"Fair enough," I said as I walked out of the office and headed to the cookout hamburger stand on the beach. As long as there was one place that served... a decent burger, I wasn't likely to go into the restaurant business. There were plenty of upscale restaurants. There were two pizza take out, and one of them had a dining room as well. The other delivered and the quality was the same. I could live without the rest I guessed.The burgers were inside the greasy bag when I walked onto the dock headed. Besides, they’d have to be washed separately.”Next came underwear. Mel grabbed a pack of five, plain-white, high-waisted little-girl style panties. I suggested adding a pack of a more adult, hip-hugging style, adorned with little pink flowers. Mel shook her head vehemently then imitated sticking a finger down her throat, so I added another pack of plain whites to the trolley.“You can never have too many panties,” I said.Mel rolled her eyes at me but didn’t try to put them back. Instead she. I bought some of that fabric from Ake and some from Inge so that the amount I gathered would not raise any unnecessary questions. It would soon be Winter solstice and the other Elves would certainly be worried about this group. From my discussions with Fainauriel, I assumed that they most probably believed that the whole group might have died, since they weren’t at all used to snowstorms and harsh winter weather. Those just didn’t exist in their valley. Fainauriel was both anxious and reluctant. Michael could tell he genuinely meant it. That made Michael smile. He would never actually bring Rose to this hellhole but the sentiment was well received. “Yeah Dad, I know. Thanks. Maybe soon, we’ve got a lot of stuff coming up.” He shouldered his backpack and stood. “I’ve got some reading to do for English, I’m gonna go up to my room. G’night Dad.” His father reached out an arm and patted Michael on the arm. Michael just smiled a rueful smile that no one saw. He walked up to his room,.