They huddled together for warmth when it rained at night, and rested in the shade of frea trees in the hottest part of the day. They bathed in ponds a...d streams they found along the way, and together fought off a pack of jeekels who tried to steal the freshly killed food from their camp. He was amazed at the garg’s intelligence and loyalty. Aerik no longer viewed the garg as a tool for hunting, but saw the animal as a trusted friend. He named him Unkes, which meant “Loyal friend” in the old. Bright light washed over his eyes, and he had to blink before they adjusted. He was kneeling in a wide hall, made entirely of marble. One wall was simply spaced columns, revealing the city below them. As he suspected, both of the guards were just to his sides. But all of this was lost to him as his entire attention was drawn to the single point at the end of the hall. It was the Queen, sitting in an elegant throne of gold. The minute he set his eyes upon her, he could swear that all of. " Myra said calmly. "First, Allison has been an alcoholic since the age of fifteen, that's over twenty years of bad habits that must be slowly replaced. Her transplanted liver makes it a matter of life and death that she can never, ever, take another drink. This is going to take time, even with all of the help she is going to be getting. Normally for a patient that has been an alcoholic for this long I would decree treatment for a full year and only then if they can keep a pet healthy for. "He seems like a pretty good dog," Mark commented. "Maybe all he needs is a good meal, and he'll be on his way." I don't know," Jackie said again. "But, you know, he sort of puts me in mind of Cumulus." Can't be," Mark smiled, realizing Jackie was softening. "He's nowhere near as ugly as Cumulus was."Cumulus had been the scroungy old mutt that had been the watchdog at the gliderport in Colorado where Mark and Jackie had worked for a few weeks while on their honeymoon. Outside of a tendency to.