AN: As promised, this one is much longer than the last. I still haven't had a chance to write the second part of the story. I'm sure I will eventually. Don't worry. I'm going to start finishing some of my other stories. It may take a while but I WILL finish the POTC one. I am determined!

The "Pleasure God" Fiasco and Other Bedtime Stories

Chapter 4

Curiosity Killed The Cat

Evelyn O'Connell:

I had just finished the most covert operation I had ever pulled off in my life: hiding Rick's guns. I was just heading back up to the house from the artillery shed when my husband found me.

"There you are," he said, placing an arm around my shoulders. I smiled at the gesture. "I've been looking all over for you. What are you doing out here?"

"Oh... Just going for a stroll. It's such a lovely day and I hated to let it go to waste." I smiled, hoping he had no clue what I was up to.

"Well, you know, the day's not over yet." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"And just what are you implying, Mr. O'Connell?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing you wouldn't enjoy, lady." He winked at me and gave me a charming smile.

"Well, maybe I'll take you up on your offer."

He turned around and headed toward the artillery shed. My eyes went wide. "Where are you going?" I asked, trotting after him.

"I forgot to put some things away out here. You go on ahead in the house."

"You can put it away later." I said quickly.

"Pfft. Are you nuts? Alex'll get into it." He opened the door and strode into the shed to find it empty.

I turned around and started to walk towards the house.

"Oh, Evelyn?" Rick all but shouted. "Do you have any idea why my shed is empty?" I stopped abruptly.

Caught. Red-handed.

"Well, you did leave it wide open. Perhaps someone stole all of you guns..." I started to walk quickly towards the house. Rick started to give chase.

"Oh no no no... I don't think so." He started gaining on me. "What did you do with my guns, Evelyn!" He yelled though gritted teeth.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." With that I started to run. I reached the house slightly before he did and ran inside. He caught me in the hallway just as I was about to slip on the floor.

He glared at me, but before he could start his interrogations, we heard a loud crash come from upstairs.

We looked at each other and raced up the stairs.

When we got to the library, book pages were floating in the air. Kamaria was on top of Alex, shielding him from harm. My white cat Cleo was sniffing around the pile of disaster in front of us.

"What the bloody hell happened in here!" My already angered husband demanded.

Kamaria started to rise out of the rubble, pulling Alex up with her. They both looked around themselves.

"Alex, you're just like your mother,'' my oh-so-wonderful husband observed. I thwacked him on the arm. ''Ouch." He started rubbing where I'd hit him.

"It was the cat!" Kam and Alex shouted simultaneously.

Rick and I looked at each other, annoyed.

Cleo curled herself around my legs as the phone started to ring.

Rick ran to the phone stand in the hallway. He picked up the receiver.

I held out my hand to my son. "Ball. Now."

He rolled his eyes, sighed and plucked the ball from its place on the floor. He trudged toward me and plopped the ball in my awaiting hand.

"No more, Alex." I stated, "I've had enough damaged property for one day."

"Well, we can put off his grounding for a bit," Rick said, striding into the room. "That was Ardeth. Jonathan left him outside the casino. I wouldn't think anything was wrong if Jon hadn't been so anxious to show off for Ardeth."

"What?" I asked, surprise showing on my face. Rick was right. Something was wrong.

"It could be just Jonathan being Jonathan but we might as well go pick up poor Ardeth." He sighed. "I suppose wecould look for Jon while were there."

I grinned.

When we arrived at Jonathan's casino, his car was parked on the curb out front, Ardeth sitting calmly in the passenger seat. He climbed out and greeted Rick and I with a grin.

"Boy, am I glad to see you," Ardeth said, climbing into the back seat of Rick's Beauford.

"Did Jonathan say where he was going?" I asked.

"No," Ardeth answered. "He just said to stay in the car and that he'd be back. That was well over an hour ago."

"That's not like him." I looked out the window.

"Hey," Rick said quietly, placing a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sure he's fine. He probably just got held up. Let's get Ardeth back to the house, have some lunch and call the main desk. See if he's checked in with anyone."

"Right," I replied. "I'm starting to feel famished."

We arrived home a few moments later and I half expected Alex to have destroyed the house. To my surprise, he was in his bedroom reading while Rick's younger sister Ella was feverishly painting. I gently wrapped on the doorframe. "Your father's fixing lunch downstairs. It should be ready in a few moments."

Alex sighed, put his book down on his bed and started to trot off downstairs.

I quietly approached my sister-in-law who was deeply immersed in her art. "Lunch is almost ready, Ella."

She turned to face me. "Alright. Just let me finish up this last bit of detail." She returned her concentration to her canvas and I turned out of the room. I stopped, sighed, and shook my head. She was so much like her brother when she wasn't painting. That was probably a good thing. Otherwise, she'd have been involved in the earlier fiasco. Funny how she's been in the house the whole day and this is the first I've seen of her… I finished my thought and continued downstairs.

AN:More to come! As long as I can load stories... I tried to put this up the other day and oddly, it kept stopping in the middle of loading... Please review!