A/N: Oops... On the plus side, I have my own laptop now so having to dislodge my sibling from the shared one is no longer going to be an issue!

Disclaimer: I imagine Arthur Ransome was infinitely more organised when it comes to writing than I'll ever be...

Dot had never really been one for holding grudges. She was a dreamer, in every sense of the word, and while she did a good impression of practicality when it proved necessary, she preferred her own world, where she could revel in the voices that made their home in her head, and live in the stories her brain made up around the monotony of everyday life. So it came as a surprise to her just how much she resented George Owden's treatment of Titty. She knew she'd be angry (after all, Titty was her best friend and even had she not been, treating anyone like that was completely out of the question) but she'd not imagined- she who lived for imagination and the freedom that came with it, she had not imagined- just how angry she would be. She'd wanted George- no Owden, he was Owden now however much she might dislike the obvious reference to their enmity- to have changed, wanted him to be redeemable just like her characters were, because she wanted to believe that the world still worked like it did in fantasy because she understood that and could be sure the hero would always come out on top and the villain would eventually either repent or lose. She knew it was naïve and she didn't really look at the world that way, but that didn't change the fact that she wanted to and that it broke her heart every time she was proved wrong yet again.

That being said, had Owden been one of her own characters he'd shortly have been meeting an unfortunate ending, probably involving the brother or beau of the injured heroine, possibly involving an unfortunately placed cliff… She was fuming, and grateful for the new decision that meant the girls couldn't go out on their own anymore (no Nancy that doesn't mean you need an escort, and yes I'm fully aware that you can look after yourself, I'd just rather you didn't need to- John and Nancy had been amusing) since she didn't want to find herself in Titty's position and would like to see Ge- Owden try anything when they were in a group. They could be formidable, if she said so herself. And hopefully Owden wasn't stupid enough to try anything with Nancy. She'd eat him alive and then John and Peggy would burn the remains. On second thoughts, maybe she would enjoy that….

"Dot?" She looked up from the notebook she was trying to write in to see Tom looking at her with concern. "Are you ok? You haven't written anything in a good ten minutes or so- is something wrong?" She smiled at him, touched by the concern in his voice.

"I'm just upset about Titty. I'm not normally an angry person Tom, really I'm not but she's my best friend and I don't like the idea of someone hurting her. And I'm not used to being this angry, I usually just push things away, but this I can't and I don't know why and I don't like it. I don't like anger but I can't escape from it and I don't know how to embrace it the way the others do…" She trailed off. He put his arm around her.

"They dislike it as much as you do, at least Titty and Susan do I imagine. It's understandable that you're so angry- we all are- you've no need to be ashamed of it." He smiled at her, the sight calming her as it always did- he was disconcertingly good at that. She smiled back, relaxing into the peacefulness his presence usually came with (and his arm, although that she was perfectly ready to deny!)

"I need to get out I think- clear my head a bit. That way I might be able to write a bit more. And if that fails I might write a short story in which the antagonist James Odon finds himself in an unfortunate situation with the irate brothers/friends of the heroine he inflicted his unwanted presence upon…" Tom laughed at that, then pulled himself up and offered her a hand.

"If you do write that, I'll have to read it when you're done- it sounds like a story we'd all enjoy seeing come to life!" She took his hand and allowed him to pull her up. "Since you're in need of a break, would you accompany me on the Coot Club rounds? We can take the Titmouse, that way we'll avoid any unfortunate meetings." Dot smiled at that. A sail did sound pleasant, and Titmouse was almost as nice a boat as Scarab.

Xx

"Susan! Peggy! Nancy!" Port and Starboard came running up the Dudgeon's front lawn, Roger and Pete following with markedly less enthusiasm. "Titty! Dot!" The girls hurried to meet the twins who they could see were bubbling with enthusiasm over something they must have seen in town. While Tom and Dot had been out, a ration party had been sent out in search of lemonade, but it appeared to have gotten distracted from its mission if the conspicuous absence of anything drinkable was anything to go by…

"Port, Starboard, whatever is the matter?" Susan was the first to ask the question, but it took several repetitions of the same before any sense could be dragged out of the excited twins.

"We were in the shop when we saw the posters going up-"

"We'd forgotten it was coming what with your visit-"

"But we've never really had a group of friends to go with-"

"So we ran back up here to tell you about it and-" Port and Starboard were switching with each other so rapidly the others could barely follow what they were saying. Pete came over to translate while Roger headed towards the house to inform the others of the lack of success of the ration expedition.

"The Annual Village Fayre starts up next week. It lasts two weeks and always finishes with a dance in the village hall, which is what Port and Starboard are trying to tell you about. None of us have attended before, since the numbers were always uneven and it's not as enjoyable with just the five of us. But you're visiting so we'd have a decent group and the girl: boy ratio is even so they want to know if you want to go." Ignoring the twins' glares at him for ruining their surprise, Pete wandered off again, role as translator fulfilled.

"Well?" Port and Starboard demanded expectantly. Susan and Peggy looked at each other smiles starting to form. Nancy rolled her eyes but couldn't quite hide the delight creeping up on her expression. Titty outright grinned and Dot looked at the others before smiling herself.

"Sounds like fun, when will it be?" Susan spoke for all of them.

"24th July so we've got plenty of time yet!" The twins grinned excitedly, then turned to Nancy: "You'll persuade John?" They assessed correctly that he would likely be the most formidable opponent and figured that Nancy was the best person to change his mind.

"Why me?" She exclaimed. "Set Titty on him- I've never seen him refuse her anything!" This was conceded to be a good point and Titty skipped over to her brother to tell him the news. He was unexpectedly complacent about the whole affair however, so she was soon able to report back that the plans could go ahead without any male interference, and that he was handing control of the Swallows and Amazons to Captain Nancy in this particular instance.

Plans were soon underway and it wasn't long before the boys were dragged in (seemingly reluctantly but with surprisingly little struggle for all that) to co-ordinate partners, which were largely decided upon based on age (which was another sneaky way of pairing up John and Nancy from Susan and Peggy) and it was soon settled. Obviously, Dick asked Titty as soon as the question of partners was brought up, and Tom wasn't far behind asking Dot. John turned to Nancy raising his eyebrow and she grinned at him in response when they were informed that they would be going together. Joe and Bill had a brief, silent discussion before turning to Peggy and Susan respectively. John elbowed Roger in the ribs and he quickly took the hint, turning to look at Pete then Port and Starboard. The twins conferred for a second then Port announced that she'd partner Roger and that Starboard could go with Pete. This being settled, the entire party headed off into the village in search of the forgotten lemonade.

A/N: For the record, I am not planning on having them all pairing off and running off into the sunset together. As nicely as that might work, my romantic side is being pushed to the limit with just three couples, any more and my head might explode. Plus, it would be horrifically unrealistic (she says as if any of this even vaguely approaches realism...) Anyway, in my experience dances are always terribly awkward, but I imagine they might be less so if you had a specific partner so weren't left standing round the wall like some sort of lemon. So go with me on the pairing. It will only be for the dance scene (except John/Nancy, Dot/Tom and Titty/Dick which I ship unashamedly)