." You can't explain," she said firmly in a calm voice. Her face was andvoice had a no-nonsense feel to it.I tried to crack it and said, "You're right...I'm so sorry. If I could...." You would have done it again, if you didn't know how it'd all turn out.You're a dog. I always suspected it. I was never as blind as you thought." I should have known that..." Yes. You should have!" She interjected. She was right about me. I was adog. I was like Mr. Kritikos. I was like Mr. Henry. I would sleep. "Hello Beth, long time no see," said Charles Granville"Hi Charlie, Meg, how's it going." Fine." Real good thanks."Beth embraced them both and smiled as they took her hands and led her towards the stalls."Reckon you should probably take Spirit out, what do you say mother?"Megan nodded in agreement with her husband,Beth entered Spirit's stall; he was a five-year-old stallion, standing tall and black at the door. Beth stroked his nose in greeting before saddling him and heading out across the. I guess," admitted Sandy, her head bowed, cheeks scarlet."Sit up straight, girl!" Miss Ayers snapped.Once again, Sandy forced herself to look at the scowling woman. "Y-yes, Miss Ayers."The teacher's features softened somewhat. "What concerns me, Sandy," she murmured gently, "is how your father will react when he learns of this."A visible shiver ran through the teen's body, her eyes suddenly huge. "Oh, no! D-don't tell him, Miss Ayers. Please, please don't tell my father!"Miss Ayers shook her. I guess there might be something to the Global Cooling panic after all. With over a foot of snow already on the ground and with more winter storms in the holiday forecast for tonight and tomorrow, Christmas Eve, I wasn't about to leave the warm comforts of home for anything less than a full blown crisis. Naturally, the phone picked this time to ring."Mr. Zyphyr?" A husky woman's voice asked."Zak will do fine, Mr. Zyphyr was my father. He got eaten by a Greenwoods Troll, but that's neither here.