Reader's warning: we will be discussing some things dealing the female anatomy here in this chapter. If you are uptight like Tatsumi, you might be offended. After all, some things should not be discussed. But they will be discussed all the same. So :P

Chapter 9: secrets in the snow

The next morning brought cold but clear sunlight. Tsuzuki looked out the window over the snow covered hills and trees, admiring its beauty. Then he looked at his lover sleeping on the bed. His heart felt full of tender feelings, and yet questions about the dream he had. He felt a surge of protectiveness come over him as he recalled the warning. He would do anything, he realized, anything at all to keep Hisoka from harm. He crawled on the bed and half crouched over Hisoka. He kissed the empath's eyelids gently, and they fluttered open. Tsuzuki smiled at his eyes, green like new leaves.

"Ohyao," Tsuzuki greeted. Hisoka stretched beneath him, and rubbed his eyes. Tsuzuki bent down and kissed his lips.

"You have more color on your face than you've had in a while." Tsuzuki said softly. "The mountain air must agree with you."

"I guess." Hisoka said sleepy. "But I do feel better though than I've felt in a while."

"Hmm. Well we need to get up and see Queen Beatrice. We're having breakfast down there. I'm sure you're hungry after last night."

"Baka." Hisoka smiled.

Tsuzuki bent down and kissed his lips deeply. Feelings of love and joy flooded into his mind from Tsuzuki. As well as something else, a fierce drive to protect him. Hisoka did not recoil from this more animalistic side of his partner. Rather it made him feel safe, and helped him relax. Tsuzuki seemed to sense this response and felt even more overjoyed.

*I wish we didn't have to go down." Tsuzuki sent. "I want to stay up here with you."

*I know.* Hisoka thought back.

Tsuzuki broke off the kiss and sighed. He sat up.

"Your clothes are dry now, but why don't you wear something new. I'm sure it will feel more comfortable."

"Yeah, did they bring our bags up?"

"While we were asleep. Of course you could always go down naked." Tsuzuki winked.

"Baka." Hisoka said softly, shaking his head. "That's for you to see. And only you."

Tsuzuki looked him and folded his arms around him again.

*How you honor me.* Tsuzuki said, kissing him.

*We better not start again.* Hisoka sent. *We'll be late.*

*Oh, let's be late.*

*We can't! this is work!*

"Oh I know your right Soka-Chan." Tsuzuki sighed. "Doesn't mean it's not hard."

*That's not the only thing that's hard.* Hisoka sent. *I think you might need to rinse off with some cold water before we go down.*

"Yeah." Tsuzuki laughed. "Good idea."

Two cold showers later, they were dressed and down in Queen Beatrice's great dining hall. A massive table carved from crystal dominated the room, and it was covered in dishes. Above the table was a massive chandelier made out of hundreds of ice shards. Already seated were Katie-Chan and Myers-San and well as the queen herself. Hisoka blushed at their lateness and noticed Myer-San "I told you so" look to Katie. She in turn seemed shot him a look back that silenced whatever words they were saying to each other.

"Soigoi!" Tsuzuki said when he saw the food. There was more than he thought imaginable, and he couldn't wait to eat. Beatrice stood up and motioned them to their seats.

"Eat till your fill, and then we can discuss what is happening." She said gently. "Your companions from Hokkaido are coming shortly. They said not to wait on their account."

Tsuzuki wasted no time filling up his plate quickly. Hisoka was a bit more reserved, noticing the smirk on Myers-San's face.

*Tsuzuki,* Hisoka sent quietly to him as Tsuzuki was devouring the pancakes before him. *Everyone knows.*

*Hmm? Can's this wait. I'm eating now, Soka-Chan. It's hard for me to eat and do this.* Tsuzuki thought back.

*Baka.* Hisoka thought harshly, embarrassed. *Always thinking about food.*

*Hey I built up an appetite. You did too. Eat something and you won't feel so grumpy.* Tsuzuki sent back. This psi talk was tiresome at times, he wasn't used to it, wasn't wired for it internally like his partner was. He did notice Hisoka's blush. At least Beatrice had the manners to pretend not to notice. She was busy talking about how the surrounding landscape and her subjects personal stories. Katie-Chan listened wide eyed. Myer-San pretended to be listening, but not it did not hold him from doing the occasional smirk at Hisoka's embarrassment.

