Was it too late now? Did he screw things up again? Eh, fuck it! He probably did.He threw on his long black coat and dodged out the door quickly. He wa...lked down the road some, where his pick up was parked in a small wooded clearing that one could not see from the road and hopped in. He'd drive into town and look up that job. And find a room to rent for the night. He wanted to hang around for awhile, to see how things would develop. He was taking a chance, but he would risk it.Christy woke up. Pteri did it all the time, causing Gareth no end of concern.Bringing up the rear was Gareth's favorite tea and cake partner, the Dawn Shaman. He felt a tremendous attachment to the old lady, even though he didn't really know why. He even tried his own experiment with cross-training magic, by teaching the nearly deaf woman the Do 'Hear Footsteps' spell. It seemed to work... perhaps too well, as he suspected she now seemed to even hear thoughts.Gareth shuddered and tried to modulate his voice a. As I clasped her hand she said, "Howdy partner!" I told her my name was Jim as we hadn't exchanged names the day before and she said hers was Jennifer but Jenn would be fine. As I continued holding her soft hand I cautioned her that these hands might not be so soft this time next year. She said that was fine and we started to chat a bit. Turns out she's 36, married with no kids. She had a good career in the city, but wasn't so lucky when they decided it was time for her to be a mom. I didn't. As the party continued, guests arrived and left and as day wore on. It was completely dark outside now and almost everyone was hanging out in the living room where the food was being served. There were now a more than a half dozen couples and a bunch of single guys. I recognized some of the people as co-workers of our hostess. No one could have guessed there was anything unusual about this little party. I went outside by the pool, chatted with our housemate and the porn star's husband, who was.