Patty Morrow

Issue 11 color plate

Patty Morrow

Patty Morrow and Daisy Poise

Patty Morrow, digital art by Paul Monsky

 

Christmas with Steve and Patty

 

color plates, THE SCIENCE OF LOVE

Becky Landis

Patty and Steve Morrow

Patty Morrow

Issue 6 color plate

Patty Morrow

 

Cave Cuties

   Daisy stepped forward at Steve's instruction. Now situated in open sunlight, the pretty mousette was under near-perfect lighting. Steve paused long enough to adjust a reflector before returning to his original position and raising his camera. Still within arm's reach of the brush behind her, Daisy looked enchanting in the natural surroundings. Steve clicked off a few shots, then shifted to a spot about a foot over to his left before snapping a few more. Daisy smiled as she reflected on how pleasant this was for a day's work. Certainly there were worse ways to spend a beautiful day than to be standing in the nice warm sunlight while dressed in a Creek Bend bikini, required to do little more than enjoy the moment as her picture was taken.

   A makeshift blind had been set up near Steve's car, a thick sheet draped around a rock outcropping that afforded protection from potential prying eyes (though said eyes were entirely imaginary out here). Doris stood by, waiting her turn in the "changing room" as Yvette finally stepped out from behind the curtain. Soon, all three girls were in the eye of Steve's camera, each a stunner in the town's signature swimwear. Patty was along this trip, as she sometimes joined her husband on location shoots, now going over a planned selection of picnic scenes the girls would act out as Mr. Morrow hovered about with his camera at the ready. The group had found an absolutely perfect section of the wilderness which surrounded the tiny town, a picturesque clearing through which ran a gentle stream which broke away from and later reconnected to the river. Daisy had found the place by accident while visiting Roger and Crissy.

   The Ralphwit property stretched a good distance, as Rog and Cris seemed determined to protect their natural privacy by scooping up the neighboring lands. Daisy had joined her friends during a "scouting mission" to inspect a new plot of land before purchasing it. This clearing was so pretty as to inspire a picnic table to be set up for future trips through the area, but Roger hadn't yet had the table brought in and Steve wanted to get some shots in the area before anything challenged the prehistoric beauty of the landscape Daisy had described to him.

   This spot was the first attraction. Another was a cave opening close by. Steve figured some great shots could be collected with such a visually interesting location. Patty went even further and suggested that the wardrobe for the shoot include some animal skins fashioned into bikini-like garments to play on the whole cave theme. This actually gave Steve some pause as the girls made ready to walk over to the new location. Their initial reactions to the cave would be their most interesting, visually. Should the girls wear their modern bikinis or arrive at the location in costume? What would make the most interesting set of shots? He finally decided the furs would be more unique and asked the girls to change before they moved on. As the stars walked back to the privacy screen, Steve turned to his wife.

   "This whole cave-girl aesthetic was your idea," he lit a cigarette for himself and for her, "you want to don a furry bathing suit and join the girls in the shoot?"

   "Maybe when we get home I'll do a single," Patty smiled as she took the cigarette, "but I think if I started showing up in your work shots, the Boss might feel you're trying to get me into pictures too."

   "He's tried to interest you in joining the stable. He knows a pretty girl when he sees one. And he's already seen you act in our Christmas shows each year."

   "Give that man time enough and there won't be a girl in this town who isn't an actress. In all honesty, though, I'm really not interested. Oh, it'd be nice to spend more time with you at the studio, but I'm just not interested in giving up my private home life. Actors just aren't allowed the simple life."

   "I don't know," Steve motioned toward the girls, "they pull it off."

   "They've had more practice at balancing it all. I'm happy just being your wife. I don't ask for anything more than that."

   "You do the occasional stage show. That USO routine of yours was a hit. You may end up on the screen anyway."

   "I have fun doing those shows," Patty took a puff, "they give me something to do every once in a while, and keep things from getting too routine, but it's not my life's ambition. I don't think I'd like doing it on a regular basis."

   "I understand," Steve swung his equipment over his shoulder, "but I'm sure it's only a matter of time before you end up in pictures yourself. You've got too much talent to not do so. If nothing else, that voice of yours is sure to make it onto wax."

