To his horror, all three of his young hostesses started to cross the room and come to his aid in a fit of girlish exclamations and flounces. The table...u froze at a welcome interruption.Knock, knock.“Excuse me, madam,“ the maid said politely, stepping just inside the room and ignoring the bevy of fussing young ladies. “But an urgent note has come from the vicarage for Mr Whitmore.”‘Thank you, God,’ Tobias uttered to himself, casting his eyes thankfully to heaven, or rather, the finely decorated. A short discussion resulted in unanimous acceptance of the recommendations, and a request for Sam to pass along to the guards a sincere "thank you" for their job. Starting tomorrow, Sam would get the wagon covers prepared and set up a guard rotation for the trips into Julesburg.Catherine's love for horses and riding them never waned. She went riding almost every day and came to appreciate the virtues of the "Western" saddle over the "English" saddle (the US Army's abysmal McClellan saddle was. She quickly started to unlaceher corset as well, at the same time loosening her ornate hairdo. Thebrunette locks cascaded down past her shoulders. Removing her pettycoat and corset, she now stood in full nudity, herneatly trimmed genitals in display. She didn't seem bothered with thatthough and continued systematically with her makeover. What happenednext though, would've surprised her absent husband greatly.She grabbed the crown of her head and pulled off the wig that wascovering it. She was. When his left hand dipped from an unseen weight, the crowd cheered, satisfied that this new war between species they’d never even knew existed might have a successful resolution.Phil bowed his head, spreading his arms before placing the new dragon on his shoulder. “Ladies and gentlemen, as rewarding as this presentation has been, I’m still bleeding, and suspect I’d best see a doctor to discover whether there’s any damage to my spine.” He held the invisible blade up, spraying it with red paint.