In this chapter Cleo finds a new interest while Brandon and Qiana leave the Valley ...
From the empty plot of land that Adam Slade started with, his son’s family now enjoyed living in a substantial family home with space to follow all their own particular interests.
Just as importantly, they had room to get together as a family, to share meal times or watch their favourite TV programmes. Though, to be fair, Brandon’s obsession with the fishing channel wasn’t shared by everyone!
Brandon and Qiana were delighted to see Cleo was not only putting in lots of effort at school by always being ready for the school day and doing her homework but she was also making plenty of new friends like Roderick Carrier.
Rod was a little bit older than Cleo and, unfortunately, Qiana discovered that he had a reputation as something of a kleptomaniac, so she felt she had to quietly convince Cleo that it would be better not to see too much more of him.
Late one evening, with Qiana busy coaching Cleo, Brandon decided it was about time he told Jesse that he had proposed (again) to Qiana. It wasn’t something he could do over the phone, he needed to speak to him face-to-face to make sure that everything was understood and there was no unfinished business at the end of the conversation.
When Brandon arrived at their house Jesse’s mum and dad, Tanisha and Kevin, were there and it felt as if they, especially his dad, were doing their best to protect him from Brandon. He didn’t know how much they knew but it wouldn’t have been difficult to work out that something hadn’t been right between the two for some time.
Eventually Jesse and Brandon managed to get some space to chat properly. Brandon explained how much he loved Qiana, and his adorable daughter Cleo, and that he wanted to devote the rest of his life to them. That he was going to marry Qiana so that he could provide the best possible future for Cleo, and any children they might have in the future.
To his considerable relief, Jesse said that he understood exactly what Brandon was saying. What had happened between them had been special but it was just a moment in time, they had both moved on. In fact, Jesse was now in a relationship too, with Elias Finlay, and although it was still early days he felt there was something really special between them, that he might be “the one”.
Brandon was so pleased for his friend, and hoped that he had found the love he so deserved.
One thing Brandon never really had when he was growing up was having shared moments of quality time at home together with all his family. Now, he made sure that his family would gather together as often as possible. Meal times, especially, were always great for catching up, sharing news and setting out plans.
On one such occasion Brandon and Qiana told Cleo that they would be getting married. It was still several months away, probably next year, and was going to be a very simple affair.
Cleo was delighted at the news but she surprised them both by spending more time asking about what dress she would wear, what the colour scheme would be, were they going to redesign the garden especially … but, hey, her mum was a top stylist, it’s no surprise that she’d be more interested in the fashion than the vows!
Her parents thought it was because of her fascination as a toddler with her little peg box that Cleo was developing an interest in how the world worked.
So, not wanting to deny their child leaning opportunities, they bought a powerful telescope with which Cleo would frequently spend her evenings hunting out new objects in the night sky.
Her dedication to the search finally paid off when Cleo discovered a completely new star! In addition to a small cash gift, Cleo was given the chance to name this tiny white star and have her photo appear in the most influential of the city’s newspapers!
And so, the youngest person ever to find a new star, named her discovery Paranoias C-1.
Actually, it was quite a month for young Cleo. A couple of weeks after she became the most famous astronomer in the three cities, it was her birthday. This was one of those special birthdays which marked a significant change in her life.
Time to say goodbye to primary school, start high school and begin making choices about the direction of her life.
And one thing Cleo thought she would enjoy making decisions about was boys!
Thomas Easley was a son of a friend of her parents and he was gorgeous!! He was already in high school and she had sometimes seen him hanging about in Central Park when she was on the school bus. He had only come along because his father had insisted, he only had time to say ‘hi’ at her party but that was all it took for Cleo.
She was going to find out more about this boy!
Cleo’s reaction to Thomas hadn’t gone unnoticed. As the party was winding down Brandon took Cleo to one side and, as they enjoyed some of the rather splendid cake he’d bought from the EverFresh supermarket, he discretely introduced the subject of boys and relationships.
He wasn’t going to play the heavy, controlling, father, but he wanted to make sure that Cleo took her time to get to know boys, to enjoy knowing boys as friends before getting into ‘relationships’.
