Becky came first, howling into a particularly deafening thunderclap, and I followed her soon after. The sprinkle of rain had pretty much stopped by th...n, leaving us only slightly damp as the rolling thunder revue seemed to fade away. ‘Ooooh that was so cool Dave’ Becky said as we hugged each other. ‘Too bad we didn’t really get a wicked one.’ ‘That was more than fine the way it was, thank you very much’ I answered. ‘I thought you were the one controlling the elements, the way you were waving. ’ I said mumbling something which was at least close to the truth. ‘You will need to cook and wash my clothes, see to all my needs. The ship’s cook’s food tastes like shit, so the cabib boy usually prepares mine. Can you do that boy?’ ‘Yes sir. I am a good cook. I can even sew and mend if necessary,’ I said. ‘Well if you shirk from hard work with me you will get lashed. You can work your passage as my cabin boy and leave the ship at Palermo that’s our next port of call.’ ‘Thank you sir, I will. " glesh dad I'm doing my ancient lateen homework ill practice later " Connie returned to her home work lately it felt that all she did was do homework and play the violin she had to practice three hours a day and the extreme piles of home work she was given meant that she was often forced to stay up till two and three A.M. Most days. The only thing that brought her some relief was playing blue grass of course she could never tell her parents they expected more of their daughter their prized. A few more shots rang out in rapid succession. It was now obvious to Dana that they were not aimed at her."Hello," she called out, as loudly as she dared. In the gathering twilight, her voice seemed to carry a long way. Another shot followed immediately after her call, cutting off her echoes with its own. She called again."Jenny?" called a decidely uncultured voice from the woods. Even with the one word, the rural New England accent was obvious."No," called Dana, careful to enunciate, "This is.