Summerabbacat

Bravo to Manuel for having the courage to follow his convictions. Vickie was a monster. She may have been lonely, but that is no excuse for how she treated her fellow residents of Grey Harbour. I hope Caleb got over his feelings of guilt that he should have been a better friend to her. He owed her nothing. A couple of things puzzled me about the epilogue @Topher Lydon. **Diana Holloway** was found guilty of medical abuse and obstruction of justice. She was sentenced to ten years. She's never met Grace Holloway. She never will. I assume this means she never met her daughter again after being sentenced. I am very pleased about this, but somewhat miffed she got off so lightly, particularly when you compare her sentence of 10 years to the 20 years sentence Maria Herrera received. I assume her biological father got custody of her. **Maria Herrera** is serving twenty years. She sends Chloe letters. Chloe doesn't read them. She sends them back unopened with *Return to Sender* written in careful handwriting. It's the only thing Chloe has ever sent to anyone in Grey Harbor. I am not quite sure how old Chloe when she having sex with Ms Herrera was but thought she was probably 16. The relationship she had with Ms Herrera was consensual, in fact she appeared to be the aggressor more so than Ms Herrera. As for her returning Ms Herrera's letters, this does not surprise. She, Chloe, was a spoilt selfish bitch who just took, took, took. Admittedly Ms Herrera should not have had a relationship with her, but I think she got a raw deal, especially when compared to Diana Holloway's sentence. I think Isaac and Daune got raw deals too, and I am uncertain what they actually did which was so wrong it warranted detention. A very enjoyable story which held my interest throughout. I must say Grey Harbour itself took on a persona, unforgiving, frigid, bleak and mind-numbingly dull. Given its climate I am surprised there were not more murders. Its weather made Merrickville appear positively tropical.

Burnt orange in colour with long wheat stalks (?) dyed emerald green, fuchsia, electric blue and fluoro purple sweeping out of it in all directions at least 1 metre in length. Rose petals, gardenia-scented candles, lime-scented sheets, vanilla-flavoured lube, and the pièce de résistance, Donna Summer’s album version of Love To Love You Baby, all 16 minutes and 47 glorious orgasmic seconds on the turntable, on repeat.

You are too kind @Vcs. Billy Porter is gorgeous. Nobody rocks a hat like he does. Cher's mother remained ageless until her death at age 96. I think young Cher at the age of 80 may have had a little cosmetic refreshment over the years. I loved Twin Peaks and the soundtrack album was superb; one of the biggest selling albums of the year in Australia in 1991, and Falling was a massive hit too. "The two young men cuddled atop the large, soft feather bed; quiet remained until the sound of Shir knocking lightly at the door could be heard. Only loud enough so she would hear, Jake called, “We’re coming, Shir. Thank you.” I think the boys "enjoyed" themselves @Vcs

I was wondering to whom the 'suicide' tag was applicable; it did not occur to me it might be Vickie. I assumed it was for Mark Park after the last chapter, and I guess it may still apply to him too. I feel as if I should have some sympathy for Vickie, but I don't. She was a horrible person who made the lives of any number of people hell. I think the question is can they by bothered to investigate any further now they think they have found their man. Caleb may save the day with more of his memory returning. I won't be upset if his mother ends up as a corpse either.

And Casey seriously short of any balls, given he does nothing to challenge said friends behaving like Neanderthals towards Levi.

Jake's beautiful black stallion, Midnight. I must confess I wouldn't mind riding Orville's stallion. Neigh.

The ambience, title and lyrics of this gorgeous song from Twin Peaks are apropos for this beautifully written chapter @Vcs.

This innocent comment from Mannly had me in stitches: "Yes, ma'am." Mannly grinned. “Can I ask you something?” “Of course, Cher, what’s up?” “Well, I’m just curious: why do you call me Cher? The only person I’ve ever heard of with that name is the lady who was in that old group my mom used to listen to, Sonny and Cher. Isn’t she tall with long black hair? I don’t look anything like her, and I’m certainly no female.” The Cher would be horrified; she would have Mannly tied and bound for using such an obscenity. Old, that word is not in Cher's vocabulary. She did look gorgeous in her 20's with long black hair.