Most importantly that she should always feel comfortable coming to him or her mother if she had any questions about, or problems with, any boy she met.
The party was over, all the guests had gone home, Brandon and Qiana enjoyed a few minutes of peace together.
Their daughter was growing so quickly, and they really did need to start thinking about the wedding, when and where, and the honeymoon but, for now, a kiss and a cuddle will do very nicely indeed.
Qiana was busy with consultations in town, and Brandon was taking a break from building widgets so he joined Cleo on their small terrace for a chat, share some gossip and perhaps break some exiting news …
Then Brandon sprang his big surprise. They’ve set the date for the wedding!
"It’s going to be next month and will be a private affair here at the house."
Whatever the details, Cleo was so excited, sure she knew not being married didn’t mean her parents weren’t committed to each other but she knew how much it meant to her dad to make it 'official'. It was a public declaration of their devotion and, also, it reaffirmed his promise to his father to carry on building the Slade legacy.
The weeks flew
past, and before they knew it, the day arrived. As Brandon had told
Cleo it was a simple affair, no big party just the three of them in the
memorial garden with a registrar, to make it legal.
Even so, they dressed for the occasion and made their commitments to each other with all the reverence and dignity of a full-blown wedding ceremony.
Cleo realised at that moment that it wasn’t just finding someone gorgeous (like Thomas!) that really mattered it was having love and respect for each other that would make you truly happy.
Straight after the wedding Brandon and Qiana were going off on their honeymoon in France. Brandon had arranged it all and for the last couple of weeks had been teasing Qiana about what he had organised for them.
Whatever it was, it was going to be a very special trip, and the first time either of them had been abroad in fact! Cleo wished them a good trip, hopefully they would bring back an exotic gift for her! And she promised that she would continue her studies and brush up her skills while they were away.
Over the last few months, pretty much since her birthday Cleo decided to put more effort into keeping in shape – actually this might have something to do with wanting to impress Thomas Easley as much as anything!
Whatever her motivations she was spending quite a lot of time at the Lofty Cerulean pool where she not only got to hang out with some cool people but she could also improve her fitness levels. It was at the pool she would often meet Sadie Laughlin. Sadie was a bit older than Cleo, but they loved spending time outdoors … and chatting about boys!
For their honeymoon Brandon had arranged a visit to one of the most beautiful towns in France, Champs Les Sims.
He knew Qiana would love the rural, unspoilt, charm of the town and he hoped that she would also enjoy the little adventure he had planned.
He was right, when they arrived at their ‘base camp’ the olde-world "Hôtel du Champs", she fell in love with it and felt right at home with the exotic mix of travellers and explorers from around the world.
They had had a long journey and Brandon had a lot of excitement planned so they weren’t able to spend a lot of time mingling before they went up to their room to freshen up. After depositing their bags in their room and having a quick shower they went into the town centre to visit the General Store in the middle of the marketplace.
After they had introduced themselves the manager of the store, Noelle Saint James, suggested that they will need a good two man tent, an easy-pack shower can or two and some dried rations.
Qiana gave Brandon a quizzical look, “what is going on here? Why is this woman trying to equip us for an expedition”? Brandon smiled at her, “relax, I have something special planned for the next couple of days, and you are going to love it”.
Qiana wasn’t entirely sure, she had never been camping before, but Brandon made it sound like it could be fun, and this was a lovely part of the world...
All their equipment bought and packed into their trusty car, Brandon took Qiana’s hand, “this is going to be amazing, you’ll see things you could only ever dream of in Sunset Valley!”
Turning the ignition, the engine roars into life, slipping the transmission into first gear, a gentle push on the accelerator and they were off …
Barely an hour outside the town centre, they pulled up at their destination, the Celtic Burial Mound.
They wandered around the enigmatic stones that stood guard on the top of the mound, but failed to make sense of whatever ancient purpose they had.
Brandon led Qiana back to the front of the mound where he retrieved their expedition kit and motioned Qiana to go through the marked entrance to the “Forgotten Tombs”.
Camping inside? This wasn’t what she was expecting. But nothing ventured, nothing gained she thought as she made her way into the dimly lit cavern.
