The Angry Mermaid 4 --- Y Morforwyn Dicllon 4

Printer-friendly version

The first transgendered intersex issues begin to manifest themselves as Drustan unknowingly experiences his intersexed menarche.


The Angry Mermaid 4
Or.
Y Morforwyn Dicllon 4

Mabina. The youngest daughter and Twin to
Drustan Her twin brother.
Grandpa Erin the twins grandfather.
Giana The twins grandmother
Caderyn The twins father.
Morgaran The Twins oldest brother.
Aiofe The twins oldest sister. Famous for her beauty.
Tara The twins second oldest sister. Famous for her grace.
Feidlim Twins aunt (Caderyns’ beautiful sister.)
Mogantu Twins uncle (Married to Feidlim.) Chief of the Gangani tribe.
Brun. Twins 2nd cousin and the Acaman clans’ blacksmith.
Feorin. Twins second brother. Also training to be a blacksmith.
Rhun Feidlims’ son and Feorins’ favourite 1st Cousin. (Both red-heads.)
Arina Child of the Demetae, (rescued by Aiofe, Drustan and Mabina.)

All that evening and through to the following morning the trio spelled each other as one slept while the other two kept watch and steered through the clear summer night. In the early summer morning they finally lost sight of their beloved Lleyn and set course south for the next great headland. In the early afternoon they sighted the land of the Demetae. Unsure of the reception they might receive; they stood off the rocky coast and debated their plan of action.

“Have we any relatives married to the Demetae?” Drustan wondered.

Aiofe wrinkled her brow as she tried to recall the family history and silently cursed that she had not paid attention to her dead mother and grandmother Giana when they recited the family names going back centuries. The new priest had written them all down in the Latin letters and the younger girls had decided there was no longer any need to burden their minds with such petty details now that the wisdom was recorded on parchment. Sadly all that knowledge was lost to them, consumed in the flames of the attack. Aiofe cursed the stupidity of the younger women of her tribe, for now they had nothing to recite at any reception to identify themselves as Celts and members of the Gangani. All they had was a shared language but even that was hampered by their very different accents. The Gangani with their adenoidal, sing-song melody and the Demetae with their softer flatter vowels.
‘And many words were different too, Aiofe silently concluded as she recalled the last time they had stopped briefly by on their long passages to the Frankish lands. Oh how she wished her brother Morgaran were here with his gifts for tongues. She was good with languages but Morgaran had been infinitely better. Now she was the older one, the one who charged herself with the responsibility and safety of her younger siblings. It was a heavy burden for a girl not yet into her nineteenth summer.

Unfortunately the twin siblings didn’t exactly see it that way. Having demonstrated that were fully capable of navigating their beloved boat around the Island of Fon and all along the coast to the land of the Deceangli they felt they were more than able to handle any voyage and any situation.

Aiofe’s uncertainty left them frustrated for they had not realised that their adolescence was not deemed a threat or an invitation to any other acquaintance. On the other hand, Aiofe was already brutally aware of the carnal risks to her because of her beauty. It was this vulnerability that she constantly had to remind her younger siblings of. One small thing to have come from their having rescued their older sister from the Arse of Madog was that the twins had become aware of the threat to their older sister. Her ‘value’ had been made obvious to them by the fact the cruel Norsemen had taken her alive while slaying most of the family.

Mabina especially, now in her twelfth summer was beginning to learn of these awful dangers. Drustan, a boy was not yet so mature. Reluctantly he bent to his sisters’ wishes and they stood off until nightfall. Fortunately, Aiofe could remember the safe inlet that set in for miles on the south side of the land of the Demetae. She persuaded her younger siblings that it might be safer to enter the wide deep haven in the dark. The summer night skies were clear. The stars glittered and the moon was full; there would be enough light and the wind was north-westerly. This was a wind that they could use to enter or leave if their reception was hostile and the situation ashore proved dangerous. Aiofe was never more thankful for her younger siblings’ strange little craft. Few other craft in those times could sail four points to the wind. She and her family had stood disbelievingly on the shores of their beloved Lleyn and watched the craft force her high narrow prow up into the wind. Aiofe could remember her older brother Morgaran and her father grandpa Erin no less, gasping in disbelief as Mabina had skirted the rocks and shot ‘The Swilly’ that had always proven to be a barrier to sailing from their little bay in other ships. As they had fled the horrors of the Norsemen, Drustan had tensioned the sail with all his might and held his foot hard down on the centre leeboard as his sister had embarrassed the bigger ships and slipped cheekily through the narrow shorter passage while the other ships lumbered patiently around the reef. They had escaped to open water while the larger craft were unshipping sweeps to make the passage. That same design had enabled them to escape from the Cats’ Claw and make fools of the pursuing raiders long-ships.

