I said, "If you hear shooting, be ready to defend yourselves." I went light to be quick and quiet. All I took was what was on my combat harness, a rad...io, my knives, pistols and extra magazines. I dropped into an arroyo and walked up to the ranch. I wound up just about 20 yards from the house. I saw Renee; she was naked, tied between the poles for the clothesline. She was hanging by her wrists and looked like she had been whipped. I was not sure if she was unconscious or dead. I did know that I. “I’m not sure we’re even at the engagement stage yet, Gramps.”“That’s not going to stop your Mum jumping the gun.”“I know and it was sure to happen sometime, but dammit, it’s far too soon!”“She just wants you to be happy and thinks she’s a good judge of character,” Gramps laughed.“I know, I know. Could be fun though, she won’t have Dad to help her sort out her clothing interests,” I chuckled.“Clothing interests?” Tillan enquired.“She has trouble making up her mind on what to wear if it isn’t a. .. just give me ... a second,” Melody replied.“Don’t worry, this is normal. With practice, you will not even notice the strain anymore.”“Good. I think ... I’m ready for more.”“Very well,” Selena said with a smile. “Next, we will work on using your powers to enhance your own natural abilities. This should be very easy for you to do, as you likely have done so at some point in your life.”Nodding, Melody asked, “I assume you mean enhancing things like my strength, speed, and. My buddy said “sure the more the merrier”. Shit. This put a big damper on my hopes of seducing my bud into naked delights in some sunny mountain meadow. The road trip was about 4 hours, but it took us all day as we stopped to get high, play disc and just hang out along the way. We got there in the early evening and quickly prepared a hearty man-size meal for old gramps, as this would be treat for him. We spent a great evening together and pretty much exhausted the old boy, as he was not used to.