   "We'll see." Patty kissed Steve before helping gather up the other items needed for the shoot. On the walk over to the cave, Steve stopped the girls a couple of times to get some pix. They looked so cute in their cave outfits that he dared not do so. The cave itself wasn't quite Bronson Canyon, but it did have a good look. Steve set up his tripod to get some shots of the girls in the mouth of the cave. Doris looked inside.

   "Has Roger explored this cave?" Doris asked.

   "Not yet," Daisy offered, "but he's going to. What he wants to do with it I don't know, but it'll make an interesting location for a film shoot."

   "That it would," Yvette took a step inside, "provided no bears live in here."

   "If we move into the cave itself," Steve eyed the structure, "I'll need to go back to the car and get the generator for the lights."

   "Maybe you should," Yvette turned back to him, "it's pretty big in there. You could get some neat pictures." Shortly, Steve was adjusting some light stands, bathing the interior in illumination. It was quite a sight. Daisy wandered around the cavern, keeping an eye open for the best possible background. All of them wondered if anyone had walked this ground before they arrived. Indians used to live on this land, and it was possible the tribe had used this spot for shelter at some point. With this in mind, Doris and Yvette scanned the floor of the cave for evidence of a fire pit or old arrow heads or the like.

   What Yvette happened onto instead was rather unexpected. Next to a rock and covered in dust, was a metal box. It was roughly the size of a lunchbox, lacking any sort of handle but tied together with thick leather straps and buckles. Upon closer inspection, these straps looked to be a couple of belts that had been repurposed. Yvette picked up the box and moved it into the light as everybody gathered around.

   "We found something a bit newer than I expected," Daisy mused, "but we know somebody has been here before." Yvette placed the box onto a bolder in the middle of the chamber.

   "Maybe it's a time capsule," Steve smiled, "I've heard of kids putting these things together and planning to come back to them when they grow up."

   "Do we open it?" Patty wondered.

   "Can't do any harm," Steve shrugged, "we have to make sure anyway, and we can put it back when we're done." Daisy nodded and began working the belts which held the box shut. These came off easily enough, and the lid was opened to show a bundle wrapped in wax paper. Steve carefully lifted the package out of the box and began to unwrap it. The girls looked on with held breath.

   What Steve pulled out of the wax paper was rather different than anything the group was picturing. A small cloth bag was brought into view, and with it a folded sheet of paper. Steve unfolded the paper and studied it as Patty inspected the bag.

    "It's a map of the cave," Steve announced, "showing the location of something important, but it doesn't say what. There is a date here, August 14th, 1933. Someone meant to come back and pick it up, whatever it is."

   "Steve." Patty was bug-eyed as she showed the contents of the pouch to her husband. Steve poured into his open hand a neat pile of diamonds. The other girls popped their eyes wide as they stepped forward to give the rocks closer scrutiny. 

   "There must be more diamonds hidden in here," Yvette was captivated by the way they sparkled in the light, "maybe they're the loot from a heist or something."

   "Possible," Steve admitted, "that date might tell us something in the city records."

   "Where does the map say to find them, Steve?" Daisy asked. Steve carefully poured the diamonds back into the pouch as Patty held it open for him, then he inspected the map again. He pointed to a tunnel in back of the chamber.

   "Back there. A few turns into that tunnel. We'll need flashlights, I should have one in the car. I'd like to have more light than that if we go poking into that cave, though."

   "What about torches?" Doris picked up a branch which had fallen near the mouth of the cave. As she turned back and held the branch up in the manner of a club, the cave girl aesthetic was complete. Steve managed not to laugh, however, as Doris was so sincere and he dared not challenge that. Soon the lot of them were marching into the deeper reaches of the cave, holding aloft burning torches. Steve wasn't sure what the results would be under this light, but he made sure to grab a few shots with his camera before moving to the front of the line and guiding the way. Patty had learned enough of her husband's business to think to grab the camera and snap off a few more shots as the crew moved deeper into the tunnel.

