"We're here, pookie. Wake up." This was accompanied by a gentle shake.
I sat up in the car seat, stretching, grunting, and yawning all at the
same time. I squinted and reached for my sunglasses. I am NOT a 
morning person, and this morning was clear and bright. I resisted the 
urge to growl in irritation.  "Reckon they're up yet?" I 
mumbled.  "Let's go find out," Derik said.  


We got out of the car and headed for the back porch door. It was 
unlocked, so *somebody* was up. I went in first with Derik hanging 
back just a little. We hadn't called ahead to warn his Mom about this 
visit. He'd wanted it to be a surprise. We hadn't even told her that 
he was getting out of prison early.  "He-ey!" I hollered as we walked 
through the kitchen. The breakfast pots and pans were still on the 
stove.


"Tammy?" Rubie's voice came from the living room. "Is that you?"
I poked my head around the corner, grinning. Rubie and Jerry sat in
their chairs eating their breakfast. "How ya doing?"  "Oh, I'm getting
by," she said, smiling. "What are you doing here?  How's my youngun?"
"Came to visit for a bit, that's all. brought you a surprise, too!"
Derik came around the corner at that.
"Hey Momma."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'd just finished the dinner dishes and put them away. I was amazed at
how much I'd missed this place.  "I wish y'all could stay longer,"
Rubie told me.  "I do too," I told her. "But we've still got probation
to deal with. Derik's got to report in Monday morning." Derik and I 
had agreed not to bring up the subject of Vampires. It would require 
too much explanation.  Derik's cousin, Charlie, had come over to 
visit with him. Charlie was somewhere between a pet and a toady when 
the two of them got together. I think Derik was closer to him than to 
any of his brothers.


Currently, they had gone up the hill to the old mill house to "fish."
"I'm gonna head up to the mill house and see how they're doing.
Charlie's probably ready for another cup of coffee," I told Rubie.
(Charlie was a bona fide caffeine addict.) I saw that it was just 
after sunset. I debated over what I was about to say before going out 
the door. Better safe than sorry.  "There may be some people by 
looking for me or Derik...business associates of my boss. I'm not 
really expecting them to show up, but sometimes things come up that 
can't wait for business hours," I said. "If anyone comes by, just 
send them on up to the lake. Don't ask them in. If they come here 
this late, then it's probably urgent, and they don't need to wait."


"All right, I'll send them up," she answered.  I went on out, wishing 
I could've given a better warning. I really didn't think Bart or any 
of his would bother us. But, I didn't want to take that chance. I
*definitely* didn't want him or any other vamps getting inside Rubie
and Jerry's home.  I heard laughter coming from the mill house as I
approached it. Sounded like they were having a good visit. Derik
*deserved* to be able to enjoy himself for a change.  I stepped into
the long wooden building that spanned the creek. The roar of the water
pouring over the tops of the sluice gates was amplified by the tin
roof. The remains of the old grist mill took up a little over a
quarter of the building. One of the bins still had printed paper sacks
for cornmeal left from when the Bowens (Rubie and Jerry's landlords)
had operated the mill a couple of generations back.


The rains had been good this past spring, and the lake was really up. 
I had to holler to be heard over the roar of the creek.  "How's the
fishing?"  "Well, if Charlie, here, would stop trying to *touch* me, I
could get the hook set before the catfish could steal the bait," Derik
quipped. The subject of "touching" was an *old* running joke between
the two of them.  "Hey, man, what can I say?" Charlie smiled, holding
his hands out to his sides.  I hugged Derik's arm, looking around him
at Charlie. "Yeah, he's just so *irresistable* when he's got essence 
of rancid chicken liver on his hands," I grinned, referring to the 
stink bait they were using.


"I told your Mom that if anyone came asking foe either of us to just
send them on up here *instead* of inviting them in," I told Derik.
"Good," he replied. "You don't really think they'll show up *here*
though, do you?"  "Not really, but it's better to not take chances," I
said. "They can be unpredictable at times."  Charlie was looking back
and forth between us with an expression on his face that said, "Yeah,
right." He was used to Derik pulling elaborate jokes on him, feeding
him a line of BS and making it sound convincing. I'd even
abetted him on a few of them. Derik would've made an excellent con
artist.


I knew Derik had planned to tell Charlie about our vampire connection.
He needed someone he could confide in. I had Kimmy for that. I could
tell that Charlie wasn't buying it, though. For his sake, I hoped that
none of them did decide to check up on us.  Either of y'all need a
refill?" I asked.  "No, I'm okay," Charlie said.  "Yeah, I want
another Pepsi," Derik replied.  "I wouldn't mind something to drink, 
either," a male voice said from behind us.  We all turned to see 
*who* had dropped in. He looked like your typical redneck...jeans, T-
shirt, grubby ball-cap, and scuffed work boots. Perfectly normal 
looking, if you didn't notice the fangs showing prominently in his 
good-old-boy grin.