Alexander's Chronicle: Chapter 8

And Then There Were Four...

Shortly after Alan and Josef visited me in Arden, Father left for an unspecified "trip into Shadow" and did not return for over two months. This kind of left me in charge, but the rangers and Father's other servants all know their responsibilities, so I hardly had to do anything out of the ordinary. Father had never been gone so long during the time I had lived with him, so I was pretty anxious, even though I had just turned nineteen years old.

I was overjoyed to hear of his return one day when I returned from patrol and a page ran from the castle saying that he wanted to see me in his conference room. As I walked in the front door, one of the servants told me that Father had brought someone with him.

"That's nothing unusual," I replied. "My father is always bringing in new Forest People from Shadow."

"This is different," the servant girl insisted. "He has given this man one of the guest rooms *here*, not at the inn in town. He's never done that with anyone he's brought into Arden before."

"Except," pointed out the elderly butler she was supposedly helping, "Yourself, sir."

I nodded and walked to the conference room. Father was sitting at the table and with him were Marcel, with his right hand grown back, and Morgan. There was no sign of Father's mysterious guest.

They greeted me and then Father explained what was going on. "Prior to having you all walk the pattern, Random and Fiona carried out a long-range search of Shadow to locate any family members that had somehow been lost. I suspected one of them at least to be a child of mine. When I went to the Shadow he was raised I was proved correct, and brought him back here with me so he can claim his birthright. We arrived this morning and he should be here to meet you all in a few minutes."

Right, on cue, my long-lost brother walked in the door. He was simply dressed, but seemed uncomfortable enough in his clothing that I suspected it was not his usual garb. Like myself, he is dark, but more lightly built, and with even sharper features. He looked at Marcel, Morgan and me rather skeptically.

As he entered, Father introduced him, "Ah, Josiah. These are my three other sons. Morgan spends much of his time in Shadow Finndelaine. Marcel, the eldest, makes his home in Shadow Brynn, which is rather more advanced than here, but not to the same extent as where you were raised. And Alex, the youngest, lives here in the castle." Father clapped him on the back and led him forwards to greet us. As he shook hands with us, Josiah stared at us, as if trying to size us each up.

As usual, Marcel was the first to greet him. "Very pleased to meet you, Josiah. It is certainly good to see that Julian has brought you here to Arden to join us. I would certainly enjoy talking with you about the Shadow in which you were raised, it sounds quite interesting."

Josiah replied cryptically, "Maybe I was cursed by Confucius. Actually, from my end of things, Amber is pretty amazing."

Marcel looked around at us and said loudly, "Well, Julian, you must be a very virile man. I've not seen this large a family ever in Amber."

Morgan gave me a pained look. I must have worn one too at that point.

"I seem to take after your grandfather in this one regard," Father said quietly.

"Must've cost a packet for the licenses," Josiah muttered. All of a sudden, I had a bad feeling that his Shadow might only be advanced in certain respects.

Marcel marched over to and opened a cabinet that held a decanter of wine and some glasses (as rarely as he visits Arden, I was unsurprised to see that he knew which one it was). He poured us each a glass of wine, then one for himself.

Raising his glass, Marcel said happily, "Here is to Julian and Josiah. To Julian, congratulations on being a father *again*, and to Josiah, a very welcome addition to the family."

Josiah raised his eyebrows but smiled as we drank. He seemed considerably less friendly than Marcel.

Morgan attempted to cheer him up, "Look at this as yet another fantastic adventure! Well, that's what I always do anyway. Sometimes it even works." He winked.

Marcel took Morgan aside, leaving me to play host to Josiah. I looked at him and tried to muster some liking for the man, but his sneering expression and his remarks about being cursed were just a little more than I wanted to put up with. It was unfair not to give the newcomer more of a chance, but I decided I'd deal with him later, when I wasn't freshly exhausted by the day's patrol and annoyed by his haughtiness. I walked over to look at the window.

Josiah decided at that point to confirm my opinion of him as an arrogant boor. He looked me over again and remarked, "Y'know, kid, you're the detail that really helps me believe this stuff."

I raised an eyebrow at him and he explained, "Youngest of the family, gets the attention, gets used to the attention. Now there's somebody new who walks in out of nowhere, and you're steamed, no?"

