"I've been waiting so long
To be where I'm going
In the sunshine of your love"

~"Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream

Kathy held up two dresses as she looked in the mirror. One was crimson with a golden tassel hanging off of the waist. The other was a blue, black, and yellow floral with a shift waist and flowing sleeves.

Instead of asking herself which one she liked best, Kathy found herself wondering which one Jim would like best.

The concert was two weeks away and preparations had been in full swing until the arrival of the mysterious drum set yesterday.

Kathy had dreamed of it all night; the shiny silver, the crisp sound, the bright ring of the high hats.

Bash had found Syl and brought her back to Wolgemoth, only saying that Syl wasn't feeling well and that she was going to bed.

Kathy had yet to play the drum set, but she suspected Syl had something to do with it, so she would wait until they were all together to give it a go.

For now, she had an errand to run. And a date to get to.

Bash had gone to pick up Smiley from school (Kathy didn't ask why) and Syl was manning the station until they got back.

The curtain to Kathy's room fluttered as Syl knocked against the fabric.

Kathy shoved her dresses underneath her bed and offered a strained, "Come in."

Syl moved the curtain back and Kathy noticed the distinct pallor of her skin. Her hair hung in limp ringlets around her head like she'd just woken up from a long nightmare.

"You alright, love?" Kathy asked. "Aren't you supposed to be on air?"

Syl's appearance brightened slightly when she smiled. "I've got an 8-minute Dylan song playing."

Her eyes glanced toward the bed, where the red-and-gold corner of Kathy's dress peeked out from beneath it.

Kathy stiffened. If it had been anybody else, they wouldn't have paid any mind. But this was Syl. And Kathy knew she'd been caught.

"It's not...I don't..." Kathy faltered, twisting her hands in front of her.

Syl relaxed her shoulders and stepped forward.

She and Kathy sat on the bed and Kathy braced herself for a lecture.

"I understand," Syl said, her words slow. "About you and Jim. I didn't realize he meant so much to you. You don't have to hide him away because of me."

"Really?"

Syl nodded.

Kathy's eyes welled with tears. "Oh, Syl, you don't know how much that means to me!"

"Yes, well–"

"You'd just love him! He's kind and funny and considerate. He loves technology. He thinks we're really going to put men on the moon one day! Maybe he could come aboard the ship and meet the boys, and you and I could–"

"I don't think I'm there yet, Kath," Syl interrupted apologetically. "But I'm glad you like him."

She patted Kathy's knee and stood up. "I should get back to the station. Enjoy your outing."

Kathy followed suit and got to her feet. "You got it for me, didn't you?"

"What?"

"The kit. It was you. Wasn't it?"

Something like pain mixed with sorrowful gladness came over Syl's face. She only gave a half smile before disappearing up the ladder.

Sometimes Kathy wished she could be as mysterious as Syl–darkly elegant with a fair amount of cosmic knowing.

She picked the floral dress.

Walking out in the late morning sun, she felt more light than she had before. As she went, she stapled fliers to lampposts, benches, and pinboards.

In a groovy, psychedelic font were the words, "Crumb Radio Presents! A Night of Love and Rock 'n Roll aboard Wolgemoth & Sons!"

Below the font was an artsy outline of all the Crumbs jamming on their instruments. It was simple, eye-catching, and fun.

To Kathy's surprise, several people stopped her to ask about the concert. When they asked how people would be able to get onto the boat, Kathy could only reply with, "We've got it all sussed, you just show up in your dancing shoes and bring a friend."

The truth was that they didn't know what they were going to do. All they had was two dinghies that could hold three people at a time on a good day.

They'd been so busy getting the boat repaired and decorated that they hadn't had time to consider how they would actually get people onto the boat itself.

This, however, did not daunt Kathy.

As soon as she showered the better corners of London with The Crumbs' fliers, she came to a fish and chis cart at the end of Helen Street.

And there he was.

Kathy was smiling before Jim even saw her. He was leaning against one of the picnic benches in the park, flipping through a newspaper. He wore a white shirt and trousers with a brown belt. His hair was slicked back and Kathy had to laugh to herself. Any one person within a ten-mile radius could tell he was American just by that hair.

Kathy lifted her hand in a wave and Jim looked up.

"Good afternoon, Katherine!" he greeted, folding up his newspaper

"Afternoon," Kathy replied, mentally telling the butterflies in her stomach to settle down. She bet Syl never got butterflies. Maybe that was how she could always be so cool.

"Say, I just popped into Altman's," Jim told her.

Kathy's eyes widened. "The fabric store on Piccadilly?"

"One in the same. And I found these..." Jim brandished a blue tin and handed it to Kathy.

She took it and opened the lid to reveal dozens of gold buttons. They were tiny, for decoration not function, with a fleur-de-lis carved into each one.

"I saw you buying all of that green and gold fabric the other day," Jim said, his cheeks turning a sheepish pink now, "and I figured you'd be making something sort of extravagant. Did I guess right?"