Now that same accident of design had given the trio a new window of opportunity. They could enter the great haven, check the reception and then escape again if necessary if the locals proved hostile. In those turbulent times there was no way of knowing if Celts or Norsemen held the land of Demetae. As the rising North-westerly gale swept the brave little craft around the point, the outgoing tide race caused the incoming seas to heap up into a fury of huge lumpy breakers that tested the trios’ skill and endurance. They had set up the leather storm sail to act as a breakwater cum foredeck to reduce the ingress of spray and greener water but Aiofe and Drustan were still forced to bail furiously while Mabina tried to compromise her course between advancing into the great haven and steering to avoid the breaking wave crests from inundating the hull. Stomachs tensed and hearts thumped fearfully as each wondered if they would make the passage.

Eventually the wild waters calmed and the bailing pair slumped exhausted in the well as Mabina found a safe course around the headland and hugged the northern shore to avoid the obvious white tide race that roared across the southern side of the entrance. She had no idea where the safest, deepest passage lay but to enter the wild white breaking seas further south and east would have been folly. Finally she found shelter in an open bay with soft sloping sands and she called to her exhausted companions.

“There’s a beach over there. This north westerly is off-shore so this should be the best place to anchor until daylight.”

Brother and older sister were too tired to argue and they knew Mabina was every bit as skilled as them in choosing a likely anchor position. Wearily, Drustan and Aiofe lifted the anchor stone to the gunwale then carefully paid out the anchor rope to four arm spans. Having established there was no bottom at this depth, Mabina now carefully nosed her way inshore until eventually the dangling anchor stone touched bottom and the little boat swung around like a tethered horse. Without having to be asked, Drustan paid out another couple of arm-spans of rope and they settled to watch if the anchor stone held. It appeared to do so and they reefed the sail to reduce the loading on the anchor. All they could do now was wait until the first fingers of dawn slid over the great sound. After arranging ‘watches’, Mabina took first hour and they settled down as best they could. Aiofe and Drustan slept because they were still tired after the frenetic bailing.

Dawn arrived quickly. Short summer nights conspired to bring the all revealing daylight after only two changes of the watch. Mabina could not believe it when Aiofe woke her to indicate the deep scarlet veins of cloud that warned of bad weather. Already a light persistent drizzle forewarned that the north-westerly winds of the previous day were harbingers of worse weather to come.

“It’ll be daylight enough to see the shore soon,” sighed Aiofe as Mabina reluctantly uncurled her aching limbs from her twin brother’s embrace.

“Should we wake Drustan?” Wondered Mabina aloud.

“Might as well. We’re sure to be noticed soon if not already. That anchor won’t weigh itself and I’d hate to be stuck by our anchor to the bottom if they send out a hostile investigation team.”

Once more the three of them stirred wearily and took a hold of the anchor rope. Slowly the sodden rope was rove in and eventually, the stone was hauled inboard. Glad to have recovered their anchor instead of being forced to cut it loose in an emergency, they set about approaching the shore where there was no evidence of occupation. The bay was well sheltered and there was little movement so they clawed their way up into the wind until they were close inshore next to a rocky ledge behind a small headland. There they were invisible to the opposite shore where the most obvious settlement lay. They couldn’t see any dwellings on their side of the inlet. The water was deep, crystal clear and lacking any obvious underwater obstructions so they drew lots to see who should swim ashore.

Mabina declared herself to be unwell. She had got an attack of stomach cramps and her older sister Aiofe took her to the stern and raised a small screen from the edge of the sail. She returned and advised Drustan that his sister was ‘indisposed’. When the naive Drustan wondered loudly what was wrong Aiofe had the wisdom and sense to explain what had happened and the boy came to understand something of women. Drustan was now secretly glad he lost the draw for he had become alert to the additional horrors faced by his sisters. Aiofe had also enlightened him further of a woman’s primordial fear.