"Queen Beatrice." Kattsue said as he bowed. "Yuma-San is here with his report of activities further inland. Should I send him in?"

Queen Beatrice nodded. She also chatted with him about the particulars of what course to bring next.

"What there's more?!" Tsuzuki gasped, excited.

"Of course." The queen said. "This is the first course only. Certainly you didn't expect to eat like anything else by royalty here." She started describing three other courses coming, and Tsuzuki became more and delight and delighted with each one. Katie took advantage of this moment and turned and sent strongly to Myer-San. Hisoka didn't know what was said, but he could feel the reproach in the air. Myers-San sighed.

"Fine. Fine." He muttered, barely audible.

*Sorry about earlier.* Hisoka heard Katie-Chan's voice come into his head. *He's being a jerk. He'll behave now.*

*…Thanks.* Hisoka sent back. He was about to ask how she could hold such sway over someone who was older than her, but he never got the chance. An angry howl cut the air. All turned to the sound.

Yuma the bear had entered the room. He was a large brown bear with massive muscles and he took up the expanse of the door frame he stood in. He may have been in mid conversation with the queen about his mission, but this seemed to be forgotten. His eyes fell full on Katie-Chan. They were full anger and he roared an angry challenge. Before anyone could think of what to do to diffuse the situation, he charged at her at his full speed.

"KATIE!" Bert yelled at the top of his lungs. There was definite fear in his voice. "CHANGE!!"

Katie-Chan leapt up from her seat. The bear was charging at her was across the table. He jumped on the table sent dishes flying. She leapt up on the table and her eyes blazed, as well as a third eye that was made of light. Yuma struck her and sent her flying to the floor, flipping her literally head over heels at least once. She stumbled up, and her face was full of fury. She opened her mouth and out came an animalistic roar of rage. The tattoo that was hidden from all except Hisoka became visible, and she tossed her head back and forth. Hisoka felt Tsuzuki grabbing him and pulling him back away from the scene, literally lifting him off his feet as he did so. Katie's skin moved like water, contorting back and forth. Her bones moved on their own, her the front of her face coming forward and reshaping into a muzzle. She grew in size and height, tearing her clothes from her. Her muscles bulked instantly. Thick brown hair sprouted forth as she fell down on all fours. All of this change took place in seconds.

Her attacker watched in shock as did they all at this transformation. The only one who was not surprised nor unnerved by either the initial rush or the conflict was Beatrice who sat in her seat, carefully watching. Myers-San took advantage of Yuma's shock to grab hold of his own high back chair and break it full across Yuma's side, sending pieces of it flying everywhere. Tsuzuki had Hisoka at his chest now, and he pushed his partner behind him in a protective stance. Hisoka felt Tsuzuki's own protectiveness and fear for his safety.

Yuma turned and swiped and Myers-San, who ducked down and dodged it.

*Face me if you want a fight, you bastard!* Katie's inner voice rang out for all to hear. It rang out with such force it actually seemed to echo across the walls. Hisoka saw over Tsuzuki's shoulder that a bear now stood where she had been. A bear with bright blue eyes. It reared up on its hind legs and roared, and the glass chandelier above quivered with the sound. Yuma turned back to his original target and rushed at her. The bears slammed against each other. They wrestled and became one mass of brown hair, growling loudly and clawing at each other in it was hard to tell which was Yuma was and which was the other one. Tsuzuki's hair blew upward as he took a fuda out of his pocket. Myers-San saw this and reacted immediately.

"Don't! That's Katie!" he yelled to Tsuzuki.

Hisoka saw his lover's eyes widen in surprise and he relaxed his hand. But he still kept hold of the fuda and his posture was still on guard.

The bears shook each other violently, running back and forth. Hisoka couldn't believe how fast everything was happening and how violent and intense the battle was. He was aware of the some of the queen courtiers running into the room and looking in shock and fear. There were some many feelings bouncing everywhere, he felt bombarded. Fear, rage, protectiveness, and the instinctual need to protect territory. And strangely there was only calm coming from the snow queen and she still did not rise, even when the table was knocked over with a mighty crash as the one of the opponents slammed into it. Again they wrestled and fought like two furred sumo wrestlers, but with no rules, no limits. Hisoka felt some fear enter into him at the intensity of the battle, this was primal fury from the echoes of time. It went deeper and was older than any human civilization. Tsuzuki must have sensed his fear, for he put his left hand behind him and touched Hisoka.

