This was her initial conclusion...until she heard the noise again. A low,almost guttural groan from something that she couldn't determine. Herheart ...egan to pound harder in her chest as she stood as stone in thecenter of the empty corridor. She thought it may have been an a****l. Acat perhaps, who snuck in through a cracked or open window - opened withthe intent of air out the summer heat, and forgotten - in search of idlemice, and had found instead another cat competing for the same prize?. The men all left, and Maxine was putting a movie in as Jacob approached with two bowls of ice cream. The sundaes looked almost professional with all the fixings. He placed them down before going back into the kitchen and fetching himself a drink. When he sat down Maxine instantly curled into him with her feet tucked under herself. He looked at her as she dabbed his nose with whipped cream “funny, so what movie we watching, better not be a chick flick” he said as he licked the whipped cream from. Mark knew that Amy was a man hater, but he never imagined just how frosty their relationship would become. ‘We need to trust each other if we are going to have a successful field trip.’ thought Mark, but Amy’s hatred, made it difficult for him to even converse with her. Amy spied Mark in the open door and her face instantly became its familiar mask of hostility. ‘Oh. You are back. If you want you can watch the program with me but stay on your side of the bed and keep your comments to a. “How will you work it Zoe?” “ Grandma is a wily so and so and I guess she will give me all the ammo I will need.” “ You gotta come over later and tell me all about it. We’ll have the house to ourselves.” “ Great. I’ll give you a call first.” Zoe’s Grandparents arrived for lunch and for once her parents, Marty and Susie, were on best behaviour, both knowing if they stepped out of line they were sure to be spanked in front of the Grandparents. Grandma had even asked some pretty straight.