"She nodded. "They might be right, whoever's doing the thinking. But so far we've been lucky, and I believe we are doing some good, clearing our area,...letting people keep their animals and their crops, get in their harvest." You've had a few run-ins?" Yep," she said, "mainly with confiscators, both German and English, horse thieves, small patrols. This is a sort of backwater. We've always had them outnumbered."A man came bustling in, breathing hard. He ignored me. "Cap'n," he said, "Germans,. Jodie told us she needed to go to the restroom and that it may be interesting if they followed. The boys returned before Jodie and asked me "did she really enjoy having her butt beat like that" They said that as Jodie had entered the ladys room she said "boys look over here" and pulled her shorts all the way down showing her red ass and the crop marks on her upper thighs then closing the bathroom door. Ask her she's back. They did and Jodie told them it was the most exiting thing a women could. ‘If you and Mom got married, I’d have a step-father who’s younger than me.’ ‘I never thought about that,’ Matt said, feeling for the first time since he began talking that Rick might just becoming around. ‘But you’re not that much older than me. Tell you what, when I do get to be your step-father, I promise not to be too strict.’ ‘Goddamn right you won’t,’ Rick said. He stopped, turned, and looked at his friend. ‘You know, all this is going to take some getting used to.’ He laughed and shook. " It's okay," Valentine giggled. "I'm not working right now. Just lunch, I promise." Uh, sure. Okay," I nodded, and I suppose part of me felt disappointed that he'd meant it so literally, but I was glad Valentine hadn't tried to talk me out of another hundred dollars too. I seriously doubt I could have said no more than once."So, now you have to tell me what happened," Valentine decided. We were seated in an outdoor restaurant, Trattoria Manzo, an Italian restaurant with red and white canopies.