" insisted Rita. "Make that clear to our guests. In fact, make it clear that they can do things to me just for fun, if they like."The invitations were...offered and accepted for the dinner party and now Rita waited in the kitchen, in her underwear. She heard the doorbell and began to quiver with anticipation.When Jane arrived with her partner, Ian offered them wine and outlined Rita's motives and how she would like her daughter and Helen to behave for the evening. A large grin appeared on Helen's. It only made sense that John was out there. As an automotive engineer, the chance to go through the classic car would appeal to him. Sam’s interest in the car was kind of a surprise to him, but she had a mechanical streak in her that was a mile wide. She probably enjoyed checking out the old-time mechanics that went into the car.Gary made his way to the back of the house. The large pile of sleeping bags was an immediate reminder of how many people were staying at the house. Everyone in the. .." Yep, I took about a thousand foot leap toward the wrong conclusion, there. "Oh," I said shyly. "Sorry. I'd be glad to show you the way out of the woods." He smiled and seemed relieved. "Great!" he said. He stepped closer and I could smell him. "Do elves have names? Mine is Steve." "Of course we have names," I said. "We're not savages; we're more cultured and refined than you humans are." That was another thing that really got on my tit: humans putting elves down just because we lived in the. But, it did show the three of us making a pretty good account of ourselves.“Comments?” Teelae asked.“We were damned lucky,” I replied to which the others agreed.“If they hadn’t been so risk averse in not wanting to take casualties themselves, they could have taken us easily,” Ginlo added.“So you don’t see yourselves as the heroes some of the media are trying to present you as?”“By the gods, no!” Ginlo almost exploded. “People died because we chose to investigate and that’s something we have to.