章 90: XC. Putrid River.

The girls finished the breakfast of Hot Cakes prepared by Mrs. King, a gesture that Vanilla found irremediably sweet. She felt a little jealous of Cookie. The girl had a caring and supportive mother, even if the girl had spent most of her childhood abroad, surrounded by strangers. Was she even aware of it?

The sound of a motor rumbled as the seconds passed by, sounding muffled by the wooden walls of the King's Manor.

It was a sound that Vanilla was accustomed to; the unmistakable tracking of Carol's Buick series 40.

"I think Carol has arrived," She sighed. "She must be here to pick me up."

"I don't think so," Mrs. King said, brushing her short, brown hair. "She and I had settled that we would go together to the small celebration at the Weil's. Mr. Eric will be celebrating his 46th birthday. We are supposed to go and meet them once Henry returns from the town."

"Daddy is surely taking long," Cookie said.