I laughed at him. "You don't understand. You'll see." I'd been pretty unhappy during Father's long absence, but more because of the extra responsibility I'd had to bear than because of the lack of Father's company. Worrying if Father were alright hadn't made things any more pleasant. The comment about my youth rankled, but the insult was so ridiculously extreme (I'd been a ranger for six years by then, with no time to be spoiled by parents) that I decided to chalk it up to his ignorance of Amberite culture.

Marcel, who had been talking to Father, suddenly stepped back and bowed to him, obviously mockingly and said, "Why, thank you, Julian, for that compliment! I shall do my best to make Josiah feel welcome and also to help him get to know you better." I was glad I hadn't heard that exchange.

Marcel turned on his heel and walked toward Josiah, with his arms outstretched, and said loudly, "Josiah, my brother! Perhaps you would like to see a bit of Amber? Come, let the four of us go for a ride in the forest!" He turned back toward Father, who stared at him steadily rather than glaring at him, and winked, "I am sure that there is nothing wrong with that. Is there, Julian?" Marcel knew as well as Morgan and I that we were to stay away from Amber until Father brought us there to walk the Pattern, which it seemed he would shortly.

Josiah looked blankly at Marcel, and Morgan and I held our tongues. Father decided to change the subject. "Since Marcel is so interested, why don't you tell us all something about the Shadow you were raised, Josiah?"

"Shall we swap stories?" asked Josiah. "I'd love to hear what yours are. Name's Josiah Wesson. I'm a detective, Metro Division, you'll have to take my word for it since my badge got mislaid somewhere in Shadow, on the trip here. Home didn't have all these trees and castles and nice cloth and leather. It's all synthetics. Corporations run the place. It's all money and data."

He pointed to a scar on his temple. "Back home, everyone has headware; they can jack in to any computer." I'd heard of those: information preocessing machines that worked in the highest-tech Shadows. But what was "jacking in"? "I was born to swells, Dad was a stockbroker, but some funny quirk in my DNA meant my body rejects any implants. Except if I get the story right, somebody switched babies once upon a time, and being Amberite was what made me allergic. If you can't jack in, you're cut out. The police academy looked better than the dole. I do a lot of undercover, and a lot of investigation. Right at the time Julian caught up with me, I was trying to deal with a case that may connect to this place.

"A woman named Katja who's part of something called the Moonriders is knocking off people, for better-than-average reasons. From her talk, she knew what I was before I did. Mean in a fight, wrecked four professional security goons bare-handed in a stage show. Anyone deal with Katja or the Moonriders?" Moonriders? I started listening intently.

Morgan had looked blank for most of Josiah's description of his Shadow, but as Josiah finished, he coughed a little, and looked at Father, then at Josiah, and finally said, "The name you have mentioned, the 'Moonriders', seems somehow familiar to me. It seems that I have heard something about an attack on Amber long ago by creatures or people with that name. I never got the full story, only that Uncle Benedict was instrumental in their defeat." He looked back at Father, and said, "That's all I know, just from some things you mentioned in passing, Father, concerning Amber's history. Could this be related?"

Marcel looked surprised. "The Moonriders of Ghenesh? Yes, I have heard of them. Mother used to get me off to bed by telling me that if I didn't that they would come and take me away. I know that they are part of Amber's history, but I did not think they still *existed*." He then looked toward Josiah and said, "Please continue, Josiah. What else is there that you know?"

Josiah's eyes all but glowed as Morgan and Marcel told him this, and he looked almost feral. He answered Marcel sardonically: "I know of one specific Moonrider, named Katja, who said that half of me was an ancient enemy and the other half was one for something more recent. She's slim, about 5'6", had brown hair, seems to be able to pass through security systems like a ghost, though I suppose that means little to you lot, and is damned deadly as a hand-to-hand fighter and as a sniper. She's also pretty good at infiltration.

"Either working as a mercenary or as part of the Moonriders, she's declared war on a corporation named DataGem. According to Katja, who approached me after I was assigned to investigate her murders, she or they are doing it because DataGem was conducting mind-control experiments and then slaughtering the subjects. DataGem, specifically a rabbity legal beagle of theirs named Callo, tried to hire me on staff full-time to deal with the organization. I played it cagey, because Katja got a message to me that I'd be killed if I signed up: I don't know whether by her people, for siding with the enemy, or DataGem for what I know already.

