Cally woke early despite the long night. The sky was barely turning the sky a pearly white when she walked downstairs and entered Marcus" office s.p.a.ces. Already there was a beehive of activity. Some of the hundreds of visitors were leaving in the next couple of days. Dozens and dozens more wanted new doc.u.ments and other official paperwork. Clan Home was the best place in the world for fake doc.u.ments. Where else could a 200 year old wolf get a reasonable driver"s license for Oshkosh, Wisconsin? She instantly caused a stir. Who didn"t know who and what she was by now?Cally looked around and walked to the nearest person. "Excuse me, who would be best to handle new doc.u.ments for me and my 2 new wolves? I am in no rush but we will need to get it taken care of." Josie Walker looked up and was startled to see THE VIP in front of her. "Umm, uh, any of us can help you." "Okay, cool. The girls and I will give y"all a few days for everything to calm down and come back to see you." Cally looked at the nameplate on the desk, "Josie. Is Marcus in yet?" "Sure we don"t think he ever leaves."
Cally walked into Marcus" office and casually sat in the visitors chair. Marcus was reading emails on his computer and said, "Give me a minute." Cally crossed her legs under her and closely watched Marcus as he dealt with his duties. Marcus finally looked up and asked, "Cally is there anything I can help you with this morning?" "Nope." He sat back in his chair and looked at the fresh pretty face before him. "So, you came to see me because?"
"I just wanted to see you." Cally tilted her head to the side. He did indeed look fine this morning. Marcus probably had a few dozen shirts in various shades of dismal. Black, brown, and grey seemed to be his only choices. Marcus would look fabulous in something that showed off the gold flecks in his eyes. Of course she thought he looked fabulous in or out of clothing. Hmm, head tilted the other way, "out of clothing." "Cally, if you don"t need me for something I really have quite a lot of work to get done." This brought her back to her senses. "Oh, well I figure you will be needing my help in a few minutes."
"And how do you figure that?" Marcus steepled his hands together under his chin as he gave her serious appraisal. Cally smiled and looked at the clock on the wall. As the clock hand struck 7 am, his phone started ringing. Cally smiled even wider. Marcus looked from Cally to the phone and finally answered, "This is Marcus." On the other end a slightly agitated Jean Michel spoke, "Marcus it is very important that I speak to Rebecca Wotan, right away." Voices in the background could be heard correcting him. "Yes, yes, the new one. Cally, I need to speak to her." Jean Michel had dutifully arrived the day before the funeral and delivered his birch tree to guild hall but had not seen Cally. He was anxious in the extreme to discuss the crown his daughter had sent off for appraisal. She must get her willfulness from her Mother"s side.
Marcus looked at the smiling cherry red lips in front of him. He felt at this moment he could bite them. "It"s for you." As he handed over the phone. Cally could hear Jean Michel. She knew who had called. But how did she know he would? "Jean Michel, how are you?" Silence reigned in Rouge Chateau. Jean Michel thought he would have a few minutes to gather his thoughts before speaking to her. A forwarded call, but instead she was beside Marcus when he called. "Umm, Cccally. You received the tree? It was satisfactory?" He stumbled over her name. Nervous much? "Indeed, I have placed it on my balcony until I decide where to plant it in honor of Olen." "Good, très bon! Cally, my daughter tells me we have prepared a surprise for you. Umm, it was originally a surprise for Olen. We took the initiative to send the "Joanna crown" to be cleaned and restored. We have spent alot of monies to take care of this properly and to return to you a perfectly restored crown into your hands." He was starting to ramble and realized and quickly shut up. "This is, acceptable to the Wotan?" He was also lying through his teeth. Catherine had stolen it and he was trying to save them all at this point.
"Why, Jean Michel, how thoughtful. Taking other peoples things and returning them in better condition is of course, kind of, acceptable. When will my treasure be returned?" "Yes, yes, umm I have personally spoken to Sotheby"s several times. They are carefully inspecting the crown as we speak. They were so excited to see such a rare 13th century European crown. They spoke of x-rays and fluorescent things that I don"t understand..." a nervous laugh followed. "It will be a few weeks while they have various experts examine the crown."
"Jean Michel, I expect my things to be returned in the next few months or you will be hard pressed to explain. Do you understand?" And with that she hung up on him. Jean Michel staggered to a chair and sat shaking. His daughter was mystified by her Father"s actions. She had never seen him nervous or upset until this woman appeared. It made no sense at all! Where was her Father, her knight in shining armor to defend her and destroy this evil b.i.t.c.h Cally?