I agreed that we should all go. Fer one thin', we did not want ta leave the extra hosses an' mule unguarded while we were. May I?" Misty said."I'm pretty busy, Misty, I'm trying to get started again, and-" I began."Please, Christine, please." Simply that, no explanation of what she wanted. I sighed."Okay, if you must. I'm at-" I began again."I know," Misty said. What could this 18 year old budding superstar model want with me, an aging female bush pilot? Yes, we had a tragedy in common, but it needed to be put behind us, I thought.Three days later, I heard a quiet knocking on my apartment door. I opened it to see.