"I'd be very interested about what you could tell me of Katja, Moonriders, or even similar activity where you've come from. That's still an open case to me, a neat frame and execution of a double for Katja notwithstanding." Josiah grinned, showing his teeth. "I aim to close it before I'm quits with that Shadow."

"It seems very likely that this Katja was one of the few surviving Moonriders," Father agreed.

"Few surviving?" asked Josiah. "You're the one told me about time rates in Shadows. She might be third or fourth generation. Would they have been recruiting? They might have a nice force going by now."

"It is possible they have been breeding, yes," Father said thoughfully. "But they are supposedly even slower to do so than us and the fastest-time Shadows are closed to them now. However, it is not unlikely for them to have produced another generation or two."

Josiah aske "So they're more like a gang than an army...?"

"In terms of numbers, yes." Father said, "Their attack out of Shadow came as a complete surprise. Our first knowledge of them came from Caine after they massacred a company he was leading, attacking out of ambush without provocation. He was only able to escape by Trumping to safety after all his men were killed. Or so he claimed. After this, Oberon set our armies on them. Neither side gave quarter or sued for peace. They were the most serious threat to Amber ever, until Patternfall. One attacking force even penetrated as far as Kolvir until Benedict arrived to hold them off."

Josiah demanded, "So what made them so deadly? I mean, you guys have Pattern and sorcery and all, what trick did they have?"

Marcel turned to Josiah and replied, "Although we are Amberites, Josiah, that does not make any of us infallible, much less unbeatable. As Mother used to always tell me, anything is possible out in Shadow, even those that are more powerful than we are. As I might surmise, there are people in your world that challenge even your own abilities. And the fact that this woman Katja was able to take six men down by herself is testimony to the power and possibility of Shadow."

Josiah persisted, "True, but if they had some particularly large and obvious edge, you would hear about it. Still, they beat you guys back, so they must have had something sneakier. Outfighting you guys is one thing, but from what Julian's told me about powers, it seems that you guys don't necessarily have to reply on a fair fight."

Marcel mused, "Yes, you are right. Unless...there had been a traitor in Amber's midst who had been helping the Moonriders."

Josiah got even more excited at this, "Some veiled hints were dropped about a guy named Caine. They made huge thudding sounds when they hit the floor..."

Father addressed Josiah's original question: "The Pattern allows travel and little else, and the Moonriders themselves possessed limited abilities in that regard. Sorcery is unreliable and does not work between Shadows. But most importantly, they were very dedicated fighters in large numbers who were extremely well commanded."

Josiah got off his traitor tangent. "Raises another point. Where did the Moonriders get the ability to travel?"

Unperturbed, Father replied, "Perhaps it is a natural ability. Perhaps they use a special type of sorcery. But I didn't say they were deadly, merely Amber's most serious threat prior to Patternfall. We left less than one of their soldiers in a hundred alive and lost less than one in five of our own men."

"So were you at the conflict, too? The story I heard was that only Caine knows it all." Josiah had not forgotten the traitor tangent after all.

Father pointed out, "Nobody knows it all. That is one of the axioms of Amber. I don't think anyone was ever quite sure why they attacked. At the time there was no communication between us and them. Upon reflection, I suppose they may have been fleeing a war between themselves and the Courts and just blundered into our forces. After the last battle we thought they were all dead or hopelessly scattered. Oberon forbade us from searching for them more than a certain distance from Amber. I think now this was to keep us from discovering the Courts."

Josiah went on speculating. "Hmmn...might the Courts be backing them? Katja seemed to be working for hire, maybe so do the Moonriders... The Chaos mercs theory has exactly one advantage so far: it does not require two sets of motives and two sets of powers for two enemies of Amber."

It was Marcel's turn to get all excited, "I consider Josiah's theory very interesting, Julian. It is very possible that the Moonriders and the Courts are connected somehow, but in which way? Perhaps the best way to find out would be to find this Katja woman and question her. What do you think about this, Julian?"

"You appear to have suggested a sensible course of action, Marcel," Father said, seeming amused.

Josiah's face took on something between a smirk and a leer. "I've got an open invitation to look the lady up. And this time, I'll know what she's talking about. But there's a walk I have to take first..."

