Olivia's room
Inside this room are several pieces of well-worn furniture, inherited from past occupants: a bed, a long, squat dresser with a slice of mirror hung above it, and a small desk and chair. The rest of the room is decorated in what can best be described as "controlled chaos." Canvases cover most of the wall space, on which have been glued odd assortments of buttons, twine, bits of colored cloth, autumn leaves, pebbles of varying sizes, etc. Some of this "art" represents recognizable figures but most are unlike anything ever seen before. Overflowing bags stuffed with cloth scraps sit near the doorway, while more cloth, bobbins of thread, yarn, and ribbons cover the surface of the desk. Located next the bed is something that might be a nightstand (judging from the trinkets resting on it), but it too is built from a mish-mash of smaller elements, twisting around and around like a corkscrew and then widening and flattening at the top.

It was a quiet evening, more or less, for Olivia. She was soaked when she got home, but she was able to dry off and spend a nice evening making more of her art (or junk, depending on who you ask!). The morning has been equally uneventful, as she had to spend half the day already in the shop. But now she's on break enjoying a nice, quiet, peaceful lunch. Something about this seems wrong, like there's some sort of shoe just waiting to drop…

Olivia munches on her cheese sandwich and thinks to herself, You know, I need to swing by the dam again soon… I should find out if there's any more news on Gunther's case. Then she sighs, shakes her head, and takes a gulp of lemonade. Poor kid. I hope he's going to be all right. Well, as all right as someone like Gunther can be, anyway!

Someone starts pounding on the door. "Olivia?" calls Amy from outside. "Are you in there?"

Olivia barely even reacts this time, as she's had way too many people trying to break her door down lately. She merely puts down her sandwich, goes over and opens the door for the Kadie girl. "Yes, I'm in here. Is everything all right?"

"That depends," Amelia says, carrying a cloth-wrapped bowl that smells funny. "Gunther is okay, Zahn is nearly dead, I think the gypsies are involved somehow, and I need to know what you and Natasha talked about the other night."

Olivia blinkblinkblinks at Amelia a few times, trying to absorb all this new information. Then she pulls the Kadie girl inside and shuts the door. She indicates the bed, in case Amelia wants to sit, then goes back to her chair, picking up her sandwich again. "I think you'd better start from the beginning," she says in between quick bites. "What's going on now??"

Amelia sits, sets the bowl in her lap, changes her mind and puts it on the night table, then puts it back in her lap again, tail twitching all the while. "Okay, do you remember Natasha's vision about Zahn dying on the dam?" she finally asks.

Olivia takes another gulp of lemonade. "As if I could forget. But yes, I do. Has something like that happened now?"

The Kadie nods. "He was attacked by someone, and nearly beaten to death," she says, shaking her head. "It's still uncertain if he'll pull through. Isolde and Igor are going to be treating him."

Olivia stares. Then she gasps to Amy, "Oh no! I'm so sorry! And did you say… Igor is going to help treat him? Whoo, well, as long as Isolde is also there to watch him. Dunno if I'd want Igor to be the only, er, attending surgeon." Then she shakes herself, knowing she's blathering because of nervousness. She takes a deep breath and tries again. "So, no one saw the attacker?"

"Zahn did, presumably, but he's still unconscious," Amy says. "I just caught a glimpse of someone retreating in a flash of lightning. But I know what kind of person it had to have been: someone tall and very strong. I already have a prime suspect, but… he may also turn out to be another victim too."

Olivia looks grim at this. "Let me guess… the glimpse you got was of some creature that was large and black. Like that person could be a fighter? Or something close to that? And, er… what's this about there being another victim?"

"What I saw wasn't very distinctive at all," Amelia says. "My description is based on what the attacker did to Zahn, and the incidental damage to the dam itself. Not many come close to it – but the first one that does is Bravil, the big Jupani with the gypsies. And when I talked to Natasha, I learned that these attacks happen pretty often. Not at every town they stop at, but at most of them."

Olivia gives Amy a wary look. "But if he's your prime suspect… then you also said he might turn out to be a victim, too. Why is this?"

"Because he might not be in control of himself," Amy says, frowning. "I talked to him. All he remembers about last night is that he had a bad headache and woke up on the floor this morning. I dug a little deeper, and found out he tasted something minty in his stew last night, and dreamed of hearing chimes. I've got some leftovers of his dinner to test later."

Olivia eyes the bowl Amy is carrying around with her. "Ah, so that's what the funny smell is. Right, well, at least that's one avenue to explore. This could mean Bravil is being drugged by someone in his tribe, if it's an almost-regular occurrence. Which brings up some interesting questions… Or that he's lying, if you can't find anything in the food. Or… someone else knows about Natasha's fortune-telling and is trying to use that to his or her advantage." The Skeek taps her fingers on the tabletop for a minute. "You didn't happen to ask if there are people the gypsy tribe keeps running into on their journeys, did you?"

Amy shakes her head. "I hadn't considered that at the time, but when I mentioned the possibility that someone was arranging these attacks specifically to cause trouble for the gypsies Natasha lost her accent and got pretty rattled, I think. I'm going to the Gnarly Tree to check Isolde's herb references, to see if there's something minty that can cause sleepiness or some other effect. Also, I found out that Bravil shares his stew with Natasha sometimes."