After arranging several rendezvous with Aiofe to contend with different foreseeable situations, Drustan slipped quietly into the water and set out for the shore. While he was away, Aiofe gave her younger sister more enlightenment about entry into womanhood. Mabina was at once excited, proud and nervous of her development. Both Drustan’s sisters watched his head bobbing rhythmically until he disappeared behind a small rock only to reappear several minutes later waving from the ledge that was clear of the water. Drustan was ashore.

He smiled gratefully as he dressed with the dry clothes he had tied to his head and then he set off into the unknown. The girls stood the little boat further into the tiny inlet to be less visible to the remainder of the haven and they settled down to wait patiently.

Drustan moved with the utmost caution until he finally came upon a small dwelling. It was a single small stone round-house but there was a wisp of smoke emerging from the small hole at the apex of the conical roof so he lay still to await any signs of life.
After a short wait his legs started to cramp up for he had spent too many hours either curled up in a ball trying to keep warm or exerting tired muscles for long periods as he braced against sail sheets or the tiller. He crept closer, more to relieve the painful stiffness in his muscles than any other reason. Then he heard a short sharp shout from within the round-house.
Suddenly a young girl emerged crying from the hut to the accompaniments of abusive bellowing from within.

Drustan flattened behind a rack of drying fish as the girl dashed to a latrine and relieved herself before setting to with the smouldering remains of the previous night’s fire. She re-entered the round-house only to receive a blow or a smack, Drustan heard the sound clearly but could not be certain what sort of strike she had received. Then the girl emerged crying louder as she added extra embers to the outdoor fire.

The voice from within the round-house snarled in a Nordic tongue whilst the girl replied monosyllabically in a heavily accented Celtic tongue. Drustan quickly grasped the meaning of the interplay. There were Norse raiders in the fisherman’s hut whilst the weeping girl was a Celtic slave.

‘The northern raiders were already as far south as the Demetae lands!’

As the girl fed the fire Drustan looked around for better cover but there was none. There was nothing for it but to somehow contact the girl later. His first task was to return to the boat and relay the bad news. It seemed the whole of their beloved Cambria was now foresworn to them. They would have to travel even further afield to find safety.

When he returned to the ledge where he had come ashore he had to search for the boat but he found it tucked away behind a narrow outcrop where his sisters had found excellent concealment. As the boat lay tucked between the rocky stack and the overhanging cliff, it was lying in a shallow cave invisible both from the sea, the opposite shore and the land immediately above. Aiofe and Mabina had found a perfect niche and better still they could step ashore without getting wet. The little boat was nestled comfortably like an egg in a nest within the cave. Provided the sea remained calm, it was perfectly safe. Glad to have relocated his sisters, Drustan explained the situation.

“There's a young girl. She’s even younger than us two and she’s black and blue with bruises.”

“And how many men?”

“Don’t know. I’ll have to return and find out.”

“Not alone you won’t. Mabina can stay here and mind the boat while you and I return.”

Drustan shrugged. It made sense to cover as many angles as they could. If one of them was caught maybe the other could help if there was a fight. It was incumbent on them to find out as much as possible from the little girl. To this end they returned to the fisherman’s round-house and staked out the setup. After a mornings’ careful surveillance they concluded there were two men and the young Celtic girl who was obviously their slave.

Back at the little boat which by now was well hidden because of Mabinas’ labours carrying rocks to create a small breakwater and lessen the effects of the already reduced wavelets that rippled around the main headland and spent themselves on the shore. Now the little boat lay cradled and easy while Mabina spread out their clothes to dry. She had debated lighting a small fire but that was too dangerous and she had no idea where the smoke might emerge from the cave. When her siblings returned they held a council of war.

“There’re two men and the little Celtic girl. She’s got bruises on her face and she’s always crying.” Aiofe declared to Mabina.

“If we could get to her alone I think she would be an ally.” Drustan added.

“Trouble is the men are big and powerful and they’re armed.” Aiofe sighed.

“If I got one of them by surprise, - “Drustan declared bravely.

“It would only alert the second man, we’ll need more subterfuge than that.” Aiofe reasoned. “Have you any ideas Mab’s? Any herbs that you could poison them or something?”

“I’d need to get into that forest behind the round-house and see what’s available. Grandma Giana always said that the Demetae used Cehn bulbs to poison their victims. They learnt this from the Roman soldiers who used to poison themselves quickly if they knew they were going to die slowly of their wounds. Cehn bulbs are quick and deadly and the taste is not very noticeable. They sleep before they die. Grandma always said the Cehn flowers grew in abundance down here. The trouble is the flowers are sleeping now in the summer and they’ll be difficult to find. I’d have to search in daylight for any herbs for that matter.”

