Chapter Forty Four

Jo prepared breakfast first thing the next morning

While Joshua headed outside to plant the new seeds he'd managed to pick up around the town the previous day

As they waited for breakfast, Menolly played with Fluff

While Miralys practised her chess skills

As they sat down to eat breakfast, Jo asked the girls if they were looking forward to starting a new school

Menolly expounded at great length about her hopes to perform with her afterschool ballet class while Miralys concentrated on eating her grandmother's delicious cooking

Once the girls had left for school Jo spent most of the day tidying the house up and doing general household chores

Once the place was looking spotless, she spent the remainder of the day playing with the cats

Having finished with his garden for the day, Joshua went searching for new seeds to plant

Before spending some time fishing in the ocean near their house

After fishing for a while he gathered up enough courage to face strangers again and paid a visit to the local consignment store

Where he was able to put several of his first attempts at making nectar up for sale, he wasn't sure about this but the lady who ran the store assured him people would love them

Having made it through that hurdle, he retreated to a quiet beach to do some more fishing

Tamara spent the morning grooming and generally caring for the two horses

Before getting Midnight to practice on the fences she'd been able to set up in the small field they owned behind the house

Once Miralys finished school for the day she went to find her father and persuaded him to teach her how to drive

The experience proved to be somewhat scary for Joshua as Miralys had a few issues with steering to begin with...

Thankfully she got to grips with it after a while and Joshua was able to relax a little and even enjoy the spectacular scenery on the island.

After school, Menolly biked over to the local grocery store, she'd been given the task of doing a piece of homework about the store and how it worked

The staff proved to be really helpful and she was certain she'd get extra good marks for the report.

When they got home from the driving lessons, Miralys challenged her father to a game of chess

While Jo prepared dinner

As they sat down to eat, Joshua asked Miralys and Menolly how their first day at school had gone

As usual, Tamara wasn't there for dinner, she had entered Midnight in a crosscountry race at the Equestrian Centre where they  eventually came third

After dinner, Joshua and Jo helped Miralys and Menolly with their homework

And before they went to bed, Jo remembered to bring the washing in from the line

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Pet spam

Chapter Forty Three

Once they had all recovered from the immediate shock of the transition and Sofia's death, Joshua headed off to the local Town Hall to register the family, find a new house and find out where they had wound up

Tamara found the local Equestrian Centre and, knowing funds were likely to be short for a while, decided to sell Thunder, she had been going to sell Cinnamon too but Miralys pleaded to keep her

While the adults sorted those details out, Miralys took her younger sister and cousin to sign up at the local school.  At the same time she signed up for the sports club while Menolly signed up for ballet.

Gary had decided it would be best if he and Stacia set up home separately, so he took Stacia off to a small cottage and the rest of the family jumped in a taxi and set off to find the new house Joshua had just bought.  

During the journey, Joshua told the rest of the family what he had discovered at the Town Hall, "We're on a small island off the coast of China, called Dragon Springs, there aren't many people living here and for some reason there are no vampires so we don't need to worry about word getting back that way"

After they'd all settled in to their new home, Tamara took Cinnamon for a ride over to the local training grounds

Joshua began planting a new garden while Menolly tried out the easel which she'd found in the grounds of their new house

Jo took over the general household chores, cooking some meals and upgrading the household appliances

Miralys had followed her mother to the training grounds and begged to be allowed to try riding Cinnamon, Tamara however decided that as a novice rider she'd be better off riding Midnight first as he was experienced enough to keep her on if she had any problems

Once Miralys had managed to mount Midnight, Tamara sent her off to have a ride around trusting Midnight to take care of her.

While Tamara continued to train Cinnamon over the fences 

Having finished planting his garden afresh, Joshua took a wander around Dragon Springs, harvesting various plants on the community lots

As evening drew on, Tamara took Cinnamon along to the Equestrian Centre and entered her in a race.

 Joshua finished the day at a local pond fishing

 And Miralys found her muscles seizing up from her first ride

But was careful once she'd dismounted to give Midnight lots of attention as thanks for her first ride

At home, Menolly had grown bored of the easel and spent much of the afternoon and evening playing with Fluff

Once Miralys got home they both sat down with Jo for an evening meal

 Before finishing the day off with a quick game of chess

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Shots of the new house