“We’re on a treasure hunt” Brandon informed her. “Noelle at the store has left some special objects deep inside these tombs and we have to solve some puzzles on the way to find her ‘treasure’. She also said that we will probably be able to keep any other relics we find in here.”
“OK.” said Qiana, “sounds like fun, but if you expect me to dig through that rubble …!”
Brandon smiled at her as he rolled up his sleeves, picked up the pick-axe that had been left inside the chamber and set to work clearing the pile of stones that blocked the only likely exit from the room.
Having cleared away the rubble,
he examined the exposed wall and indeed it was a doorway.
Pushing hard against the left edge of the ‘wall’ it swung open to reveal another small chamber ahead.
Inside this second chamber was a small side room. Peering inside this dark room Qiana saw a pile of large pots and what she thought might be water vessels and also what looked very much like a human skeleton.
She let out an involuntary gasp and looked back towards Brandon.
“Oh, yes, sorry,” he admitted, “I should have warned you. Although Noelle does set up the treasure hunts for visitors, these are real tombs and some of the rooms will contain genuine old bones. She said they’re left as a reminder of the true purpose of the tombs and we shouldn’t disturb them.”
Qiana wasn’t sure about having real bodies on show in a tourist attraction but this was ‘abroad’, maybe the customs were different so she should respect their values and not get too upset.
Closing the door on the burial room, Qiana returned to Brandon who was inspecting a strangely marked stone set in the floor in front of an apparently locked door.
Feeling the indentations in the slab, it looked like two footprints so, guessing he was supposed to place his feet in the markings Brandon moved to stand on the stone. He looked across at Qiana as a sigh of air being expelled rolled across the floor followed by the creaking of well-worn hinges as the door ahead of them slowly opened.
“Oh great!” Brandon laughed as they entered the next room, “another pile of stones and I bet I have to clear them to get out!” Qiana smiled, well this was his idea after all, “just think of how fit you’ll be after all this exercise.” She offered.
“I was hoping for a different sort of exercise”,
“Perhaps, if you can get us back out of here …” Qiana teased.
Looking around the room, there was a heart-shaped hole in the wall next to a door, “well that’ll be a keyhole I suppose.” suggested Brandon, “and I bet the key is under that rubble!” He set to dislodging the pile of stones and, exactly as he had predicted, found a heart shaped 'key' buried beneath.
Mode of solid stone the heart key was quite a weight but he managed to lift it up and insert it into the space on the wall.
With a burst of eerie blue light and a clattering of ancient mechanisms, the locks dropped away and the door swung open.
Before them, in the next room, were two lines of incredible carved figures standing as guardians of the impressive portal at the other end of the room.They looked at each other.
This was just awesome! They could never have imaged that they would, one day, stand in the centre of such history. Just the two of them, like explorers of old.
Qiana was quite overcome with emotion, pulling Brandon into a clinch and whispering “Thank you so much. This is just incredible!”
Brandon, realising that time was moving on, knew that he had to get to the next chamber at least. If nothing else, he was feeling quite exhausted after shifting all that rubble!
He examined the trigger stone in front of the arch and worked out that he would need to move one of the statues into position to open the door. So with all his remaining strength he pushed the first sentinel out of its place in the ranks so that it stood on the trigger.
This fifth room that Brandon and Qiana entered was very sparse compared to the previous chamber, a solitary guardian statue and a railing inexplicably running across the centre of the room.
As it was getting late and Brandon was feeling pretty tired after his exertions so far, he suggested that they set up camp here, get some rest and check out the mysteries of this new room tomorrow morning.
For a moment Qiana wondered why they were sleeping in this dark, cold, cavern when they had a warm, comfortable bed waiting for them at the hotel but she was with the man she loved, on the most exciting adventure of her life so far. So, actually, this was just perfect, she wouldn’t change a thing!
After all the excitement of their first day in France, the couple sleep soundly, waking several hours later feeling refreshed and ready to complete their adventure.
Once again, it was a case of deciphering the instructions on the special trigger stones that were set in the floor. As before, and to Qiana’s amusement this meant manoeuvring the large, and heavy, stone guardian into position and standing on the linked slab. Having done so part of the floor behind the railing rolled back to reveal a stairwell leading down into a surprisingly well lit room.