Mannly and Jake are set to have their first date, but Mannly is worried about what to wear so he does not embarrass Jake. The age old worry of many straight, gay or anything in between men and women or anything in between when going out on a date, especially a first date. "Suddenly, he heard Jake calling to him from outside, “Hey, Little Man, come out, will you?” Looking somewhat confused and to no small degree curious, he excused himself and stepped out on the porch. “Good morning, Mannly. There’s someone here who’s been anxious to meet you... " I wonder if Jake has thought ahead and arranged for someone to attend the ranch with clothes for Mannly, especially for a first date. I hope its Billy Porter as he will have Mannly dressed to the nines and looking fabulous. Montana will not know what has hit it.

A @Summerabbacat saying - if patience is a virtue then vice is its just reward.

Bajungas? I had not heard that one before @weinerdog.

I used that word once in a comment @drsawzall when naming a character from the Australian TV show Prisoner. She was an officer of the prison not a prisoner, a nasty piece whose nickname was Vinegar T..s. @drpaladin had to “scold” me on that occasion too.

It seems Levi and Matt have developed, or are well on the way to developing, a father/son relationship to make "our Kylie" proud @Mark Ponyboy Peters.

As a number of my fellow readers have commented, Levi found himself in a somewhat awkward situation with Tim and Guy in this chapter, which ultimately resulted in a warmer and more companionable friendship between the three. A natural progression of the relationship between Levi and all the members of Matt and Luke's tribe, will bear more fruit for Levi as his life progresses. I believe all 6 of the tribe have Levi's back and would go out on a limb to help him. It was pleasing to observe Levi forming a relationship with Luke's parents too, one which made him feel as if he has two sets of grandparents now. As a number of my fellow readers have also commented, it may serve Levi well to reconnect with Father Costas. My attitude to such a connection would usually be more like Matt's i.e. sceptical or even hostile if he was of the fundamentalist end of religious beliefs, but Father Costas does appear to have an enquiring mind, in fact the fact he has a mind which is prepared to use for for something other than merely naming the books of the bible chronologically, would be a miracle in some quarters.

Riley and Jake. Power bottoms? Future internet stars for Sean Cody, Next Door Buddies or Thompsonville Twinks? I assume they are a similar age to Levi i.e. 15 years of age. Are they really that unaware of how upsetting their comments and questions to Levi about his dads' sex lives were? I suppose their comments were less hostile than those whose constant taunts of Levi being a hypocrite because he lives at the Gay House with those sinners were. In all, I think Levi handled the taunts exceedingly well, rarely showing any display of emotion, until such time as he let his guard down with Matt. We are not talking intellectual giants here @weinerdog. Many of those making these comments may not even know the true meaning of the word hypocrite. Once one person has levelled the accusation, the rest of the sheep will follow. Baaaaa. What little comprehension some of them likely have is flooded with testosterone or oestrogen or perhaps both, making them foam at the mouth and froth at the loins, or is it froth at the mouth and foam at the loins. Whatever the discharge, it may make for a sticky situation which does little to stimulate intellectual capacity. Aarrgghh show us ya pink bits, bitch!

Elvis? The One-Armed Man? Killer BOB? Mark Park? Councilman Archer? Manuel Hernandez? I think it may have been mild mannered Manuel Hernandez, a much underrated reporter. He discovered what a parasite Vickie was, how she was ruining so many lives with her blackmailing scheme, how it was impacting on his beloved son, Billy, and he decided to act. Whomever it was, they deserve a medal. If Mark Park proceeds with his suicide it will raise suspicion he murdered Vickie. Did he commit a crime, seemingly not. It was poor form he left Vickie in the car with her dead mother, but that was not illegal. Highly suspenseful @Topher Lydon aka René Poirot, great grandson of Hercule.

Not so. Only twice for that “offence”. Once when I used it directly in a comment, and once when I quoted text from the story in which it was used, as part of my comment.

Caleb referred to Grace’s father as her current husband early in the story and @Topher Lydon refers to him as such in his 4th comment above. He is currently off-screen. Maybe he is away on a “business trip” too or bonking Archer’s wife.

All those dead bunnies and squirrels. What a shame they were not members of a certain political party instead. Perhaps this is where Anton von Strassberg obtained his "bunny slippers" @Laura S. Fox.