*Don't worry. Nothing is going to harm you. Not while I'm here.* he sent. It was a clear and direct sending, and not unlike the animal ferocity he felt all around him. Hisoka looked up at him quickly and he thought he saw his partner's eyes glow momentarily. But his attention was drawn away from it by Myers-San's voice.

"Don't just sit there!" he said harshly to their host. "Do something!"

She looked up at him with her gray eyes.

"I don't like to interfere in the battles or quarrels my subjects have with each other. If I were to do it all the time, I would never have a moment's peace. Besides, why should I make an exception for you?"

Myers-San's face darkened. He approached the queen's throne and whispered so only she could hear. Whatever Myers-San said, it had an effect, Hisoka noted. The queen nodded and stood up. She seemed to grow in height as she did so, and was suddenly was so tall; the tip of her crown touched the ceiling. Hisoka had no time to wonder how she got so tall. One of the bears was now chasing the other, and the other was fleeing. The snow queen stretched forth her hand, and storm clouds filled the room.

"Enough!" She commanded and her voice echoed and shook the room with its power. A blast of ice and snow shot forth out of her hand, and the bear that was perusing was knocked back. The other bear ran to the door. Its posture was slumped in defeat, he had lost the battle. It had a large gash across its shoulder. It gasped for its breath for a moment, trying to collecting itself. The victor of the battle shook itself gasping for air.

*You'll think twice before jumping me again, bastard* the bear sent. It was clear; Katie-Chan was the victor.

"The spirit of my kind is in you." Yuma said between pants. "I bow to its strength which is greater than my own."

He made a bow of the head.

"The battle is over." Beatrice said directly. "Let there be no more quarreling between you two."

Yuma and Saya entered the room. They looked at the broken table and chairs and at all the chaos. They blinked as they looked at the snow queen. They then looked at Tsuzuki, who was still in his protective stance in front of Hisoka.

"Uhm." Saya stammered. "Sorry were late. Did we miss something?"

"It was Watari who figured it out." Myers stated, flicking some ash from his cigarette.

They were in skyway looking at the court yard below. It was early afternoon, and Myers-San had agreed to meet Tsuzuki and Hisoka in private to talk about just what happened this morning. Beneath them in the courtyard, Yuma and Saya were discussing what had happened with Ketto C. The cat was reenacting the entire fighting scene with the girls exclaiming and gasping at each detail. Yuma was sitting pouting in some corner.

But Tsuzuki and Hisoka were paying little attention to this. They wanted to know the reason for what they saw.

"When she woke up, she didn't know how long she had been asleep." Myers said. "At first no one would tell her, and then I decided that she should know. She took a little time to get her coordination back, as she had been asleep for so long and at first she didn't want to sleep at all. Can't really blame her for that. Even now she doesn't sleep that much.

"Of course there was the speech thing, or lack of it. But she learned to send very fast. I noticed she ate a lot. She never ate like that before. I thought maybe she was making up for eating through a tube for twenty years. Stupid of me.

"The first time she changed she woke me up screaming into my brain. She was terrified. I didn't know what the fuck was going on, all I knew if I had to get to where she was. But she was gone from her quarters. I woke Watari up and we couldn't find her. I thought I was going to lose my mind. I'm glad Watari kept his head, because I was nuts. To lose her again, Jesus. It was more than I could think about."Myers sucked in the last of his cigarette and started another.

"Glad I don't have to worry about getting cancer any more from these things." He muttered as breathed deep. "I spotted a bear on campus. A brown bear with blue eyes. I knew that was her. You know your own, that's all I can say. She was scared. She said she thought she killed someone. Turned out it was only deer. But there was blood all over the place, and she couldn't remember all of it. Three or four days later, she changed back to normal. After so many weeks, it happened again. This time she was able to remember more and had more control of the blending of her two selves, I guess you could say. The animal self and her human side.

"When she was back in human form, at Watari's suggestion she started experimenting with changing at will. It was very difficult at first, but she was able to manage. But when she changed involuntarily she was stuck in that bear form for three of four days. And damn if it didn't wasn't cyclic. But we couldn't figure out what cycle it was. The moon? No, it was different every time. Jesus, I even wondered if it was sunspots or something. Like I said, It was Watari who figured it out."

He looked at them to see if they had guessed. Their blank expressions made Myers-San sigh.

