Let me spell it for you 2

The following free day found Daniel racing through the streets to make the last Öküz estate morning tour. Armed with her alumni's camera, given after signing over all her internal organs, she was determined to become intimate with its umbra. Her plan was to rise with plenty of time to get tea and a sardine and mushroom omelette with a generous amount of Gouda grated on top. She slept late however, and had to make due with a hastily eaten muffin after a quick shower.

The three families allowed four and only four tours a day Monday through Thursday. Three tours took place in the morning and one in the late afternoon. They were limited in entrants and on a first come basis. Preference was given to citizens and students. This allowed Daniel to make a reservation, but she still had to wait. This arrangement was contentious for tourists who knew the weight of their economic influence. Most countries relied very heavily on tourism, Bağlılık did not. 

Finding another date and time that coincided with her university schedule would have delayed her visit; so Daniel found herself breezing through the old town stone walls at high speed. Rushing through the forest and aforementioned scenery, she turned on the ring road, stood on the peddles and pumped towards the Öküz home.

A presentation of her student ID and proof of reservation gained entry at the gate after which she dashed down the winding drive to the mansion. A family of four, an older couple and family of three waited in anticipation on the semicircular porch. The children acquainted themselves scurrying amidst the arches while the adults conversed pleasantly. Their guide greeted her warmly when she sheepishly climbed the stairs. As they stood in front of the double doors they were given an introduction to Byzantine architecture, arcs arches and their great love of curves.

Daniel, though very much in awe of Turkish architecture, was a huge A Loyd Wright fan. Her attention was drawn to the two Lebanese cedar vestibules. They were massive, intricately carved and inlaid with copper. The scene: a man stood in the midst of a forest surrounded by four otherworldly creatures. His clothes were tattered and torn and he had no weapon with which to defend himself. 

One of the creatures was a two headed cobra with and the body of a scorpion. The one adjacent had the head and arms of a crocodile, but the body of an eagle. The third was a goat, it's horns long and jagged; it's body was as a lions, its front limbs were abnormally ample, the claws poised in the air. The Last and slightly apart from the others was a bull in form with hulking horns and the arms of a human. It stood on its hind legs and carried a broad sword. A ring hung in its nose with a serpent coiled around it. Daniel felt for the lone man and reaching out, ran her fingers over the bull's head. That's when she noticed that his genitalia was fully erect.

"It is a wonderful engraving don't you think?" Daniel jumped at the guide's voice.

"Whoa. Um, yes it is."

"Guests are always fascinated by the depiction. It is the legend of Yalnız. More specifically Insan hikayesi, the one who fights alone..." the guide was interrupted.

"But he's not alone, see..." The little red headed boy pointed up at the faces to the upper right. "There are people there and a woman and a dog on a cloud." His parents beamed down on their obviously above average son.

"You're right! Yalnız is not alone. The gods are showing him favor." A gesture was made to the heads floating in the sky. "The goddess of love," an indication to a delicate woman sheathed in  thin cloth, her contours and breast clearly visible, "is bestowing upon Yalnız a fox." The fox crouched ready to spring, it's mouth agape.

"It's just a little dog," The redhead was apparently average.

"A fox, and one should never judge on appearances." The older gentleman corrected kindly.

The guide nodded in approval, "foxes in lore often represent cleverness, whit and have an uncanny ability to extricate themselves from dangerous situations. The fox and Yalnız go on, in the legend, to defeat all of the creatures thus saving Bağlılık." The guide rested his eyes on the unconvinced redhead. "So legends go." The guide inserted an enormous metal key into the door. It turned easily and with a heavy clunk, one door shifted slightly. With effort it was pushed inward. "These cedar doors are opened only to start the tour. Be sure to wipe your feet before stepping in."

A floor to ceiling mirror greeted them with their own reflections. The high ceiling capped by a dome. Yellow, beige and red tiles formed intricate patters climbing the walls and covering the arches that opened the foyer in either direction. And the light, it burst in from the tiny curved windows that sat just below the dome and reverberated off the walls. It was breathtaking and only the beginning of what was to come.

