Dimitri shifted uncomfortably in his bed.  "I'm telling you, my ankle is aching!"

Anya rolled her eyes as she finished getting dressed for the night.  "Wiebke says you're fine and you're just putting on an act," she called out from the bathroom to him.

Dimitri blushed.  So Wiebke was right.  Couldn't Anya still show a LITTLE sympathy to him?

"So you believe HER on everything now?"

"Hmm," she teased as she walked out.  "I'm not sure...I think she's cursed me with her spell...oooohh..."  She playfully rumpled his hair.  He blushed but laughed.  Anya could be extremely cute when she wanted to.

"Okay, so it's a little far-fetched.  I'm still getting Vlad's medicine."

Anya nodded.  "It wouldn't hurt to try.  I still don't trust her."  She helped him up from his bed.  "See?  Your ankle isn't even swollen!"  She mimicked him jokingly. "Ohhhh, my ankleeee, ohhhh it hurts from that fall in the basement!"

Dimitri rolled his eyes.  "Come on, let's just get the medicine!  Then we'll come back and feed it to Pooka."

Anya grabbed his arm. "Uh uh, no no no!  We are NOT feeding that stuff to Pooka!"

"Then what WILL we feed it too?  You?"

"Why not catch a fish and put it in the medicine?"

"Catch a fish?  That's the dumbest idea I've ever hea -- hey, it just might work!"

They tiptoed quietly down the hallway.  Dimitri slowly opened the door and peeked in.

"Good, he's brushing his teeth.  Let's get it."  They snuck in together, Anya carefully balancing the bowl of water and the empty one they brought with them.  Dimitri quietly poured the medicine into the empty bowl, then they replaced it with lemon flavored water.  They were gone before Vlad came out to go to bed.

"Let's see," Dimitri said as he held the bowl with the medicine in it up to his nose.  "It smells like something weird."

"That's because it's medicine, Dimitri."

He flushed.  "Let's just get the fish and test this out!"

After secretly acquiring two fishing poles from the shed, they settled themselves by the lake's banks to catch their test victim.

"Okay!" he said firmly, "Let's catch a fish!"

"How do we go about doing that, exactly?"

"You think I know?  I wasn't exactly an outdoorsy kid growing up!"

They sat chatting for a good half hour before Dimitri was sure his bottom would fall off.  Still they remained seated, until Anya felt a tug at her line.

"Hey!  I think I've got something!"

"Wait, wait...I do too!"

This was great!  TWO fish to try the medicine out on!  They both pulled, eagerly awaiting their rewards.

Anya's pole quickly flew out of her hands, pulling Dimitri's with it.  "GOOD GRIEF!"  Together they leaned over the side of the lake, trying to squint desperately and see what had happened to the poles.

"We must have gotten ours hooked together then on some sort of plant...oh great!"  Dimitri sighed, rolled up his pajama pants, and waded in.

Anya laughed and clapped her hands teasingly.  "Good gracious!  You look like one of those Egrets!"

Dimitri turned around and splashed her good naturedly.  She scrambled up and waded in after him, splashing back.  Soon there was an all out water fight in the works, ending with both of them in waist deep water, laughing until their sides ached.

"I don't think we're going to find the poles," he said finally.  "I guess we'll have to try it out on something else."

"Darn, what can we give the medicine too beside a mouse or a fish?"  She paused for a second.  "What's that sound?"

Dimitri stopped to listen.  "It sounds like...a growl."

They exchanged looks.  "A GROWL!"  Scrambling as fast as they could, they ran through the water to the shore as a big black Lab came swimming into their vision.

"It's a dog!  What the heck is a dog doing out at night in the middle of a lake?!" Dimitri said frantically.

"What did they give it, catnip for dogs?!?!"

They grabbed hands and continued to run to the shore, finally tumbling gratefully on the slick grass and running as fast as they could amid the slipping and sliding to the shed.  They slammed the door after themselves and locked it as the dog tried to break it down.

"VLAD!!!!" Dimitri screamed.  "WIEBKE!!"

Wiebke and Vlad ran outside.  "Oh no!" she cried.  "Don't tell me Hans tried to attack someone again!  Hans!  Shoo!  Shoo!"

Hans obediently returned to his dog house.  Vlad opened the shed door to reveal two soaking, miserable looking people.

"Oh no, you got yourselves into trouble again!" he scolded.  "Come now, you can't just go to sleep?"

Dimitri sighed.  "I don't think you'd understand, Vlad."

"Oh, I understand!" Wiebke said.  "You heard about the Lady of the Lake, didn't you?"

"The Lady of the Lake?" Anya questioned.  "No...we didn't."

"It's a tale about a woman who lived in this farmhouse," she explained.  "And supposedly she drowned in the lake one late night in the month of March.  She was walking with her dog, who also died.  Now they come to the house for a week each March to tend the land.  Supposedly they just can't give their home up.  It means too much to them."

Anya shivered and clung to Dimitri's arm.  "That sounds scary."

"Oh no, no," Wiebke said kindly.  "I'm not scared of her, and neither should you.  She means you no harm."

"Wow," Dimitri said nervously, "that's a really spiffy tale, but I think since it happens to be March now, I'm going inside."

After changing clothes, Anya flopped down on her twin bed.  "I can't believe that happened.  Now what do we do?"

Dimitri dried his hair with a towel.  "I have no idea.  Let's just get some sleep.  Hopefully she won't come in and murder us during the night."  He got under the covers of his own bed.

"I can't believe it's turned out like this so far."  Anya rested her head in her hand.  "Maybe one of us should stay awake."

"Alright, I volunteer.  Just until 3.  Then I'm waking you up for your shift."

"You got it," Anya laughed.

Before 3, however, both Anya and Dimitri had dozed off.  And little did they know, the Lady of the Lake was closer than they thought.

© 1999 AnyaMuse@aol.com
© 1999 AnyaCI@aol.com