<div class="floatleft"><div align="center">(https://www.mediafire.com/convkey/cdc1/04s7432n614occi4g.jpg)<br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">Chloe Dawson<br/>  ‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾‾  </span></span></div></div><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><em>… resting before a late, light dinner and the bonfire that will follow … Kimmie sends a loving inquiry …</em></span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">  “Fly our day after tomorrow in the morning and take routes to deceive the watchers. Certainly home in time for dinner!”</span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><em>…  and next steps …</em></span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">  “I have many more of these trips to make. Longer because of distance though each about the same at the destination. Italy and Greece next in one trip, Germany and Scotland next. And then farther. Ukraine and Romania if things work out, India. Australia, Taiwan and Japan. Several stops in Africa, probably Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. Brazil and Peru or Chile, Mexico and Canada. Can’t go to the US though the sisters there can travel. Not many there need to see me since the time we spent in Salem gave us a good start and they see the evil every day on their TVs and in social media. The hatred The Shadow foments on the rise and they are front and center. Some of the possible futures even where the shadow is defeated do not bode well for our former country.”</span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><em>… and that I hope she doesn’t see … so many possibilities forking out from the coming cusps … still learning to sort those out and see where a touch can make a difference … we mobilize the sisters against several final cusps where the needed nudge is enough to move the race and our dependents …</em></span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">  “Keep watching, Kimmie. Our skills are each unique and we all contribute our all no matter how big or small others perceive.”</span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><em>… take dinner in the small restaurant … I avoid the wonderful protein in favor of slightly cooked vegetables … Menon comes in and I gesture to the seat across from me … a cusp tonight that I’ve labeled with her name yet when and how is hidden …</em></span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">  “Their salads and vegetables are very fresh. I don’t know the wines around here though. If you would, please select a red for me? I favor dry to very dry, my less than educated American palate I’m sure.”</span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;"><em>… she seems to appreciate my self-effacing humor and orders without looking at the list … leave my mind open to contact if she chooses … she shows that she’s aware of the openness yet declines … apparently happy I’m not pressuring her …<br/><br/>… we return to our rooms after dinner and I don my robe to go to the basement room again … a different group of sisters this time … we sit quietly this time … join gently in Insight … this group seeks nothing and seems to sens that I have great expenditures coming … a few of them offer energy and I accept gratefully … we raise our hoods and leave for the forest below the village … I sense Menon near me again and touch her lightly to acknowledge and to thank her … she puzzles momentarily at the thanks and then seems understand … we step slightly closer to each other and we enter the clearing together … she hesitates when I move toward the center … I wait and she accedes … comes to center with me and I gesture to where I would appreciate her being … Huguette joins us and we stand and wait …  sisters file in from all quarters … eventually settle … nod gently … one of the organizers steps forward and strikes a flint to start the fire … we watch the flames grow in silence … it roars to the heavens … we join together with the fuel and air and heat … we absorb the energy together … we are warm and strong together, though we all know that the fire will ebb and fade and we must endure …<br/><br/>… we stand silently gazing into the flames and then the embers … I sense sisters departing … eventually it is only Huguette and Menon and one other … the other leads us back to the hotel … bid all good evening and go to my room where I find a cup of warm vegetable broth next to my bed … sip that and let the power we feel settle into me … when the time arrives, we shall be ready … my personal vow to the Goddess …<br/><br/>… laying in my bed, I reach to Kimmie again …</em></span></span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: Georgia;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">  “Love you, baby. That was lovely, don’t you think? Did you feel it?”</span></span><br/><br/>