They agreed it was Drustans’ turn to guard the boat and the sisters returned to spy on the little fishing round-house. They saw the Celtic girl bent over a cooking pot while the two men sat idly by checking their swords. Obviously the round-house, being out on the promontory had a good view of the haven and it was a lookout post. A large deep-tone horn lay outside the door and it obviously served as a warning call to rouse the Vikings who had invaded the village set further back into the bay. The girls retreated back from the edges of the little settlement to debate their strategy.

“We’ll have to poison them.” Observed Aiofe.

“Well lets immediately to the woods and see what we can see.” Mabina replied.

“It’s a good job you used to go with grandma. I should have listened to her more.”

“It’s too late now, grandma’s dead,” replied Mabina tearfully, “how did she die?”

“Quickly.” Aiofe replied. “Once sword cut to her neck. A beast of a man with a cruel blue scar on his cheek just sliced her neck open with on vicious stroke.”

“It must have been horrible.”

“She was lucky little sister. It’s our sister Tara and our other cousins who I worry for. They took her captive like me, - like that little girl doing all the work back there. She’s just a slave now, then, when she’s older, -”

Aiofe left the rest unspoken, both girls knew the obvious.

Mabina sat wretched with despair on the forest floor as her cramps returned. Aiofe comforted her for long minutes before the child woman recovered enough to resume their search for herbs. Eventually Mabina located some suitable herbs and then to her joy she recognised the wrinkled spindly leaves of some Cehn. A quick bit of digging produced some fat swollen bulbs full of food for
the next season’s growth but also full of poisons. Gleefully Mabina gathered a large collection and they returned to the outskirts of the little camp. To their joy, the men had eaten and they were snoring as the little Celtic girl gutted fish for the next meal. The sisters wagged their heads in disgust.

“Huh! Some lookouts, no wonder we were not seen!” Mabina snorted.

Aiofe nodded agreement then pointed across the clearing. The young girl had finished the fish and was leaving to gather firewood from the forest.

Aiofe and Mabina skirted nimbly around the settlement then crept up on the unsuspecting child. It was but a minute to seize the girl and declare themselves.

“Who are you,” whimpered the terrified girl who was muffled by Aiofe’s calloused hands.

“I am Aiofe merch Caderyn ap Erin of the Gangani!” growled Aiofe.

“Mmmph! You are Celt!” The young girl spluttered.

“Yes! Sister. You are obviously of the Demetae, what is your name.”

“I am Arina merch Brogan ap Losach,” whimpered the girl hugely relieved to have been caught by Celts and two maids at that.
Aiofe wasted no time on niceties.

“What is the setup at the round house?”

“The pirates use it as a watch tower. It was my family home. They use me to cook and keep house.”

“And your family?”

The girls’ face fell tearfully to the floor and the silence told all. Aiofe could have shed tears as well but there was no time.

“D’you wish to escape.”

“Yes! Yes. They beat me all the time!”

The girl showed her bruised arms.

“Right,” Aiofe concluded. “Take a pile of wood back to the fireside then return here to seek more.”

The child did as requested and returned hoping against hope for rescue. Aiofe and Mabina had concocted a plan by the time she reappeared.

“Tonight we will poison the pirates. What time do they sleep?”

“At sundown, when it’s too dark to keep lookout.”

“They don’t seem to be keeping much of a lookout now.”

“They are lazy and dirty and cruel and greedy.”

“The greedy bit I like,” Mabina grinned, “they will be easy to poison. Do you eat after they have eaten?”

“Always.”

“Good, I will make the poison strong and quick. When they go to sleep, they won’t wake up.”

“How often do they change watches with other men?” Aiofe pressed.

“They don’t. These two did something wrong during the raid and they were posted out here as punishment. The others are in the village with, - with the women. My mother and sisters were taken there as well.”

Aiofe sighed; there was nothing they could do for the women trapped in the village. They were but two maids and a boy against a Viking raiding party. The Celtic men were obviously all dead or worse enslaved and un-manned. The sisters explained their plan to the child and all the young girl had to do was behave exactly as she usually did except to slip the poison into the pot before feeding the two brutes. The plan worked beautifully and before the sun had set, the two pirates were dead. Cehn bulbs were a particularly potent poison.

