The shirt-dress girl was there smiling up at me, without the little boy. I wasn't sure quite what to say, but she leaned into me for a second and said... "I'm going into the laundry room. Follow me a couple of minutes later."She had a smile which I wasn't quite sure how to place, but I plucked a strawberry off of the fruit plate next to me and set it on top of my plate. "Sure", I said in a voice much more confident than I felt.She let go of my hand and slipped over to the other side of the. Shiggie, probably distracted by the chaos all around him, pitched poorly in his next start and had to be yanked after four innings, trailing 5-1. We went on to lose it. It was our first time that season that we'd dropped four in a row.The Goddamned Yankees took over first place for the first time in almost two months. The revivified Red Sox were threatening to overtake us for second.It was all going to Hell, and for no good reason.I couldn't see any way out of the doldrums we were in as a club.. Jarl Igmund will step down, Thongvor Silver-Blood will become Jarl. The Stormcloak forces will withdraw from the Reach. Jarl Leila Law-giver will step down, and Maven Black-Briar will become the Jarl of Riften. The Stormcloaks will pay appropriate compensation for the massacre at Karthwasten. You both agree to this?”After some muttering and looking around, both sides did end up begrudgingly agreeing to the terms. Some final threats were bantered back and forth, then the council was over. The. At her side was a restless preteen girl, in a yellow jumper, who was holding her hand impatiently. As the woman, who spoke perfect English, inquired of the indoor pool hours, the girl asked her, in a thick French accent, "Auntie Renee, whare 'as couzen Steph-fanny gone?"The woman looked down at her niece, smiled patiently and told her, "She ran up to the room to change into her suit already. We'll just have to catch up."A painfully quizzical expression now came over the little girl's face as.