Her red hair was wild and beast-like, and her fingers were tipped in long, razor-like claws. This would not be a competition like they had previously ...ad, and the Great Big Bitch Virginia would make sure of that.Previously, Virginia had felt sick of never being able to bully and beat on her sisters as thoroughly and absolutely as she wanted. She hated that Titania was always there to get in the way, and she hated that Titania was so much stronger than her. She was the tallest, she should be the. We took along a flashlight but we left our suitcases in the car. We didn’t walk to all the way to the cabin carrying them. We figured we could always come back in the morning. Because the road to the cabin curves around I told Mike we could save about mile if we simply crossed the field to the cabin. I had been to the cabin many times before and I knew the area well. So we headed off in the middle of the snowstorm. As we neared the cabin we walked near edge of the lake, mike’s footing. Jerry started me on 8-ball and 9-ball, followed by full rack rotation and straight pool, then changed tables to snooker. Strange game. Finally, it was billiards, which really stresses your judgment of spin and angle. When I ran 20 shots at billiards, Jerry quit playing me for money. Oh well. I considered my losses to be tuition. Veronica taught me that.That Sunday afternoon, I threw my bags in the car and headed north. During the week, I moved into my new apartment, attended faculty. The first surprise of the day was that the European Confederation had crumbled. Monjupu sat and resumed the trial with a rap of his walnut gavel. Robotic hover-cameras tagged with BBC, PGN, and the symbols of other news networks darted about the line of seated justices, angling for the best view. ‘Be seated.’ He said, adjusted his microphone with palsied hands, and cleared his throat. ‘Before the court delivers its decision, I have a statement. Because this is precedence, I have taken the time.