“Did he tell you anything? Give you instructions in case something happened?”She shook her head again.“When you were alone with him, what did yo... talk about?”I thought she was going to ignore me, her pause so long. The car tires hummed on a rain-drenched road, puddles of standing water spraying out to the side. Hard-working wipers swished back and forth, the road ahead clear, then spotted, then distorted, then clear once again.“We talked about school. Dad told me he was proud of my grades and. Either way they weren't being seen as guest and common civility would not be offered to them.Once they were seated the man cleared his throat and spoke."I was told you wanted to meet with the Queen. That will be impossible for she is far to busy at present. But I am her secretary. I am the Marquis Allen Kreutzer. I need to ask you why you are here," said the Marquis"Well it is exactly what we told the guard. We were traveling and got pulled into this because we helped the Captain of the King's. The guy could really sing!I kicked off my strappy pair of shoes within a minute of sitting down in the booth. Instinctively, I snuck my toes under the bottoms of his trousers and pressed the pads of my feet against the muscles of his leg. I liked the soft cushion of hair that tickled my feet. Once I had initiated contact, he kicked off his own shoes. Sock covered feet stepped along the insides of my calves and my shins, sometimes turning at the knees to touch the shadows of my thigh.I made my. I didn't feel bad about it though. Maybe it was because I was in shock. That didn't stop me from thinking. I knew I had to report this incident to the authorities. But who and where were the authorities? I still didn't know where I was. Was I still in Texas? I didn't have a chance to ask the man lying in the dirt in front of me.I started to get practical. I was tired of walking and the dead "gentleman" had no further use for his horse. I had gone horseback riding as a little girl but that was a.