Marissa held her down and everyone paddled her 'til she almost had blisters. Then she told Lily it had been her choice all along to stay at home if no... one was willing to take her to the park. She started to cloud up again and Marissa asked if she wanted to be paddled some more. For some reason she stopped fussing, knelt at Marissa's feet and said, "No Mistress I don't want to be paddled again!"She still doesn't go out of the house but at least we don't have her moping around about it if no one. She loved the things to death, the tan wool weave moving up her leg, bunching in lines along the way to imitate a set of leg warmers. But they were so warm and getting out of them now was nearly better than sex, the air conditioning swirling between her toes. Getting home had been a bit heinous, she had forgotten how rough the walk up the hill could be. Even worse when you were on the verge of tears and half-drunk. It would be one thing if there was a reason for Ted just disappearing from her. "I did what I promised to do."Maya turned her attention back to Marigold, "You did. Didn't you? And all this time, I thought this was some elaborate hoax to get back into my pants." She reached up and stroked Marigold's long, blonde hair. Her touch was feather-light, but sent a shiver through Marigold like electricity.Thule didn't answer her. Instead, he said, "Both of you, come over here. We need to talk."Maya walked over to where he was sitting, pulling Marigold by the wrist. Marigold didn't. "Sam was nodding, "You can say that again. Let's leave no later than ten. That still won't give us a lot of extra time to quiz whoever is briefing us, or to get acquainted with the other team members."I said, "Then come on, let's finish up inside and go home to pack. I'd feel better if we were more prepared. You know, I'm beginning to really look forward to this European trip. How about you, Nightfox, want to come with us? There's room for Maria and her kids too." No, I'm not a sailor and I.