The little boat was secure in her tiny enclave. Drustan had added to Mabina’s efforts and the breakwater was now doubly effective. When the girls returned to the boat they saw Drustan’s handiwork but found him curled up with a severe gripe in his stomach. He was reluctant to leave the comfort of the folded sail in the boat but Aiofe and Mabina prevailed upon him so all three returned to the roundhouse. They found the young girl crying with relief. She was frightened of the dead and desperately relieved to see the sisters again. Her eyes widened at the sight of Drustan for the sisters had not mentioned their brother. After dragging the Norse corpses into the woods, they gathered some more herbs for Drustan’s stomach ache then returned to the roundhouse.

They spent two whole days resting at the little fisherman’s roundhouse while the summer gale blew itself out. Drustan’s stomach ache eventually eased along with Mabina’s cramps while everybody was grateful to fill their hungry bellies with cooked fish, hot vegetables and fresh bread. Each night they were glad to sleep on comfortable stable beds. Sadly, they all knew they could not stay for much longer. Eventually the other Viking raiders would come to gather their miscreant comrades when they tired of the captive women and held their ‘all-thing’ to discuss their next plans. The third morning they reluctantly set about stripping the settlement of everything of use.

Drustan was particularly pleased to recover the bows and hand weapons of the two pirates plus the heavy leather tunics. These would serve to keep them warm for they had felt Noden’s nightly bite on the previous passage from Lleyn.

“We have something to protect ourselves now.” Drustan observed.

“Never mind those,” Aiofe replied, “gather all the food and water pots. We cannot stay here so we’ll have to leave. It’s Norsemen land now.” Aiofe scolded her younger brother but he was resolute about the weapons.

“I’m not leaving good weapons behind.”

“Of course not, but it’s food and water we’ll need for the next leg. The passage is long and this weather is worsening. The only thing we’ll be fighting is Noden’s anger.”

Drustan was pleased to keep the weapons but he could see his sister’s logic. Each of them was well versed in seafaring and they knew the next leg south was a long one beyond the sight of land. He set to with avengance ferrying every imaginable item that could be deemed of any use. He received some funny looks when he carried the huge ‘long-horn’ back to the boat during his last journey and he grinned at his twin Mabina.

“You never know. It may be useful to send messages or sound the alarm.”

Aiofe smiled indulgently, ‘the horn might have some conceivable use but she could not see one immediately. If they were attacked who would they summon for help?’

The sister’s were glad of his willing frame though. Even though Drustan was only a boy, he was wiry and tough. Now his stomach ache was over he was a useful pair of shoulders. Men were built to do heavy work and Drustan had to grow up quickly. Even so, Drustan was much smaller and lighter than his brothers were at his age. Aiofe studied her younger brother and smiled; he was doing his best to do a man’s work and making a fair fist of it. Their last act was to feast on whatever food they could not take. They left the tiny settlement silent and deserted as they made their final journey down to the little boat. Arina was stunned to find the boat nestled so perfectly inside the rock promontory and protected by the small but effective little breakwater.

“She is beautiful! What is her name?”

The twins exchanged bemused looks. They had forgotten to name her for they had never had a chance to name her formally. Such a forgetful act had been very remiss. Mabina explained to Arina.

“She hasn’t got a name.”

“What!” Screeched Arina. “A boat must have a name, it’s bad luck and what happens if Nodens finds her. He will not recognise her.”

“Quiet! You silly child. The whole bloody haven will hear you if you scream like that!”

Arina felt suitably chastised but she continued in the same determined vein as she whispered angrily.

“I will not sail in a boat with no name. How will Nodens recognise her?”

“Oh all right then,” snapped an exasperated Drustan, “if she must have a name, then give her one!”

“There must be food and beer to offer to Nodens.”

“He can have one fish and a loaf.” Declared Mabina parsimoniously. “Food’s too precious; we don’t know when next we’ll find any. We’ve been lucky so far.”

“Where are we going?” Cried Arina.

“We don’t know, now do what you have to with this water and bread and name the bloody boat,” Aiofe ordered the girl impatiently.

Arina immediately broke the bread and stuffed it into different parts of the boat then she poured the water over the high narrow prow. She said some prayers to Nodens then did a strange thing with her hands as she mimicked a cross in the sky. Drustan had seen the old Latin priest do it and he wagged his head thoughtfully.

‘Was Arina of the new religion?’ he asked himself. ‘It didn’t bode well for the new religion was cruel to women and set them behind men.’ Drustan held his sisters equal in all things for they had demonstrated their equality in every meaningful way.

