Honey 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Honey passed from the lounge into the foyer with a dust rag in his hand.

\"Excuse me.\"

He didn\'t respond to the male voice and assumed they were speaking to one of the ladies.

The man cleared his throat, \"Ahem! Excuse me, sir!\"

Honey turned to see a thin man in a pale grey duster and matching hat. He had soft features and little more than peach fuzz above his lip. Honey didn\'t recognize him as one of the regulars, but that didn\'t mean much with how long he had been gone.

\"Oh, sorry sir. I didn\'t realize you were talking to me. What can I do for you?\"

The man smiled and approached him. \"I\'d like to buy an hour of your time.\"

\"Oh, I\'m not--I don\'t work the floor anymore. I just clean, fix things, and do paperwork.\"

\"So, you\'re the master of the house?\" the man asked.

Honey laughed, \"Well, I don\'t like to use that title, but sure.\"

\"Then you\'re definitely the man I\'m looking for,\" the strange man said with an unsettling grin. \"I have a message for you.\"

Honey\'s muscles tensed. He wasn\'t wearing Cinderella on his hip. It hadn\'t occurred to him that he would need her with the way things had been going. In that moment, he missed the weight of the gun on his belt.

\"What message?\"

The man produced a gold coin and held it out to Honey. Honey carefully plucked it from the man\'s grip and looked it over. One side of the coin was badly melted. The other side had an imprint of a Church and State Building. Honey looked at the man again.

\"That\'ll be all,\" the man said and left.

Honey stood there, stunned.

Ashelynn, he thought. The only rebel stubborn enough to destroy the money they stole is Ashelynn. And that building must be a clue.

Honey quickly pocketed the coin and continued his cleaning. His mind raced with thoughts of what Ashelynn might want, but his chores still needed to be done. He spent the remainder of the night thinking about his last encounter with Ashelynn and also about the beautiful cane sword the rebel leader used as his spell focus.

I wonder if Ash would teach me something about magic if I agreed to help.

Loretta passed him in the foyer and coyly waved as she hurried up the stairs with some papers in her hands. She was obviously busy with something, so Honey didn\'t feel bad about keeping the encounter and the coin to himself for the moment. After some time, he decided he wouldn\'t say anything about it at all until he had met with Ashelynn to discuss it. Based on the way she reacted to his loyalty to the Adventuring Guild, he was sure she would not enjoy postulating Ashelynn\'s motives or how long Honey might be gone, if he accepted. He wasn\'t to have all of the information before he came to her about it. So, when the day was over and the nightly clean-up was done, he dropped the melted coin into his boot and said nothing about it.

The next day, Honey waited until Loretta was up and attending to her duties before he retrieved the melted coin from his boot and donned his Adventurer\'s Guild garb, leather duster and Cinderella included. He didn\'t have any potion bottles to bring along and didn\'t see the point of bringing bottles of water for herbalism, so he slid the bottle holsters off the belt and dropped them into the top drawer of his night stand. He left the room and went down the stairs to the foyer. He could smell the wonderful breakfast foods wafting in from the lounge but decided it was best to finish his business as soon as possible.

Honey looked around and spotted a few autos on the road but thought better of showing up at a Church and State building in any way that would draw attention to himself.

He politely greeted and tipped his hat to people as he passed them on the street. Though there was the occasional mean-mugging, most people seemed thrilled to see his guild pin. As much as Honey used to hate being noticed in public, he reveled in their smiles and praise, now that he was official. Despite feeling like he was on top of the world on the way to the building, he felt a rock form in the pit of his stomach as he gazed upon it.

They aren\'t the enemy, he reminded himself. They may be my competition and horrible as serving their people, but today is not the day to rectify that. Someday, though...

He started down the path toward the large double-doors of the building but was stopped by the ringing of alarm bells close by. He turned around and looked at the source of the sound: a bank.

Black-blazered agents and war wizards ran past him on the path, nearly knocking him over in the process. He looked back and forth between the monolithic building of metal frames and black glass and the old fashioned, stucco stone bank again.

That thief wants to get themself killed, he reasoned. Who would be crazy enough to rob a bank across the street from--

His thought was interrupted by another one as he pulled the half-melted coin out of his pocket.

\"Dang it, Ashelynn,\" he muttered and ran toward the bank.

