“I knew that things were stressful last week when you were here. It was worse after she came back. She missed you. She was always happy after she’...d speak to you. Now I understand better what was bothering her. I’m happy that you’re standing beside her on this.”“It took me some time,” I said. “The rest of her friends will come around.”I didn’t add that I hoped that would be the case.“I need to call her parents,” I said.“That should be fun,” the housekeeper said with a laugh. “It’s only noon out. I never needed it. If and when you reach the age of 25, there is a vast estate ... wealth beyond your wildest imagination, waiting for you in Frogmorton, Virginia. Contact Shingle, the lawyer, with proof that proves you are you and take possession of the house on Masters Hill. If you are honest, moral and heroic go through the closet with two doors, put on the ring and go through the far door. You will be greeted by Val Hero Caretaker. She’ll take it from there. If you cannot go to Frogmorton. The slip will have to come off too.”With a bow of submission, Carolyn tugged the half slip down, the elasticated waistband stretching as it was dragged over her full hips before pooling on the floor with her skirt.“Oh, my,” Sophie giggled, drawing the tip of the cane over the camel toe in her knickers. The damp patch was obvious to both Sophie and Evelyn. “Is someone a little excited at the thought of a caning?”Carolyn bit her bottom lip and inhaled deeply. She couldn’t explain it to Sophie,. It was the finest of razor sharp divides between art & obscenity, transcendence & the bottom line & Now was the time for the Alchemist to unveil his expertly composed balancing act, pulling out the big guns & zeroing in. Together the ushers braced themselves, free agents & anti-bodies within the larger body politic true, also makeshift midwives to a buckling party of potential initiates, atop their own tripwire soaring over the brink, moment of clarification imminent. The task lay in stoking.