Date: Mon, 29 Jan 1996 04:47:02 -0600 Reply-To: Ninianne Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Ninianne Subject: Daddy's Little Girl part 20/21 Be patient, the end IS comming! I just wonder just how long I should leave you guys hanging, days, weeks??? For past installments see http://www.vuse.vanderbilt.edu/~copelasa/ Samantha Daddy's Little Girl Samantha Copeland copelasa@vuse.vanderbilt.edu ******Part 20****** The new day was rather like the previous one. There was training, with an almost tournament like feel to it. Before the afternoon arrived each Immortal fought against each other Immortal. Duncan was quite a bit better than everyone else, Andrew was better than Chris or Riche, but since he was rusty, it wasn't by as much a margin as he would have liked. Chris and Richie were about even. She had height as an advantage, and a little weight, enabling a little more power to her moves, Richie had the advantage of a full year of training, Chris had three months. But a natural sense of timing that Richie lacked, narrowed the gap in experience. By the early afternoon, Mac decided that it was time to leave. They packed up their gear and were gone within an hour. Chris decided that she wanted to hang out with Grace rather than heading back to Duncan's loft. She just didn't feel like putting up with the constant presence of other Immortals right then. Mac and Richie seemed like nice guys to her, and then there was her dad. She had always had a little bit of a rocky relationship with him, a relationship that was beginning to smooth out, but she just didn't want to deal with it, at least not yet. When she was little, she always felt like he was over protective, and now she was begining to understand why. Right now she'd rather relax with a friend that she wouldn't have to worry about a whole lot. Maybe later she'd hook back up with the guys, but right now she wanted to spend a little time with her friend. The two of them managed to catch the last matinee showing of a movie that they had been wanting to see for the last few weeks, afterwards they went back to Grace's apartment and ordered a pizza for dinner. After the evening of fun, Chris finaly decided that she should probably head back to Mac's place and find out just what the situation was. They, or at least her dad, were probably wondering where she was and if she was O.K. Grace drove her over to the dojo, but declined the invitation to come up. As Chris made her way up the stairs, she sensed the others, * I don't think I'm ever going to get used to this, I still can't quite believe it, but it's the only 'logical' explanation for what is going on. Ha! As if logic makes sense at this point. * Richie was the one that admitted her. It seemed that since Duncan had an old friend to hold his attention, Richie had been left out a little. Andrew and Duncan were carrying on a chess game, and Richie was left to his own devices, basically just taking up space and watching their game. It had been a while since Mac had hit Richie really hard with training, he was tired but he didn't really mind, it gave him a better chance. When Chris had arrived, Duncan merely nodded his head at Richie and then returned his attention to the game. Several years with Darius had created quite a chess player out of Andrew Balfour. Duncan seldom lost to anyone in chess, and Andrew was coming just a little too close for Duncan's comfort. Neither Chris or Richie really wanted to stick around and just watch two old guys play chess, so they thought of something to do instead. "Hey Mac, do you mind if I show Chris around the place?" Mac looked up, "It's fine with me, how about you Andrew?" "Just don't get any ideas, Rich." Andrew joked. "Ha, ha, very funny Dad," Chris said as she crossed her arms and cocked her head at her father. Richie and Chris rode the elevator down one level. Richie decided that a floor by floor tour was in order. This was the same floor that she and Duncan had gotten the fencing stuff from a few days earlier. Richie was pointing out a few items of interest, several pieces of antique furniture that had not been unloaded from when he had sold the store. As Richie was directing her attention to yet another antique wardrobe, something that Chris would normally have been paying close attention to as she really liked antique pieces, _ it _ caught her eye. The familiar shape made her take her breath in slightly. She hadn't expected to find one here, and since she had, she didn't want it to pass this opportunity up. She raised the quilt and dust cloth that covered it. She raised the key cover, this was quality, that is was an antique was obvious, it had ivory keys that begged to be played. She looked around for the bench, it was over to the side, under another dust cover. Even though she knew several pieces, she checked the hollow for some additional music, she found a few selections, each with the name 'Tessa Noel' written in a very beautiful feminine hand in the upper right corner of each page. "Was this Tessa's piano?" "Yeah, She didn't play a lot, but when she did, even I, would listen. A couple of times she caught me, and would joke about it. She even tried to teach me a little, but I never got past "Chopsticks" it was a bit of a let down for her that I never got past that. She said I was smart enough that if I wanted, I could get real good, but since I never practiced, well, I never got much further. Mac doesn't play and didn't have the heart to sell it along with most of her things. The piano has a little bit of her in it, so did her art, so he kept what little art she hadn't sold and the piano, everything else went." Glancing nervously upward, "Would he mind if I played it?" Richie hesitated a moment, thinking that it would be good for someone to play it, Duncan himself had said that he'd mourned Tessa long enough, "I don't think so. It's been a year, and besides, I doubt he'll hear