Black blazers had stormed the bank in every which direction. a handful of locals cowered on the ground with their hands atop their heads as the agents and war wizards searched and turned over anything Ashelynn could have been foolish enough to hide behind. A pair of blazers eyed Honey from behind the counter. He tipped his hat and tapped on the guild pin to show his credentials. They both shook their heads and continued their search.

Honey shook his head and began his own search of the building, trying not to let the blazers\' attitude get to him. He was used to it after all of the missions he had been on with Andy and Torq, but it did nothing to quell the idea that they could turn on him and claim he was collateral damage.

He walked through the mail hall and looked around, spotting a thin hallway with two doors on the left and one door on the right. He quietly proceeded down the hall, trying not to make any noise. The blazers were nowhere nearby, and Honey intended to keep it that way. He peered through the small window of the first door. It looked like a small office with papers in the outgoing paper tray. From what he could tell, no one was inside so he moved on to the next door on the left. Peering through the little window on this one revealed a storage room. Shelves filled with boxes of rolled parchments, sealed with waxes of varying colors and thicknesses, lined the walls of the room. On the floor were fancy storage chests decorated in fine, gold filigree and gems bearing enormous locks, the likes of which Honey had never seen. He moved on, noting that nothing seemed to be out of sorts. It surprised him that the bank alarm had gone off at all.

He moved on down the hall and gazed around the bend to the right. He peered around the corner and spotted the blazers who were not-so-busily leaning against the desk talking about a recent vacation one of them had taken.

The back area of the front desks, Honey thought. So, where is Ashelynn in all of this?

Honey took one last look around the desk area and backed up into the hallway. The hallway ended abruptly with no manner of decorations or utility at all. That struck Honey as odd. An unused corner of any municipal building was suspicious, considering how much money was put into them. He felt around on the wall, trying to discern if there had once been a door that they sealed off. Upon pressing two of the stones at the same time, a door flung open, sending Honey stumbling through the door.

Honey skidded to a halt, noting the invisible wall that was Ashelynn aiming a cane at his face.

\"Ashelynn!\" he cried.

Ashelynn\'s intense grimace faded into a look of defeat and can dropped down to the side.

\"You!? What are you doing here?!\"

Honey grinned, almost too grateful that he wasn\'t going to take a blast of fire to the face. \"I was coming to meet you across the street when I heard the alarm going off. What are you doing here?\"

Ashelynn started to say something, but was rudely interrupted by government officials clamoring down the hall and positioning just outside of view of the doorway. Ashelynn stepped forward and grabbed Honey and turned him around, pressing the end of the cane to Honey\'s temple. The black blazers peeked out from the edge of the doorframe, taking aim at the two. Honey\'s eyes bulged as the barrels of four guns lined up vertically against the doorframe and cocked in unison. Ashelynn began to back up. Honey stumbled along, walking backwards with the rebel.

\"Uhhh..Ashelynn...what\'s going on here?\"

\"I\'m wanted...\"

Honey sighed, \"Well, I figured that.\"

\"By the feds.\"

Honey\'s gaze bounced between the four barrels he could see.

\"Well, that explains that what. Can we talk about the why?\"

Ashelynn pointed the cane at the agents.

\"Back! Back up! Or he gets it!\"

Honey cleared his throat. \"Um, Ashelynn?\"

Ashelynn groaned in frustration and continued walking him backwards. \"Look, I know this might be difficult for you to believe, but I\'m not what most would call a \'hero type.\'\"

\"Well, no, because you\'re a rebel.\"

One of the agents fired a shot, and Ashelynn dashed behind a stone column with Honey still in his grip.

\"It\'s complicated,\" he replied. \"Just...help me do this, please.\"

Honey peered out from behind the pillar and dashed back as a shot bounced off the pillar and relieved it of a big chunk of stonework.

Honey reached down and retrieved Cinderella from her holster,

\"Alright then,\" Honey said. \"I\'ll help you.\"

Honey aimed Cinderella at Ashelynn and held it steady. \"I don\'t like this either, but it\'s more likely we\'re both going to get out of this alive if I take you out and arrest you.\"

\"And then you can turn me in for a pat on the back from the suits?\" Ashelynn spat. \"I don\'t think so.\"

Honey sighed in frustration. \"That\'s not what this is about! I just want to talk!\"

\"Move,\" Ashelynn commanded.

