”Clint shook her hand and said, “Clint Drake.”“Let me guess. You want to look through all the junk he had stacked everywhere?”That explained...the old man’s territorial behavior. If he was a collector, having some stranger on the property with his treasures was absolutely intolerable. He knew the type quite well.He shook his head. “I work with the Raptor Research Foundation. People in the area have been telling stories about a strange owl. I’ve heard what I believe were calls from Boreal Owls in. Claire was a little bit different from all the other women before her anyway. She dressed differently, for one thing. Her clothes were either extremely tight clung to every inch of her body, or very loose and capable of revealing flashes of skin I never expected. She could outdrink me or just about anyone I knew. I figured she was the kind of women I would never have a chance with -- one who appears in porn fantasies in print and on film. Guess what? She not only was one of those fantasies come. ‘You there. Your name?’ The young sprout who flinched under the man’s gaze, uttered a peep and shivered to her feet. ‘Celiope, mister.’ ‘Well Celiope you’re about to make a new friend. You’ve been selected as the girl’s caretaker.’ Celiope cringed. She shook her head, not to disagree but to dispel the bad dream. It didn’t work and tears started to run. Did they really expect someone so young, maybe nine, to do the right job? Perhaps fear would be the incentive. ‘That is, if nobody wishes to. Troy was amazed again at how gentle and empathetic she was. She was simply perfect. “I just want you to know ... I’m very comfortable with you, Troy. If you want me, I’ll be whatever you need me to be. You can talk to me. You can cry with me. You can make love to me. Whatever you want, Troy.” He looked at woman curled in his arms. Ten years younger and so willing to please him. Wanting to take care of him. What was he waiting for?He spared only a flicker of a thought for the mentally challenged.