Whew! And moving right along...

Like runnaway train!

******************
####
Amy Lynn rose with the sun and went to bed at around ten at night. It was, 
she had concluded some time ago, the most efficient use of her time. She did

not waste time laying in bed, but rather immediately gathered her things and

marched down the hall to the tub, which she filled with water heated to a 
comfortably warm sixty-five degrees.

O_o 65?  Oh yeah she's a cold acclimated person.

Ten minutes later, she was out and towel drying her hair. Not bothering with

a robe, she walked back to her room and donned underclothes,

Kicks himself for NOT having his vidio camera with him.

a t-shirt and 
jean shorts. Returning to the bathroom, she picked up her hair brush and
went 
to work on her hair.

Amy Lynn's hair was bobbed. It covered her head, didn't get in her eyes, and

quite frankly, that's all one should expect from hair.

Functional.  I see Amy thinking this way.

Pulling off her shirt, she turned sideways and examined herself in the 
mirror. She was in reasonably good shape, walking everywhere, especially 
through snow in the winter time back in Saint Paul had seen to that, but she

lacked the curved, yet firm tightness of Bunny. Again, she felt the 
irrational surge of jealously.

Kicks himself again.
Are you sure she isn't having dirty thoughts about Bunny??

But then again, her rational mind pointed out. Bunny was raised on a farm
and 
as such, her figure came from simple combination of genetics and a lifetime 
of hard work that no reasonable exercise program could duplicate. She would 
never have a figure like that and there was little point in worrying about
it.

Images of Bunny rolling around in a hay loft suddenly filled her mind.

*****************

Bunny wore work boots and what 
appeared to the same work shirt she had on yesterday.

This needs to stay.  I Knew people back home like this.

Molly also noted that 
the "machete" was actually a very large knife.

Shouldn't that be Ami noticing?

"Hey," Bunny said with a grin. "Moll and I were gonna go down to the creek 
and do some fishing, and we thought you might like to come along."

"Wanna come" sounds a little better here.

"Great!" Bunny dashed down the stairs and returned with a box of tools. 
"Where's the furniture?"

Wordlessly, Amy Lynn pointed at the stack of boxes in a group in the living 
room.

"That's furniture?" Molly asked as Bunny opened up one of the boxes.

"Mom likes to buy furniture that can be assembled and disassembled at will,"

Amy Lynn replied.

Are you SURE that Mrs. Anderson is innocent?  Exactly how many jobs have

"convienently" came up for her?

*****************

While neither Amy Lynn or her mother were mechanically inept, Bunny's 
affinity with tools was astounding. 

As is any good Redneck worth their weight in Skoal.

In the space of three hours, the blond 
had already put together both couches and the large computer desk. Even now,

she was humming to herself as she screwed together the bookcase.

Damn, She's got the speed and precision of a NASCAR pit crue.

in her room, Molly and Amy Lynn were slowly emptying boxes.

"Who's the guy?" Molly asked, studying an eight by ten framed photo. In it, 
her mother and a handsome man with a shock of white hair smiled for the
camera
.
"My dad," Amy Lynn replied, taking the frame from Molly. "He and mom split
up 
when I was five because he was gay.

So he was after the OTHER kind of sailors eh?

This is the only picture I have of 
him-she doesn't know about this one. Mom destroyed the others and fought
like 
mad to limit his visitation rights." Amy Lynn ran a finger over the image. 
"I've seen him only three times in the last ten years and the last time was 
almost six years ago."

Oh now that's just mean!  Seriously though Why do I hve a feeling that

this is a sub plot we're going to see again?

"I'm sorry," Molly said, more out of feeling the need to say something then 
anything else.

"Sometimes, I wish things could be different, I love them both, but Mom goes

into hysterics if I so much as mention him." Amy Lynn took the frame and 
placed it up on the shelf of her closet and closed the door. "What else is
in 
that box?"

*****************
By one, the trio had finished the unpacking process and placed the furniture

more or less where Amy Lynn thought her mother would want them. Mrs.
Anderson 
was a creature of habit, and the second story apartment was not that 
different in terms of layout from their condo back in Saint Paul.

"C'mon," Bunny said. "Let's go fishing."

And so, having no way to gracefully refuse, Amy Lynn left a note for her 
mother and followed Bunny and Molly down the steps to where a Great Dane sat

beside an old pickup truck. The maker's logo was written across the grille
in 
dirt-covered chrome and the truck had been repainted several times and had 
been dented in various places.

Needs a couple of bumper stickers in the window. Something NASCAR, NRA or

B.A.S.S. those are typical ones.

Bunny grinned cheerfully. "Nope." She worked the shift and zoomed backwards.

