"May I get you ladies something to drink?" Jane asked.

Mimi shook herTvead and gently took the paper from Avalon. "Jane, look at this lovely sketch Avalon brought along."

It was an incredibly busy pencil drawing. "It's the carriage house here, isn't it?" Jane said. "How love-

ly."

"Look at the detail," Mimi instructed.

As Jane studied the picture, she started to smile. It was full of quiet little jokes. The bush beside the coach house wasn't just squiggly lines as it first appeared, it was a seething mass of tiny rabbits. Bricks had faces hidden in them. So did tree trunks. A few random rocks along the drive were actually a chorus line of raccoons. There was a peddler with his pack in a cloud and a witch hidden in the branches of a tree.

"This is delightful!" Jane, exclaimed. "You must show it to Edgar. He'll love it!"

"Do you think so?" Avalon whispered.

Pooky came over to take a look and went hysterical with enthusiasm. "Why, this is wonderful. I love it! Oh, Avalon, would you consider giving it to me? I have just the perfect place to hang it in my apartment. It would change the whole room and mean all the more because an old friend made it."

Kathy slouched by, her mouth full of ham and egg roll. "Hey, Avalon, that's cute," she said, spitting a few crumbs as she spoke. "Have you ever used this talent of yours for anything worthwhile?"

"Worthwhile?" Mimi asked with a dangerous smile.

"Socially worthwhile. We all owe it to society to use our gifts to benefit mankind," Kathy said.

"Oh, put a sock in it," Crispy said cheerfully from across the room. Several others laughed. "Avalon doesn't owe anybody anything, Kathy. And if she did go crusading, she might not crusade for your