Still there were more pressing issues at the present, like getting out of the haven and away to better lands were the Norse writ did not run. He turned to Arina.

“So little girl, what will you name her?”

“I shall call her Little Mermaid.”

“Oh come off it Arina,” scoffed Drustan, “every little boat on the water is called ‘Little Mermaid,’ think of something better than that. This boat is special, just you wait until you see her stretch her legs. Try ‘Sea-horse’ or something”

“That’s not fair. Now you’ll make Nodens angry. You cannot change a boats’ name.”

“Uhm, you haven’t named her yet,” Aiofe interjected. “You only said you would call her that.”

Arina stopped in mid thought as Aiofe’s logic, however, as a child she still liked the thought of mermaids.

“Well can we call her something mermaid?”

“How about ‘The Angry mermaid,’ being as everybody’s getting so het up about it.” Mabina offered.

Her remark brought smiles to everybody’s faces and Arina grasped the opportunity. She looked pleadingly at Drustan who nodded his consent.

“Aye. Angry mermaid sounds better; it’s got a bit of attitude to it.” Drustan smiled.

“OK then, Arina,” added Aiofe,” go to it kid; times getting on.”

Arina took the last droplets of water and sprinkled them at the foot of the mast as she intoned the words ‘The Angry Mermaid.’ Mabina looked on puzzled.

“Why name the foot of the mast? We normally name her at the bow.”

“It’s the heart of the boat.” Arina replied. “It’s the part that drives her. The part that connects the soul of the wind to the body of the ship and moves her along.”

“Makes sense to me sis,” Drustan added with a smile.

“Yes. That’s a nice idea,” Aiofe added. “So ‘The Angry Mermaid’ it is then.”

Arina smiled beatifically and ceremoniously made a wet cross with her finger on the chair were the mast was stepped. The others shrugged.

‘Each to their own Gods,’ thought Drustan as he symbolically threw some bread into the lapping wavelets to assuage any offence that Nodens the Celtic Sea God might have taken.

With this seemingly important task done, the four eased the boat out of the inlet and set sail under intermittent moonlight as the clouds turreted past the moon. The wind at least was north of west and that was an easy wind to clear the haven. The navigation was left to Drustan while Mabina and Aiofe chatted to Arina to determine any tribal family connections. Sadly they had lost the Old Oral Celtic traditions and in each instance the written records had been destroyed in the Viking raids. They had little to thank the Latin priests who had broken the old Celtic traditions. The girls knew that there had been family connections made often through the long centuries of trading but now all was lost. Sadly the girls settled down to sleep as Drustan took his turn at the helm while Noden's’ breath carried them south.

Author's note.

I have noticed that 'Comments' are falling off recently.
Comments are life blood to authors I'd welcome a few.

Bev.
Hope I don't appear conceited.
font>

up
117 users have voted.
If you liked this post, you can leave a comment and/or a kudos! Click the "Thumbs Up!" button above to leave a Kudos

Comments

The Angry mermaid 4 --- Y Morforwyn Dicllon 4

The Angry Mermaid is a ship, way cool!!!!

    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine
    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine

Angry Mermaid -- turning point !

Really like the pace of this tale. It's realistic as to the points of warfare. That supplies a nice melodrama, with a faint hope that requires unity of purpose & selfless discipline for survival. Watching for updates on this story ahead of all others !!! Great work Bev !! johncorc1

johncorc1

Comments

Well Bev,

You write so well, we can't find anything missing or unclear. We poor mortals just soak up your genius, click the Kudo button and live for a time in your world.

As always, it is a great story, the characters have depth and I am waiting patiently to see where their adventure takes them.

The adventure

The adventure takes Drustan all over Europe (eventually.)

Growing old disgracefully.

bev_1.jpg

as usual

as usual you write a wonderful and interesting story. cant wait to see where it takes us. keep up the good work.
robert

001.JPG

Continuing Excellance

Beverly,

Your superior talents as a writer continue to entrap your readers. We cannot stop reading each chapter of all your stories, I have stayed up until the early hours many times because I cannot stop. Each story you have done is better than the previous one. Keep it up, your talents are more than appreciated by all. Even those of us who comment rarely. (bashful)

OK!

Don't Know the reasons why others withhold thanking or making mention of the story to their authors.
Thanks so much for this as I find my selections limited as of late.
a

alissa