" The rose does not bloom without thorns. True, but would that the thorns did not outlive the rose. - Richter"

"She's with them mother, Katrina is with them. The old hag took her!" Dominic burst through the double doorways and into the drawing-room where his mother was busy knitting.

"What are you raging about?"

"Charlotte! That blasted woman took my daughter away!"

"Language Dominic!" the elderly woman scolded without once looking up from her work. It was a little cardigan. Something that she had started working on the moment she had learned of Katrina's pregnancy. These and other small knitted pieces allowed her mind to think while her fingers were distracted.

"You do not understand Mother. Charlotte took her!"

"No. I do not believe it. I am sure Katrina went there of her own free will..."

"No! You do not understand mother." her son cut her off. "I am telling the truth mother, t

" A thorn defends the rose, harming only those who would steal the blossom. - Chinese Proverb.

Ryan finished his painting and left the canvas out to dry. It had been a week since his journey to the South to Katrina's new place and inspiration had now seemed to have struck or had flooded in.

Over ten canvases waiting to be framed filled now stood on almost every corner of his spacious studio and with the sale of these, Ryan was sure that his father would not have that much of a hold on him. He should have been scared, the man knew, but his father had been careless to dismiss his art as a useless hobby. A waste of time, he had called it, but Ryan knew better. This hobby was what was paying his bills and with the investments he had made out of his income, he was sure that he could continue to live a comfortable life despite his father's numerous threats.

Ryan wiped his hands and walked o

"

If you are among the roses, your friends will look for you among the thorns. - Swedish Proverb

"Hey come look at this..." Ryan said as he followed Katrina and the old man into the living room. They were in the hallway and all around them lay portraits and pictures of people who he assumed were Katrina's maternal relatives.

"What?" Katrina asked as she doubled back to him.

"This... She looks familiar doesn't she? I could swear I have seen her face somewhere..."

"The portrait in my dad's office. She is supposed to be my mother, he never talked about it but grandma let it slip one day..."

"Who are those people with her?"

That is my sister Charlotte and her husband Henry. Would you believe it that that picture was taken some months before you were born...they had been so happy until the accident occurred."

"What accident?" Katrina turned around to address the man who had now introd

" The rose does not bloom without thorns. True, but would that the thorns did not outlive the rose. - Richter"

"She's with them mother, Katrina is with them. The old hag took her!" Dominic burst through the double doorways and into the drawing-room where his mother was busy knitting.

"What are you raging about?"

"Charlotte! That blasted woman took my daughter away!"

"Language Dominic!" the elderly woman scolded without once looking up from her work. It was a little cardigan. Something that she had started working on the moment she had learned of Katrina's pregnancy. These and other small knitted pieces allowed her mind to think while her fingers were distracted.

"You do not understand Mother. Charlotte took her!"

"No. I do not believe it. I am sure Katrina went there of her own free will..."

"No! You do not understand mother." her son cut her off. "I am telling the truth mother, that woman hates me and she took her to get back at me!"

"Dominic, Charlotte is dead!" the old woman

Chapter 13