"Con Bound at last!" the cheer went up from Trace, Aly, and Shadoe as they passed the Canadian border and headed for Toronto.
Con Bound at last. They had waited a year for this and the last weeks had been fraught with tension as they prepared for their trip. Getting the three of them together had not been an easy job.
Getting the plans finalized had been even harder. First they could not decide how to travel. Aly wanted to fly, Shadoe did not do planes. Shadoe wanted to take the train, but CAT being the cheapy she was wanted to drive because it was less expensive.
So there they were, piled into Traces Taurus heading for Toronto and the time of Shadoes life. Traces and Alys too if their excitement was anything to go by.
"Now CAT, lets not get lost." Shadoe grinned from her position in the back seat, her hazel eyes gleaming in excitement as they met CATs in the rear view mirror.
"Yeah, Bruce Payne and Roy might not be around to rescue us." Aly laughed, joining in on the general teasing of Trace.
"Hey, wonder if him and Roy could be the mystery guest they keep talking about" Shadoe leaned forward, her voice filled with laughter. "You know if they are, we are gonna have to get a *souvenier* from them."
"Shadoe." Cats warning was so filled with laughter that it wasn’t really a warning at all."Don’t you get me into trouble."
"Really Cat." Shadoe giggled, her wide smile and speculative look giving Trace a warning sensation of trouble.
"We’ll have to keep an eye on her Aly." she laughed. "She’ll get us all jailed if we’re not careful."
"Not Shadoe." Aly laughed along with them, setting back in her seat, and thinking about what a great adventure they were about to have. But Trace was worried, if a bit amused. She knew Shadoe, just as she knew her own weakness for Shadoes schemes. There was a definite threat here, she could see it in her cousins eyes.
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Part Two: Con Bound Toronto Ground
Much to Shadoe and Traces surprise, they arrived at the hotel in Toronto with no problems. They did not even get lost once, though Shadoe it swore it was because of Alys mapping skills and sheer luck, because as she stated, her and Trace could not find their way out of a wet paper bag if their lives depended on it.
Of course, Trace did take exception to that.
But, here they were, safely in their room at the Toronto hotel and preparing to get ready to head to the convention hall where they would see who all was sceduled to appear, the activities being held, and a list of the LFN Fans that had arrived.
Several hours later, dressed in their finest, blue jeans and sweat shirts with screennames emblazened on the backs, they left their rooms and headed for the main convention area.
Shadoe gazed around at the milling crowd of LFN fans, and the catering staff attempting to take care of the crowd in the large convention area where this first meeting was being held. Large tables of snacks, and dips had been set up, as well as tables to register for the various meetings with stars.
"What do we do first?" Trace was nearly jumping up and down as she looked around at the frantic activity, longing to join in and find out what was happening so far.
Shadoe looked at Trace and Alys eager faces and nearly shook her head at the barely contained energy the two women were displaying. These two were practically bouncing on their heels as their eyes flew frantically from one area to another.
Shadoe looked around the crowded room as well. This was gonna be fun she thought, it had been years since she and Trace had been together on an adventure, and this ws the adventure of a lifetime.
"Tell you what, you two see what is going on, I need to find a drink and a sandwich or something, we’ll meet back here in about half an hour so."
"Great." Aly was more than eager to throw herself into the throng in front of her.
"Shadoe, you stay out of trouble." Trace took a second to warn her cousin before she bounded intothe crowd like the eager little cat she was.
"Stay out of trouble." she mumbled to herself as she went in search for a cold coke. "when have I ever gotten into trouble on my own." Then she thought about it for a moment, laughed under her breath and went on. So she was good for it, but it was never really BAD trouble. She wondered around the convention hall, signing into whatever she saw Trace or Alys name on, and looking forward to meeting the stars who would be arriving.
She got to meet several of the cyber fans she had met on the covertlovers list. List mommy North, who was just as crazy as Shadoe and Trace herself, and several others who had become friends.
It looked as though she was gonna have a fine time, just as soon as she found a chance to rest she thought as she realized how tired she was. Shadoe had never been to a convention, she had been unaware of how loud and boisterous it could get. Looking for a quiet, and of course dark corner to rest for a moment, she slipped into a hallway and stood within the shadows as she sipped her Coke.
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Part Three: Con Bound Trouble Found
As shadoe stood within the shadows sipping her coke and beating down the headache forming between her eyes, she heard a door on the upper end of the hall.
"Now listen Bruce, remember, you are a surprise guest, don’t let any of the fans know you are here or there is likely to be a riot. You and Roy in the same hotel would cause an outbreak of eager fans that would shut this convention down."
"I understand." a soft European voice answered with an amused vein. "But this is getting kind of boring. Roy and I are getting tired of playing poker and watching the fun on tv."
"Give me time, Bruce, I promise it won’t be much longer."
From the shadows, the Shadoe glimpsed the exchanged and identified the face of Traces favorite actor.