Worriting. I don't think there have been as many Hugillisms in this story as prior ones @Robert Hugill. I can only recall owt, nowt, summat, worriting and one of your old faithfuls, anyroad. Worriting, what a delightful word. Perhaps that can be your next successful venture Robert, Robert Hugill's Guide To Hugillisms - Welcome To The Wonderful World Of Regional Language. Another possible venture, your own boy band, Neil James & The Naked Bums, with their new single Do The Jockstrap, "inspired" by The Fatback Band classic (Are You Ready) Do The Bus Stop, with equally "challenging" lyrics: Jockstrap, jockstrap, are you ready to do the jockstrap Not showing at the front, but showing at the back Front, back, get back Are you ready, to show the butt crack As you can see I am in a "silly" mood @Robert Hugill, brought on by this absolutely delightful chapter. Glorious, worth its weight in disco classics, some of them which @Gary L may have stored in his sister's home in Blighty.

I don't like the word slut as a rule, but on this occasion I think the word slut, as used by @drpaladin in previous chapter comments to describe Diana Holloway, is warranted. Personally, I don't think the word slut is derogatory enough, the only word which accurately describes her is the "c" word which I am forbidden from using (I restrained myself @drpaladin so that you did not have to remove or edit my comment). Diana is so much more evil than what I could have imagined. I am puzzled @Topher Lydon why Diana has retained Holloway as her family name. I assume from comments made by Richard Holloway she divorced him. She is now married to Grace's father who I assume would not be pleased she has retained his predecessor's family name, unless she has fooled him too with a web of deceit. It is an aside, but I hope someone involved in this exposure of Diana informs Grace's father of what Diana has been doing to Caleb so that he may file for sole custody of Grace. Diana should not be allowed any further contact with Grace as she is a totally unfit parent. Mark Park. LOL. His parents should have been shot for saddling him with this horror. I wonder if he was married and was stepping out on his spouse with Margaret Morrison and was in the car with her, as either a passenger or the driver, when it crashed and she was killed. I think he has emerged as the person with the strongest motive to have killed Vickie Morrison, which I still think was a community service. Marcus Webb, a lawyer with a moral compass and a conscience. What an extraordinary imagination you have @Topher Lydon.

I doubt it will be pretty @mayday. "Stop this tomfoolery at once Owen". "After all we have done for you Owen, how could you do this to me?" "But Margot, she is a woman, at least I think she is, and she is wearing no make-up and that hideous dark red dress". "No daughter of mine is going to be a dyke. It's all that boy's influence isn't it. I knew he was no good."

From the start of this story I had an underlying fear Ryder may suffer the same fate as Bobby in one of the greatest "girl group" songs of all time, Leader Of The Pack. When Ryder did not show up by the scheduled time I could feel my blood pressure beginning to rise, with The Shangri-Las singing in the background Leader of the pack now he's gone and the sound of the motorcycle crash which killed Bobby on repeat. The moment Owen heard the rumble of Ryder's motorcycle was a joyous moment not only for him, but for moi too. Jules showed up in an apparently totally "unsuitable" dark red dress and Ryder in a grease-stained pale blue button down shirt. They could not have chosen more appropriate attire, unless Ryder had dressed in the apparently totally "unsuitable" dark red dress and Jules in the grease-stained pale blue button down shirt. Now that would have been an even bigger hoot. The pinnacle of this chapter was when Aunt Beth walked past all the Donnellys and the Brennans and stated "it's about time Owen" before embracing him. She could not have chosen a better 'fuck you' to the Donnellys and the Brennans than this act of defiance. If any of them dare to challenge her for this they had better be prepared for "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned". Cher/Bette Midler/Madonna/Lady Gaga/Linda Ronstadt all rolled into one at an anti-clown rally. Magnifique @mastershakeme.

There is never a shortage of stupidity in our species @sandeman.

Mmmm. A very interesting speculation @dboggs9700 and one not without merit. I imagine Dixie Mae, Shayna and the three men who assaulted Mannly are not the only homophobes in this neck of the woods. They may have some other kind of affiliation through which they learned of their common ground on LGBTQI folks e.g. members of the NRA or of that political party which shall remain unnamed. I hope for all the residents of the Two Spirit Horse Ranch your speculation is unequivocally wrong.