Summerabbacat

King’s School, Warwick, and according to his Wikipedia listing he left school for a life and sea too @Lynx003.

I think it is time again we readers give a shout out to @MJC who does an excellent job in editing your stories. An error is as rare as an honest politician after he has cast his eye over the draft.

@Mark Ponyboy Peters is it your intention to publish the three parts or acts as one story or will you break it into three separate stories? I am guessing it will be one story as you have not titled this one as Out Of The Blue (Part 1), unless each story will have its own distinct title.

I cannot imagine how awful life must have been for many living under the iron fist of Franco. I was 10 years of age at the time the events in this chapter took place so I doubt I had much knowledge, if any, of this then. I vaguely recall being aware of unrest in Argentina about that time, but for a 10 year old living on the other side of the world in Australia such things were completely foreign by location and foreign by nature. You are doing a fine job again depicting the terror and tension which I daresay was felt by many @Gary L. Blighty's loss has been Spain's gain with you calling Spain home.

I thought you were either an exceptional speed reader or you had some of the sailors at the San Diego Retired Marines Community Centre ghost writing them for you. Now it all makes sense.

It does not matter how much you polish it, you cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. It has long lost its sheen and lustre.

You must have a strong stomach @drpaladin.

I think mine have cracked due to the cold weather.

It pains me to admit it, but I think @weinerdog's ball is the most crystal clear of all. He has a very good strike rate with his speculations. I have previously teased him and referred to him as Madame Zelenska, an Eastern European clairvoyant whose crystal ball, tarot cards, tea leaves, have often been very accurate. He refuses however to provide me with winning Powerball numbers.

I worship the great god Bassey and goddesses Agnetha, Frida, Donna, Kylie, Shirley, Ava, Kiki, Zelda, Missy etc (you get the picture). But do you think I can get a tax exemption for my religion? Not on your sweet life. If you answered all of our questions @Mark Ponyboy Peters there would be no Mystery to this story at all. This way it can retain a little Mystery, unless @weinerdog's crystal ball reveals all.

It was an American TV show which aired between 2001 and 2005. It is set in a funeral home run by two brothers whose father has died unexpectedly. I only ever saw a few episodes and thought it was excellent. It may not have had any graphic scenes so I may be doing it a disservice. The main reason I watched it was that it starred Rachel Griffiths, an outstanding Aussie actress who was in the fabulous 1994 Aussie movie, Muriel's Wedding, and another rather good American TV show, Brothers & Sisters, which I saw a few episodes of.

I guess Six Feet Under would have held little interest for you then @Tris.

Self-centred bitch. When Jacques, her equally self-centred boyfriend tires of her vendetta against Martin and dumps her for a woman Maria's age, she will find herself without a friend. Perhaps she will reach out to Amelia. LOL.

Fuck, how embarrassing. That is like saying Frida was married to Bjorn and Agnetha to Benny. I think I just got an F for that comment.

Me either, but I have friends who have acquired it.

The male ego can be a "delicate" thing at times @Paladin, although both Justin and Lachlan appear quite secure in their relationships with Benjamin and Maria, at least for now.

She is nothing if not persistent @Paladin. A bit like gonorrhoea.

What a devastatingly sad chapter @mastershakeme. Cole's "let down" of Owen whilst perfectly reasonable and understandable was very disappointing, but on a positive note it means he is still available @drsawzall and @Tris. Thankfully there are people like Eric who have a passion for working with dead people, although there was something a little disturbing about how excited he became when talking about doing their makeup. I had to laugh when he talked about the cosmetic work required to restore some to their natural and most presentable self. I imagine he will be having to do less and less of this work in time to come as more of the dead will already have had at least some cosmetic refreshment whilst still alive. I wonder if Theo felt a certain kinship with Owen?

She seemingly has diminishing respect for them too @Paladin, and consequently they for her. It will be interesting to observe her parents at Maria and Benjamin's birthday party. Is she a product of her upbringing or is her selfishness, nastiness and general unpleasantness not indicative of how she was raised? Martin said nothing negative about them when he was challenging Benjamin's decision to not attend his party, suggesting perhaps they are nothing like their daughter.