    "Be careful here." Steve pointed to a crack in the floor. It was narrow enough to step over, but one might miss it if they walked over it in a rush. Clean air was being pushed up through the crack. Steve figured it was an underground river, possibly the same one his well was tapped into. That sound of rushing air was familiar to residents of the community, as it could almost always be heard when a new pipe was installed and most every home in the territory used well water. Creek Bend abounded in natural resources, and the prevalent underground river helped to make the vegetation of the area so lush. That in turn added to the humidity. Water could be scarce in other areas of the State, but drought was almost unheard of here.

   Yvette held a torch so that Steve could check the map. The target of their search was stored at the base of the cave wall in front of them, but the only thing visible in the torch light was a pile of rocks. Steve began to clear the pile away, as Daisy had her attention pulled to the other direction. Something was behind them, stirring in the darkness. Daisy cautiously moved her torch to illuminate a raised alcove. Her eyes popped wide as she made out the shape of a bear staggering to it's feet. It was a small bear, but it was large enough to be deadly. Daisy froze. What was she to do? How could she alert the others without calling the bear's attention their way?

    Steve uncovered another metal box, this one of fairly good size and able to hold a bundle the volume of a basketball. It must've been crammed full of diamonds, because it was fairly hefty. Daisy whispered in Steve's direction. "Don't open it here. Wait till we get outside." Steve turned to Daisy to ask why, and noticed how dead still she was as she eyed the object of her concern. The entire assembly turned in the direction of Daisy's gaze, pouring more light onto the bear. With this, the bear's attention was fully on the people in his cave. The bear stood and let out a bellow. The natural instinct of the group was to make a mad dash, but the confines of the cave and poor lighting managed to keep their flight responses in check. Patty turned the camera and snapped a shot, the flash blinding the bear and sending it back to it's feet.

    As the bear brushed it's paws over it's eyes and tried to reorient itself, Daisy, Doris, and Yvette pushed forward and held their torches out to keep the bear at bay. "Get those diamonds back to the main chamber," Yvette yelled, "we'll hold him off until you're clear!" Steve had to use her plan, since he was the only one strong enough to lug the treasure out of the tunnel in a hurry. He took off as the girls pushed their torches at the bear to keep it back. Patty made ready to set off another flash in order to give the girls a chance to run away. In the excitement, Steve left his flashlight behind. Yvette noticed and scooped up the device before tossing her torch near the bear.

   "Box him in, girls!" Yvette held the flashlight on the path through the tunnel as Doris and Daisy threw their torches into place. The bear, now roaring wildly, was encircled by the torches. The girls gathered near Patty, who snapped off another shot to confuse the bear before the group of them took off using the flashlight beam to direct their footfalls. Steve had unceremoniously dumped the box into the lit chamber at the cave's entrance, then darted right back into the tunnel. He didn't figure there was time to run back to the car for his gun, not with his wife and friends trying to fight off a bear only with torches.

   Steve met the girls near the crack in the floor, where he gave each a boost as they jumped over the small separation. If only the gap could be widened, it would prevent the bear from reaching them. A few stomps around the crack only confirmed that it was solid rock and there was nothing Steve could do to open it further. The bear could be heard going crazy as it swatted away the torches and made for the tunnel trail. Steve looked for a weapon of some kind, if only to buy some time for the girls. Hearing the bear huffing in the darkness as it galloped toward him, Steve darted for the lit portion of the cave. The girls were standing at the mouth, calling Steve toward them. Outside, Steve instructed the gang to start climbing the hillside. There simply wouldn't be time to reach the car before the bear could overtake them. 

   Steve and his wife, joined by a band of cartoon cave girls, huddled on the slope above the cave opening as the bear launched out of the mouth and began roaring it's head off. In the open now, the bear quickly calmed down and wandered off. Steve waited a good while before he began to climb back down to the cave. "I'll get the box and take it to the car. We'll open it there, just in case the bear decides to circle around again. You stay here until I get back."

