From: magsrose@comcast.net   
      
   by MagsRose   
   See chapter 1 for headers.   
      
      
   Chapter 6 - 7   
      
   At about 12:45, Emma decided to round up the stragglers for the massed   
   bands. Almost everyone had returned to the Scottish Sword and Shield   
   booth by that time, including Monica. Emma thought she'd left when the   
   FBI agent had discovered that her services were no longer needed.   
      
   "You're still here."   
      
   "Sure, I am. There's a lot of stuff going on and I have to admit; I   
   kind of like the guys in their kilts."   
      
   Emma saw an opening and went for it. "Did you know that Agent Doggett   
   has a kilt of his own?"   
      
   "No, I didn't."   
      
   "You should ask him to try it on for you. He's looks really good in it."   
      
   Monica laughed at this suggestion. "I just might have to do that."   
      
   Taking another look around, Emma discovered that the only one missing   
   was Langly. She finally found him but had trouble dragging him away   
   from the genealogy man's computer. He had shown the fellow a few   
   tricks on entering databases that would help with his business. Langly   
   also made a few suggestions on how he could improve the program to   
   make the most of the information that was readily available. This, of   
   course, meant that Langly rewrote the whole thing.   
      
   All the cajoling in the world could not drag the computer god away   
   from an interesting problem. Emma finally resorted to the one thing   
   she knew he could not ignore: a wet finger in his ear. This drove him   
   crazy and his reaction was almost always immediate: to catch her and   
   torment her in a similar fashion.   
      
   They created quite a scene as they entered the main vendor hall: a   
   young girl in plaid shorts being chased by a tall man dressed for   
   battle, his long blond hair flying out behind him. Frohike heard them   
   coming long before he saw them. Emma laughing and squealing and Langly   
   telling her to stop. "What on earth did she do to piss him off this   
   time?" Stepping outside the booth, he waited for them.   
      
   Emma ran up and hid behind her father using him as a shield to keep   
   Langly from grabbing her. Now Frohike was getting angry. "That's   
   enough! Knock it off, both of you!" He lowered his voice realizing he   
   was making as big a scene as they were. "It's bad enough when you do   
   this at the warehouse, but in public it's embarrassing."   
      
   "But, but…she knows I hate that!" Langly sputtered. Emma popped her   
   head out from behind Frohike and stuck her tongue out at her pursuer.   
   Langly made another grab for her but she moved too fast and he nearly   
   knocked Frohike over in his attempt.   
      
   Putting one hand out to hold Langly off, Frohike used the other to   
   grab his daughter and pull her out from behind his back. Langly tried   
   again to get at her but Fro's well-placed hand kept him at bay.   
      
   "Just wait!" He turned to Emma, "What did you do?"   
      
   "He wouldn't listen to me!"   
      
   "That's not what I asked."   
      
   "But he promised to…"   
      
   "What did you do?"   
      
   "But, Dad, he…"   
      
   "Answer the question."   
      
   Heaving a big sigh, Emma finally did as she was told. "I licked my   
   finger and stuck it in his ear."   
      
   Laughter emanating from the Sword and Shield booth told Emma that she   
   had an audience. She ducked her head and smiled privately to herself.   
   It wasn't private enough though. Frohike saw her reaction to the   
   laughter and gave her arm a quick shake to bring her attention back to   
   him and Langly.   
      
   "This isn't funny."   
      
   "Sorry."   
      
   "Now, you know he hates that."   
      
   "Yes, I do."   
      
   "Then why do you keep doing it?"   
      
   "It's the only way I can get his attention."   
      
   Langly had heard enough. "She just does it to make me angry."   
      
   "Well, maybe if you could think about more than one thing at a time…"   
   Emma retorted.   
      
   "Yeah, right now I'm thinking of at least 5 ways to make your life   
   miserable."   
      
   Frohike pushed them farther apart. "Stop it." To Emma he said, "You,   
   go sit in the booth. I'll talk to you in a minute." He let her go and   
   watched her walk behind the counter and find a place to sit. To Langly   
   he said, "You're the adult here. You can't let her get to you like that."   
      
   "I don't let her, she just does."   
      
   "Langly, come on, man, think about it."   
      
   "Yeah, well, you're right but…"   
      
   Emma watched them talking. She couldn't hear what they were saying but   
   she could tell that Langly was still not happy. She started to feel   
   bad for making him angry. Her impatience with his distractedness   
   really wasn't fair. He was always ready to help her when she needed it   
   and explained things in great detail when she got confused. Now she   
   was feeling pretty rotten. Langly was here because it was important to   
   her. He had found something that really interested him and she had   
   thought only of herself.   
      
   Deciding to disobey her father, she got up and went back out to them.   
   Langly saw her coming and stopped talking. Frohike turned to see what   
   had captured the other man's attention.   
      
   "Emma, I told you to go wait for me."   
      
   "Can I talk to Langly? Please?"   
      
   Frohike looked from Langly to Emma. "All right, see if you can work it   
   out but no more running around and screaming. That goes double for   
   you, missy!" Smiling at his joke she grabbed his finger, which was   
   barely an inch from her nose.   
      
   "Okay, Dad."   
      
   She got serious again as he walked off. "I'm sorry, Langly. I just   
   really wanted you to see the massed bands. I know how you get around   
   computers and stuff but I know you'll like this."   
      
   "I caught part of it yesterday. It was pretty cool."   
      
   "It really is." She was encouraged. "Do you forgive me?"   
      
   Langly paused and considered her. "On one condition."   
      
   "What's that?" She asked dreading the answer.   
      
   "I get to do the same thing to you."   
      
   "What do you mean?"   
      
   He stuck one finger in his mouth, pulled it out and showed it to her.   
      
   "Oh, come on!"   
      
   "That's my condition."   
      
   "All right, whatever, but hurry up." She closed her eyes tightly and   
   waited. Nothing happened. She opened one eye and peeked at him. He was   
   just standing there. She opened her other eye. "Well, what are you   
   waiting for?"   
      
   "I didn't say I wanted to do it right now. The effect is not the same   
   when you expect it."   
      
   "Huh?"   
      
   "It has to be a surprise."   
      
   "Just do it now." She swept her hair away from one ear.   
      
   "Nope, I'm going to get some lunch. I'll be back in time for your   
   concert." He walked off.   
      
   "It's not a concert, it's called the massed bands." She yelled at his   
   retreating back. She turned back to the booth, muttering to herself,   
   "And he says I'm a brat."   
      
      
   Leaving a bare bones staff in the booth, everyone else went out to   
   find seats in the bleachers for the show. Cutting it that close they   
   had a hard time finding enough seats together for the whole group.   
   They finally found a spot way up at the top near the end of the stand.   
   Feeling a little like a traitor for ditching him earlier, Emma chose   
   to sit next to her dad making sure she was out of Langly's reach.   
      
   The marching bands were magnificent, the music was loud, and the drums   
   reverberated off the walls of the buildings surrounding the parade   
   ground. There were long speeches, of course, but before the pipe bands   
   performed their final piece, everyone was invited to join hands and   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)