Chapter One
It was so bloody cold...and pouring rain at that. Damned October weather. Damned Canadian October weather.
"Storm...Storm, honey?" Cynweilleil turned to her friend, Storm, who was busy trying to keep her skirt away from the puppy.
"Damnit, Finn, this skirt was a rental! It cost me an arm and a leg!" Storm was decked out in one of Kate Winslet's costumes from Titanic, and it would have looked realistic, had it not been for her blond streaked hair. She looked up at Cynweilleil.
"Yes?"
"Why did you have to invite me the one month that it was like bloody summer back home?"
Storm looked exasperated.
"Because," she started, hitching up her skirt and shoving Finn away with her foot, "This month was Amanda's wedding, and I just found out that she was related to Hanson, so OF COURSE I BLOODY ASKED YOU, damnit! What, did you think I was damned insane? You're just cranky. I couldn't help your jetlag. You shoulda got more sleep." Frustrated, Storm picked up the wired puppy and put him in the basement, closing the door. Cynweilleil shook her head and went off to find Kats, leaving Storm alone in the kitchen to finish fixing up the platter of oer d'eourves.
"Mrs. Silverthorne? Might I ask why we had to dress up from this era for a wedding?" Kats leaned over and asked Storm's mother halfway through the ceremony. Mrs. Silverthorne looked up and shrugged.
"God only knows, dear. I think Storm's cousin Amanda is just a little insane."
Kats took that as an answer and went back to staring at the back of the bride's head. She was bored out of her skull. What was worse, Storm was nearly asleep on Cynweilleil...all three were Wiccan and had nothing to do with this highly religious family, though it was Storm's own family. Cynweilleil was busy scanning the bride's family and friends, looking hopelessly for three blond heads that would let her know Storm had been serious. Storm didn't even look up.
"They're not coming to the ceremony, Leila. They're just coming to the party afterwards. It's just Walker and Diana that are here for the service and dinner."
Cynweilleil cringed. Fuck, she thought. Fuck it all to hell. She sighed, listening to the minister drone on and on in that monotonous voice, and noticed even the couple-to-be were looking rather bored...
"Allright, Finn, you can come out now, but I'll tan your hide if you chew this skirt," Storm called down the basement stairs. Finn came barrelling up the stairs at a hundred miles an hour, and straight into Storm's arms. She sighed and carried him into the backyard, where it was cold, but dry...the rain hadn't touched there. Cynweilleil found her back there and tugged her hand.
"Come on, your mum wants you to greet the guests or something stupid like that."
Storm followed her away, leaving Finn to prance around the backyard playfully.
"Lovely to finally meet you, Mrs. Hanson," Cynweilleil said politely to the smiling woman. "I can't believe you did it, too...isn't it a bit nuts she asked us to dress like this?"
Diana shrugged.
"I knew I had this old dress from my grandmother kicking around somewhere...oh, well. Insanity runs in our family." She turned around, looking for her sons. "Isaac, dear...where did your brothers go?"
Isaac shrugged, stepping out of the car.
"I think Zac said something about the dog in the backyard...and Tay went to find something to eat."
Diana turned around again, but Cynweilleil had disappeared, high-tailing it to the kitchen, and suddenly very in love with the puppy Finn.
"Veronica, don't talk with your mouth open!"
- My father, when I was six, after I said something with a mouthful of hamburger.
Prologue
Chapter Two