A Price Worth Paying

Chapter sixteen. Year Two, part one.

Year 2. Part 1.

"That's the end of my first year with my grandparents." Sang sighed. "Sam the Man wanted to be an author you know. He succeeded too. It was his book that had the dedication to me in it. Can you believe that. He had said he was going to do that the last time we were up that tree. Fancy him remembering."

"You have that kind of impact sometimes Pookie. You'll realise that one day." Sean said squeezing her hand.

"But the big question is do you have the recipe for those cookies?" He asked knowing a smile was in order right then and was delighted to hear a giggle."

"Did you say that was your quietest year, Miss Sorenson?"

"I did."

Mr Blackbourne closed his eyes and shook his head. "How many more summers did you have with your Grandparents?"

"Another three."

Sean started laughing yet again. "The look on your face is priceless Owen. Are you worried?"

"Concerned is not the same as worried Sean." he murmured.

"Sang didn't do anything illegal next, did you Sweetie!" He chuckled, only to stop short when Sang didn't answer.

"Oh my God! You can't remember. You aren't sure, are you!" He suddenly exclaimed.

"I'm sure Sean! I don't go around breaking the law. What is the matter with you. I'm sure. Okay!"

"What's worrying us BOTH now pumpkin, is that you had to stop and think about it." Sean snickered.

"Well I'm certain Grammy checked with the authorities before we did anything we thought might be a little out there. Besides it's not in this next part. It comes after. Okay! So, do you want to watch this or not!"

Wincing slightly Mr Blackbourne simply said "Please start the tape, Miss Sorenson. I wouldn't miss this for the world."

Clocks, Itching Powder and the view from a roof.

"Hey, Grammy! I'm hooooome." Sang yelled bursting through the door on the first day of summer holding Mr T under her arm and jumping with excitement. "Mr D and younger Mr D just dropped Grampa and I off. I'm so pleased to see you. Whatcha been doing while l've been gone, Grammy. Oo. Whatcha cooking for dinner? Can I help? Say, did you get my letters?"

"Draw breath, little Rose." Grammy laughed hugging her Granddaughter tightly. "We've got all summer together. Plenty of time to chat and catch up. As for helping with dinner my cookbook is written in French so unless you learned French without me knowing about it you had best leave it to me tonight."

"French! You're fluent in French? Cool. Can you teach me this summer please Grammy? I wanted the three of us to learn Italian but I can learn both." Grabbing a piece of paper from her pocket and looking at it she continued "I was going to suggest Greek and Italian, but we can bump Greek to next summer."

Grammy looked at Grampa grinning madly at his granddaughter and shook her head. "How about you and Grampa settle you in while I make morning tea. Mr T would probably like a rest from the flight."

"Ah, okay Grammy. Are you trying to humour me so I'll shut up? Because all you have to do is tell me."

"No sweetie, not at all, I just thought Mr T would be exhausted. It's a long way from Illinois."

"950 miles give or take a few miles as the crow flies. And, Teddy Bears don't get tired Grammy. It's not in their job description." Sang winked and wandered off to find Spotty and say hello to him.