" Raimi went over and purred soothingly to Ailysh "it's all right, these rains don't burn the skin, the flash of light doesn't seem to aim for anythin..., it just flashes randomly, the same with the loud cracking noises of thunder." Raimi turned to Morpaw "do you know where Strut went?" Morpaw frowned "there is a stand of old trees that Strut has been going to a lot, just north of here past the three large boulders." Raimi nodded heading out of the lair "they all knew how terrified Strut was of. I had the impression Hassan, who was a cheeky little beggar, was using it in a mocking sense.“Did you know of this place, Rollo? Any mention on the French maps, or in Lieutenant Pare’s notes?”“There is nothing on the maps made by the French, and Sir Sidney Smith’s mapping party did not proceed further south than Al-Sharqîya,” he said.Later that evening, before turning in for the night, Hassan dropped a pile of cotton clothing at my feet.“We dress like Bedouins tomorrow, Effendi Colonel,” he. Adults are weird. You know Jerry isn't coming to the new school?" Yes, he lives too far away, he and Mandy and Duckpool and a few others are going to Fairheights" You know why she got called Duckpool?" No, why? I thought it was her name 'Duxpolsish'" Well it is a bit, but also 'cos in the infants she peed herself on a school trip. They were by a pond and one of the teachers said she looked like she was standing in a duckpool herself and Terry heard and told everyone and..." Wow! So for whole of. And then my knees went weak as I opened the door. There she stood, only this time, Tess was the one wearing jeans. I felt the butterflies in my tummy tumbled disappointedly as I let her in and led her to the shiny black piano. I may have taken some extra time this week to shine the instrument in hopes of impressing my new student, but I’m not really sure Tess noticed. Even in jeans, being this close to Tess, feeling the skin of her forearm against mine as we moved through the fingering.