Episode Ten The Bull Ring Truth may be stretched, but cannnot be broken, and always gets above falsehood, as oil does above water. Miguel Cervantes Lexi's white chariot may not have been crafted by Gepetto Ruggiero, yet it more than adequately managed to transport an exhausted Miss Olivia, a doting Duke and a wary Ms. Madeline back to Chāteau Gāteau in the twinkling of an eye. Halting on crushed gravel with nary a jar, the party alighted before the stucco and timber structure which Miss Olivia called home. Domenico checked the Peyton's girl pulse, nodded to Ms. Madeline, and then turned to make his way back to where Lexi and Bruce awaited their friend. "Wait," he heard a gentle voice urge. "Please don't go...come in." The request was a simple one, yet Olivia's vulnerable tone tugged at Domenico's heart and the magnetic pull he felt, compelling him to stay, was undeniable. "Lexi and Bruce won't mind," Maddie urged. "It's only for a moment." Miss Olivia's attempt to smile at Ms. Madeline's considerate appeal warmed her Duke to the marrow. He knew then and there he could never say no. Still feeling protective of the woman he had been sent by the Fates to rescue and guard, the New Yorker held up a hand and intoned, "By all means, ladies...shall we go inside?" "You're so wonderful," Olivia remarked, then leaned against her female companion for added support. Without thinking, the concerned Domenico took it upon himself to lift the ex-hostage into his strong arms, carrying the semi-conscious woman through the farmhouse to her room with hardly a creak of an old wooden floor board or staircase step to impede his passage. "Ms. Madeline," he whispered, setting Olivia down on an awaiting bed, "I think you best take over from here." "Oh yes, Duke, that would be the proper thing to do...I'll only be a minute," the Belgian remarked as she pulled a beautiful Versace coverlet over the weary CyberSybil's prone form, pausing to remove mud-splashed riding boots. "There." "In the name of wise Athena...but she is lovely," the gentleman observed, bending down to kiss O's hand good-bye, a gesture that touched Maddie's heart. "At least she may now sleep...I best be going. Since I must return to New York tomorrow, please give Miss O this ring..." "Why Heavens and Andromeda...it's a Medusa head! By Versace! I can't, look...she's stirring...go on, give Olivia the ring yourself." Although he was very shy by nature and began to blush at Ms. Maddie's suggestion, the Duke sat on the edge of Miss O's Chinese bed and began: "I wood likes you to have this token, Oh-livia, 'cause tomorrow I have to go home to take care of my bulldog, Locky..." "Really?" O laughed for the first time in days. "I'm a bulldog - born on May the fifth, month of the Bull and also in the Chinese Year of the Dog! Isn't that funny?" "Wow, that's the very day I found Locky," Domenico effused, excited beyond belief, "but you are much too bu-tee-full to be a bulldog," he then disagreed, shaking his head. "I have to go, but take this ring for protection and if you are ever in danger, go to Lexi and he will call me, and I will come back, understand? I wish I didn't have to go..." "No, wait..." Olivia pleaded, yet the man from America made his way out, leaving the woman of his dreams clutching a true talisman of love.    Text Copyright © 1999 - 2005 cybersybils.com All rights reserved.