Chapter Forty Two

The day after Miralys' birthday started normally enough, the adults had breakfast together

 While Miralys and Menolly caught the school bus

 Tamara put Cashew through a few more paces that morning

 While Joshua tended the garden

 After a couple of hours of training, Tamara rode Cashew over to the Equestrian Centre, now that Cinnamon & Thunder were grown, she could sell Cashew for a nice profit

 Once he'd finished in the garden, Joshua began experimenting with his nectar making

 After school Menolly went on a school trip with her class

 That evening however, Tamara's sister Sofia arrived at the house unexpectedly in great distress and with her family in tow

Tamara, you have to leave Hidden Springs now!  I can get you all away but please take Gary and Stacia away with you! 

 But, Sofia, why?  Whatever has happened?

"I was visiting Mama and Papa when he arrived with two of his harem"

Tamara interrupted "He?" 

"The Count himself, Dracula..."

Mama answered the door and he took control of her immediately

 "He drained her dry so fast"

 "Papa confronted him of course"

 "But Dracula told him that it was his own fault for caring about a pet and keeping secrets from his overlords"

"He said that because Papa had tried to keep the fountain in Hidden Springs a secret the whole family had to die as a punishment"

"Oh Tamara, he killed Papa!  And his witches killed Charles!" 

"I ran, I'm ashamed, but I knew I had to get to Gary & Stacia before they did and then to you.  The last thing he said before he killed Papa was that they'd take my little Stacia and make her their pet after they'd killed the rest of the family!"

"But Sofia, how are we going to get away?  And where can we go?"

"You know Gary's adopted mother, old Granny Shue?  She's one of several wood elves living here in Hidden Springs, it's their town really.  Star, Gary's sister is one too and she's taught me a spell which can transport us all far away, there's only one catch - it'll kill any vampire who passes through it and I'll have to go through in order to close the gate"

"But what about Stacia?  She's a born vampire, won't it kill her?"

"She's still a child, she hasn't come into being a vampire fully, all it will do is remove her vampirism, she'll just be an ordinary little girl"

"What about Gary's family?  Will the Count go after them too?"

A new voice interrupted them then "We can take care of our own, your Count can't stand against us in our own place, but we can't protect little Stacia, not while she's a vampire"

 Star then handed Tamara a box "this will cover the value of your house and get you started wherever Sofia takes you"

 "We can't accept that, it's much too valuable"

"Don't worry, I married a Vanderburg, money isn't an issue.  Besides, once you're gone my kindred and I will make it look as if you've all died, at which point the house will revert to the town as you'll have died without heirs.  Since the town is basically owned by my husband's family the money will make it's way back to me eventually anyway"

Once Star had left to make her preparations, Sofia gave her daughter a hug and whispered "I'm sorry baby, don't ever forget Mummy loves you, but I have to get you away from here and this is the only way"

  Sofia concentrated hard and the world seemed to dissolve away around them

 The fog and fuzziness cleared and they found themselves standing on a beach somewhere

Sofia immediately doubled over in pain 

 And within seconds she had dissolved into ashes

  As the family stood around grieving, the Grim Reaper arrived to take Sofia's soul 

  

Chapter Forty One

Life went on much as usual, Joshua tended his garden daily, most of the plants were now of perfect quality

 Miralys had become very attached to Cinnamon and every morning before school would groom and tend to her

Miralys and Menolly were very close and would sit together on the bus every morning 

 Jo busied herself keeping the house clean and tidy since Joshua couldn't abide strangers around (although he did make an exception for when his daughters wanted a friend round)

Every couple of days, Joshua would take his produce down to the shop to sell, it was amazing how much people would pay for the quality of fruit and vegetables he was producing 

Tamara continued to train Midnight, taking him over the advanced jumps at the training ground 

And she and Jo would bottle feed the two foals on a regular basis 

After school, if they didn't have any extracurricular activities, Miralys and Menolly would go to the library and do their homework together in peace and quiet before going home 

At home, they enjoyed playing various games together  

 All too soon, Miralys' birthday came around, although Joshua couldn't abide the idea of lots of strange kids in the house for a party, the whole family gathered around the cake to celebrate

 

Miralys developed the brave trait on her birthday and that evening spent some time experimenting with the chemistry set their parents had bought 

While Menolly practised making cookies in the same room 

 Later that night, after the family had gone to bed, Thunder and Cinnamon also grew up

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 Pet Spam

Chapter Forty

The day after the family returned from France, Menolly got up bright and early

 She was eager to join her big sister at school and didn't want to make a bad impression by being late on her first day

 Joshua and Tamara got up somewhat later and enjoyed breakfast together

  Joshua tended his garden, planting the newest crops he'd brought back from France

 Before going up to the barn loft where he'd stored the nectar making machine and starting a new batch of nectar

 Tamara meanwhile looked after the two foals

Before giving Cashew some more jump training

Before giving her a good brushing as a reward

Menolly had enjoyed her first day at school and had swiftly become friends with her cousin Stacia Fields-Vamp 

After school was finished they sat down with a group of classmates and worked on their homework together 

 Miralys had been given a special challenge by her teacher, to find several different types of insects and as soon as school was over she went looking for them

When she eventually got home, Jo sat down with her and helped her with her homework 

  Once all the homework was done, Miralys and Menolly played some chess together

While Jo sat down and spent some time fussing the cats 

Joshua had gone up into the mountains to fish 

And Tamara was racing Midnight in another international competition 

So, when dinnertime came around, Jo cooked for her two granddaughters 

Before doing some general housework 

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