\"What?\"

Ashelynn pointed the cane past Honey. \"Move!\"

Honey resisted pulling his gaze away from the outlaw but did only to find three men in black suits coming through the doorway. One of the guns went off, sending Honey clattering to the floor. A clean cut through his shirt and a line of blood inside told the tale of a close call.

A roaring ball of fire shot from Ashelynn\'s cane, scattering the blazers about until all of them had backs out of the room again.

\"Did he get you?\" Ashelynn said, kneeling down beside him.

Honey nodded. \"Yeah, but it\'s just a cut. No offense, but shouldn\'t they be shooting at you?\"

\"What!?\" Ashelynn shouted in disbelief. \"How dare you!?\"

Due to the stress of the situation and the pain in his side, Honey couldn\'t seem to find the right words to explain what he meant before Ashelynn added, \"Don\'t worry. I\'ll save us.\"

Honey put a little more pressure on his wound and shook his head. \"No, no. I\'m a hero, and I will save us.\"

\"You\'re a dancer!\"

\"You\'re a villain!\" Honey argued back.

Ashelynn\'s face shown horror. \"That\'s insensitive! I am not--\"

Another gun went off.

\"We can argue about this later,\" Ashelynn said through gritted teeth. \"There\'s a way out through a trap door in the floor--\"

\"Floor trap.\" Honey corrected.

\"What?\"

\"It\'s called a floor trap when it\'s a stage or basement entrance. It\'s a trap door if it\'s in a dungeon.\"

Ashelynn sighed and blinked at him. \"Why am I saving you again?\"

Honey shrugged. \"I don\'t know. I\'m sorry. Go escape. I\'ll figure this out.\"

Ashelynn looked around. \"No, no. You helped me escape once. Now I finally have a chance to save you.\" Ashelynn looked around. Suddenly, Ashelynn grabbed the red potion bottle from Honey\'s belt.

(Author\'s note: I\'ll have to go back and fix that in my original version if I\'m going to keep this. So far, I like it.)

\"Hey!\" Honey protested. \"Do you know what that is?\"

Ashelynn shrugged, \"I have an idea.\"

\"And don\'t just go grabbing things from my belt! What kind of idea?\"

Ashelynn lightly tossed the bottle and caught it a few times. \"Don\'t worry about it. All you need to do is be ready to run.\"

\"Ready to run,\" Honey repeated. He shifted up onto the balls of his feet and pointed himself toward the floor trap. \"Ok. I\'m ready.\"

Ashelynn stood up and lobbed the bottle of red liquid at the doorway of the room. It shattered, raining glass and a single cork onto the floor. The flames were unnaturally red and orange with magical shimmers

\"Run!\" Ashelynn commanded, and Honey obliged. Getting to his feet was easy enough but straightening seemed to irritate his wound. He hoped there would be a healing potion in his near future that would take care of it. Ashelynn ran ahead and dove at the floor trap, flipping it open and pointing inside. \"Go! Get in!\"

Honey rushed over as best he could and carefully climbed down below the stage.

\"Stop trying to look back and go!\" Ashelynn chided. \"Looking back doesn\'t do any good. Just go.\"

Honey looked up. \"What about you?\"

\"Not your problem.\" Ashelynn reached over to close the flap but was halted by Honey\'s sudden seizing of the lapel of the beautiful blue jacket Ashelynn wore. Honey pulled on the coat until Ashelynn stumbled into the hole and slid down the shaft to the bottom. The Honey closed the floor trap and locked it from below. Moments later, Honey realized that Ashelynn was staring at him.

\"That was uncalled for.\"

\"What saving your life? Seems like I\'m getting pretty good at it, actually.\" Honey smirked.

Ashelynn let out a groan of displeasure and led the way to the only point of light they could see. Once they got close enough to it, they found they were out from under the stage and behind the curtain where the lights were all up.

Ashelynn ventured ahead and discovered, a stairway leading up to a set of bulkhead doors. Then returned to Honey\'s side and put an arm around him to help stabilize him.

\"Alright, here we go. Let\'s get out of here and get you some bandages.\"

Ashelynn pushed through the Exit door and stopped suddenly.

\"You have got to be shitting me.\"

Honey looked up. It was a carriage with Torq and Andy at the helm, weapons trained on the Ashelynn.

\"Put your hands up and get on your knees!\" Andy commanded. \"You\'re under arrest.\"

Torq chimed in, \"Yeah, freeze punk!\"

\"Hey, guys!\" Honey chimed and waved. \"Nice to see you!\"

Ashelynn looked at each of them and then at Honey. Honey could feel the asinine comments bubbling up in his savior but couldn\'t fight again. Ashelynn shifted Honey\'s weight but didn\'t let go.