"Typical." He said. "And I was the same way. After all when you're a guy, you don't think about it. And most women don't talk about it, not to us after all."

Again he looked to see if his meaning was clear to them. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

"You know," Myers-San began. "Certain functions still happen to Shinigami. I mean we sleep, we eat, and we have certain you know, reproductive functions even though were dead and sterile. I think it's because time stops for us, but the body remembers what it used to do when it was alive and it keeps on doing it."

He looked up again. Nothing in Hisoka's or Tsuzuki's face gave any indication that they had any idea what he was hinting at.

"Jesus." He said, rubbing his face. He was frustrated. "I'll just come out and say it. Most female shinigami bleed once a month, just like they did in life. Watari asked if she was still bleeding on her monthly cycle. She wasn't. But when she should have been, she was changing into her other form and could not change back. So rather than the moon, this were bear was governed by a much more personal cycle."

Tsuzuki's and Hisoka's mouths dropped. They were silent for a second while they processed the discovery.

"That's why she has medical leave every month." Tsuzuki said.

"Yep." Myers-San said.

"Why didn't she just say so?" Tsuzuki asked.

"Because most girls don't talk about that!" Myers-San said harshly. "Not to men! Jesus! Besides, though no matter how old she is in years, she spent half of them asleep. So she's really only a kid."

"Well, she'll be changing back, right. I mean she said it was going to be a few days before her medical leave." Tsuzuki said.

Myers-San shook his head.

"Why not?" Tsuzuki asked.

Bert nodded at Saya and Yuma.

"Because they're on their cycle."

"What how do you know?" Tsuzuki asked. He was half surprised and half repulsed.

"Because they are standing down wind." Myers-San said matter of factly.

"What does that have to do with Katie-Chan's, Uhm…" Tsuzuki paused. He couldn't bring himself to say cycle. She after all was a co-worker and he didn't want to be disrespectful. "Uhm, transformation."

"Have you two been surrounded by nothing but men?" Myers-San asked, surprised they had to ask. "Haven't you heard that sometimes women will synchronize with each other? Those two down there are synchronized, otherwise they wouldn't be…you know, at the same time. Katie told me before I came to meet you that she's stuck in her bear form. So she synchronized with them. She'll be a bear for a few days."

"Wow." Tsuzuki said. "I never would have guessed."

"Of course you wouldn't have, you're a guy." Myers-San said puffing on the last bit of his cigarette. "Damn typical. I didn't either at first."

"Wait," Tsuzuki said. "This is what you all were talking about on the plane!"

Myers-San nodded.

"One of things Watari wrote to Katie about before coming over was that there was only one female in your dept. From our view point, that was a huge plus."

*So that's why I always thought of animals when I was around her.* Hisoka thought.

Kattsue suddenly appeared and cleared his voice to get their attention.

"Excuse me, but the queen will see you all now. She asks you come to her throne room, and she can explain the situation to you." The fox said. He bowed and then was off.

"Oh by the way." Myers-San said. "She's probably going to be a little fussy right now. You know how it is."

"Actually, we don't." Tsuzuki replied.

Tatsumi knew none of what was unfolding in the Ice Queen's palace at this moment. He did know that he was very glad to have Watari as a lover. He had provided the clue he needed. In the morning he asked Chief Konoe to see about questioning the women of the Soteicho section, to see if any of them had more than professional contact with a certain American. He told the chief that he suspected this American was the culprit to the missing funds. The chief nodded, knowing what Tatsumi was implying.

"If I find out anything, you'll be the first to know." The chief assured him. "I'll make some calls."

Tatsumi had studied the payroll activities of the Soteicho all day long, as well as the surrounding areas. He was looking for Matthew Rhodes whereabouts. It was a puzzle that was infuriating as it was challenging for Tatsumi. He looked at payroll reports because Tatsumi knew if you wanted to find where someone was, find out where they cashed their paycheck. But this Rhodes seemed to never do it at the same place twice. He was smart, too smart.

"He's done this before." He said to himself.

He was interrupted with a phone call from the Chief. Konoe did not like using the newer technology that the others seemed to embrace fully. He'd rather just pick up the phone and call than used the infuriating computer any day. IMing was out of the question.

"Tatsumi-San. Come on over here. It's about the Soteicho situation."

"On the way." Tatsumi replied.