Marcel beamed. "Well, that sounds like the most amusement I have had since losing my hand while hunting in Arden! But you are right; perhaps it would be best to wait until after we have all walked the Pattern before we leave on such an adventure."

Josiah looked at Marcel's hands, confused. "So you guys have cloning tech going?"

Marcel laughed and asked, "Cloning? What is that? If you are referring to my hand, then I suppose that you should learn a little about your own abilities. First of all, you probably already realize that you are stronger, faster and more resilient than most beings. You may not know however, of an Amberite's ability to regenerate. That is why I stand before you today with both of my hands. That is also why Uncle Corwin regrew his eyes after meeting with an unfortunate accident." He smiled at Father, "Isn't that right, Julian?"

"You are correct about the family's ability to regenerate, if that is what you are asking." Father replied. "But it is incorrect to describe Corwin's blindness as the result of an accident, whether unfortunate or not. I acted quite deliberately when I applied the hot irons." I winced at this. Odd that Father should hate certain of his own brothers so and yet expect us to get along...

Josiah chuckled at this unpleasant remark. "You left out the good parts on our talk on the way, Dad."

Father frowned and said, "I left out a considerable amount. This was due to time pressure rather than censorship."

Josiah blinked. "I've gotten pegged a few times, and heal fast, I just figured it was the flip side of that damned allergy to implants, but maybe I was putting the cart before the horse. Anyhow, what I got taught at the academy, and on the streets, was that avoiding losing bits was the idea. I'm not about to experiment with amputation just now, but it's nice to know I've got a few more options." He had to have lived a damned soft life not to have noticed the unnatural rate at which we Amberites heal, or his Shadow's medicine had to be very effective.

Marcel looked at Josiah and asked, smiling, "By the way, is this Katja woman very *attractive*?" Trust Marcel to try and make a conquest of the most lethal person we'd heard of since Shiny (and probably more lethal than Shiny).

Josiah smirked again, "The woman's got more than one way of making a guy drop dead. Since you lot are going to ask and I'm not going to answer, let's just say there's a reason I ought to be the one to try contacting her first and leave it at that!"

Marcel looked back at Morgan and myself. "Well, it would seem that not all the Moonriders were killed or else someone has raised the Moonriders from the ashes. The question that I feel is worth exploring is this: is this sudden appearance of a legendary enemy coincidental with the attack in Arden?"

"What attack in Arden?" asked Josiah, looking for something in his pockets and looking around. "Damn. They got notepads around this place?"

Marcel asked, "So, is there any more information that can be added regarding the Moonriders, the Seekers, or Shiny?"

"Are those aliases or three seperate groups?" asked Josiah.

In the meantime, Father had opened a cupboard and removed a spiral-bound notepad and a box of pencils, passing both to Josiah. "This is my conference room," he commented.

"Thanks!" Josiah looked at the paper and pencil. "Jeez, you people have got wood everywhere..." He started scribbling as he spoke, "I wasn't gonna ask about Corwin's accident, yet, but everyone's been damned reluctant to say anything concrete about Caine."

"Well, I am neither a rumor-monger, nor am I old enough to know exactly what occurred during the Patternfall War. However, since Caine is my immediate uncle, I would appreciate if you would not malign his name when I am around. I am also sure that Julian would appreciate the same courtesy." Marcel looked at Father. "Am I correct, Julian?"

"I have become rather used to having individual brothers and sisters maligned in their absence," Father smiled at Marcel, "and so am not concerned at all. However, I would advise you to avoid the subject in the presenceof Caine or his children, Josiah. At least until you have learned to defend yourself rather better."

Josiah raised an eyebrow, and assured Marcel, "Don't worry, son, first words they teach at the academy are 'confidentiality,' 'admissable in court,' 'reasonable doubts' and 'right to remain silent.' But I'm gonna ask 'til somebody tells me, so might as well give me your version now."

Marcel started to look a little annoyed. He walked back to the table and refilled his glass from the decanter. He took a seat and said, "Well, perhaps you would prefer to get comfortable before I start telling you the history of Amber; it is after all, a very long story. First of all, I must tell you that what I know has been taught to me as history by Julian and by Carmel, my mother." He cleared his throat and went on, "Well then, where to start? Let me think....ah yes, the perfect point. Well, you see, Uncle Corwin, King Random and Aunt Flora arrived in Amber only to be diverted to Rebma. As it happens, Corwin had come to Amber to claim his birthright to the throne. Well, Corwin was unsuccessful in his first attempt which led him to raise an army and mount another attack against Amber." I had a hard time seeing how Josiah was supposed to make sense of this jumbled account.

