Disclaimer: I'd love to say I owned them, but that would be lying
A/N: Well, it's a short chapter. I couldn't cut the storyline anywhere other than where I did.
droverssunrise: I wasn't sure whether I was taking Nick too much out of character, but I'm glad that you seem to like it.
CSIcrazy: Ok, so what is confusing you about the names? Michelle's middle name is the same as Alex's. The Initials stand for McLeod's Daughters. Yes, Charlotte and Nick live with Tess, but if you read back further, you'll discover that she's down at the cottage, cleaning it up for when Rosie comes... (I had to look that up, cos I got confused too!)
A few minutes later, Dave found himself on the CB. He had been the one elected to get Tess back to the house, while telling her the smallest amount of information possible. "Tess, I think you should get back here ASAP."
"Oh my God, Dave. What's wrong? Is it Charlotte?" The concern in her voice was evident. "Has something happened to her?"
"No, she's fine." Dave paused, unsure of how to put this. "There's just something that you need to look at."
Tess replaced the CB in its pouch, and watched as Jodi walked down the path to her old home. She had heard the crackling that often accompanied a CB transmission. "What was that all about?" The younger woman questioned her elder.
"I'm not entirely sure." Tess sighed (A/N: I really need to come up with a better way of my characters expressing themselves. That's the sixth time someone has sighed in this fic alone. So far people have sighed twice in Phonecall, and twice in letters… ok, so maybe its not as bad as I thought, but I still need suggestions peoples!) "Dave was insistent that I should get up there as soon as possible."
"Is it something to do with Bom?" Jodi was worried about the little girl to whom she wasn't related but still felt like a niece in the same as Claire had, during her early years, had felt like a big sister.
"That's what I thought, but he said she's alright, so your guess is as good as mine."
The two women strode off towards the house, both deep in various thoughts as to what might be happening.
Natalie found herself pacing around the house she used to call home, noticing small differences here and there. At one stage, she found herself in the study again, looking at the handwriting of the small daughter whom she didn't really know. She smiled as she looked at the painting on the wall, remembering all that Tess had said about it.
She walked over to the mantle piece where she discovered various pictures of various children. She recognised Charlotte in several. In another few, she found a small boy who looked very much like Nick when they were growing up. She supposed that this must be the son that Dave had talked about. In one, she recognised Peter, his daughters, her daughter and his wife. 'What an interesting family picture that is.' she thought to herself, resenting him still. It was him who had gotten her into the mess she had been in for the last seven years.
Tess rushed up the path, having left Jodi to tackle the back end of the house. Her brain told her that nothing was wrong, but her heart didn't want to listen.
As she entered the cool oasis of the house and began wondering where everyone was, she noticed some movement in the study.
"What was so important Dave Brewer that I had to rush up here when Rose arrives tomorrow and Stevie is busy out..." She broke her rant, as she finally saw the person in her house. There was a woman staring out of the window over the fields. "I'm sorry, can I help you?" she inquired. Then she gasped, as she watched the woman turn around. It wasn't possible. She must be hallucinating again.
A/N: Ok, so I'm going on holidays for Christmas, so I don't know when I'll next be able to update, but hopefully when I do, I'll have several chapters to put up at once. So, until then, review and tell me you love me and that you can't wait until I get the next chapter up.