Descending the staircase they entered the most beautiful room they had seen so far.
Multi-coloured lights emanating from hidden sources illuminated some incredibly well preserved statues, and finely crafted tombstones. They held each other close, sharing the awe and wonder at the beauty that was laid out before them.
In addition to the monuments that dominated the room, there were also various relics scattered around the edges of the chamber and, in one corner, an imposing wooden chest that seemed to glow from within.
Brandon cautiously lifted the lid on the chest to reveal coins and trinkets of the finest quality. Jewels he didn’t recognise, gold and silver. This was certainly an astonishing reward for his effort in getting here!
From what Noelle had told him, Brandon knew that this was the last room on their quest and that, although they wouldn’t keep all the treasure, they would receive some of it as a souvenir of their trip and, if they wanted could buy more from one of the authorised market traders.
After spending quite some time taking in the wonders they had found, and wondering about the lives of those marked on the tombstones, they found a switch hidden on one of the walls that opened a door to a stairway that would take them up and out of the tombs.
Back at the hotel ‘base camp’, they went
straight to the bar, ordered a couple of exotic drinks and retired to
their room. At that point, the drinks quickly became secondary in their
minds, as Qiana drew Brandon close in a passionate embrace, showering
him with affection and thanks for a truly wonderful experience.
This was the greatest start to their married life that she could ever have wanted.
The following day they returned to the General Store and Brandon thanked Noelle for a marvellous adventure in the tombs and arranged the documents that he would need to take home the relics they had found. She also suggested a more relaxed visit to round of their first trip to France, the local Nectary.
Noelle was right. Set at the foot of the Champin Hills with fields full of vines and vats of nectar in various stages of production, the sights, sounds, and smells, this place lived up to its name, it was nectar to the soul.
Brandon and Qiana had plenty of time to soak in the atmosphere, see the nectar production process from vine to bottle and left with examples of both the grapes and the finished product as well as warmth in their hearts from this idyllic place.
For weeks after their return, Cleo noticed her parents seemed to be smiling all the time and always gently touching each other as they went about the house. She loved it, having such joy in the house. Though she couldn’t quite work out whether it was marriage or the honeymoon that had given them such a buzz.
It was near enough a month after their honeymoon, they had just finished breakfast and Brandon was about to get to work on his ‘Inventorium’ (as he liked to call his workbench!)
Qiana gently gripped his arm, “Hold on dear, before you start work I think there is something we need to start planning for.”
“Another holiday? Already?” Brandon teased her, “No, actually, more like some extra work for us … I’m pregnant. We’re having another baby!”
Even so, they dressed for the occasion and made their commitments to each other with all the reverence and dignity of a full-blown wedding ceremony.
Cleo realised at that moment that it wasn’t just finding someone gorgeous (like Thomas!) that really mattered it was having love and respect for each other that would make you truly happy.
Straight after the wedding Brandon and Qiana were going off on their honeymoon in France. Brandon had arranged it all and for the last couple of weeks had been teasing Qiana about what he had organised for them.
Whatever it was, it was going to be a very special trip, and the first time either of them had been abroad in fact! Cleo wished them a good trip, hopefully they would bring back an exotic gift for her! And she promised that she would continue her studies and brush up her skills while they were away.
Over the last few months, pretty much since her birthday Cleo decided to put more effort into keeping in shape – actually this might have something to do with wanting to impress Thomas Easley as much as anything!
Whatever her motivations she was spending quite a lot of time at the Lofty Cerulean pool where she not only got to hang out with some cool people but she could also improve her fitness levels. It was at the pool she would often meet Sadie Laughlin. Sadie was a bit older than Cleo, but they loved spending time outdoors … and chatting about boys!
For their honeymoon Brandon had arranged a visit to one of the most beautiful towns in France, Champs Les Sims.
He knew Qiana would love the rural, unspoilt, charm of the town and he hoped that she would also enjoy the little adventure he had planned.
