Week 12 Day 4: Visiting Agnes

Another day is coming up at Maccaroni Island. At 6 Redward Heights Corinne prepared a quick breakfast. Children were already off to school, and Yamir was at the Fort Base where he now works. Corinne works as a teacher, but today she will attend school to help the pupils only for a couple hours later on.

Randal entered their kitchen, a little upset...

Corinne smiled to herself. She knew her husband had no idea of her painting skills.

Randal had already thought of the clothing and setting. Lovely drapes that he put aside from the crates found on the main beach, covered most of the rustic wall. A weird frock and a basket-like hat.

Even the Holy-Moly man was a Redward, namely Randal's long gone Father.

Corinne was actually trying to be ironic, to drag Randal back onto the ground, but...

That's about where the conversation ended. Randal sat there, thinking. Corinne went on with the painting. She urged to prepare Randal for a possible change in their lives - she had been thinking of leaving him for Cody Major. Everything was uncertain, but she really wanted to get something stared. She had not seen Cody in a while, and if anything should happen between them, it should be done before Corinne turned elderly. But how to start such a subject when she knew her husband was busily and greedily calculating future taxes?

Over at 4 Yea-Low Ring, Agnes Y. J. Hawk noticed her oldest son, Amadeus throwing up outside the house.

Farther east, at 5 Sunrise Valley, Beatrice and Yoseph are doing pretty well. They grow a thriving garden, the horse Moose likes his stable, and the 3 kids are getting older. Evita has started school, while her two brothers are still toddlers. Evita goes to school every day. Although kids are supposed to be in class only every other day, Beatrice thinks that the other days Evita can hang out with other kids, and possibly a game of chess will be included during the day.

Beatrice has become an experienced farmer already, while Yoseph works shifts at Our Delightful Bookstore and spends some time with Moose. Being in the garden was a good way for Beatrice to think. She just got the sad notice that her mom, Greta Greench, peacefully passed away during the night. Beatrice often felt attached to her mom, she often was told how she looked like her, too. Now that she was gone, the issue of being her replacement felt much stronger.

This morning Beatrice found a weird flower she never saw before! The plant from a special seed she found earlier was already dead. She grew up at Greench Farm, and she often visits her brother Cody who makes a living from growing flowers, but still - she never saw anything like this.

She picked up the flower, and then she heard Evita had already returned from school. Telling her about granny Greta wouldn't become easy...

Amadeus and Grim are Evita's cousins. So are Reynar and Yesador. All are settled in the eastern region.

Well, in a way this sounded more serious than Beatrice wanted to believe. Evita was hard to get to know (Evil is one of her traits), her reactions could at times be rather irrational, but she was a good girl and normally wouldn't talk about killing others. And because Evita was already upset, the news about her granny had to wait.

At 9 Yea-Low Ring Dorothy and Alex Yea-Low had just ended a long discussion. They agreed that Alex' sister Agnes might need to see people more often, but they strongly disagreed of how to force a change.

Agnes Y. J. Hawk resides just a short walk up to the river. There was light inside.

Dorothy never actually met Agnes' boys. Being their aunt, she felt she should at least have made an impression.

Agnes realized the time had come - Dorothy would be the first person to meet Beetle! There was no escape. All these years she had tried to keep him hidden. Beetle had left the house at times, but he was trying to hide as well.

Agnes felt a relief. She was ashamed for keeping this secret for so long, but she was also proud because she was still very fond of Beetle. Their recent disagreements had certainly harmed the warmest feelings, but not ruined their relation completely.

Agnes was a little surprised that Dorothy totally ignored Beetle. It was rather impolite.

Dorothy was slightly confused. The situation had turned into something she could not have prepared herself for. Agnes seemed like a much more complicated case than she could help.

Dorothy left. It felt all wrong leaving poor Agnes, but if she had survived in a fantasy world this far, she would handle it. A terrible thought struck Dorothy on her way home; if this Beetle was only existing in Agnes' world, how about Amadeus and Grim... did they actually exist? She had to contact Corinne Redward tomorrow morning!

Meanwhile, Randal Redward had walked into something special at the Nectary. A unicorn! A glowing horse with a horn!

Now... how would that suit a regent - arriving the council meetings riding a unicorn? Could it be tamed? Randal worked it, and he did well...

To be continued in one week! :-)