Chapter 5534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU6ZRhLcaX6
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj2Oi2qMb63
I was beating the bushes about a quarter mile down the forest path when the stick I was swinging broke.  "Oh botheration!" I said kicking a stone and instead of satisfaction finding the pain of a stubbed toe.  Hopping around in pain I snarled, "Oooooo ... I hope they all rot."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTSOn2ncgMi
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrbpSyxjiDQ
From behind me I heard, "The Waverly family or has something else raised your ire to a flame."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNz6TZX6xxQ
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe7MKmPVfTq
"Oh ... it's you."  My tone left him with no need to wonder how I felt about his presence.534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt8w8aczTcq
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ62yOiXKbFl
Instead of being wise and leaving me be the man leaned against a tree and said, "Now you remind me more of my other sister Nancee.  I made the mistake of putting a garter snake in her bed once and I've paid for it long and hard ever since and any time the subject is mentioned she gets the exact same look on her face as you have right now."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCCbnN4i0Zt
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZn8R4sssxA
"What kind of a brother to the Guardian are you?!"534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFO9dghrQyf
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡETowgyR2Vp
"Tomas and James ask me the same question on a regular basis.  I tell them the kind that Father gave them.  Tomas said if I was going to be such that he'd best make me the Sheriff, one that cares little to nothing for status so won't be tempted to let the highers go while blistering the lowers for the same sins."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtOQaRphayT
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtGWDO87uR4
"You're ... you're the Sheriff of Tentuckia?" I gasped.534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmv8vYrLg2t
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhgHQPF558W
"Aye."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtgDJMdrWyT
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGvWjnwQGj3
"But you're young."  At his raised eyebrow I rolled my eyes.  "Oh botheration, don't throw my words back at me.  I knew it was a stupid thing to say as soon as it left my mouth."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9i6Fv6VoEi
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV7tBXkAYeL
"At least you admit it," he said with a smile to take any sting away.  "And being the Sheriff it is my responsibility to see if wrongs were intentional or not.  I suspect ... well, I wish to see for myself before I take it before The Linder.  So, I wish you to accept the invitation so that I can see for myself how things stand."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4uB0YE7Lvv
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1VcorZFuAx
Concerned I said, "My attitude aside, there has been nothing criminal going on.  The Mayor has not intruded on my life or anything like that."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcI2YIUpcrm
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRAoBCEzm8O
"Money was sent with the messenger two weeks ago.  It was quite a sum as it was to reimburse the Mayor for the expense of caring for you."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvRkrXIAMcH
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ86UDQdOffJ
Shocked I said, "There must be some mistake."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Eis0zxI0p
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiXgL7WsOX6
"No.  I was told that they'd been looking after your needs quite extensively since you had no relatives who would."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡubQeRpsRaC
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHc3dCAXjKG
Carefully I told him, "Nat has taken a vow of poverty but gives me all the care that I've needed.  I have gotten by just fine."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOQRP9hDtaa
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz8pcJUE7WQ
"But the Mayor has not done his duty."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9wc8YowNSG
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrtO8ZsumEj
"I was not aware that he had one."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8wc4HUxnqD
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3OVbTl1m4g
"Oh aye.  Mr. Tosh stated that he sent a missive to the Mayor after you had left asking to be kept apprised of your welfare.  Missives came infrequently and usually only after one was sent asking after you."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiL9PQ2igRn
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcrQoS4CHlJ
"Someone ... someone asked after me?  Truly?"534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo5AMkJH11k
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcBDjC86XXW
The Sheriff as I now knew to address him nodded.  "Aye.  Would that they had thought to enquire about you directly instead of through that pompous ... hmmm.  You still have not explained why you hold a grudge against the Waverly family."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVszHoDKRKw
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkMKtpb2YCj
Feeling mulish and embarrassed by my previous behavior, both what had just occurred and what was in the past, I asked, "Did Nat explain?"534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2fPUlPsEEX
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Xohqw0qck
"Aye.  But I wish to hear it from your own lips and in your own words."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEu4zUD3i0y
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzqbjGjzAdL
"Botheration," I muttered.534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡql2JqlfXTH
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ85HrjyV24N
"Quicker said, quicker over."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFVPjxXrEnh
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnbLEUW75fX
"Oh you'll make a good Sheriff.  You know when to be easy and when to be iron."  He simply stood there waiting.  "I was young and naive and didn't know it.  Spoiled as well as anything I went after had come too easily."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWfkdxIe673
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkVszPtyhtY
"You can say this despite the troubles you faced from the loss of your family?"534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPuEdKShNhx
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH6jEKmnbk0
"My family isn't lost to me Sheriff ... we are, let us call it separated for a bit.  I'll see them again."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡerNBvaqTWG
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIgVYDUHQJC
"Hmmm.  Nat has done his job well I see."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmlqJhBwWcJ
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCYYmn3aOzr
"Perhaps.  But more my parents and grandparents did their job and I've never felt insecure in that way."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtHpDWCdaDq
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG0oUBC5y7V
"Never?"534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMwB5wRWwoe
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmMoJau55Xe