He was right, when they arrived at their ‘base camp’ the olde-world "Hôtel du Champs", she fell in love with it and felt right at home with the exotic mix of travellers and explorers from around the world.
They had had a long journey and Brandon had a lot of excitement planned so they weren’t able to spend a lot of time mingling before they went up to their room to freshen up. After depositing their bags in their room and having a quick shower they went into the town centre to visit the General Store in the middle of the marketplace.
After they had introduced themselves the manager of the store, Noelle Saint James, suggested that they will need a good two man tent, an easy-pack shower can or two and some dried rations.
Qiana gave Brandon a quizzical look, “what is going on here? Why is this woman trying to equip us for an expedition”? Brandon smiled at her, “relax, I have something special planned for the next couple of days, and you are going to love it”.
Qiana wasn’t entirely sure, she had never been camping before, but Brandon made it sound like it could be fun, and this was a lovely part of the world...
All their equipment bought and packed into their trusty car, Brandon took Qiana’s hand, “this is going to be amazing, you’ll see things you could only ever dream of in Sunset Valley!”
Turning the ignition, the engine roars into life, slipping the transmission into first gear, a gentle push on the accelerator and they were off …
Barely an hour outside the town centre, they pulled up at their destination, the Celtic Burial Mound.
They wandered around the enigmatic stones that stood guard on the top of the mound, but failed to make sense of whatever ancient purpose they had.
Brandon led Qiana back to the front of the mound where he retrieved their expedition kit and motioned Qiana to go through the marked entrance to the “Forgotten Tombs”.
“We’re on a treasure hunt” Brandon informed her. “Noelle at the store has left some special objects deep inside these tombs and we have to solve some puzzles on the way to find her ‘treasure’. She also said that we will probably be able to keep any other relics we find in here.”
“OK.” said Qiana, “sounds like fun, but if you expect me to dig through that rubble …!”
Brandon smiled at her as he rolled up his sleeves, picked up the pick-axe that had been left inside the chamber and set to work clearing the pile of stones that blocked the only likely exit from the room.
Pushing hard against the left edge of the ‘wall’ it swung open to reveal another small chamber ahead.
Inside this second chamber was a small side room. Peering inside this dark room Qiana saw a pile of large pots and what she thought might be water vessels and also what looked very much like a human skeleton.
She let out an involuntary gasp and looked back towards Brandon.
“Oh, yes, sorry,” he admitted, “I should have warned you. Although Noelle does set up the treasure hunts for visitors, these are real tombs and some of the rooms will contain genuine old bones. She said they’re left as a reminder of the true purpose of the tombs and we shouldn’t disturb them.”
Qiana wasn’t sure about having real bodies on show in a tourist attraction but this was ‘abroad’, maybe the customs were different so she should respect their values and not get too upset.
Closing the door on the burial room, Qiana returned to Brandon who was inspecting a strangely marked stone set in the floor in front of an apparently locked door.
Feeling the indentations in the slab, it looked like two footprints so, guessing he was supposed to place his feet in the markings Brandon moved to stand on the stone. He looked across at Qiana as a sigh of air being expelled rolled across the floor followed by the creaking of well-worn hinges as the door ahead of them slowly opened.
“Oh great!” Brandon laughed as they entered the next room, “another pile of stones and I bet I have to clear them to get out!” Qiana smiled, well this was his idea after all, “just think of how fit you’ll be after all this exercise.” She offered.
“I was hoping for a different sort of exercise”,
“Perhaps, if you can get us back out of here …” Qiana teased.
Looking around the room, there was a heart-shaped hole in the wall next to a door, “well that’ll be a keyhole I suppose.” suggested Brandon, “and I bet the key is under that rubble!” He set to dislodging the pile of stones and, exactly as he had predicted, found a heart shaped 'key' buried beneath.
Mode of solid stone the heart key was quite a weight but he managed to lift it up and insert it into the space on the wall.
With a burst of eerie blue light and a clattering of ancient mechanisms, the locks dropped away and the door swung open.
Before them, in the next room, were two lines of incredible carved figures standing as guardians of the impressive portal at the other end of the room.They looked at each other.
This was just awesome! They could never have imaged that they would, one day, stand in the centre of such history. Just the two of them, like explorers of old.
