The Simple Black Dress
by cathy nort
chapter 7
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Buffy sat herself on the bed, her knees drawn up to her chest, her arms embracing her legs. When Willow came out from the bathroom she had on her selection of a panty for the day. She had also applied a minimal amount of make-up and when she noticed Buffy was watching her she gave a little wave with the finger tips of her hand before going over to the dresser and pulling out a bra from the top drawer.
Willow gave a little seductive pose, hands on hips, pelvis thrust forward, the white bra dangling from her hand. "Last chance before I put on my armor."
Buffy laughed despite her sour mood. Buffy averted her eyes and her vision settled on the second bed. Buffy herself had mussed it up the night before. Mussed it enough to appear it had been slept in by one of the girls so Morgan wouldn't know they were sleeping together. Looking at it now Buffy saw it was more than mussed up. It had been slept in. The pillows were scrunched in one corner. The bottom sheet was tugged from under the mattress.
"Where'd you sleep last night, honey?" Buffy asked
Willow put on the bra, then a pair of white tennis shorts followed by a yellow tank. Carrying a pair of tennies and white socks she dropped down near Buffy on the bed and started putting them on. "Ya know. I must have gotten up and crawled into the other bed. You were tossing and turning all night. Anyway, when I woke this morning that's where I was."
Buffy tried to sort out her feelings. Not toward Willow even though it was clear she thought Buffy had had nothing more than a bad dream. No, Buffy was absolutely clear on how she felt about Willow. She was totally in love with her. In fact she could count on one hand the times she had been disappointed with the Wiccan, much less been angry at her. What she was trying to sort out was what did, and what did not happen last night.
As Willow finished tieing her shoes and sat up Buffy drew her arms around Willow and pulled her back into her. Her lips found the hollow where the neck and shoulders met.
"Oooooooo. That feels so good." Willow twisted and found Buffy's mouth with her own. "That's better."
"Let me get dressed. I'm in the mood for a long walk with my favorite girl." Buffy said as she kissed Willow on the neck once more. That's when she saw the faint, but noticeable, bruise on Willow's neck.
* * * *
After breakfast Morgan announced she was going to run into town for some groceries. Did anyone want to come with? Willow looked at Buffy seeking permission to be excused from their promised walk. Willow's one weakness, well her main weakness, was her love of shopping.
Buffy tipped her head to one side. "Go head, Will. I'm going to do some exploring and when you're with me you're forever holding me back in your quest for pretty stones. What do you do with all those things you you find on the ground that you insist are treasures?"
Morgan and Willow headed into town while Buffy changed into a pale green summer dress and brown hiking boots. I'm not exactly making a fashion statement, am I? Buffy was intent on retracing the path she had taken in her 'dream' the night before. She went out through the patio doors and slowly headed toward the barn examining the ground as she went. The grass had dried from the morning sun so it no longer curled over with dew.
Around the corner of the barn Buffy found the row of lilac bushes she had seen Willow sprawled beside. So that couldn't have been her dreaming since she had never been back here before. Last night, she was now certain, was not a dream. Her and Willow had been left knocked out. By who? Why? How did they get back to their room?
The last question was the easiest to answer. They were carried unconscious and tucked in like two sleeping babies, Buffy in one bed. Willow in the other. Whoever did it was unaware that they were secretly sleeping together.
But ........the other two questions remained unanswered.
Buffy walked over to a small door near the center of the barn. It was pad locked shut. Circling the barn she discovered another door. though it wasn't padlocked it was nailed closed. Even the two large doors on the far side were padlocked. Either the rustic barn was never used or there was something of extreme value inside.
Buffy returned to the clump of lilacs and while examining them she discovered a small path. Following she was led down a series of ravines. The path, where ever it led, didn't do so in a straight line and soon Buffy found herself quite lost. She retraced her steps but that didn't help either because she kept coming upon land marks she was certain she hadn't crossed before.
Oh great, Buffy thought. I suppose I'll be wandering around here for most of the day. And no doubt cause Morgan and Willow a lot of worry. Buffy, how stupid can you be? Despite the fact that you are always told that if you become lost you should just stay put Buffy did just the opposite. I mean, it's not like I'm in Montana or something, she reasoned. This is California. There are ten zillion people in California. Buffy was bound to run into someone or something any minute.
And she did.
Climbing up a fairly steep ridge she found herself looking over at a small creek. Sitting beside it her arms folded across her chest was a woman. She was an attractive dyed crispy blond haired woman wearing a flannel shirt and jeans. She too had hiking boots and when she heard Buffy approaching she pushed herself up to her feet in alarm.
She put her hand to her chest. "My gosh. You gave me a scare there for a minute."
"I'm sorry," Buffy said. "I'm afraid I've gotten myself lost."
"Easy enough to do around here. Fortunately I've been lost enough that there is no place I haven't ever stumbled across at one time or another so I've become pretty familiar with the area."
The woman was probably in her mid forties. She had a reserved smile on her lips. Or was it just a tight drawing of the lips across the teeth?
"OK. Why don't we start with the question of where are you trying to find? By the way, I'm Jodi."
"And this lost girl is Buffy Summers. I'm staying with Aunt Morgan, a friend of my mothers." Buffy said.
Any hint of a smile completely disappeared. She even seemed to step back a bit as if she was being confronted. "Well," she murmur. " I can get you up to the road. If you take it to the left it'll take you back to her place. Are you a friend of Morgan?"
"In a way. My mother and her are. I'm the family representative..........."
Jodi cut in turning to point. "See that path." There was an opening between a set of scrub pines. "Take that. It's a way but you'll end up on the road."
Buffy felt the chill in the woman's demeanor. She wasn't really being unfriendly since Buffy WAS a stranger, still you'd think a little more warmth would have been in order. She seemed to want Buffy out of there. Now.
"Do you live around here?" Buffy found herself asking.
"Yes. With my husband Don and...........," Jodi paused. Then she forced the words out of her mouth. "And my daughter."
"Would that be Daphne?"
"You met her?"
"Yesterday. She came down looking for Morgan and we met." Buffy said hoping that would lighten up the tenseness that had developed. Buffy was feeling the woman considered Buffy an enemy and she couldn't understand why.
"How fortunate," was all the woman said. She turned to walk away.
"Well tell Daphne I said hello." buffy called to the retreating woman.
Jodi turned back to Buffy. "Look. Daphne lives in her own world. Don and I try our best to not penetrate it. Next time you see her YOU can say hello for yourself."
"I just thought her being your daughter........."
Jodi took a step toward Buffy her index finger jabbing the air in Buffy's direction. Her eyes were burning as she spoke, her voice hard as she clipped out the words. "She is not my daughter. I don't know who she is but that person inside is not my daughter. My Daphne is lost. Gone. And I trust you will remember that."