He found the chief's door closed. As he came closer, he thought he heard the sound of someone crying. It wasn't Yukiko. For a moment, he hesitated. Should he respond to chief when there was already someone in there? He didn't want to interrupt anything personal or private, yet the chief had asked him to come. He sighed and resigned himself to whatever would happen, and knocked on the door.

"Come in, Tatsumi-San." Konoe's voice replied.

Tatsumi opened the door and closed it quickly behind him. He saw two sisters from the office of Soteicho. Yukiko, who had been there yesterday and the youngest of them. Hanako was her name. And she was the one crying. She was sitting in a chair with her sister standing behind her, putting a supporting hand on her shoulder. She was next to inconsolable. Her sister's face was also very upset, yet she held her own tears back.

"I know it was stupid." Hanako sobbed to Konoe. "I know it was. But I just wanted to believe him…" she broke off into another fit of crying, burying her face in her hands.

"Should I come back at another time?" Tatsumi asked, feeling very uncomfortable with the raw emotion present before him.

The chief shook his head. "Yukiko told me that her sister told her that she gave access to the accounts to someone. I think we can assume that it was that American operative we were discussing this morning."

"Matthew Rhodes." Tatsumi said bitterly. At the mention of the name, Hanako cried harder.

"Forgive my forwardness, sir." Tatsumi said to Konoe, and then he turned his question to Hanako. His face became hard. "But what possessed you to do such a thing? Do you have any idea how much money is gone?"

"A lot." Hanako sobbed. "I know that much."

"My sister is not to blame in this." Yukiko said defensively. "That American he's to blame! He seduced my sister so to gain access to our treasury!"

"Is that true?" Tatsumi asked.

Weeping, Hanako nodded. "He said he loved me. He said he wanted to get married, and all we needed was money to get started. So I gave him access to the accounts. He said since we were all part of the same organization it would be more like borrowing. I didn't know he was going to take so much."

"You shouldn't have done it in the first place!" Tatsumi yelled. Konoe raised his hand to him to signal for the secretary to calm down.

"I know! I know!" Hanako wept. "I just.. He would say things so you didn't know how to answer. He reminded me that I was dead. And he said that he was my last chance…and I believed him. I always wanted to get married, but who's going to marry me now? I'm dead. I've always been in my older sisters' shadow and finally someone noticed me. Just me. But he was only…only using me. And then he was gone."

She broke down into crying, and her sister patted her back telling her to calm down.

Tatsumi sighed. He was full of disgust for the theft of the money and the person who had done it. How cruel and manipulative this Rhodes person was. He had to find him. That was the only way they had any chance of recovering any of the money.

"Do you know where he was going?" he said.

Hanako nodded.

"He mentioned Hokkaido." She murmured. "Sappho."

"Now I know where to start looking." Tatsumi said. "I will have to be pulling from some other sources, so as long as you can get me approval."

"I will." Konoe said. "I'll be in contact with you later about what is to be done with the current situation."

Tatsumi nodded, knowing what was meant. The chief was going to be asking his opinion on any judgment against Hanako. Tatsumi would have to think about what he was going to say.

"Give me permission, and I'll be on the first flight over." Tatsumi nodded.

Konoe nodded grimly.

"Watari might be useful in this investigation. And I do not feel comfortable doing field work entirely by myself."Tatsumi said.

"Of course." Konoe said.

Tatsumi and Watari were on the next flight to Hokkaido to arrive at Sappho Airport.

Tsuzuki stood before the Ice Queen. Her throne room was ornate ice carved into great columns and statues. But there was little time to admire the beauty of the place, the situation they were brought to investigate was far more dire than they imagined. The Shinigami were gathered before her and listened to Yuma's report first. Katie-Chan was indeed present in her other form, and as Myers-San predicted, she was fussy. She snapped at him several times before the council started.

"Animals have been fleeing the center of our island." Yuma said. "In large groups. We have also had several hikers be lured from the trails. They have been found later, frozen to death."

"There are reports of a shadow of a woman, a Yuki-onna."

*What's that?* Katie sent. Her sending felt very different. It was irritated and felt more primal.

"A ghost woman." Tsuzuki explained.

"It is more than that." Beatrice said grimly. "She is my sister. Tsuzuki, I need you to find my sister and find what sickness is in her mind to change her so. See if she can be saved, and if she cannot…"

The queen took a deep breath as if she were in great pain.

"Then put her down."