Olivia quirks an eyebrow at this. "Lost her accent, eh? She gets more interesting all the time. Y'know, I did try to talk to Natasha about how she got her ability to see into the future, but she got kinda mad at me and wouldn't answer. I dunno if there's anything to her background, but I've got another avenue to explore on that. I'll have to try it and see what happens. Anyway, I just don't understand… if this is an inside job, why would someone of the tribe want to make trouble for the whole group? They're all dependent on each other for their survival. It doesn't make sense."

"I don't think it is someone in the tribe," Amy says. "Otherwise the attacks would have happened more often. Sometimes they happen before they even reach the town." The Kadie fidgets a bit more, then asks, "Does Djivan owe you any favors?"

Olivia grins at Amy. "Well, not exactly, but he may be, er, persuaded to help us. Especially if it might clear up the trouble the tribe's been having. I had thought to ask him about Natasha's background, too. Is that what you were thinking, or is there something else?"

"Well, I'm arranging for dinner for Bravil and Natasha tonight, but this is probably the first time the foretold attack didn't end in death," Amelia explains, "so I can't be sure Bravil's stew won't be tampered with again unless someone watches it when the Jupani is doing something else. Djivan is always just laying around anyway, so having him spy on a pot shouldn't be too taxing, right?"

Olivia manages a small laugh. "I think he would do that. It's not terribly hard work, as you say. And he does like to sneak around." Then she becomes more serious again. "I'm glad you thought to ask all of this and brought it up with me, Amy. Now that we're talking about it, Natasha didn't look so well when I went to see her. She started to say it was from the worry of bad things happening because of her visions, but I wonder if it's something more? Especially now that you tell me she eats with Bravil sometimes."

"If someone from her past is hounding her, then they could be slowly poisoning her or something," Amy agrees, then says in nearly a whisper, "But I still suspect Natasha as well. She could easily be controlling Bravil."

Olivia gets up from her chair and goes over to sit beside Amy on the bed. Very cautiously (in case Amy feels like whacking someone at this point), she puts her arm around the Kadie girl. "You know what? Natasha asked me why I didn't suspect her of wanting to attack Zahn. As she pointed out, she's big and black, too – just like the force she saw going after Zahn in her vision. But I told her that I didn't think it was, simply because I couldn't think of a reason why she would want to hurt him. She doesn't even know him. And again, why would she want to cause so much trouble for the tribe if she is controlling Bravil through herbs or other means? Like I said, they all have to depend on each other for survival." Then she squeezes Amy's shoulders lightly. "I know I'm not much of a professional problem solver, but I'll do all I can to help you find out who did this to Zahn, and why. You're both my friends and I want to help. Okay?"

Amy smiles and hugs Olivia. "It's good having a friend I can trust who isn't caught up in all the trivial stuff normal people are," she tells the Skeek. "I'll probably ask Emmett to keep an eye on who comes and goes in the gypsy camp as well… oh, and when you ask Djivan to watch the pot, remind him to look for avians too. A Korv could just fly over and drop something in after all."

Olivia hugs Amelia back comfortingly. "You're welcome! Anything for true friends – that's what my aunt always says and I think she's right! Anyway, that's not a bad idea, having one of the otters take a snoop around. They're so curious about everything, you know, so this would be a good job for Emmett. And I'll ask Djivan about watching their cookpot – along with a few other things. If he can't help us, then perhaps the winged annoy-, er, I mean Liliana would be agreeable."

Olivia then says, "Now, not to take the focus off poor Zahn too much, but… d'you know how Gunther's trial came out?"

"Oh, they let him off the hook," Amy says. "It was unammamma… it was… everyone agreed he did the right thing, except for Deirdra."

Olivia smiles a little. "Ah, you mean 'unanimous,' I think. Good, I'm glad to hear it! The kid's weird, but he doesn't deserve to be booted from the clan for helping someone!" Under her breath, she mutters, "Thank goodness… that's one less trip there I'll have to make… "

"You don't like going to the dam?" Amelia asks, curious now.

Olivia errrrrs and scratches at one ear. "I wasn't talking about the dam," she says quietly. "I was talking about the place where I could've taken Gunther to stay for a while, if he had been booted out of the Wingnut clan. It's not terrific, but it would've worked for what he needed."

The Kadie's eyebrows arch up now. "Oh, you've got someplace secret then? Or just the home of someone you don't particularly get along with?"

Olivia turns both eyes on Amelia now. "The latter. My parents." Then she vaults from the bed and paces around it. "Sorry – I shouldn't have brought it up. I'm sure you don't want to hear the whole sordid story, right?"

Amy's tail twitches. "Of course I'd like to hear it," she admits, "but probably shouldn't take up much more time… unless it's short?"

Olivia smiles bitterly as she paces. "Well, I can make it short… but you've got to promise to keep it to yourself. It's not something my family wants spread around. I don't know why I should care about that but, well, my aunt wouldn't like it. Family trouble makes for bad business and all that… "

The Kadie makes a sign of crossing her chest with her right hand. "May my tail fall off if I repeat any of it," Amy pledges.

