Chapter 9

Salene sat opposite Lex at the small table in the saloon in Liberty. She picked at her food delicately, moving it around the plate to try and give the impression she was eating it.

"What? Don't you like it?" Lex asked, watching Sal as he ate his own food, "I promise I had nothing to do with the making of it!"

Salene smiled briefly, then put her fork down at the side of her plate.

"I'm just not that hungry, Lex," she replied.

"That's normal. Try and force yourself to eat some more. You need your strength, even if your appetite doesn't think so. It'll come back to you in time."

Salene smiled again and picked up the fork. She ate a few more mouthfuls, then put her fork down again. She would try again in a little while. Her body just wasn't used to proper meals at proper mealtimes anymore.

At the bar, Ruby poured a drink for a customer, cast a glance over at Lex and Salene's table, then turned to put the bottle back. She jumped when she felt a pair of strong arms encircle her waist, almost dropping the bottle.

"Gabe!" Ruby hissed, trying to sound annoyed and failing miserably, "I could have dropped that!"

"Then I would have cleaned it up for you," Gabe replied, feigning mock innocence, "C'mon Ruby, you work too hard! All work and no play makes Ruby a dull girl!"

"Perhaps I wouldn't have to work so hard if I got some help out here once in a while!"

"Now, Ruby, sweetheart, I do my bit! Haven't I made a lovely dinner for you and all your customers?"

"It's not you I'm talking about, Gabe," Ruby turned to look at her boyfriend and instinctively reached up to fix his now messy black and red hair: the red-tipped crown of Ram was gone, as was the Techno uniform and markings; his hair was the way he had always worn it in reality space and his new clothes and markings disguised the, still unpopular, person he had once been.

"Then who?" he asked.

"Oh, Siva! And Darryl! And Ebony! And Slade, whenever he's actually here!"

"Ebony and Slade I… well… let's just say bar work ain't their kind of thing. As for Darryl, well, would you really want him behind here? But Siva? No, Siva pays her way. I don't know why she's not pulling her weight."

"And you just have to know everything, don't you!"

"All part and parcel of being a genius, my love," Gabe laughed.

XXXX

"Give it back!" Patsy's yells carried through the entire mall.

"What in the world is going on up there!" Alice cried from the kitchen.

"Whatever it is, they'd better have a good reason for it!" Amber snapped, annoyed at being roused from a rather pleasant daydream, before storming out of the café towards the fountain and the stairs.

"I'd better go make sure no lives are lost!" Ryan joked, leaving Alice standing in the kitchen beside the kettle.

The kettle boiled and clicked off.

"I'll just wait here then, shall I," muttered Alice.

Amber and Ryan raced up the stairs and headed for Patsy's room, from which all manner of screams and whines were emanating.

"Get off me!" Patsy yelled, to person or persons as yet unknown.

"Patsy?" Amber's worried shout preceded them to the room and received the age old reply:

"She started it!"

Amber stopped running and sighed. Not another argument! What was it this time? The wrong colour of mascara?

"Come on," Ryan sighed, beside her, "Let's go split them up. Again!"

They walked the rest of the way to Patsy's room. When they rounded the corner to peer through the doorway, Amber couldn't help but smile at the scene before her.

Sammy was desperately trying to hold back a raging Patsy, while Gel sat on the bed, with her back to the door, flicking through what looked like a normal book, but Amber was pretty sure was Patsy's journal. Gel had a scratch down one side of her face and her usually perfect makeup was smudged, but she was humming and trying to appear as nonchalant as ruined makeup would allow. Sammy was quietly pleading with Gel to leave the book alone. He half-turned to see Amber and Ryan in the doorway, Amber's eyebrows raised in warning, and eased his hold on Patsy. Patsy, who was so intent upon Gel, reading her diary, that she did not see the newcomers and darted forward, straight for Gel. She snatched the diary away and threw it across the room, slapping Gel hard in the face at the same time. Gel shrieked and grabbed at Patsy's hair. The pair were still scratching and tugging each other's hair when Ryan strode across the room and lifted Patsy off her feet and up into the air.

"What is going on here?" Amber yelled, her voice livid.

"She hit me!" Gel wailed, pointing to the smudged and reddening cheek in evidence.

"She read my diary!" Patsy yelled, "Nobody is allowed to read my diary!"

"She wouldn't answer my question!" Gel replied, as if that were explanation enough.

"It was none of your business!" shrieked Patsy.

"Sammy? What happened?" Amber asked, aware of Patsy still struggling, vainly, in Ryan's grasp.

"P-P-Patsy was writing and G-G-Gel asked her what she was doing," Sammy stuttered, keeping his distance from Patsy's flailing legs, "and Patsy said 'nothing', so Gel took the book. Patsy told her to give it back…"

"We heard!"

"But G-Gel wouldn't, so Patsy hit her and tried to get the book back and then they fought and I pulled Patsy off her and told her to give the book back but she wouldn't…"

"I see…" Amber sighed, "Gel! Out! Go to your room and stay there. I'll talk to you in a minute! Sammy, go downstairs and get a cup of tea: Alice was making some when all this started."

The other two having left, Ryan put Patsy back down on her feet, but took care not to let go of her entirely.

"You, madam," Amber began, "had better start learning to control your temper!"