You know who he is, I'm sure." Yeah, I know who he is." He wasn't real happy about the transaction and I'm afraid to keep her at my place, I need to s...tash her for awhile until I'm sure things have blown over. She's going to need constant care, for the first week or so at least, and I know it's a lot to ask, but could you..." Say no more, Harry, I got more than enough time off built up, my boss has been tryin' to get me to take some of it for awhile now. She'll be safe with me, I'll see to her.". My arm still around her, I pat her head gently."Hey, young lady, you've got me, you've got Maddy. The two of us are always there for you. Don't cry."She winds her arms around me, holding me in a warm embrace."Oh, I know, you and your sister are with me, but, I just miss him so much." We all do, mum, but we have to learn to survive, to live, without him. Now come on, let's get you to bed,"I say as I lay her down on her bed, cover her with a thin sheet and put her to sleep. I give her a peck on. It was a religious thing originally, but as there's so little distinction between Sodomy the country and Sodomy the religion, it's required of everyone, religious or not." But you're religious, aren't you?" Sharon wondered."Well, as a matter of fact, I'm not. I'm an agnostic, which means I can't get any of the top jobs in this country, but I probably wouldn't have been able to anyway. Why, what makes you think I'm religious?" Being friends with Grace?" That's no big deal. I'm sure Grace would. I retried the process, and once again the engine turned up — and nothing happened. Either the transmission was damaged, or the prop had come off the shaft. Knowing the waters around here were full of alligators — and an interesting variety of truly mean snakes — I wasn’t about to go in and take a look, so I inflated the Zodiac, mounted the outboard, and ran out some line and began to pull on the boat — see if I could, perhaps, dislodge her from the mud. It didn’t budge. Not one bit, but you.