"Well," feeling forced to be honest.  "For a time ... but Mizz Marta ... let us just say that ... that ... I was too young for what was asked of me and very few people cared about it.  And that I appreciate those few who did."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvT7rCOohIf
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiHPsizxZ4Q
The Sheriff's expression was sour.  "Father and Dwen had kittens when they heard of the marriage.  Dwen - Father's Consort - was from a Region in the northeast and had been given as a childbride to her first husband.  She hates the practice so much that in their contract with one another she made Father swear that the girls, even though she didn't birth them, would be forbidden marriage until they were at least sixteen and that they would never be forced into one against their will."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡii2H3vr0AH
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXz4cDhQHGw
I shrugged having no desire to explain or tell him just what kind of unthinking ass the man called my husband had been.  He was a good politician, and a reasonable Guardian, but a poor excuse for a man which was why, in my opinion, Ceena and Tonya had been able to order things the way they had.534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkCeu1OxPce
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKIL6gOsPgf
He continued to wait on my part of the story so rather than look at him while I told it I examined a beetle that gnawed on a bit of tree bark.  "Oh very well but it makes me sound ... what I was ... childish and naive.  I imagined myself in love - and for that time and my experience what I felt was love.  And ... and Rom ... I believe he felt the same.  Perhaps we both confused friendship for romance ... or perhaps not.  I've never spoken of it with him, have never spoken to him at all since before I was sent to Linderhall so for his part you'll need to ask him."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTER5WkCDNq
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfTW8XABuYq
"And do you still feel the same?"534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWeghnViJAS
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb48i3Y3mgv
"No!"  Shaking my head I moderated my tone.  "No.  I've grown up.  My broken heart is mended."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjJuoIizo0r
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ15r8FDgD2b
"Then why the grudge?"534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHWRR7MgMHI
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLsq7S0561f
"Pride mostly.  It was ... humiliating.  On many levels.  And before you ask, I refuse to try and explain why that is so to someone who cannot understand."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiXQtwGWagK
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡML60qOuMWe
"Fair enough.  Dwen often told me that she could tell me the words but that didn't mean I would hear them for what they were.  The question is did you never seek out the Mayor for help given your station and situation?"534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7kQKvMComw
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwPzZqSwTuW
I snorted.  "No.  I got the message loud and clear."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxnuf13rIYx
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5DMFqFH5TE
"I thought you said ..."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeerzY7Tlii
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCiH2f2XBPQ
"Not a written one," I said nearly snapping in my impatience to be done with the topic.  "For some reason I am an embarrassment.  And there is worry that I will try and lead Rom ... astray.  Which should tell you what they think of my character and totally without reason.  From all that I hear the problem is that Rom has not fallen into their plans as eagerly as was expected.  I take no pleasure in that so get the look off your face if you please.  I could tell them the problem but I do not think they would appreciate it."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8owT1VvlZ8
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi44VNRsrz0
"What would that be Widow?"534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ZSWgv4zw2
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN7tdcnPR5X
He was needling me by calling me Widow but the irritation of it was less than he might supposed.  It reminded me to be cautious ... more cautious ... than I had been with him to this point.  "They denied Rom the one thing he wanted most."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxMjNvUiMIl
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg2pPwZKHsO
"You?"534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP77mY7f9Rc
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOVGbNXhQcl
"Heavens no.  Even at fourteen and tip over top in what I thought was love I knew that to push Rom before he got his training in combat was a sure way to alienate him.  As my talent is in housekeeping and food keeping, Rom's lies in fighting ... not of the verbal type at which he has almost no talent ... but in the kind where his body and mind work as a machine.  I used to watch him when they had tournies and he was like a dancer in how he moved.  It must kill a bit of him each day to be kept from university and further training by masters of the craft.  Rom knew that his talents did not lie in the area of books and politics and that it disappointed his father, but he was very proud of the talents he did have and was very eager to improve them."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFMJTXn9K5f
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNKHH7ULgNP
"Hmmm.  So is your grudge against Fan Waverly?"534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV6Kumblxgu
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGbGopZjGOJ
I shrugged.  "I suppose in part.  On the other hand there are days when I feel sorry for her.  The whole point of the alliance with Beauville was to begat a male heir ... and there isn't one.  Two girls back to back and Fan had so much trouble with the second one that the doctors have ordered her to not conceive for at least another year, preferably two, and to build herself up in the meantime. She is twenty-seven now.  I imagine there is some worry that she is running out of time."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRUhVAXQaKT
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpw69QIKjB2
"For someone who does not socialize you certainly know some rather intimate details of the Waverly family."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeKLllHoY7O
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzG0eaVquHv
I shrugged.  "Do you really think people would miss gossiping and being busybodies?  I have people coming to me for help at the back door regularly and while I refuse payment they seem to feel the need to ... to communicate certain facts to see my reaction."  I sighed.  "I know how I sound.  Nat has lectured me often enough on the subject.  I suppose it is that I still begrudge what happened ... it isn't any one person but the whole of them that ... that put me in the position I found myself in and the way it was handled.  Now can we please drop this? "534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSeiByYzzxu
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoVyz7rsm8g
"Only if you agree to accept the invitation and allow me to escort you this evening."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmnXj1suc94
534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmkK31cghAz
I grumbled, "Oh botheration."534Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3sThO0mkKg
8964 copyright protection530ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ulYycezCU 維尼

216.73.217.1