”I slowly got up, bracing myself against the tree, trying not to look at it. I could not help myself, glancing at the tree and feeling myself weaken.... Trina offered to help, but I declined, and we made our way back to the house. No words were shared, but I could sense that she felt pity for me. We arrived not long after, and I entered the house to find voices in heated discussion. We made our way to the dining room and found everyone talking around the table. My former apprentices, Liza, Celka,. His background in showbiz and archeology had kept him young-looking and she knew his interest that which had been his life's work was still strong. After her parents had died, Uncle Marcus had been the one to arrange her upbringing, paying for it out of the proceeds he'd gotten from the various discoveries he and her parents had made in the years following the war, plus the radio and TV appearances he'd made over the years, playing the part of Older Statesmen Archeologist.Her Uncle Marcus – his. All the eligible candidates were given a chance to show their stuff one at a time. Then we were given instructions in specific cheer routines that we had to follow and we had to work together as a group. As a team. I nailed it. Some of the others, not so much.At the end of the first round the candidates were given the chance to show off their own style. In my High school I had choreographed my own routine that highlighted my gymnastic skills. It included an aerial cartwheel and spinning jump. The man was in his forties and wore an academic gown over his formal dark grey suit. The girl who had just been the target for his stick, carefully stood upright and holding her skirt away from her agonisingly painful bottom, shuffled over to the wall bars where a further dozen girls were already standing in a similar state of half dress facing the wall. They all had the visible marks of six cane strokes across their bottoms and were holding their uniform dark blue skirts away from their.