"That was his second attempt, which also failed." Father interrupted. He liked Uncle Corwin only a little better than he liked the Courts of Chaos. "His first failed attempt was a direct try at assassinating Eric."

Marcel continued smoothly, "This time however, he was successful and was able to help drive off the forces of Chaos in the bargain. Unfortunately, during this time, Uncle Eric, the king at the time, was killed during battle. Soon after this, Brand, a long-lost uncle, was rescued from what appeared to be the forces of Chaos. Unbeknownst to many, the family had brought the enemy into its midst. Sometime later, Uncle Caine appeared to have been killed and the family thought the worst of Corwin. Fortunately for Corwin and the family, Uncle Caine was not truly dead, but instead staged his own demise for the enemies of Amber."

"Caine staged his death shortly before attempting to assassinate Corwin," Father reminded Marcel, "So the deed was not traced to him at the time." I had a hard time telling which of them had his sympathy.

Marcel finished his story: "At an opportune time, when Amber seemed ready to fall at the hands of Brand, Uncle Caine appeared and slew Brand with an arrow to the throat. Unfortunately during this time, Aunt Dierdre was also killed as she and Brand fell into the Abyss. So you see, although many speak ill of Uncle Caine, he is one of the few responsible for the saving of Amber. Any questions?"

Josiah looked almost thoughtful for a moment, but returned to his usual smirk. "Congratulations, that's a beautiful summary of the basic history Julian ran by me on the trip. Of course, we had some days of traveling to chew things over. And you neatly avoid answering a very basic question. So neatly that I'm going to give up on you and ask someone else. All I know about Caine is that he's a shifty character, no specifics given, who got in a good shot at a psycho and saved a bunch of people, not counting Brand's hostage. He sounds a lot like half the cops I work with regularly, and I don't even trust them that much. So maybe I should ask Caine himself. Last to see the Moonriders, as it were. Where is he? Failing that, where's his report on the incident?"

Josiah pursed his lips and went on. "In fact, answer me one very specific question. Where does the Moonrider conflict fit in on the timeline of Oberon's disappearance, Corwin's disappearance, and Brand's fishing about in the Courts of Chaos?"

Marcel smiled weakly, then stood to pour himself more wine. Father answered Josiah: "Seven hundred and fifty-two years passed between the engagement at Jones Falls and the disappearance of Corwin, which itself predated Oberon's disappearance by approximately two hundred and sixty years. The commencement of Brand's connections with the Courts was presumably sometime between the last two events. Fiona will know more accurately."

"'Presumably?' I think I would like to talk to Fiona, I assume we're all here for a family reunion anyway? I can chat with her and Caine." Josiah looked satisfied.

Marcel snapped at Josiah's back, "Well, I am sorry that I could not have been more of a help, brother. However, you may find that Amber is not a police state and that everyone values their privacy. You may find out quickly that the Elders are no exception and that they do not enjoy being questioned about their actions by anyone, let alone 'by a child'."

Josiah sneered at him. "So what do Amberites value besides privacy?"

Marcel replied grimly, "You may also learn that loyalty is very important, and although many of us do not show it, we are extremely loyal towards the kingdom of Amber. I for one, am very tolerant, but I cannot say that for all of Amber's residents, so I would suggest that you go about your questioning in a very careful manner."

"Uh-huh." Josiah jeered.

Marcel took a large gulp of wine and said, "In the future, I would prefer if you would call me by some other name than 'son'. Marcel, brother, or even friend suits me fine."

Josiah looked innocent. "Let's stick with Marcel and Josiah and see what takes. Remember, I just got here."

Marcel then turns toward the rest of us and announced, "Well, I, for one, am famished. I think that it is time that we stopped talking so much and proceeded to satiate our appetites." He started walking toward the door and said over his shoulder, "Would anyone care for anything?"

"Think I'll come with you, Marcel," said Josiah, scurrying to join him, "Any chance to get a look around." Which, I assumed gloomily, would mean a chance to sniff around the castle.

When Marcel and Josiah had left the room, Father asked Morgan and me, "What do you both think?"