"No seatbelts, either," 

Neither sounds more redneck

she continued, seeing Amy Lynn frantically looking 
around. "Pa cut them out. Said we didn't need 'em." Wrenching the wheel, she

swerved the truck onto the road, shifted again and floored the accelerator.


Bunny's driving skill seemed to be best described as "Pick a direction and 
try not to hit anything." For fifteen minutes, the truck bounced, the wheels

actually leaving the surface of the Earth several times as Bunny steered it 
over the grassy fields at speeds better suited for high-speed aircraft
before 
finally coming to a screeching halt at the top of a small hill. A narrow
path 
led down to a clearing by a bubbling creek.

Yep, I know a lot of folks who drive like this.  But how do you come to a

screeching hault on a grassy hill?

"We're here!" Bunny said and turned to look at her passengers. 

Molly looked slightly queasy but Amy Lynn was sitting stiffly, her face
white 
as a sheet and an expression of sheer terror on her face. Her hands were 
white knuckled as they held onto the edge of the seat in a death grip.

"Amy Lynn?" Molly asked, touching her arm. With a shriek, Amy Lynn jumped, 
slamming her head into the roof and then grabbing it in pain.

"Where...the hell...did you learn to drive?" Amy Lynn said between clenched 
teeth as she gripped her head as though if she didn't, it would open like a 
suitcase.

"Pa taught me. 'Course, I don't drive recklessly like he does."

Amy Lynn let out a whimper.

ooooohh

*****************
"Feeling better?" Molly asked as she took the canteen from Amy Lynn."

WooHoo, A little hooch'll calm yer nerves.

"Yes,"�Amy Lynn replied as she leaned against the side of the truck. The two

girls were sitting side by side on the ground. "I'm glad you had you had 
those headache pills with you."

"Oh, I carry them everywhere," Molly replied. "Especially when I go fishing 
with her. Bunny's a good person, but she tends to be a tad oblivious. Still,

you won't find a better friend anywhere."

"How can she drive like that?"

"Around here, you learn to drive as soon as your feet can reach the pedals,"

Molly replied with a shrug. "Personally, I prefer to stick with my dirt
bike. 
Think you can stand?"

"Yes," Amy Lynn replied as she stood on shaky legs.

"Hey, guys!" Bunny called. "I found some worms, we got bait!"

If Bunny's a real redneck, she'd already have a can of worms and a tackle

box chock full of the latest gear.

"Don't worry," Molly said. "You get used to her driving eventually."
Together 
they walked over to where Bunny was waiting.

*****************
Molly proved to be correct and as the days became weeks, Bunny constant 
dropping by to spend time with her new friend eventually allowed Amy Lynn to

get used to her haphazard driving. Many times, the trip was short, and the 
two girls spent time in the general store, listening to the town's old men 
argue and swap stories as they sat on front porch. She even got to meet 
Rayelene Hino, daughter of the county judge, who lived with her grandfather,

who was the preacher at the local church. He was a tiny man, scarcely over 
five feet tall, but he had a boisterous laugh, and you couldn't help but
like 
him.

Oh that's just too rich. I love it!

Rayelene, on the other hand, was intense as a tightly coiled spring, which 
tended to set teeth on edge, especially Bunny's. According to Molly, the two

despised each other with an almost unholy passion and whenever they were 
together, you could cut the tension with a knife.

Oh yeah, this is got to stay.

Current odds, according to Andrew, the tall blond boy she had seen sweeping 
the store's walk were three to one that Raylene and Bunny would come to
blows 
by Christmas and five to one that Bunny would use her knife.

Put me down for $20

There were also rumors of a blond haired woman who roamed the woods near the

lake whenever the moon was in the night sky accompanied by a black-haired 
wolf, searching for something.

???

Soon, school started and Juuban Hollow's forty-five or so children, ranging 
in age from six to seventeen gathered in the school house, a dilapidated 
structure on a hill west of town. It was a single room and ran by Miss 
Haruna, a tall, imposing woman who's manner was almost as intense as
Rayelene.

After Amy Lynn, plus two new students, Mina, who's blond hair was tied with
a 
red ribbon, and Lita, a tall brunette who looked as though she could lift
the 
school off it's foundation had been introduced, Miss Haruna got down to 
business.

If Lita has a can of skoal I'm comming to get you!

