She batted it away and reached for the nearest rock to weigh it down. It was her eighteenth birthday and she refused to let the sudden, cold wind ruin her good mood. The sun was bright and made the air seem almost warm. And she was out of the house. These days there was nothing she liked better. "Where has Jocelyn gotten off to?" Phillipa asked. "He's been gone so long." Leah, who had been rummaging through the picnic basket, turned a sour expression on the other girl. "Keeping a leash on him?" "No," said Phillipa. "He's probably relieving himself," Leah said nonchalantly, enjoying Phillipa's blush. With a smirk Eve rose to her feet, moving several steps away from the blanket. She turned and looked down the beach to the south. Two figures approached. Holding her hat down against the wind, she squinted at them. Both were tall and dressed in dark clothing, though the one on the right, the one walking nearer to the water, was slightly shorter and rather thin. That would be her brother Jocelyn.