I shrugged; I could think of no civil way to tell Father that his new son was a jerk and possibly a dangerous fool. I'd have to tolerate him, but I hoped he would not be staying in Arden. Of course it was possible that he would learn some manners once he'd been away from his Shadow. Morgan looked at Father apologetically.

Father decided not to ask for specifics, so instead, he told us, "I'll be taking the four of you to Amber in about three weeks time, so you may want to start thinking about what you want to take along. And if you want to know anything in advance of going."

This was an even less welcome topic than my feelings about Josiah, especially the way he phrased his remark: as if it would be a long trip. I sighed and looked back out the window, not wanting to even think about it.

"What is it, Alex?" Father asked behind me.

I turned back around and looked at him anxiously, "We're not going to be in Amber long, are we, sir? But you're not expecting us... expecting me, to return here afterwards? D-do we have to go away after we walk the Pattern?" It sounded as if we did.

"Of course not, Alex," Father said, putting his hand on my shoulder. "I hope that you will continue to spend time in Arden and one day take over from me as defender of the forest.

"Morgan," and he turned to nod and smile at Morgan, "is no doubt better suited to a place at court and may well want to travel. And Marcel has always been something of a mystery to me." He looked a little sad, "I think I have failed him as a father somewhere."

"Thank you, sir." I felt enormously relieved.

Morgan returned Father's smile. "Yes, Father. Now that I have seen, well, what I have seen, I think I might like to see what I can do to counter what's been happening in Finndelaine, and I think the ability to... travel, might be among the best ways of accomplishing this." He added, "I think perhaps that Marcel is a mystery to himself as well. I wouldn't fault yourself. He just gets a thrill out of behaving, well, outrageously and irreverently. I just hope he learns a little caution one of these millenia."

I didn't intend to hold my breath waiting for Marcel to learn caution. I assured Father grimly, "I don't think Marcel is supposed to make sense, sir." Thinking back on what Father had said, I asked, "But why would you leave Arden, Father?"

Father smiled again, "I meant when I died, son. None of us will be here forever."

My heart sank at this fault and I didn't know what to say.

Morgan tried to reassure me about what would happen after we went to Amber, "I wouldn't worry too much about what's about to happen. Remember the Trumps... they're the next best thing to being there." He turned back to Father. "I'm a little bit worried about Josiah, too. Though not as outrageous as Marcel, he's every bit as irreverent. But since it's in no way comical, it's likely to be taken seriously in Amber, I think. That could get him into trouble."

"Indeed." Father agreed. "But Marcel and Josiah have the three of us to keep a watchful eye on them, haven't they?"

I sighed at that, "I expected that I would have to follow Marcel around. But he's so good-natured, who could really dislike him? I don't know what to do with Josiah. Perhaps Nimue and Alan could help him deal with Uncle Caine. They both seem to know a lot about protocol and are quite reasonable."

Morgan smiled wryly, "Look how wonderfully successful we've been at it so far, with just Marcel to worry about. I guess I'd better sharpen my blade, just in case I have to stand as a second..."

"Do we have to let things go that far?" I asked unhappily. "Can't I just sit on Marcel or something if he exceeds himself? Wouldn't it be better for him to be embarrassed than dead or maimed again?"

Morgan looked thoughtful, "Well, of course we'll *try* not to let things go that far. I'd prefer however, to be ready for a situation that doesn't arise than to be unprepared for a situation that does."

"I would hope that his recent injury has calmed him down a little," Father commented.

I could say nothing to this and sighed again.

"And I've never met Alan," Father added, furrowing his brow. "Doesn't he dislike his father the way Marcel dislikes me?" I tried and failed to imagine him and Uncle Caine sitting and complaining about their offspring like old women.

I protested, "I didn't think Marcel disliked you, sir. I thought he only tries to tease you. As for Alan, I just met him a few months ago in Rebma. He seems very nice and he's a good friend of Nimue's."

"As for Princess Nimue, perhaps she could provide some assistance. I understand she's going to travel to Amber at about the same time we are. Perhaps you could contact her, Alex, and ask her if she would like to ride with us?" Father suggested. "Then she could meet Josiah before everyone else does. How are you and Nimue getting along, by the way?"

His question took me by surprise, "Ah, pretty well, sir. I'll contact her this evening."
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© 1995 Rebecca Teed