Black Syren

Actually there is a pending court date, two of the neighbors are going the same day to fight the charges though they have done given their pets away to avoid fines. Three other neighbors are going as witnesses for them.

He sure was blessed with a lot of hair! So how much did he weigh? How big is he? How is Mom doing?

Oh trust me..If he finds out you have an indoor cat he will claim the cat was out and in his yard and either you pay the fine if you can afford it or you get rid of your pet. As for his dog..oh yes he's definitely bad. Police almost shot him one time as he had Me while on crutches and Nora who was about three at the time at bay. Ever since then we have not talked at all. No one on our street likes him because of how he does with the cats for nearly everyone on our street has had a cat taken by him.

As for the Dog..never thought of CPS..that's a great idea. Thanks!

My neighbor across the street from me catches the neighborhood cats in a cage Animal Control gives him. He baits it with Tuna and once the cat is caught he calls Animal Control and they pick up the cat. My neighbor tried to release her cat and she recvd. a $400.00 fine. Even indoor cats that never go outside are subject to him calling Animal Control on them. My daughter's best friend had to recently give her indoor cat away because this jerk found out about her. We also live in the historic section of Round Rock and near the cemetary and we get lots of rats in the summer. Wild Nasty Rats! With no cats we shall be over run.

BTW this guy has a Rottweiler that is dangerous and he does not have his fence fixed...if his dog gets out and attacks a child..Let's just say the only survivor would be the dog. Animal Control knows about his dog but has not fined him for his dog and not fixing his fence or keeping a lock on his gate.

Im thinking when we have to set out rat traps anything and everything we catch should be dumped in his yard. But that's just my thoughts.

SPAGHETTI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yum yum..

She gave him a positively feral look and wished she had something at hand to hurl at them both as they chuckled and moved off leaving her once again alone at the rail. Spinning about she gripped the rail with both hands and studied the sea till she became aware of another prescence. Looking up she found Antonio "Che cosa volete? What do you want?" He lifted his chin with arrogance as he struggled to deipher her words though by her tone and the look given it had not been difficult to do so.

"Le deseo. charla de .to. I wish...to talk to you." He frowned as he sought to make her understand. "¿Por qué está usted en esta nave? Why are you on this ship?" He saw her frown and she shook her head.

"I do not know what you have said. I have to get back to work." Seeing he did not understand her she spoke slowly in Italian "Devo andare indietro lavorare. I must go back to work" She gestured as if she were working and turned and moved across the deck to hide at the starboard rail and felt his eyes upon her the whole way. Growling low in her throat she sunk down in a nearby coil of rope and debated her suddenly foul mood.

Some wiring shorted out. And Yep Im glad I made it home too..I have become rather fond of my person...lol still the firefighters could have been cute.

Treasure shot a warning glare at Alan before smiling cooly at Hollis "Hollis, you startled me. And yes indeed it is a small ship." She debated not telling Hollis but could see no way out and she was never one to lie. "Owen is one of the gentl'men taking care of Argus at the moment. " She could hear the spainards talking, some weak laughter and she went to see what might have amused them but Hollis re-drew her gaze.

"If 'e is taking care of Argus why do ye not like 'im? "

"We just have issues and those issues will be worked out tween us and that is that. Alan should not have brought it up at all." It was rare but when it happened it was amusing to see for her face was slowly flushing with her anger at the way the conversation had turned. Blue green eyes snapped fire and her voice was downright cold as she spoke to both. Alan tried to hide his amusement, Hollis appeared startled and Treasure was stuck between the pair of them seething inwardly. She shot a lethal glare at Alan her eyes demanding he fix the mess he had wrought for if he had not asked she would have went to her grave never telling a soul. Now Hollis was here and though he meant well he carried gossip worse than a woman and he would tell Owen and then she and Owen would have words and she had no wish to have words with anyone nor make the situation worse. Owen did not care for her, nor she of him. However she was grateful that he was caring for Argus. What a quandry.

SOOOO glad to be home! Hmm a gent hit my truck this morning as I was pulling into a space he decides to back out and not look so his mirror just touched my truck. Mind you he paid no attention to my horn though he did cuss me out and act stupid in front of my wee one and other people. I just calmly got out and began to look for damage which further annoyed him..he hit ME! Stupid Man! Then as Im driving to work it's raining really hard...Two lane road woods on one side the creek on the other and what happens..My wiper motor goes out so I have to slow down to 5mph an hour to drive because I cannot see but I cannot pull over either. THEN I get to work at 9 and about 15 minutes into my shift the front end floods! Wet Vacs and squeegee's to the rescue! And to finish off the morning..about 11 am we got smoke in the store from a small fire and had to evacuate the store and stand in the drizzle and the firemen were not even cute! What a day!