"The state says that this year, those of you who are aged fourteen through 
seventeen have to study the life cycle of plants and animals. The folks over

at Black Mountain Plantation have agreed to let us use their facilities as 
part of this. So, in two weeks class will meet two days a week at Black 
Mountain where you will tend and care for a small herd of sheep, twenty four

head of cattle, and a small, one acre field of various plants, including 
cotton. At the end of the school year, I expect each of you to tell the
class 
what you learned." A few groans and complaints were heard throughout the 
room. "I know most of you have spent your lives raising plants and animals 
which is why I expect A's all around as you will help the others with what 
you know. Any questions? No? Good. Open your math book and turn to page 
fifty-one."

Amy's just Got to be hating this.

*****************
Black Mountain Plantation was a huge estate that covered most of the county 
east of Juuban Hollow. The main house, was in fact the mansion Amy Lynn had 
seen when she and her mother first arrived in town. The owner, Ms Ande, was
a 
recluse and her four managers did most of the work. 

Amy Lynn sighed and pulled on her work gloves. She was wearing one of
Bunny's 
work shirts, old jeans and a pair of work boots with paper in the toes to 
make them fit.

The students, about twelve or so in all trudged along the dirt path towards
a 
small area with green sprouts dotting the brown path. At one edge, Ms Haruna

stood with a man dressed in a white, buttoned down shirt, and tan slacks.
His 
white hair was tied back in a ponytail and his smile was friendly.

"Class I want you to meet Michael White. He's-" she broke off as Amy Lynn 
gasped.

"Dad?"

I KNEW IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*****************
Father and daughter stood at the edge of the field that Black Mountain had 
loaned to the students, watching them move through the rows as plantation 
employees described each of the plants and how to care for them. One or two 
of the workers made Amy Lynn nervous in the way they moved, like they were 
shells wrapped around something.

Ahh, th plot thickens.

"Amy Lynn...I'm sorry, if I had known you were coming to Juuban Hollow, I 
would've called, come by...done...something."

"It's okay, Dad. Mom wouldn't have come if she knew you were here. We got to

see each other again. That's what's important, right?"

Michael smiled. "Right. How are things?"

"Good. Great, actually. I've made a few friends and Juuban Hollow is very 
different from Saint Paul. I just wish it wasn't so hot." She stared out at 
the field. "Why does Mom hate you so much?"

BEcause I stole her lover away from her sweety.

"Because she doesn't understand. Your Mother has a very simple view of 
things. I think it's because she was raised here in Juuban Hollow. 
Homosexuality is a strange word to these people. Some have probably never 
even heard of it."

But God help me I'm slowly winning them over.  You'll see.

"But Mom's a scientist. A doctor. She's supposed to view everyone equally."

Michael laughed softly. "Your Mother has never been one to let her
predjuices 
and opinions get in the way of doing her job. I remember when you were about

three, a few years before I discovered...what I was. I took you and a picnic

lunch down to the Emergency Room where she was on duty. As she was getting 
ready to go off duty, the doors opened and an ambulance crew rushed in 
bearing Leslie McDaniels. the president of the local chapter of the Gay and 
Lesbian support group and bleeding to death.

The Gay and lesbian support group and bleeding to death.  This sounds

like two clubs.  You need to reword it.

Janice knew who she was, of 
course, and dropped everything to tend to her. Without your Mother's skill, 
she would have died right there in the lobby of the ER. That's when you 
turned to me and said 'Daddy, I want to be a doctor when I grow up.'"

"I don't remember that," Amy Lynn said softly. "All I remember is the 
fighting and then you left."

"I know," Michael said he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "I'd give 
anything to change that, but I can't."

Another man dressed almost identical to Michael walked up to them. He had 
short, curly blond hair and the coldest eyes Amy Lynn had ever seen. "This
is 
Jeddadiah Cite," Michael said. "Jed, this my Daughter, Amy Lynn."

Good name game. I like Jed. 

"A pleasure," Jeddadiah said perfunctorily. His handshake was very stiff. 
"Her teacher, while pleased that she has been reunited with her father,
would 
like it if she would begin her project."

"Of course." Michael gave his daughter a hug. "I'll drive you home tonight, 
and talk to your mother. Maybe we can work something out."

Yeah hat's a good idea. Just like Waco

"I'd like that." Amy Lynn said softly and walked back towards her friends.

"You're fooling yourself," Jeddadiah said. "Once we find Empreya, the Queen 
will slaughter her and the rest of the humans like pigs. You really think
you 
can save her?"

"Shut up, Jeddite," Malachite snarled.

O_o

*************
Steve "Komodo" T.
                     ***
Today's Fortune Cookie: (Or: Helping People Out)
*grabs a shotgun* Live free or die!
...
*pumps the shotgun* I said "Live free or die"!
...
*takes aim* I don't think you're living free enough!
-The Fool, Avalon Forum
www.avalonhigh.com

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