Matthew Rhodes sighed as stretched. He was laying face down on a massage table, his backside covered with a soft towel. Practiced hands massaged his shoulder blades, going down to his mid back. He loved these luxuries, and as far as he was concerned he deserved them. After all, he had to have some reward for all the trouble Jenni Hiru had put him through. First there was the ordeal of securing the necklace from the Death bureau state side. Then the transport of the thing over the Japan had taken months of hiding, moving carefully. He had to go back and forth from one country to the other so he wouldn't have any long unexplained absences. That had not been easy.

On coming to Japan, he did find the accommodations in Kyoto where he met Muraki as Hiru's emissary much more to his liking. Rhodes like three things: money, luxury and women. Oriya's brothel had plenty of these, and he would have been glad to stay there longer. But as always, Jenni was a relentless taskmaster. And as always she called the shots. He never questioned her on that. He had seen what she did the former guard that had guarded her prison for so long. He was the one she now called "dog". He was a shell of himself, mutated beyond all recognition. She had bound him with her spells into obedience.

No, Matthew had seen what became of those who were defiant of her. Many times she tortured Dog for his disobedience. Though he was compelled to do as he was ordered, he still found ways to defy her. And he did routinely, even though each time was only met with pain and suffering. It was too bad that he regretted his actions that bound him to her, it was too little too late, Matthew mused. Now that she had him, she would never let him go.

She never let anyone go, Matthew thought.

He shook his head. He didn't want to think about things like that. After all, he was in the Windsor Toya resort in Sapporo enjoying his massage. It was nice to have practiced hands on him finally. That bumbling girl had fumbled her way across his body. He had to suppress the urge to laugh at her during their lovemaking. She was a total virgin, a total novice, and if she didn't have access the accounting records of her division she would have been a total waste of time.

Matthew Rhodes was a striking looking man. He had sandy brown hair and gray eyes. His complexion warm and his body not undeveloped. These were his weapons in the game of seduction and he took good care of them. In life, he had been involved in accounting for his state's professional football team. But his greed reared his ugly head, he got involved in embezzling money for the local mob. When it went bad one time, he was killed.

And on the other side of life, he continued his bad habits. After all, he saw no need to change. And he so loved the luxuries money brought.

He knew he couldn't stay in this resort too long. He would have to be on the move tomorrow, but for now he was going to enjoy it. Later he would go down to the bar to see who he could persuade to spend the night with him. Hopefully he'd find someone who knew what a mouth was for, he thought, unlike his most recent conquest. Then he most likely he would go more inland, to some cheap hotel a place no one would suspect to find him. This was his habit, he would spurge how he wanted with whatever funds he had secured at that time, then go and hide out in some low place where he would not be discovered.

His Iphone rang. His hired masseuse brought it to him.

"Hello?" he said as he picked up the line.

"I have something for you to do." a cold voice said to him on the other end of the line. He felt shiver run down his spine. Jenni's voice always did that to him.

"Go on." he replied. "You're the boss."

"In a few weeks time, I will need for you to get Myers off campus for at least a week. "She said.

"Why not just get him out of the way?" he asked. "He might become a problem later."

"To obvious." she replied. "I need him out of there but in a way that won't raise suspicion with anyone. Tell him from his 'superiors' that he is to go on a long out of town assignment. I don't care doing what or going where, just as long as he's out of my way."

"What about Summers? Won't she suspect you. I mean given your history..."

"I have been blocking her since her arrival here." Jenni replied. "Besides I have something special planned for my former pupil when the time comes."

Matthew Rhodes laughed. "Isn't it funny? Bert thinks he's working for the superiors of both the Emmacho and the American bureau. He would be very surprised to know that I forged those records and signatures. That he's really working for us. If he knew that he'd kick is own ass."

"Yes." Jenni agreed. "Best forging you ever did. A true work of art."

"Thank you. When do you need for me to do this?" Matthew asked.

"In three weeks." Jenni stated.

"I'm going to disappear for a while before then. I will most likely be unreachable for that time."

"That is acceptable to me, so long as you are there when I need you. You know I have never interfered with your sport. Did you get much this time?"

"More than enough." Rhodes laughed. "More than enough."

To be continued…

Notes: Hope this discussion of Aunt Erma didn't gross anyone out too much. If it did, I do apologize, but birds and bees. For a good laugh watch IT crowd- Aunt Erma visits.