She tapped her nails upon the rail completely absorbed in her own thoughts though not so much that she could deny watching Nathan as he moved sulkily about his duties. She brushed a lock of hair from her face and as Alan asked her what she thought of Owens she startled and eyes widening glanced askance at him. "I am sorry..did you just ask my thoughts on Owen?" As Alan slowly nodded and grinned seeing he had her full attention he leaned lower on the rail.

Cautiously glancing about she spotted Antonio observing them and turned her back to him so that she faced alan her hip leaning against the rail and crossed her arms over her chest. "Aye. I did ask yer thoughts on Owen."

Pulling her lower lip through her teeth she chewed upon it and fidgeted nervously "Why would you ask me such?" His warm gaze was astute and she looked to the water then back to him "He is caring for Argus so I am grateful for it. But I will never forget him getting me into trouble with Mr. Franklin. He seems to like to cause mischief and I have no use for it." She gave a shrug and blew a sharp breath "But I am still grateful for what he has done." She arched a brow as if silently asking if her response had enlightened him.

A rapid burst of spanish behind her had her frowning and trying to follow the rapid conversation but Alan drew her attention as heshook his head at her. "A bland answer if I e'er heard one. 'Owever I think you were right, but he seems changed. As do you."

Pausing to stretch she jumped with surprise and turned quickly to face Mr. Gage who asked her to take a few trays to the surgery. He gestured to where Moira had been setting them up, then went to nod her acceptance of the task but Mr. Gage had already moved on. Huffing a breath out she placed her knife upon the table and reached for the linen towel to wipe her hands clean then replaced the towel before walking quickly to Moira’s side. Hefting the trays she had to catch her balance as the Dog pitched and nodding to Moira who had helped her keep from dropping the first tray she quickly moved through the door into the passage and across it’s width to the surgery. Entering the open door she settled the tray upon the table used for surgery then moved back for the next tray. Making several trips she finally managed to bring the trays safely into the surgery and smiled at Maeve and Briar as they tirelessly worked. “I have brought lunch. Mr. Gage thought ya’ll might be hungry by now.” As both women smiled and nodded she moved to Luigi’s side, and winked as he smiled at her. “You are not giving these lovely ladies a difficult time are you?” she teased him. He flushed with color but shook his head, the medicine making him seem almost drunk. “Good. You listen to them and get better.” She moved over to Ajayi who was awake and alert, his eyes dark and fathomless. It was her turn to flush as he studied her and she stood there for a moment then softly said “Welcome back. We were worried for you.” She surprised him by leaning over to tuck his blankets about him then squeezed his arm above his hand. Then she fled back to the galley only to have Moira tell her she was to take a break. She was pushed back out the door to the weatherdecks and cool black eyes once more slid over her assessingly. Chin came up and eyes went stormy as she glared back causing the injured Antonio to grin slowly. Tossing her braid over her shoulder she moved past the spainards and went to check on Argus very aware that many sets of dark eyes tracked her progress. Mayhaps they found it unusual that a woman was on board…several in fact. Well they would just have to get used to such, especially if they were to sail on the Dog.

Owen greeted her and she nodded to him asking him how Argus fared and he said that there had been no change. Sighing heavily she crept to the small bed and saw Argus twitch his tail, amber eyes watching her approach before he whined low in his throat. ‘I know fella. It hurts does it not?” she stroked Argus’s face and rubbed his ear ‘You must get better sweeting..” She stayed till Argus fell asleep then Owen chased her off telling her Argus would be fine to go and rest herself. She wanted to argue but held her tongue and rose bumping into Alan and giving him a smile moved quickly to the rail on the larboard side, watching the waves as they came and went.

Unfortunately I shall not have the time to write here. I had my first day back at work so my time has vanished to play other than the WatchDog. Forgive me....

Wow Talk about goosebumps! Truly Incredible and so very Inspiring, and I hope that her dream comes true!

Happy Natal day Iron Jon..Wishing you all the very best!

Ohh how adorable! Congrats to you and the Mom..especially the mom who did all the HARD work! *Grins*

Still no change as of yet, though he is still on life support. Apparently he could be ok but one of his lungs collapsed and he cannot breathe on his own right now. This was what my Dad told me last night. Some of my family are flying in from Italy tonight so should be here soon to see him if he does not pull through.

As for my Gram...she is pretty much still very quiet and refusing to talk to anyone...Again thank you all so very much for keeping my family in your prayers...

Too small for me as well but it sure is gorgeous

Actually it is a shot of rum with cherries so nay tis not too much of a virgin...

Don't tell me I've "miss-taken" about your personality all this time .....

I may be shocked!

Im not sure if that be a good thing...Or a bad thing! *laughs*

Actually it is a shot of rum with cherries so nay tis not too much of a virgin...

*Laughs* I think that is the first time ever my cherries have been singled out in an introductory post without me mentioning them. So you have my forgiveness and my attention..now about those cherries.....Welcome aboard!

I may be intrested....

