And that galleon would be a very rich prize if they could take her. Black Bill. The name terrified sailors in the Caribbean. Bill himself thought the ...name rather silly, but all things considered, the nickname had really been unavoidable. William the blacksmith had been a young man in southern England only 5 short years earlier. Frankly, he had been a bit more that just a blacksmith, William was a very talented weaponsmith. By the time he was barely 20, his swords were the choice of many young. “You need to pick out a mattress and foundation,” June suggested.“Not here,” I demanded quietly. The things we put in the apartment were meant to be highly functional. I accepted June’s choices for the most part. I did choose a taller chair for the small kitchen counter, which Tony and I had installed at the end of the sidewall shelving unit. It was meant to be used as an area for a single person to dine.When it was configured as a sofa, the head board and foot board of the bed, could be used. His naked chest and flat stomach still pleased him to no end as he stood in just britches and boots. He thought he heard something from the tree line and rubbed the water off his face to look. Five large hamox emerged from the trail and spread out in a “v” with a leader at the point aiming for him. They did not wave or call out, and Porter felt the tingling increase across his body again.“Zeb!” he called out in a soft voice, “We’ve got company and they don’t look too friendly.”Zeb did not. " Cool!" she said. "I'm glad. What did you think?" I'm flabbergasted," I said. "It's so much faster in person." Everybody says that," she giggled. "Are you going to stick around? I just need to do a few more laps in a couple minutes, then we can go study." OK," I said, trying to convince myself.I ended up staying. Every time I thought about leaving, she paused in her laps and grinned at me. And it really was impressive to watch. The problem was, I had somehow avoided being my usual hopeless.