    Rather than make the girls march through potentially dangerous woods, Steve drove the car back up to the cave so the girls could climb down and crawl in. They never did see the bear again, and attention was quickly pulled to the contents of the second box. Inside, there were multiple cloth bags, each housing what must have been thousands of dollars worth of ice. Then there was the crown jewel of the collection, a rather gigantic diamond which was nestled in the center of the box. It was a spectacular sight.

   "It's nearly as big as the Eye of Heaven!" Daisy compared the rock to the infamous gem Roger had given Crissy before their wedding.

   "Hard to believe there are two diamonds this size in the same town," Steve mused, "maybe Rog knows something about this." It was a short drive to the Ralphwit house. Roger and Crissy were bemused to find a trio of cave girls at the door, but it was stunned silence which greeted the sight of the diamond. Roger thought back as he held up the ice. This gem was more rounded than the Eye of Heaven, but they looked similar in clarity. The Eye had been traded over many centuries. This rock was likely something similar. 

   "I think I have it," Roger stated, "that date was in '33 you said? There was a big diamond heist in L.A. I remember hearing about. The newspaper records there will be able to tell you which jewelry store was robbed. I remember it because there was a huge diamond said to be similar to the Eye of Heaven involved. This has to be it."

   "What a publicity story this will be," Steve excitedly paced the room, "Daisy Poise, Doris Flowers, and Yvette Pond recover loot from L.A.'s biggest diamond heist! We couldn't dream up something this good!" 

   The jeweler was pretty excited to get the merchandise back, and made gifts of bundles of diamonds to each of the girls involved. Back at the studio, the event was greeted with plans to turn it into a two-reeler. The publicity was great, but the story went through some changes on it's way to the screen. By the time the picture was released, the small crack in the floor had become a gaping chasm and the single small bear an entire family of grizzly bears the three annies faced alone. It made for a swell picture.  

Ink sheet

Zelda

   Minerva Mallen positioned her beach umbrella, though she was sure she wouldn't really be using it. She liked spending time in the sun, even when the beach was particularly hot like it was today. Annies don't tan for some reason, otherwise Minerva might've felt self-conscious about her bone-white complexion. Her pale skin did seem perfectly complimented by her purple Creek Bend bikini and matching bow tied around her neck. She was certainly stunning, with her adorable annie face atop one of the most perfectly proportioned bodies to ever be encased in the town's signature swimwear. Her hair was black with a white streak running through it, a similar streak running the length of her long tail. The only colors she seemed to possess were tiny details like the pink of her nose and inner ears. She'd painted her fingernails red, but her eyelids were naturally violet. A strange thing about annies, at least the female ones, was that they possessed natural coloring over their eyes. It did simplify the make-up needs of female annies, certainly.

   Minerva meant to spend the day on the beach, but not actually in the water. You probably wouldn't spend much time in the surf either, if you had a long bushy tail like Minerva's. These long tails miraculously didn't pick up much dirt or dust as they were dragged along behind their owners, but getting them wet meant taking a long time for them to dry back out. And while they were wet, these long tails were prone to picking up all the lint and dirt they somehow avoided when dry. Each type of annie had their own unique issues where this sort of thing was concerned. Minerva and other annies with long tails had to learn quickly how to maneuver them to keep them out of doors or keep them from being tangled up in one's feet. Fortunately, this was picked up pretty fast and most annies with such tails had them under control by the time they were four years old. They aged quite normally until they matured, then they didn't seem to age at all. Some males aged a bit when they got older, but not many seemed to.

   Getting back to the issue of tails, only the really long tails seemed to offer much of a learning curve during the developmental years. Girls like Crissy and Doris had little tufts which required only minimal attention. This was fortunate, since these girls seldom saw their tails unless they took effort to bring them into view for grooming. Although they could get ruffled in their sleep, a little brushing and their tails seemed to hold their shape all day. Some annies had bird features. Sometimes these girls had tails which were composed of what looked like a couple of feathers the same color as their hair. These "feathers" seemed resilient enough, as they were constantly being crammed into seat backs and coming back to their original shape without effort. They weren't actually feathers, either. They weren't fur tails like the other girls had, though. They held their shape but were very soft. Everybody called them feathers because it was just easier that way. For some reason, only some birds had to deal with this. Yvette Pond, with the features of a duck, had no tail at all. Lois Teppert had a tail, but her sister didn't. 