As she and Moira continued to serve it was clear that they had no English among them or if so it was but a few words for none had spoken any in their prescence. Though to be fair they had said nothing to them either. As one man spoke to Moira gesturing to the food with his hands Moira frowned. “No more. That is it.” She said in a combative tone.

Treasure frowned then looked to the one speaking and as he repeated the words gesturing more rapidly with his hands his crewmates nodding her own frown deepened. “Parlate italiano? Do you speak Italian?” As she had to repeat herself more loudly to be heard over the din she felt herself the focus of all including Moira. One of the men tilted his head studying her, his black eyes cool as they searched her face. “Italiano?” He shook his head “Sono spak di I e di Antonio pochissimo italiano. I am Antonio and I speak very little Italian.” He again spoke slowly in his native language “L'alimento è buono. The food is good.” He again gestured to the food. Now that all the men were quiet and not but the creaking of the ship could be heard she could make out and understand what he said. And his hand gestures aided her in further acknowledgement of his words. She grinned and as Moira demanded to know what was said looked over to the cook missing the look Antonio made to the others. “He says the food is good.” As Moira flushed, her mouth suddenly gaped and she hmmphed again and moved off but her cheeks reddened further in pleasure. Spanish was not that much different from Italian at least not if hand gestures were involved. “She says Grazie…Gracias.” She went to move away from them but felt her braid taken hold of just as it had been the night of the tavern. Looking up to the one that held her braid she met warm black eyes “Amado.” He said pointing to his chest. “Mi nombre es Amado. ¿Cuál es el suyo? My name is Amado. What is yours?”

Slipping her braid from his hand she rose to her full height and glared at him before replying succinctly and in her own language “Il mio nome è tesoro e sono un fante di marina su questa nave. My name is Treasure and I am a marine upon this ship.” That said she whirled and moved off back to Moira’s side leaving the men to eat and to decipher her language. Excited whispers and murmurs abounded and she glanced over her shoulder and out the door as it escalated to a cheer “¡Tesoro! ¡Una tostada al tesoro, al perro guardián! A toast to Treasure and the Watchdog!” And met the cool glance of Antonio as he continued to assess her then she withdrew her gaze from his and back to aiding Moira who whispered “Well lass. Wot did they say?” Treasure silently worked for some moments her lower lip drawn thoughtfully between her teeth as she worked before blowing out a breath. “They gave a toast to the Watchdog. Their language is not unlike Italian though there are some words I do not know. But Antonio and Amado both have some knowledge of my language so I think we can at least speak to them if need be.” She shrugged and stayed silent as they went about cleaning up and preparing the next meal.

Again her lower lip was pulled between her teeth as she worried it and realized why all cooks had such rosy cheeks, it was very hot in the kitchens near the fires. Moira continued to teach her how to handle herself in the kitchen and Moira was impressed with the girls tenacity even when she was overcome with frustration. Treasure's concentration was broken by a sharp jab to her ribs and hastily glancing up she met Moira's glare "They be wantin' somethin else." She felt her eyes widen as she realized she had been lost to her musings and glanced over her shoulder as she dried her hands upon a towel. Folding the towel neatly back upon the edge of the table she had to brace her legs as the Dog pitched as the seas became more rough, before making her way back out the galley door to where they sat on the weatherdecks.

"¿Agua, puedo por favor tener más agua? Water may I please have more water?" She tilted her head for it sounded very much like acqua. 'Are you asking for water? Acqua?" Then held up a tin cup to which the man nodded and rubbed at his throat. She took his cup then moved off and ladled another sip or two then moved back handing it to him. "Gracias ¡Tesoro, gracias!" She gave an abrupt nod of her head then moved back to her work wondering where they would be housed and why Antonio continued to keep his cool gaze upon her, it was almost unerving. Almost, but then she was made of bolder stuff and eyes him chin tilted to a stubborn angle. Was he a leader in charge of his crew? He seemed to house some authority by the way he held himself more aloof, there was a certain mantle men of power wore and he did indeed bear such though he tried to not come across as such. A wolf in sheep's clothing? Or was she making too much of it? Still it did stand to reason the spanish might have a spy onboard, did it not?. As he broke his cool glance away from her and back to his men she felt giddy with triumph, at least enough to hum as she went about her work.

It's a good thing your wife is planning on kicking your butt, Else you might have to have it kicked again when you come here. Wow to think if something had happened to you none of us knew or would have known. But still I am glad that you are well again, and recovering everyday. Heck after my latest surgery I still take naps though mine was not near as bad as yours. Just nice to have you home again safe and sound. And like everyone is fond of telling me..*And I do listen by the way* Do what the Dr. tells you to and nothing more.

Thanks to all of you..As of now I have heard nothing further. This event has put my ailing grandmother into a tailspin and she is refusing to eat or talk to anyone. My Great Uncle is her late husbands last living relative. As soon as I know more I will let ya'll know. Again thanks to each of you.

Syren

Consider it pinned.