Andy hopped down and approached the two. \"Did you hurt him!? What did you do?!\"

\"Nothing!\" Ashelynn yelled. \"The suits--the government guys who hired you? They got him! They were setting him up to be a fall guy!\"

\"Liar!\" Torq said, joining everyone on the ground.

\"Ashelynn is telling the truth. I\'ve been shot. Ashelynn doesn\'t even carry a gun. Just the ridiculous pimp-cane.\" The other two looked at one another and circled the pair in formation.

\"It\'s true. He doesn\'t have a gun,\" Torq said.

Andy sighed, \"Fine! If it is telling the truth, then we need to get out of here. If not, we need to get back to the church and state building anyway! Everybody, in!\"

Honey\'s eyes lit up.

\"You didn\'t tell me you invited them too! How are you guys?\"

Andy folded her arms in front of her and rolled her eyes.

\"Not thrilled that we came to help apprehend a suspect and here you are helping them escape.\"

\"Just to clarify,\" Ashelynn said, \"I would have gotten away without Honey\'s help. He just happened upon me--\"

\"Robbing a bank,\" Torq interjected. \"As if you didn\'t know he would come running if he was in the area and saw trouble brewing. Some mastermind you are.\"

Ashelynn glared at Torq. \"I\'m not a mastermind! I invited Honey here because I needed to speak with him.\"

Andy frowned at Honey. \"You\'re still friends with this loser?\"

\"Ashelynn hasn\'t don\'t anything wrong to me,\' Honey shrugged. \"Rebels are just people trying to make a change. I think our world could use some changes.\" He turned to Ashelynn. \"What was it you wanted to see me about?\"

Ashelynn\'s gaze bounced around everywhere inside the cart except for Honey\'s face. \"I need your help with something.\"

\"I am not helping you rob banks,\" Honey clarified.

\"No, no, no,\" Ashelynn explained. \"To be clear, the Nobodies need your help.\"

Honey\'s eyes went wide. \"Why? What\'s going on?\"

(author\'s note: I need to make a note that they all got into the carriage, why Andy and Torq have the carriage, and that Andy patched him up.)

\"We made one last plea with the prime minister of the Southern Canadian Provinces to make citizenship an option for Nobodies. Not only was it denied without being heard in court. We have now become targets for blazers and war wizards alike. They\'re being found dead all over the provinces in ways that don\'t make sense. Of course, their owners are direly concerned because they are dying in ways that don\'t fall under the umbrella of their replacement policies.\"

Honey\'s mind raced as he reasoned aloud, \"They\'re killing some off trying to squash the rebellion instead of potentially losing all of them.\"

\"They can\'t afford to kill that many, can they?\" Andy asked.

\"You might be surprised,\" Ashelynn replied. \"There are thousands - hundreds of thousands of them - waiting to be bought and trained for a family. Killing a few thousand would be a drop in the bucket for them. Even if they cared about the lost revenue, they can\'t afford to lose control of the population. Imagine all the freedoms people would fight for if this one item got passed.\"

Andy frowned. \"Well, that is a problem. They\'re trying to stop things from moving in the right direction.\" She and Torq shared a look before she added, \"We can\'t help you.\"

\"What?!\" Honey exclaimed.

\"Not surprised,\" Ashelynn snarked.

Andy scrunched her nose at the Nobody. \"We are part of the guild! We can\'t just take time off to go fight someone else\'s war!\"

\"It\'s all of our war, and you know it!\" Ashelynn fired back. \"First, it\'s those of us who are owned. Before you know it, they\'ll be scooping up the entire lower class to fill their mansions with servants! Then, it\'ll be impositions on people based on skin or hair color or even gender!\"

\"Take control of someone based on what\'s in their pants? That\'s a slippery slope,\" Torq commented.

\"Well, actually--,\" Andy started but shook her head and began again, \"Look, I\'d love to help, but you have to understand where we\'re coming from. Working with people who blow up buildings and steal from banks makes us look bad.\"

Honey sighed, \"They aren\'t just wreaking havoc, though. They\'re trying to make a difference.\"

Torq and Andy shared another look. Torq shook his head, \"I\'m sorry. We just can\'t. I wish you good luck and all, but...\"

As Torq trailed off, Honey gazed up at Ashelynn, whose cynical stare suggested that this was the expected answer. Honey couldn\'t believe what he was hearing from his guildmates.