Olivia finally stops pacing and falls onto her back on the bed with a whump. "Right," she says, staring at the ceiling. "Here's the short version: when I was born, I was one of a set of identical twins. My twin didn't make it, though. She died just a few minutes after coming into the world. For some reason, my mother didn't like the fact that one of her children died while the other one lived. It made her resentful and kinda crazy, too. So as soon as I was old enough to be apprenticed, my father made me leave – for the sake of my mother, he said. So she wouldn't have to see me all the time." Her voice hardens as she continues. "So I let them take me to the Weavers' and spread the word that they needed my aunt to do something with me because of all the 'artistic foolishness' I was creating. However, I only went on the condition that my father owed me one heck of a favor somewhere down the road. If Gunther had been kicked out of his clan, staying with them would have been the favor."

"Wow, your mom sounds twigged out enough to be a Kadie," Amy says, and pats Olivia's knee. "Shame about your twin though. I hear the Chalks lose a lot of twins themselves."

Olivia gives Amelia the ghost of a smile. "I wish my mom had hung around the Chalk women more before I was born, then. Maybe things would've turned out differently." She sighs. "So I go back and visit my father for short periods every so often, just to keep up the whole charade. My mother usually goes off to stay with one of her cousins whenever I come, so I won't upset her."

"I imagine your wedding will be awkward then," Amelia commiserates. "I thought I had it bad not having a mother… but having one that doesn't want you around is a lot worse. Are you close to any other older women?"

Olivia brightens a little bit. "My aunt's been really good about the whole thing, actually. To be honest, she's kinda mad at my mom for 'not being happy with the child that she has,' as she put it. She thinks my mom's focusing too much on the dead and not enough on the living. Practical woman, my aunt."

"Ah, good!" Amy says. "I guess Skeeks just aren't as used to mental quirks as Kadies and Lapis are. You all tend to be pretty level-headed, and hardly ever go crazy." After a moment she adds, "And you aren't cruel enough to dress up like a ghost and haunt your mother, either."

Olivia looks at Amy strangely after that last comment but manages to say, "Well, I couldn't do that! I mean, what do ghosts wear, anyways? Black, white, and gray! Boooor-iiiing!"

"Kinda glowing and bluish really," Amy corrects. "The glowing is the important part though."

Olivia now rolls over on her side and asks, "Um, this may sound like a strange question, but – have you seen any ghosts lately? Is that where this is coming from?"

Amelia blinks, then says, "Oh, I guess I forgot to mention that part. See, Zahn's older brother Stephen's ghost kept him from being washed down the Mint River last night. So yeah, I've seen a ghost recently."

Olivia nearly falls off the bed as she scrambles to sit up. "No kidding?? Wow, that's… that's… too spooky for words, actually." She goes on to explain, "When I was talking to Madame Natasha the last time, she mentioned that it's her dealings with the spirit world that give her these visions. So sometimes spirits attached to places or people show her things she might need to know about. Then I just came up with a theory that maybe the reason she's having this vision about Zahn is because his dead brother is trying to intervene on his behalf! Who knew that had some truth to it!"

"Well, the ghost would have known," Amy points out. "He didn't seem to know at the time I met him, because he didn't realize he was even dead at first… but that's normal for ghosts."

Olivia blinkblinkblinks at Amelia again. "So… let me get this straight: you talked to the ghost, too? What else did he say?"

"He felt very cold," Amelia says, thinking back. "And said he was sorry and missed his family. And we talked about his hobbies too."

"Ghosts have hobbies?" Olivia blurts out before she can stop herself. She ahems softly and continues,"Well, as for knowing something beforehand – he must've at least thought there was a good reason for him to appear then, because we don't know of him showing up at any other time! So maybe he had an inkling that something bad was about to take place? Or perhaps other dead members of Zahn's family are involved, too? Whoo, now there's a scary thought! All the dead Kenttenrads showing up at once!"

"Well, yeah, I suppose having a loved one join you in the spirit world would be a big deal," Amelia says, rubbing her cheek. "The sort of thing you take notice of, even before it happens. But the thing that attacked Zahn wasn't a spirit – I'm sure it was physical. I just need to find out if it's Bravil or if it's just making sure Bravil is out cold so he can't interfere with it."

Olivia nods emphatically. "Agreed. Like I said, I'll do what I can to help you find out the truth of this." As she says this last, a loud bell rings through the Weaver's complex, signaling the end of the lunch break. The Skeek hops up from the bed and says, "Looks like I have to get back to work for now! But when the day is over, I'll go and see Djivan about watching the cookpot."

"Thanks Olivia!" Amy says, getting up and giving the Skeek another hug. "Oh, and you'll never guess the most surprising thing that happened last night! Just before he left me to work on the dam, Zahnrad kissed me!"

Olivia hugs back and when she pulls away, wiggles her whiskers at the Kadie girl. "Not that I need all the glorious details, but is he any good?" she asks mischievously.

Amelia thinks. "I guess I was too surprised to notice," she admits…