   Compared to all that, some might think of Minerva's long tail as something of a burden. After all, annie mice could at least swim without worrying about the matter since their tails were skin rather than fur. Still, Minerva's tail gave her a certain balance of proportions which was aesthetically pleasing. She may have looked like some kind of mutant skunk, but the resemblance was only physical. Fortunately, she didn't carry an odor like a real skunk would. It would certainly hinder one's social life if that were the case!

   Minerva rested on her beach blanket as she mulled over these facts, her tail off to the side from her legs. While she could move it to some degree, it wasn't prehensile or anything. It was more decoration than anything else. It could be stepped on by someone else if she wasn't careful to keep it close to her body, though. Minerva stretched out and closed her eyes. She could easily nod off if she let herself, she was so comfortable. The sounds of the surf rolling in were soothing, so much so that Minerva was quickly on the verge of falling asleep. 

   She stirred when she rolled over and felt something under the blanket. Her hand brushed by something hard, but it didn't seem to be a rock or a sea shell. Minerva pulled back the blanket and ran her fingers through the sand. There was something there, alright, something machined. She pulled up a metal box roughly the size of a cigarette case. The box was silver, beautifully tooled with all sorts of overlays in a floral pattern. It looked pretty valuable, too, and must've meant a lot to whoever lost it.

   Minerva sat up and examined the box as she brushed the sand off of it. A small latch held one end closed. Minerva pushed back to tiny hinge and opened the box to find it contained a beautiful diamond ring nestled on a soft fabric pillow. Inside the lid was an inscription. "To my darling Zelda, the brilliance of thine eyes shine more than all diamonds. Thy loving Tom. 1930." This was special, alright. Was it lost at the beach when it was presented? Had it been here for nearly thirty years? Minerva pictured the girl who received this ring, frantically searching the beach at night to find the box she'd dropped. Possibly it had fallen overboard and washed up on the beach years later. Who was this Zelda, and how could Minerva find her?

   Steve Morrow and his wife Patty stood by Minerva as she waited in the courthouse lobby. Maybe the city records had a clue, although there was no certainty that Zelda was a native. Still, it was the only thing the three of them could think of. Two names, Tom and Zelda, weren't a lot to go on. Steve examined the case.

   "If we could determine if this ring and box were crafted locally we'd have a better clue. The man who built it might have records on who bought it."

   "A tall order after almost thirty years," Patty sighed, "but it's possible." Minerva turned away from the desk and took another look at the case. There didn't seem to be any markings of manufacture, but the bottom of the case had been rubbed down quite a bit. Minerva held the case close to her face.

   "Say," Minerva squinted, "I think there might be a tiny tool mark on the latch we missed." Steve inspected. There was something there. A very tiny mark that at first glance looked like decoration. It was stylized enough to be a logo of some kind, however. Patty put her head next to Steve's. Both squinted.

   "Is that a sword?" Patty asked.

   "Looks like one," Steve said, "it'd be easier to tell with a magnifying glass." This examination paused as the official finally returned from the record room.

   "I checked the names with the year of 1930," he reported, "I have no record of a wedding involving a Tom and Zelda, no recorded students by that name during the period, either. I went as far back as 1925. Only Zelda I have on record is a widow who died that year."

   "I see," Minerva sighed, "thank you anyway." Minerva turned back to Steve and Patty. Steve continued to hold the silver case.

   "You know," he announced, "if we could track down this metalwork we might still be able to find something. Let's go back to the studio and check it under a glass." Moments later, the trio were huddled over Steve's desk. They scrutinized the latch under a magnifying glass. Patty looked intently at the mark and then made a sketch of the logo.

   "I don't think it's a sword," Minerva looked at the logo, then to Patty's sketch, "at least no sword I've ever seen."

   "Looks rather expressionist, doesn't it?" Steve offered. Patty puzzled over her drawing.