"By Tuesday of the second week, the English contingent had completed all they had flown to Australia to do and were ready to return home. Bertrand offered Carol passage to Adelaide on the company jet their way back to London. Of course she accepted." Bertrand certainly knows how to woo a woman in style. I wonder if he will be paying further visits to Adelaide in the not too distant future, or perhaps extending an invitation to Carol to visit him in the UK. She won't ever have to worry about flying Economy. Maria's "big" reveal was somewhat of an anti-climax. She is not pregnant and she and Lachlan are not getting married. What a sensible young couple, and yet Natasha spat the dummy. What is her objection to the arrangement I wonder. Is it because they will be "living in sin", and if so, is she having sex with her boyfriend or are they just engaging in heavy petting? Hypocritical bitch much Natasha? Although it was not stated, I got the distinct impression Lachlan's parents, Shane and Lisa, do not care for Natasha. I have to wonder why, LOL. Perhaps she has been rude to them and/or to Lachlan. It would certainly not be out of character if she has been. I assume the Australian security company Bertrand intends to buy is KYS Security. Something akin to six degrees of separation one might say, LOL. If it is, Martin will have a first hand experience in dealing with one of their subcontractors. Although Benjamin joked about dumping Justin for someone with more money, it did raise a serious point I think. A substantial increase in the wealth of Benjamin and Maria could challenge their relationships with Justin and Lachlan. The saving grace is perhaps that the relationships have been well established before either Benjamin or Maria will reap the benefit of their wealth. It may still cause issues though, particularly if either Benjamin or Maria become ostentatious. They will I believe have to remain vigilant with their expenditure, especially if they start spending big on their partners. Then again, I may be being overly cautious. Another very enjoyable chapter @Paladin. I wouldn't mind some of Lisa's apple crumble with ice cream. I also enjoy rhubarb and apple crumble, and blueberries and apple crumble.

We call them "happy clappers" in Australia @CincyKris, akin to Pentecostals if my understanding of Pentecostals is correct.

Now that Tony and Aaron own Avalon (at least I think they do) perhaps @Mark Ponyboy Peters could arrange for them to invite you for a visit @Charles26. If I remember correctly Avalon is a large home so there should be enough room.

As many of "the faithful" (no pun intended) have stated @Mark Ponyboy Peters, the prayer offered by Levi at the dinner table was beautiful in its simplicity, and its heartfelt expression of gratitude and dare I say it yet, love. The clincher for me was "Oh, and thank You for Luke . . . for showing me that it would take time to understand everything." This statement and his subsequent behaviour indicate that whilst Levi may still have doubts about Matt and Luke's relationship because of what he has been taught, he is beginning to question the veracity of those teachings based on his observations and experiences with Matt and his extended family. Matt's plea that Levi open his mind and question his beliefs has seemingly not fallen on deaf ears. I must say Mark, Levi's prayer was quite possibly one of the most Christian-observant statements I have read in a very long time. Levi's character growth in this chapter was extraordinary, but not so much that it was unbelievable. I think his prayer and his rejoicing in the beauty of Thompsonville augur well for his future with Matt and Luke and the rest of the guys.

Initially Levi will largely be living amongst gay men on a daily basis, with regular visits from Tony and Aaron and Scott and Justin I assume. This may be a little overwhelming for Levi to begin with, such that I wonder if a visit from Samantha and Ben and their twin boys and daughter might be on the cards. The boys would be somewhere near Levi's age I imagine and could become friends with him. A visit from them would further demonstrate to Levi that gay men are not all that different, they have straight friends with children and all seem to get along without any reservations. I also think a visit and soon, to the beloved Mrs Hamilton would be a good idea. She could recount to Levi when she first met Matt and Luke and how much she has come to admire them in the intervening years.

I don't think @Mark Ponyboy Peters has detailed Levi's educational background @weinerdog, but I assume he went to a Catholic School attached to the Church he attended, as Father Michael seemed to know him quite well when Levi visited to chat to him after Julie's death. Levi's understanding of the joke surprised me greatly. He is clearly an intelligent and observant teenager, perhaps moreso than his peers because he has had to entertain himself without the aid of a mobile phone and/or computer/laptop and/or video games, and grow up fast to look after his mother, particularly as her health declined.