Alora, Mei, Kelly, and Maureen had brought their luggage over to the house late yesterday evening, along with the dreaded news of Sharon's disappearance to a sighting of The Guy at Pearson Airport. However, in her absence, they did acquire quite a bit of cash, and a case of salt. There was much discussion about what to do, but it was agreed upon, that we would contact the other members of the Pack to convene to figure out a way to retrieve her. In the end, it would really be up to Sharon.
This morning, after putting on the kettle, and the coffee maker, we sat down and began to call the others. My first call was to Jennie, at one of the dorms at the University of Toronto.
"Hello?" she asked, wondering who had called the private line that had been set up for any news of Natalie's disappearance.
"Hi, Jennie, it's Lynn. I was wondering if you could come to by the house around noon, for a meeting. Sharon's gone, but we've got plenty of salt to lure her back. We also need to discuss the probable attacks on Jamie and Maureen."
"Good idea. Do we need to bring anything?"
"Just yourselves, for now. I've got enough food to make for lunch. There's still quite a bit of space available here if you'd like to come. There's no smoking in the house. It has this tendency to drive me up the wall. However, there is a veranda off the second floor. It's going to be pretty warm out, so anyone who does wish to smoke won't be stuck in the cold." I stopped for a moment to take a sip of tea, then began to speak again. "Should any of you have access to a computer, lap-top or the like, we have plenty of space for at least one more, if not two. I've already got mine here. I think a group of us will probably head over to the liquor store just before supper to pick up some wine, and some alcohol. But we'll decide that later."
I gave her directions to the NatPack Hostel and then hung up. I turned to the others, who had tracked down some of the other NatPackers and gave them similar instructions. "It seems we have things set. Anybody up for some music, while I start getting some of the lunches ready?"
"Sure," Alora spoke up. "I'll stick in Tracy Chapman. There's a perfect Natalie song on it."
"'Give Me One Reason To Stay Here.' I like that one. Too bad Natalie didn't follow up on it, when Nick was trying to walk out on her. Man, I wish I could do more than just hit him over the head with a frying pan," Mei said, exasperated.
"Just wait 'til Sharon gets here. Then you can join in on the fun," Kelly called out from one of the rooms down the hall. "I think at this point the majority of us want to get to knock Nick around for a while. Let him have a taste of his own medicine." She came out to the relatively comfortable living room.
A short while later, Jennie, Jill, Amy, and Valerie arrived. Jamie would get here soon enough. The large kettle in the kitchen had come to a full boil and, the aroma from the coffee pot was strong and heady. On the counter was a mixture of individual flavoured tea bags, from which people could pick and choose. There was also milk, coffee cream, lemon slices, honey, and sugar. There were a number of mugs and cups on the counter next to the stove. The juices and bottled water were in the fridge. There were plenty of cold cuts, and various salads and sandwiches available for lunch. Once people had gathering their lunches, we congregated in the dining room, and began to talk business.