Eric was slightly puzzled as he walked away from the Stovall home. He was quite eager to talk with Julie more and a part of him was eager to be with her in every possibly well, however, there was something that puzzled him with some of Julie's answers to his questions. She had said her family had swum from Moon Lake to Hawaii in seven hours, which couldn't possibly be right. Moon Lake was in Washington State and was relatively well inland. That would mean, the Stovall family had to swim to the coast before they could even head toward Hawaii. And the city of Honolulu was two-thousand six-hundred eighty-two point four miles from Seattle. Even if the time measured from Seattle to Honolulu was the distance swam over seven hours... that would have meant that they would have to swim at three-hundred eighty-three point two miles per hour non-stop.
That didn't sound right to Eric. He could understand weres being stronger and more powerful than humans and in some cases even stronger than the mundane animals they were based on. Yet, the fastest fish in the sea that he knew of was a species of sailfish that could reach speeds calculated at sixty-eight miles per hour. That was faster than a cheetah, but it was still far slower than the speed needed to swim from Seattle to Honolulu in seven hours. From what he remembered from their time together at Julie's pool party for him and seeing her in her full mer form, Eric could see that Julie was beautiful and graceful, but it didn't look as if it was strong enough to propel her through the water that fast, and given Melissa Stovall's very ample bosom, he also doubted that her body would be streamlined enough to swim at over three hundred miles per hour. He guessed that Julie had meant seven days, not seven hours and had misspoken, which would have given her a speed of around sixteen miles per hour. Though, Eric did guess that she might be able to reach speeds faster than a sailfish, but only over short distances, and that was only over short distances.
"It might be something to experiment with after it happens," Eric thought to himself, "I change... and some weekend, we go up to the lake and test and measure how fast a weremer really is."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Meanwhile, Frances Twist finished her last message of the day, mostly adding in her continued notes on her work with Yvette Smith. While she didn't know what had brought about Yvette's changed opinion or even her changed sexuality, but she did feel she was getting a better look at why Yvette had switched over to William Anderson. She wanted to outdo her mother, who had not had real luck in finding a true bonded mate outside of her brother, she had ultimately begun to leave the adult entertainment/escort business and was looking for someone to actually settle down with. However, her past made it difficult to gain attention from males her own age or even among Moon Lake's older male weres. That made William Anderson a target of convenience and she misinterpreted what love was. The only thing there that she had left to question with regard to William Anderson was what made her become so obsessed with him after he began to reject her, though she still had two sessions to get to that.
"Did you have a good day?" Rudy asked her as she made her way out into the entry room.
Frances nodded to him as he cleaned up his area and made his way to join her. She had made good progress in her day, though the thing that really had her the most curious was the text from Ben that he would be cooking something special because Kenya was coming to dinner. She and Samantha knew that he had found a female friend recently, but they didn't know who she was. Now, they had a name and knew that she was coming to dinner. The meeting would sate both hers and Samantha's curiosity on who Ben's friend was, and that was what her mind was really focused on at the moment.
"Yes," Frances nodded, "I think we're making progress with Jenny... and we have a plan for her to be able to look at her wedding and smile. And I'd think I have a better idea on what got Yvette Smith to choose William Anderson as a target."
Rudy nodded. If he was curious, he didn't show it, though even if he did ask, Frances couldn't reveal any more due to doctor/patient confidentiality. The two of them then made their way out of the clinic. Rudy waved goodbye and made his way toward his old hatchback was parked. Frances turned to see a familiar car pulling up in front of her with Samantha seated behind the wheel. She rolled the window down as she eased the car to a stop and smiled to Frances.
"Hello there, beautiful," Samantha said to her, "Going my way?"
"You know I am," Frances smiled make and moved around the car to sit down in the passenger seat beside Samantha. As she pulled her seat-belt to buckle herself in, she turned to Samantha. "Well... big night tonight."
"Yes..." Samantha nodded, "we get to meet Ben's lady friend... and something tells me she's more than just a pack mate."
She waited to hear the click of Frances's seat-belt before pulling back onto the street and beginning to drive home. Samantha was just as curious about who this mysterious lady friend was as Frances was. In that sense, meeting the young woman was something she eagerly awaited.
"And based on his text we know her name is Kenya," Frances agreed.
They rode along, and as they began to approach their own home, Samantha came up with a comment as she thought over the name.
"The name only makes me more curious," Samantha commented, "I remember welcoming an African American family to Moon Lake over this past summer. The whole family became werepanthers and their daughter was named Kenya."
"You don't suppose it's the same Kenya, do you?" Frances wondered as Samantha pulled into the driveway.
"I wouldn't think so... she seemed polite... but she's also a college student," Samantha commented, "I wouldn't think that she'd have any interest in anyone as young as Ben."
The two got out of their car and made their way into their home. Frances agreed with Samantha's assessment. She didn't think that a college student would want to be with anyone as young as Ben, as they'd want someone more experienced and more on their own than Ben was. Their thoughts though, soon left the wondering as to who Kenya was to what dinner was. They could smell potatoes frying as well as some chicken being out and being prepared. They could also hear the chopping of a knife on wood, which indicated that Ben was already working on dinner.
"Hello, Ben!" Samantha called, "what's for dinner?"
The two of them entered the kitchen to find Ben chopping boneless chicken breasts on a cutting board while a long ceramic cooking dish sat nearby, and both also smell some of the spices and ingredients that would be cooked with the chicken.
"Hey... it's mostly something fairly simple," Ben answered, "some fried potatoes and baked chicken..."
"With a few select spices, I smell," Frances said with a smile, "How are things coming?"
"Going well..." Ben answered, "though... I could get a little help... keep timers and getting the oven ready and so on."
"Do you have a timer already ready for the potatoes?" Samantha asked her son.
"It should be... though I'm busy cutting the chicken," Ben spoke.
"Let us put our things away and we'll come help," Frances said to him, "I'm sure your girlfriend won't mind you having help."
Ben nodded. He kept working on chopping the chicken while his mothers went to make sure that their purses were both out of sight for when their guest arrived. When they returned, Samantha double checked the timer that Ben had running for the potatoes and set the oven to preheat. Frances washed her hands and moved to directly help Ben continue the prep work on the chicken. Placing the chicken in the ceramic cooking dish and adding additional spices to flavor the chicken as well as to add other ingredients that would be needed to make the baked chicken taste even better. Both were pleased with how well Ben had been working with dinner.
"You're doing well, Ben," Frances complemented, "this will be good..."
"I hope so," Ben answered with a weak smile.
"From the way things smell... they will be," Samantha assured him. "Now... can you tell us some more about Kenya? Is she part of the pack? Or...?"
"Can't you wait for her to get here?" Ben asked nervously.
"We're curious cats, dear," Frances teased him playfully, "and we want to make sure our son is treated well."
"I can tell you that she won't be treating me poorly," Ben answered, "but it'll be best to let her introduce herself when she arrives."