How can they let this go on? People are suffering, and they\'re going to do nothing?

Honey looked over at Andy and Torq, then back at Ashelynn.

\"I\'ll help you.\"

All three of them seemed taken aback as they exclaimed, \"What!?\" in unison.

\"You can\'t help, Honey!\" Andy argued. \"You\'re doing great in the Adventurer\'s Guild, but these aren\'t thugs and thieves you\'re going to be up against. Ashelynn is asking you to fight government agents, war wizards, and who knows what else. It\'s too dangerous!\"

Torq nodded, \"She\'s right, man. Fighting blazers is tough enough without the rest of them around, and if they\'re squashing bands of Nobodies, they\'ll be armed to the teeth.\"

\"They\'re right,\" Ashelynn nodded. \"It\'s very dangerous. Nobodies are dying every day in the fight against oppression. This was a mistake. I shouldn\'t have sent for you.\"

Honey replied, \"No, Ashelynn! I know it will be dangerous, and I don\'t care what the guild will think. I was owned once too, and... No one deserves that.\" Ashelynn wore a look of doubt as Honey added, \"I want to help you, and I will. What kind of hero would I be if I didn\'t?\"

\"A smarter one,\" Torq sighed. \"Honey, this is really a bad idea.\"

Andy chimed in with, \"We can\'t stop you, but I think you\'re making a mistake.\"

Honey thought about their words for a moment and smiled.

\"Well, it\'s my mistake to make then, isn\'t it?\" He looked over at Ashelynn. \"Can you give me some time to settled things at home? Loretta is not going to be pleased.\"

Ashelynn nodded, \"I\'ll send for you when the time is right. Be sure you\'re armed and ready to go when the time comes. There aren\'t going to be many places to buy gear or potions on the way. You\'ll be an outlaw, just like me.\"

Honey nodded in kind and replied, \"I\'ll be ready. I had probably get back, though. I have a lot of things I need to get done before we go.\"

\"And a lot of begging to do, I imagine,\" Torq joked. Andy jabbed her elbow into his ribs and rolled her eyes.

Andy patted Honey\'s shoulder. \"Well, I hope you\'ll change your mind, but if you don\'t, good luck.\"

Honey nodded to her and watched as Andy and Torq boarded to carriage and rode off to go save someone else\'s day. Part him wished he was going with them, but his inner voice wouldn\'t let him dwell on it for long. He wanted to work toward a greater cause than protecting his home town. He wanted to save the Nobodies.

(Author\'s note: I think they were all in the cart, so I need to add a note that they all disembarked at some point before the conversation and the adventurer\'s leaving again.)

Ashelynn\'s expression was difficult for Honey to read. He had never seen the rebel leader look less than intense and ready for battle.

\"I\'ll understand if you do end up changing your mind. If you decide it\'s too dangerous or you don\'t want to join me - for any reason at all - just send the coin back with my courier. I\'ll know what it means.\"

Honey nodded and watched as Ashelynn strode away into the darkness of the alley, somehow becoming one with the shadows in broad daylight.

Honey patted his side, checking the bandages again to make sure they were firm. Relief came over him as he noted the pure, white cloth. He hadn\'t bled through, a good sign that the wound didn\'t do any damage worth seeing a healer over. His healer also happened to be his girl, but something told him he shouldn\'t worry her with the events of the day.

He looked around, trying to get his bearings. Andy had brought him back to Roxana, but she had dropped them off in an unfamiliar back-alley. How Ashelynn knew which direction in which to disappear was beyond him. He smoothed his short down and came up the alley to the main street. A quick glance around revealed that he was only a few blocks from the house, the opposite direction of the shops he frequented.

Thanks, Andy, he thought as set off toward the mansion for some breakfast and an uncomfortable conversation with Loretta.