She listened as the woman mentioned the room numbers he and Roy were in, and she smiled diabolically. Then looked at him once again. Okay, she thought, maybe he wouldn’t look too bad in a thong after all. As the two left the doorway, a thoughtfull look crossed shadoes face. It could be done she thought, if it was just timed right, and if she could get Trace and Aly to help her.
No problem there. she knew her cousin and knew she would be all for it. Now all she had to do was let Trace and Aly in on the plan. She giggled to herself as she re-entered the large room where the conventioners had gathered and began to search out Trace and Aly.
A souvenir from the convention she thought. A bona fide, can get no where else souvenir that they could all laugh over in the coming years. And it would be so easy to do now that she knew where Bruce Payne and Roy Dupuis were staying.
She found Trace and Aly at one of the snack tables as they talked excitedly about the stars who had been sceduled to attend the convention. Everyone was very disappointed, Shadoe heard the comment, that Roy Dupuis was not going to make it this year. There had been rumors that he might be there, until the convention had started and the official statement was that he would not be there. Shadoe smiled to herself as she came up to Traces side.
"Cat we have to talk." she grabbed her arm, tugging at her to get her attention. "Get Aly and lets go to our room. This is important."
"But Shadoe this is important." Trace frowned at her as she dragged her attention away from the celebrity gossip she was listening to.
"This is more important Trace." she whispered imperatively. "Come on."
"Oh all right." she groused, still frowning but willing to be dragged away. She knew Shadoe, and she knew that look in her eyes, if she didn’t see what was going on now, then Shadoe was liable to do something totally outrageous to get her attention.
"I’ll get Aly and meet you at our room." she promised. "You get us something to eat and go up on up."
"Hurry Trace." Shadoe warned her. "Don’t make me come looking for you." then she turned and hurried from the room.
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Part Four: Con Bound Jail Kitty: Con Bound.....Jail Hound?
THUD.......Shadoe rolled her eyes as Trace fell to the floor in complete shock after she relayed the conversation she had heard. She looked over to Aly, whose faced had first paled, then flushed, her eyes widening until Shadoe thought they would just pop right out of her head.
"Great." Shadoe muttered, "we need to make plans here, and Trace faints, and Aly looks like she’s in shock. Yep, I need this." but there was a smile on her face. She had surprised and pleased her friends, and she guessed that was good enough for her.
"So what do you think of my plan, Aly?" shadoe asked her as they helped Cat to her feet. "All we have to do is watch his room. He’s getting antsy, he’ll slip out again soon. Then Cat and I will sneak in and steal the required objects."
"Oh My." Aly sighed once again. "Do you really think we can get away with it?"
"Of course we can." Shadoe waved her fears away."It will be a breeze........"
~~~~~~~~~~
"Yeah......a real breeze." Cats voice was venomous as she faced her cousin hours later from the inside of a Toronto jail cell. On the other side of the bars, Bruce Payne in all his glory was filling out the complaint against the two girls for trying to steal his newly pressed boxer shorts.
Damn, people were weird he thought.
"I’m sorry CAT, ALY." she cried out, sitting down on the hard bunk. "Oh this will look good on the list. Shadoe, TraceCAT, and MonkeyGirl arrested for stealing Bruce Paynes underwear." She stared morosely at the floor.
"TraceCAT?" the smooth European voice interrupted her thoughts and she looked up to see the amused smile on his face as he moved to the bars.
"Her screename." Shadoe pointed to her suddenly quiet, and trying hard to hide her flushed faced, cousin.
"TraceCAT?" he asked again. "From the covertlovers mailing list?"
"Thats right." shadoe nodded, " And I got her into trouble. Its all my fault."
"Oh I don’t know." he said softly as he watched Trace. "From what I have read, she manages that fine on her own." He then turned back to the officer in charge. "I won’t be filing charges after all officer." he laughed. "I know who these ladies are after all. You can release them into my custody."
Shadoe, Trace, and ALY all looked at him in shocked surprise. They could not believe this. The officer opened the cell door, and when Trace walked out of the cell, his hand lightly gripped her upper arm.
"Come on Cat." he grinned. "have dinner with me. I know a nice little place where the food is delicious, and the ice cubes are large and nice and hard."
THUD.......the CAT went right to the floor.
Bruce looked over at the exhasperated Shadoe and Aly and slowly shook his head. "I should have remembered her habit of Thudding." he laughed, then looked back down at the peaceful Cat.
He bent down and hefted her over his shoulder, then with a nod of his head indicated that they should leave.
"Uh what are you gonna do with CAT." Shadoe asked worriedly as they left the police station.
"Exactly what I said earlier." he laughed. "Show her some ice and see just how imaginative she can get."
THUD There went Shadoe and Aly as well as his suggestive voice finished speaking.
Bruce looked down at the two of them, then at the rump he had a firm hold on and just shook his head. From behind him came Roy and Gene, his eyes expressive in their amusement asked for help.
Roy picked Aly up, cradling her in his arms and carried her outside to the waiting car. Gene picked up the Shadoe and followed him. Bruce sighed, then chuckled. Perhaps he would have fun at this convention after all.
THE END.
This story Copyright 1999, Shadoe
Used by permission