   "Looks sorta like a carrot or something." The three of them came to the same realization at the same moment. Carrots Jewelers had a thriving business in Creek Bend, and had even operated successfully during the Depression in such rural surroundings. The branch office in Amsterville didn't hurt, either. Still, none of the friends assembled remembered the company ever using a literal carrot as the company logo. They knew someone who would know, however.

   Crissy examined the silver case as Roger stood by. Minerva, Steve, and Patty waited anxiously to hear Crissy's report. She nodded.

   "Uncle Nestor used a logo like this for a few years, I think. It'd been replaced with another logo before I was born, but I remember when working in Unc's office that he still had some items with this mark on them. I can't say if he'd still have his records going back that far. It's possible, though. He might even remember the job itself. A silver case like this would've been pretty special so soon after the crash." Crissy picked up the telephone. Soon, Minerva, Steve, Patty, Crissy, and Roger were crammed into a record room with Uncle Nestor. He was pawing through the records for '29-'31 to find the receipt. Everything else he seemed to remember perfectly, though.

   "I remember Tom," Nestor recalled, "dapper young fella from Beverly Hills. He'd fallen in love with Zelda when they met in Amsterville. He was on his way into a meeting with a friend of his, seeking investments to build a new type of passenger plane. Zelda was the cleaning woman in the same building. He fell madly in love with her at first sight. She was a poor girl at the time, but a sensible girl too. There was only one opulent thing she dreamed of owning since childhood. A diamond ring. Tom made sure she got it. That's the ring he paid me to make for Zelda in '30. Broke her heart when she lost it. A thief stole her purse in '33, and she had the ring and the case in the purse. The police caught up to the guy, but he put up a fight and there was gunplay. The crook still had the case, but in the action he dropped it on the beach. The police looked for it, but never found it. Zelda spent the next few years trying to find it. Tom enlisted after Pearl, was killed in '43 in the Pacific. Zelda spent a few more years trying to find her ring, hanging onto the memory of when Tom gave it to her. Oh, he bought her another ring, but it wasn't as special. Zelda wanted her first ring back. Never got it, though. Lives in Los Angeles now, I think."

   As rambling as Nestor's recollections were, they cut to the quick. Minerva realized that what she held was indeed very special. She had to get it back to Zelda, no matter what. "Do you have the address?" Minerva asked. Nestor pulled out a faded sheet of paper.

   "Got an old address, and an old name. Tom Haydens. I'd say it's enough of a lead for the Los Angeles police to track down Zelda Haydens. I kept up with her story for a while, it was so tragic. Don't know if she ever remarried. May still be using the same name."

   "Thank you, Mr. Carrots," Minerva nodded, "I'm going to see she gets her ring." Minerva and her friends placed a few calls before the lot of them drove into L.A. to find an old mansion where Zelda Haydens lived. Zelda was still a striking woman. One could see how Tom would have been instantly drawn to her, even in her uniform. While her husband's house was an opulent one, her tastes still remained rooted in her humble beginnings. The one opulent thing she wanted was the ring Tom had given her. Zelda got misty as Minerva presented the case to her.

   "I'm sorry this took so long, Zelda." Minerva held out the case for the woman to take into her trembling hands. Zelda was overcome as she opened the case and saw once again the ring which she had searched so long for. She'd combed the beach for years, then held onto her memories. The thought about the ring again that morning, and prayed she'd get to wear it again. Her prayer was answered. She couldn't contain herself and hugged Minerva. 

   "Thank you, young lady. You have no idea what this means to me."

   On the drive home, Minerva looked out the window. The rest of the car was filled with couples. Steve and Patty shared the front seat with her. Roger and Crissy held hands in the back seat. Minerva almost felt out of place. She knew how blessed she was, though. How out of place must Zelda have felt after Tom was killed in action? She had a lot to remind herself of Tom, but it was that ring which meant the most. It was the first gift Tom had given her. She felt so lost without it. She'd be going through a lot of emotions tonight. Joy, sorrow, everything in between. 

   Minerva was grateful that she'd found the case in the sand, and that she'd met Zelda. You never know what's going to happen when you go to the beach.