you from down here." That was enough encouragement for Chris. She pulled up the bench and started out with a few simple minuetes, it had been awhile, and it was evident from the occasional missed keys. After several minutes, she began to launch into more ambitious pieces. She played through short version of "Fur Elise". After discovering some sheet music for "Moonlight Sonata" she began to play that. She was a bit rusty on it, she'd never memorized it so she played it haltingly, stopping every few measures to figure out just what chord changes were along the way. After about one page of frustration, she decided to play one of her improvisational types. Richie was just listening, glad that someone was playing Tess's piano and that it wasn't going to waste anymore. Chris was playing a sweet melody, weaving in and out, it had a simple outlined chord structure for the bass, the right hand played a melody. Music held something special for Chris, it allowed her to get out a lot of things that had been getting pent-up inside. She didn't even notice when the elevator stopped and Mac and Andrew got out. "Mac, I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd mind...," Richie began apologizing. Mac raised a hand to quiet him. "It's O.K. Rich. It's about time someone played it again." "She's always been a bit on the musical side. She would borrow instruments from friends and within days, could play things quite recognizably on them. I half expected her to be a music major, regardless of how much time she spent on her computer, at least she didn't give the music up, that would have been almost criminal," Andrew added. Chris played for a few minutes longer, then, just as quickly as the mood had come, it left. She didn't have anything more to play. She stood up and carefully re-covered the piano and bench. Because of all the boxes, she wouldn't have been able to see anyone but Richie even if she had looked up. She froze as she turned a corner and saw Mac and her dad standing next to Richie. "I hope you don't mind, I just couldn't let it just sit there." " I don't mind, it was nice to hear someone play it again." Duncan smiled a little, "Sometimes I wish I knew how, it would help me to remember Tess. She loved that piano, sometimes I wonder if I should have put it down here or upstairs where it can be enjoyed." "Why don't you then, Mac?" Richie asked. "When I'm ready, I will," was all Duncan had to say on the subject. The conversation died off after that. The four of them got into the elevator and went back upstairs. It was getting late and they were all tired. After a few showers everyone would be ready to turn in for the night. While Richie was in the shower, Andrew patrolled the loft. He hadn't gotten much opportunity to check the place out before the went to the island, and was taking the opportunity. He noticed the book on the desk, and smiled. He picked up the volume and thumbed through it. The old story that had been passed through the family, the story of how his grandfather had gotten in trouble with the British army. Few people knew that it was a true story, it had been passed down in the family, growing just like the legend that it became. Along the way some of the facts had been tampered with, like the dates that were pointed out to the reader in the preface. By the time Robert Louis Stevenson got to it, it was just a fanciful adventure story, meant to entertain. He set the book down, as he did he saw the framed picture on the desk. He picked it up and tilted it toward the kitchen light that was still on, so he could get a better look at the woman in it. "Who's this Duncan?" "That's Tess," he said as he gently removed the framed picture from Andrew's hands. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stir anything up. I do understand though" Andrew offered sympathy as an apology. "I heard about that too, I'm sorry." "Yeah, well, we'll both get through it. We've both been through a lot, this is just another price we pay." Richie emerged from the bathroom, "O.K. who's next?" Chris, grabbed her things and took her shower. After she got out, she realized just how tired she was. She finished getting ready for bed, left the bathroom and went straight to sleep, she didn't even notice when Duncan got into bed a short while later. *** The next morning it was decided that Chris and Andrew would be 'moving out' and returning to Chris's apartment. It was sort of pointless for them to abuse Mac's hospitality. When it was just Chris, there had been a point, but now, Andrew was around and was quite capable taking care of any trouble. The pair left at lunch, loading what they could fit, into the trunk of the Mustang, and the rest into the back seat. They managed to get back to Chris's apartment without incident. While there, Grace phoned. "Hey Chris, are you having a nice visit with your dad?" "Yeah, what's up?" "Well I did some digging, if you get the chance, drop by my uncle Joe's place, I can give you some information while you're there." "I'll see what I can do, but I'll make no promises." "See you then." "Bye." Since there was still time to act on the plans that the two of them had originally made for this week, they went about their schedule as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening. As evening rolled around, their schedule began to thin and they sought new things to do. Chris suggested that they visit 'Joe's'. she thought her father would get a kick out of the live stage, and possibly a little out of shocking good old Joe. At first the reaction her father gave her was one of shock, he wondered just what his 18 year old daughter was doing in a bar. But when he found out about the live stage, it made a lot of sense, especially since her good friend Grace was recommending a family member's establishment, rather than a frequent watering hole. =========================================================================