From: magsrose@comcast.net   
      
   by MagsRose   
   See chapter 1 for header.   
      
      
   Chapter 6 - 5   
      
   Emma woke up early the next day and checked to see if her father had   
   made it home during the night. His bed was undisturbed. On the drive   
   to the grounds the previous day, he told her to call him in the   
   morning if he wasn't home. She sat down on the edge of his bed and   
   dialed his number from the phone on the nightstand.   
      
   The incessant melody of a cell phone ringing in the van woke up both   
   of the men who were not on watch.   
      
   Langly looked around groggily for the source of the racket. "What is   
   that noise?" He knocked cups and other debris off the dash searching   
   for the phone so that he could throw it out the window. "Make it   
   stop!" he complained loudly.   
      
   It was Byers's turn to do surveillance while the other two slept.   
   Jimmy and Yves were in her car on the other side of the grounds. "It's   
   Frohike's phone. That's his ring." Emma had set her father's cell   
   phone to play 'Scotland the Brave'. She claimed it would make it   
   easier to distinguish his phone from everyone else's. Langly insisted   
   it was just to irritate the hell out of anyone within earshot.   
      
   Frohike finally woke up enough to realize that it was his phone that   
   was ringing. He slapped his hand up onto the dashboard grabbing it   
   from where he had set it down to catch some Zs and hit the button.   
   "This had better be good!"   
      
   "Good morning, sunshine." Emma succeeded in not cracking up over his   
   early morning phone manners.   
      
   A little chagrinned at having barked at her for doing what he had   
   instructed, he calmed down enough to say, "Good morning, honey."   
      
   Langly grabbed the phone from Frohike. "Do you know what time it is?"   
      
   "Yes, I do. Do you?" Emma wasn't put off by Langly's grouchy demeanor   
   either.   
      
   Langly tried to look at his watch but he had knocked his glasses onto   
   the floor of the van while attempting to end the maddening tune the   
   phone was playing. "No, I don't but it better not be as early as I   
   think it is."   
      
   "Langly, give me to my dad and go back to sleep."   
      
   Realizing he wasn't going to get a rise out of her, he handed the   
   phone to Frohike. "Here. She doesn't want to talk to me."   
      
   "I can't say I blame her. You aren't exactly all sweetness and light   
   in the morning."   
      
   "Yeah? Look who's talking."   
      
   While the pair of them decided to take their frustrations out on each   
   other, Byers took the phone and talked to a very patient Emma who sat   
   listening on the line.   
      
   "Hey, Doc, how are you this morning?"   
      
   "Hi, John, I guess I woke them both up."   
      
   "That you did."   
      
   "How did it go last night? Any progress."   
      
   "Not really. It was very quiet here all night. The only thing we saw   
   moving around was the security guards and a couple of drunken Scotsmen   
   who had to be escorted from the premises."   
      
   "Ah, that's too bad." She tried to think of something else to ask him.   
   He wasn't usually so open about an investigation, especially when they   
   were in the middle of it. "Didn't Yves think he would come during the   
   night?"   
      
   "We hoped so but there was no sign of him." Frohike and Langly had   
   wrapped up their little insult session and now Fro wanted to talk to   
   his daughter. "Here's your dad," Byers said and handed the phone back   
   to him.   
      
   "Hi, Dad."   
      
   "Hello, honey. How did you sleep?"   
      
   "Okay, but something woke me up in the middle of the night."   
      
   "What?"   
      
   "It was a light. I saw it a couple of times but I couldn't figure out   
   where it was coming from."   
      
   "Was is in your room or out in the hallway?"   
      
   "I think it was in my room. I could only see it when my eyes were   
   closed but when I opened them it was gone."   
      
   "And you never figured out what it was?"   
      
   "No, it was weird."   
      
   "Sounds like it." This didn't seem to be too serious to Frohike. Maybe   
   she had just imagined it or hadn't been fully awake.   
      
   "How did everything go yesterday?" Emma filled him in on how all three   
   girls did competing. He was glad she seemed satisfied with only one   
   metal. "You didn't give Pat and Rosalie a hard time?"   
      
   "No, I was too busy."   
      
   "What will you be doing today? I know the dance competitions are over."   
      
   "We wanted to go watch the athletic events and maybe go over and see   
   the Highland Cattle. Pat said they have a couple of the white cattle   
   he was talking about."   
      
   "That sounds good. Make sure you help them out in the booth if you can."   
      
   "I will."   
      
   "And stay away…"   
      
   "I know, I know." She cut him off. "Stay away from the painting but it   
   was so cool yesterday when I saw it. It was so huge! I had no idea it   
   was that big." Thinking about the painting reminded Emma of the lights   
   she saw around it. Tiny moving lights. Lights that were not there at   
   first but then they were. Kind of like lights you could see one second   
   and not the next. She wondered, "What if…?"   
      
   "Emma. Emma, are you still there?" Frohike checked the display on his   
   phone to see if they had been cut off. "Emma!"   
      
   "Oh, sorry, Dad. I was off in la-la land."   
      
   "Well, stay with me for just another minute."   
      
   "I'm listening."   
      
   "Good. I don't know what all will be going on today but I will try to   
   come by the booth to see you at um… how about lunchtime? Would you   
   like to have lunch with me?"   
      
   "Sure! That would be great!" Thinking about food made Emma concerned,   
   "Do you guys have anything decent to eat for breakfast?"   
      
   "Sure, yeah, there's some food around here somewhere." Frohike lied.   
      
   "Dad, the peanuts that Langly threw at me the last time we went on a   
   road trip do not count as food."   
      
   "Hey, I think I saw an orange rolling around or maybe it was an apple."   
      
   "Yeah, right! Listen, I'm going to bring breakfast. Just come by the   
   booth and pick it up."   
      
   "Emma, you don't need to do that."   
      
   "Why not? I want to help."   
      
   Langly realized they were talking about food and was now interested.   
   "What is she saying?"   
      
   She could hear Langly in the background. "And you know Langly works   
   better on a full stomach."   
      
   Frohike glanced at his eternally hungry friend. "She wants to bring us   
   breakfast."   
      
   "And you're trying to discourage her? You are an evil man. Byers, help   
   me out here."   
      
   John's stomach was growling. The last food they'd had was scones left   
   over from the previous morning and those had been eaten before   
   midnight. "Something other than fair food would taste good."   
      
   The little breakfast elf on the other end of the phone could hear   
   their comments. "Okay, that's it. I'll bring some stuff with me. Come   
   by when you get a chance and tell Yves and Jimmy, too." Emma   
   remembered she wasn't supposed to talk to Yves. "Or someone can take   
   Yves some food. Whatever works best."   
      
   "We'll see you when you get here."   
      
   "Bye, I love you."   
      
   "I love you, too."   
      
   Langly climbed out of the driver's seat of the VW bus. He stretched   
   popping a few kinked up joints. Frohike climbed out also and headed   
   for a nearby gas station to use the can and buy a round of coffee. He   
   didn't think Emma would bother with that knowing it was readily   
   available from numerous food vendors at the Games.   
      
      
   Frohike returned after awhile with the coffee and they sat in the back   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)