Big Glamor, Small Town

   Minerva Mallen sat at a vanity, leaned forward with her elbows resting on the table and her arms crossed and pushing slightly upward to enhance the curve of her chest. With her deep cut dress, combined with her posture of arched back and hunched shoulders, she looked like an annie version of Jayne Mansfield.

   "You'd better get the shot quickly," Minerva told studio photographer Steve Morrow, "I need to take a breath some time." Steve smiled as he lined up the shot one last time. "Just a few more seconds. Smile real big."

   The next afternoon found Minerva in Steve's office going over the proof sheets of the photoshoot. Steve lit a cigarette as he pointed to one of the sheets resting on his desk. "The Boss likes this set here." Minerva studied the sheet indicated. They were indeed a fine selection of photos.

   "You do some amazing work, Steve. These are some of the best cheesecake shots I think I've ever seen."

   "The subject makes all the difference. You've got a natural talent for this kind of work."

   "It's funny. C.B.I.P. has been doing this sort of thing for over a decade now and I'm still getting used the the idea of seeing annies photographed like they were Marilyn Monroe or Rita Hayworth."

   "It shouldn't be that ground-breaking. A girl is a girl, annie or no."

   "Yeah, but seeing cartoons only as comedy figures has always been the way of things. I guess we're onto something, though. The public seems to like our glamor approach. How do you ever keep coming up with new material after shooting thousands of pictures like this?"

   "That's simple enough. Every girl brings something different to the table. There's always variety as long as there's a personality behind the pictures. Take a look here. You have a glamorous look that combines with a comfortable relaxation which hints at an every-girl approach-ability. These pictures show the girl next door with a taste of high society. And then there's Misty Carter. Her pix show the high society girl with a taste of next door regularity."

   "Sounds like the results would come out about the same."

   "Not quite. Each subject brings a unique spin to the material, no matter how subtle." Minerva looked even more intently at the photos. Yes, there was something there which made her photos stand apart from Sugar's or Daisy's or Wendy's.

   "I think you're as much a part of that equation, Steve. I think you know how to bring out who we are because you know us so well. For most guys, this would just be a job, but you've always made a point of getting to know the people you work with. I think that's what makes the shots so good."

   "I'm sure it's a factor of some kind. I could never get the shots I want if I didn't know the girls I was shooting. I remember how much help Daisy was, she was the first annie I shot like this. She has that warm personality that puts you at ease the moment you meet her. That's what I was trying to capture in my shots. I guess it worked. I got the position of official studio photographer from that job."

   "I'm glad you did, Steve. If any of us ever have a problem, we know we can come to you for help. This studio just wouldn't hold together if you weren't a part of it." Minerva could see she embarrassed Steve as he stumbled for the words with which to reply.

   "Thank you, Minnie. That's very humbling."

   "We may not say it often enough, but we really do appreciate you."

   Steve smiled, too humble to add anything to what Minerva had told him.

   "I've been blessed, Minnie. Working with all of you is a treat in itself. I'm grateful you feel you can come to me. And I promise my door will always be open."

   That evening, Steve stood on his patio. He puffed his cigarette as he looked up at the stars just starting to come into view through streaks of cloud turned coral pink by the setting sun. His wife Patty walked up behind him and instinctively wrapped her arms around his torso. She sighed as she closed her eyes and rested her head against his back.

   "Supper is ready," she cooed, "we can start any time."

   "Do you still wish we lived in the city?" Steve tossed his cigarette into an ashtray. Patty remained still, so comfortable where she was.

   "No," she said, "I haven't wanted that for a long time. This rural life takes some getting used to after growing up in L.A., but I wouldn't trade it now for anything."

   "I'm glad you feel that way. I have a feeling this is exactly where we should be."

   "You'll get no argument from me," she hugged him tighter, "I love the privacy here in Creek Bend. I think it's one of the selling points."

   "I know the stars enjoy it. They're internationally famous, but get to live like regular people out here. You can't put a price on that. I'm really glad we moved here."

   "It's a great town. And it's a great place to work. We've got some wonderful friends at that studio, Steve."

   "Yes, Patty, we certainly do."