\"So, let me make sure I understand,\" Loretta said carefully. \"You received some type of summons from Ashelynn, who is trying to launch some giant coup against the government to free the Nobodies and wants your help. Ashelynn robbed a bank, and the blazers from the Church and State Building came over to seize the two of you. Andy and Torq showed up and saved you guys but aren\'t going to help Ashelynn. So, you want to run off on your own to help Ashelynn overthrow the government and make them free all of the Nobodies?\"

Honey thought on her words and nodded in agreement, \"Yes, I think that about covers it. Though, I think \'overthrow the government\' might be blowing it out of proportion a bit--\"

\"Really? Because, considering what Ashelynn and those androgynous Nobodies have been capable of in the past, I feel like I\'m downplaying the seriousness of the situation a bit,\" she snipped at him. Honey shrunk in his seat, and she added, \"Look, I know you have this burning desire to run out and save everyone, but there are some things that are just too big to fight. If you go and try to take down the system, something might happen to you. Wouldn\'t it be better for you to stay here and look after me and the girls? You can be our hero and save us from--\"

\"Seized closet hinges and disorganized shoes?\" he interjected. \"I care about all of the girls and love looking after the house, but I feel like I could do so much more. I feel it in my heart.\"

Loretta frowned and sat on the bed next to him.

\"Your heart is about to take you away from everything you worked so hard to earn. A business, a home, some peace and prosperity. Honey, you don\'t know what\'s out there.\"

Honey shook his head. \"I know there are people out there who need my help. I may not be a Nobody, but I was no better than them when Byron bought me. I could have been someone\'s Nobody. Instead, I came here and had to endure him. I know it was terrible, but I also know I was still luckier than most. I just feel like I should give some of that back to the world.\"

Loretta sat quietly for a few moments and then nodded. \"Alright. I see that you have to do this.\" A grin spread across her face as she added, \"So, I\'m going with you. Someone should be there to make sure you don\'t do anything too dangerous and to heal your wounds after you do it anyway.\"

Honey\'s eyes bulged. \"Are...Are you sure you want to do this? It could be really dangerous.\"

\"I\'m sure it will be,\" she replied, \"but at least if we\'re together, we\'ll have each other.\"

Honey nodded. \"I don\'t have a clue as to when we\'re leaving, but Ashelynn said there would be another messenger. Could be days, maybe weeks.\"

\"Plenty of time to get things in order I think,\" Loretta sighed. \"Ok. So, who should we appoint to watch over things while we\'re gone?\"

Both of them thought for a few moments, and spoke in unison.

\"Betty.\"

\"Last one,\" Honey announced to the girls, who were all standing around watching him put the new lounge tables together. He screwed the final bolt in as tight as he could and flipped the table right-side-up, placing it in line with the other tables he had already built and placed. The girls sprang into action, sliding four chairs into place around it and placing an oil-lamp setting in the middle of it. When it was done, they all looked at the finished project and cheered.

\"Yay!\" Loretta cheered along and clapped. \"And thank goodness! Those old tables had been through enough for several lifetimes. It was time.\"

\"And they\'re gorgeous,\" Betty commented as she approached. \"I\'m so glad you went with the ones I picked. I think they\'re so classy.\"

\"Of course,\" Honey replied. \"We trusted your judgement, and they are just beautiful.\"

The other girls cooed and swooned over the craftsmanship of the decorated hardwood tables. Meanwhile, a dark-haired beauty hurried into the lounge from the foyer and tapped on Honey\'s shoulder.

Honey turned and looked at her.

\"Yes?\"

Her face was pale, as though she had seen a ghost.

\"Someone is here to see you.\"

Honey and Loretta looked at one another.

\"Thank you,\" Honey said. \"I\'ll take care of it.\"

He gently put his hand on her back and urged her toward the group as he passed her to meet the person calling on him. Loretta followed close behind. They were both surprised to see a young, fair-skinned person in a gray suit with purple accents, wearing a fedora. It looked as though this person modeled their appearance after Ashelynn but with a more subtle color palette.

\"Yes?\" Honey asked as he approached.

They folded their arms and asked in a smooth, even tone, \"Do you have something for me?\"

Honey and Loretta looked at one another, a silent conversation about their commitment to Ashelynn passed between their eyes.

\"No,\" Honey said. \"I have nothing for you.\"

\"Then we should go,\" the person said. \"I will be waiting outside.\"

Honey and Loretta both nodded and watched them leave. They looked at each other again.

\"Is it time?\" They heard Betty ask from the doorway of the lounge.

They both looked over at her, and Loretta answered, \"It\'s time.\"

Betty nodded and crossed the room to hug them both.

\"Don\'t worry about a thing. Come back in one piece.\"

They embraced each other for a few moments and then parted ways for what Honey hoped would not be the last time.