<span style="font-size: 18px"><span style="font-family: 'Georgia'">Disappointed, Davey let his stick fall to the ground and returned his free hand to his other hand that was cradling Xena.  He gave Jackie a small smile before turning to face Toorop, who he had learned from the battle with the outlaw team wasn't a bad sort.  That said, he didn't offer the other man a handshake, due to what he'd seen earlier while watching Toorop interact with Jason.<br/>
<br/>
Davey said to Toorop, "I'm ready to hike."  Then he asked, "How about you?"<br/>
<br/>
Judging from what had been going on earlier, Davey figured that he could walk another half hour while carrying Xena before his arms would need some rest.  He felt bad about how he'd have to get more arm strength, but strength didn't happen all at once because a person had to develop it.  Maybe Toorop's Machop would want to carry Xena and that <u>might be</u> a friendly thing to do but Davey still had doubts about such a thing being the right thing to do.<br/>
<br/>
*  *  *  *  *<br/>
<br/>
<u>Gloucester City</u><br/>
<br/>
Gabrielle Belle, the President of Exceptionnelle Beauty finished her conversation with her sister and set the old fashioned telephone transceiver down into its cradle.  Of course, she could afford the best in cellular phone technology, but the old desk phone had some old fashioned advantages.  There was no mistaking when she put someone on 'hold' while she was handling multiple conversations and she could have as many as eight people on hold if she wanted.  She also didn't have to worry about her old style phone being 'hacked' and there where ways to detect if it was being 'tapped'.<br/>
<br/>
She sat in her comfortable leather swivel chair and picked up a picture frame from her desk.  It showed her sister, her brother-in-law and her nephew in his high school cap and gown just after the young man's graduation.  The young man had a cute face and the President remembered him as a pleasant, petite, slender and decently mannered young person.  She'd last visited her sister and her family a couple of years ago.  Now her nephew was traveling to Gloucester.  She really ought to make contact with him before everyone in the family lost contact with him....<br/>
<br/>
Then Gabrielle had, what she thought was, a wonderful idea.  If one was going to spend money, why not keep it in the family?</span></span>