I was ready to pounce. I could tell my mother that Lori knew all about it but didn’t say anything!“I wasn’t, but I knew about it. I am sorry I d...idn’t tell you. Julie told me about it, and I asked Blair if I could come. She said no. I asked her if you even knew about the party and she said of course not. I told her she should tell her you, but I didn’t think it was my place. I should have said something,” Lori admitted apologetically.Dammit - she stole all the fire from my torch with that. I summoned ten spearmen to hold the wagon until the mist cleared. Another dozen women and children pressed through the tight gap between the wagon and wall, before we heard horses.I'd allocated our only spare pups to the men in the mini-fort. They stood on an elevated patch of ground behind the pointed timber wall, with a clear line of fire above our heads, down the length of the bridge. "The estate guards were steady men and the comfort of a thickness of wood should steel them for what is. She'd been caught and had never been trusted alone for this again. She'd also never tried skipping it again, even though (like so many in our time) she was afraid over cleaning would lead to illnesses.Once cleaned and dried she moved to a chair and raised one leg waiting. Taking the leavings pot from the stove, I took a small amount on two fingers and smeared it in liberally, preparing her. Looking into her eyes I raised an eyebrow as I returned my fingers to the pot."Is that really going to be. And she had it coming."20 pounds!" she shrieked. "Do I look like I weigh 20 lbs more than Alice? Really?"Mom and Dad were approaching and it only took Mom seconds to see what was up. "Jeremy! Stop teasing your old aunt. There's no way that she's more than 10 pounds heavier than me."Aunt Marie turned to glare at my Mom, but when she saw that we were all grinning, she stammered over her accusations, and finally turned back and poked me in the chest. "You're going to pay for that one, buster." I.