Chapter 209: Ginnie!

Deep in the Quatremane family's back garden, in front of a small, timeworn thatched hut, Leif Quatremane knelt bare-chested. A bundle of thorny switches lay across his back as he performed an old ritual of penance, seeking forgiveness from Terrance Quatremane, the clan's reclusive patriarch. He knelt so long his knees went numb, but he refused to rise. "Come in." Only when a weathered voice called from within and the hut's tightly shut door creaked open did Leif's tense face soften. A look of relief...