"You might as well come out, Cielidh," I heard Eric say.  Without warning, several of the boards in the wall came loose, pulled back by gloved hands.  Caught, I crawled through the opening and abashedly took a seat between Eric and my grandfather.  Eric had removed his goggles and bandages; the face I saw was identical to the man in the old portrait photographs my grandmother used to show me before she died.  The look on my face must have been priceless, because both Eric and my grandfather burst into laughter.

     ""That was the same look your grandfather gave me when I came to visit twenty years ago," Eric said with a chuckle.  "And the one as you crawled out of the wall was the same my sister always had on when we caught her spying."

     "Who killed my brother?" I asked, the words out of my mouth before I could stop myself.

     "Cielidh..." My grandfather said, trying to console me, but Eric gave him a look and spoke to me.

     "I don't know," Eric said, "Not yet.  I intend to find out soon, though.  I just felt it prudent to let the rest of the family know first."

     "You don't think..." my grandfather started to say, but Eric cut him off with a chopping gesture.

     "There are some things I refuse to discuss unless in perfect privacy," he said warningly, "and what you were going to say is one of them.  The less people that know the better."

     "I'm only staying the night," Eric continued.  "I'll grab some supplies in the morning, then I'm out to join up with Mera again."

     "Mera?  THE Mera?" I asked, my grief momentarily forgotten.

     "Weres and mutants live a lot longer than humans, Cielidh," Eric responded.  "Mera hasn't even hit middle age yet."

     "What about Vol?" my grandfather asked, and my wonder only increased.

     "That's how I found out," Eric said.  "I had stopped by to install some ultrasonic emitters to keep wildlife out of Vol's crops and found them killed a few miles out from the farm.  Vol says there's been some increased bandit activity in the area, so that's the first place I'm going to look."

     "I want to help," I told him, but Eric just raised an eyebrow.  "Your grandfather and I were at least three years older than you when we first trekked out into the Waste.  I doubt you've even seen a barfight, let alone faced real danger."

     "I can take care of myself!  I'm tougher than I look!"  I found myself getting angry over the comment, though he was right.

     "Cielidh, your parents would never let you go, and I won't be on your side for this argument either," my grandfather told me.

     I couldn't say anything at that point.  I was angry and hurt inside, and the cocktail of emotions had me on the verge of tears.  I hurriedly got up from my seat and rushed out the door, running as fast as I could all the way home and not stoping until I was in my room.  I locked the door behind me and curled up on my bed.  I cried until there were no more tears, and I continued to sob into my pillow until I finally cried myself to sleep.