Qiana was quite overcome with emotion, pulling Brandon into a clinch and whispering “Thank you so much. This is just incredible!”
Brandon, realising that time was moving on, knew that he had to get to the next chamber at least. If nothing else, he was feeling quite exhausted after shifting all that rubble!
He examined the trigger stone in front of the arch and worked out that he would need to move one of the statues into position to open the door. So with all his remaining strength he pushed the first sentinel out of its place in the ranks so that it stood on the trigger.
This fifth room that Brandon and Qiana entered was very sparse compared to the previous chamber, a solitary guardian statue and a railing inexplicably running across the centre of the room.
As it was getting late and Brandon was feeling pretty tired after his exertions so far, he suggested that they set up camp here, get some rest and check out the mysteries of this new room tomorrow morning.
For a moment Qiana wondered why they were sleeping in this dark, cold, cavern when they had a warm, comfortable bed waiting for them at the hotel but she was with the man she loved, on the most exciting adventure of her life so far. So, actually, this was just perfect, she wouldn’t change a thing!
After all the excitement of their first day in France, the couple sleep soundly, waking several hours later feeling refreshed and ready to complete their adventure.
Once again, it was a case of deciphering the instructions on the special trigger stones that were set in the floor. As before, and to Qiana’s amusement this meant manoeuvring the large, and heavy, stone guardian into position and standing on the linked slab. Having done so part of the floor behind the railing rolled back to reveal a stairwell leading down into a surprisingly well lit room.
Descending the staircase they entered the most beautiful room they had seen so far.
Multi-coloured lights emanating from hidden sources illuminated some incredibly well preserved statues, and finely crafted tombstones. They held each other close, sharing the awe and wonder at the beauty that was laid out before them.
In addition to the monuments that dominated the room, there were also various relics scattered around the edges of the chamber and, in one corner, an imposing wooden chest that seemed to glow from within.
Brandon cautiously lifted the lid on the chest to reveal coins and trinkets of the finest quality. Jewels he didn’t recognise, gold and silver. This was certainly an astonishing reward for his effort in getting here!
From what Noelle had told him, Brandon knew that this was the last room on their quest and that, although they wouldn’t keep all the treasure, they would receive some of it as a souvenir of their trip and, if they wanted could buy more from one of the authorised market traders.
After spending quite some time taking in the wonders they had found, and wondering about the lives of those marked on the tombstones, they found a switch hidden on one of the walls that opened a door to a stairway that would take them up and out of the tombs.
Back at the hotel ‘base camp’, they went
straight to the bar, ordered a couple of exotic drinks and retired to
their room. At that point, the drinks quickly became secondary in their
minds, as Qiana drew Brandon close in a passionate embrace, showering
him with affection and thanks for a truly wonderful experience.This was the greatest start to their married life that she could ever have wanted.
The following day they returned to the General Store and Brandon thanked Noelle for a marvellous adventure in the tombs and arranged the documents that he would need to take home the relics they had found. She also suggested a more relaxed visit to round of their first trip to France, the local Nectary.
Noelle was right. Set at the foot of the Champin Hills with fields full of vines and vats of nectar in various stages of production, the sights, sounds, and smells, this place lived up to its name, it was nectar to the soul.
Brandon and Qiana had plenty of time to soak in the atmosphere, see the nectar production process from vine to bottle and left with examples of both the grapes and the finished product as well as warmth in their hearts from this idyllic place.
For weeks after their return, Cleo noticed her parents seemed to be smiling all the time and always gently touching each other as they went about the house. She loved it, having such joy in the house. Though she couldn’t quite work out whether it was marriage or the honeymoon that had given them such a buzz.
It was near enough a month after their honeymoon, they had just finished breakfast and Brandon was about to get to work on his ‘Inventorium’ (as he liked to call his workbench!)
Qiana gently gripped his arm, “Hold on dear, before you start work I think there is something we need to start planning for.”
“Another holiday? Already?” Brandon teased her, “No, actually, more like some extra work for us … I’m pregnant. We’re having another baby!”
Chapter 9: A Tale of Two Boys
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