Though Kathy's eyes glittered with mirth, she couldn't help but feel a little guilty. The green and gold fabric was going to be used to make their costumes for the concert. The concert, which, if everything went according to plan, would be the demise of Jim and the Mad Teddy's.

Kathy wondered, for a moment, how Jim would feel if she told him. Would he care? Would he be angry?

Either way, these buttons were going to make their costumes into the most splendid thing Kathy had ever made.

"You guessed exactly right," she replied. "They're perfect."

She planted a soft kiss on his cheek, grinning from ear to ear, and they linked arms to take a walk around the park.

The end of spring always made the greenery more brilliant. The sun-kissed treetops filtered light down onto the passersby, occasionally sending leaves or blossoms shuddering to the ground.

The air smelled sweet and fresh and so unlike the wharf that Kathy couldn't help but long for it instead of the sea, just for a moment.

"Have you always sewn?" Jim asked.

Kathy laughed and shook her head. "I didn't even know clothes had to be put together by someone before they arrived in stores. My parents kept me at home most of my childhood. They didn't have time to teach me those kinds of things, though I heard my grandmother was a seamstress."

"How old were you when they passed away?" Jim asked.

Kathy stiffened and cast a furtive glance at him. The lighthearted air that surrounded them was suddenly sucked away as if the park were holding its breath.

Jim said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry."

"It's alright." Kathy tried to make her voice sound nonchalant, but failed. "It's just that they're not exactly dead."

"What do you mean? I thought..."

"That we were all orphans?" Kathy finished for him. She cleared the lump in her throat before saying, "That's what we tell people because it's just easier that way. I consider myself an orphan, anyway. I'd be in an orphanage after all if it weren't for Wolgemoth. But my parents didn't die...they just didn't want me."

The words still tasted just as bitter as the first time Kathy had said them when she was ten. Still laced with pain, still hurtful.

Maybe if her parents had died, it would be easier to move on. But to know they were out there, somewhere, living a life that was happier without Kathy always carried a certain hurt that she could never quite get over.

"We weren't that poor," Kathy felt she had to clarify. "But my mother got pregnant with triplets and suddenly I was just too much."

Jim looked at her incredulously, as if he couldn't believe it. "How could a parent just abandon their child like that?"

"They told me it was because they wanted what was best for me. That they couldn't give me the care I needed between our finances and the new babies."

"But that...that's so wrong," Jim said.

Kathy shrugged a shoulder. "Selfish people only care about you while you're doing something for them."

"So they sent you to an orphanage?"

"No, I went to live with distant relatives here in London. They owned a bar and treated me like a scullery maid." Kathy chuckled despite herself. "I used to pretend I was Cinderella, you know, while I scrubbed the floors and such."

Jim scrubbed the back of his neck. "And was Bash your knight-in-shining-armor?"

Kathy had to suppress a grin. Could Jim possibly be jealous? "In a way, I suppose he was. He swooped in one day and rescued me from a life of drudgery. But that's Bash for you; it's what he does. I love him like a brother, though, not a knight."

That seemed to ease Jim's mind. He said, "I'm sorry all of that happened to you."

Kathy thought about that for a moment before replying, "I'm not."

"Really?"

"Why would I want to live a life with people who'd drop me like a pin as soon as trouble came? I spent too long pining for the life I thought I deserved when it turns out I got something even better. I suppose that's why I sew; because, with every stitch of the needle, I have the power to go in any direction I want."

"That sounds nice," Jim said, a little sadly. "I wish I had more Crumb in my veins."

Kathy laughed. "I'm sure you do."

They turned to face each other just as a gust of wind tossed Kathy's fiery locks about her face. Jim gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

A shiver traveled up Kathy's spine at his touch as she became very aware of how close they were standing.

Her thoughts consisted of: I could kiss him right now. Should I? Does he want me to or am I just imagining him looking at me like that? No, that's ridiculous–

Whatever was about to happen, however, was interrupted.

"Kathy."

The voice wasn't a shout, but it might as well have been considering who the voice belonged to. It was clipped, urgent.

Kathy stepped away from Jim, heat rushing to her cheeks. She gave an annoyed glance at Syl, wondering how in the world Syl had found her. And why?

But when she opened her mouth, she stopped.

Syl's eyes were wild, but she wasn't looking at Jim. Kathy wasn't even sure if Syl had noticed Jim standing there at all.

Everything about Syl's countenance was rigid, from her shoulders to her neck to the firm set of her lips.

"Syl?" Kathy asked hesitantly. Fear clutched at her chest, her mind whirring with possibilities.

"It's Smiley." Every syllable was forced like it took everything in Syl's power to even get the rest of the sentence out. "Bash called. He wants us to meet him at the hospital."

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Sorry for the cliffhanger ;)

~Thoughts on Kathy's date?

~What do you think has happened to Smiley?

~General thoughts on the chapter?

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