In fact, Daniel frequently found herself left behind as she snapped photos or examined artwork or pictures. Sometimes she stood in the rooms trying to imagine who lived here and what their lives must have been like. She swore at times she felt the presence of Öküz from the past moving around, encircling her, coming closer to examine her just as she examined the vistas they looked from, the halls they walked and the rooms they slept in.

Everything was a mix of Turkish and European influences. While the architecture was stunning, the furniture was modest and tasteful. Handcrafted antiques, textiles and chinaware sat with the impression of being frequently used. More than just a display.

The grounds were equally magnificent. Trees and shrubs of every size and species, flowers, ground cover, moss and vines complimented, accented and at times artfully overtook portions of the manor and pilings. There were ponds natural and artificial, babbling little waterways and even a canal. She caught a glimpse of a maze somewhere in their wondering, but only a glimpse.

Yet again trailing the group, she stopped to get a beautiful shot of two swans, one black the other white while they rendezvous out on the large placid pond. She cautiously maneuvered  deeper into the the tall grass to get a better angle. Finally satisfied, she turned to leave and arranging things, noticed the lens was not in the bag!

"Oh, oh no...no no no." Sifting through the tall grass she got down on her hands and knees to part it like fine hairs. That is, until something caught her hip. She looked up and saw a man fall down. He landed in a heap and remained motionless before groaning. This made Daniel teehee.

"You're laughing?" He muffled as he began to move.

"No...I mean, I'm sorry, but yes." She chortled, "who stays down on the ground that long?" As he sat up she showed more contrition. "I'm sorry."

"You said that."

"I really am," she fumbled around, "I lost the lens to my friends camera you see." She looked around, "it's worth a large sum of money and..."

"You mean this?"

There it was in his hands! "Where?"

"Somewhere between my pancreas and gallbladder I expect." He winced.

Daniel covered her eyes with one hand and guffawed before quickly gaining her composure. "I was taking pictures."

"On all fours?"

"What?"

"Oh for the the love of... It's torn!" He was fingering a tear in his slacks. Now Daniel noticed he was wearing a suit and an expensive looking one at that. Of course it was expensive, he lived in the freaking Taj Mahal, but that did nothing to dampen her irritation, even if it was presumptuously cultivated.

"Maybe it was already torn."

His sudden gaze impressed the wolffish grey green color of his eyes in her memory. "It was not. And I will have you know that this suit is worth..."

"By all means, surreptitiously compliment your own wealth." 

"...over five thousand Lyra. Surrep..."

"What is that?" Daniel looked up pensively in the sky, "like almost eight thousand dollars." Inwardly, she wilted into the soil beneath her legs. Outwardly, she remained truculent. 

"It's not mine."

"Seriously, who goes loping about the forest in an eight thousand dollar suit?" She flailed her hand out at the trees.

"It's my damn patch of trees, I can do the damn bernie in a F-in chartreuse tutu if I want. And who might you be tourist?" He was rising to his feet now and as daniel's head had to tilt further back, her irritation abandoned her to the consequences.

The whole interchanged began a playback and its folly not lost on her. She too rose and finally looked into his face and smiled with a chuckle.

"Again, you're laughing."

"Daniel. My name is Daniel. I'm a student at BGU and thank you," she reached to retrieved her lens from his hand, "for being more of a gentleman than I deserve."

He pulled the lens out of her reach. "Your surname?"

"Huh?" She grunted as she reached for it again.

"Daniel who?" He moved it in the other direction.

"Winters, Daniel," she lunged, but he was faster, "Winters," she made another try which ended in disappointment, "what?" She huffed.

"You might as well come to lunch," he turned on his heels and started walking, "it will help me explain why I'm late." He tossed the lens in the air and caught it. Daniel stood for a second and watched him leave before cursing under her breath and following.

His strides were long and Daniel who topped out at five foot two had to work to keep up. "Look, this is a really bad idea."

"Why?"

"I won't know what to say."

"I doubt it."

She stopped, "what?" Then started again. "I won't know which fork to use."

"Fork?" His head turned to her as he stopped. It was his turn to guffaw as he started walking again. "It won't matter."

"Rich people things always matter to rich people."

"It's not my fault we have money. Don't try and paint me evil." He tossed her lens again.

"I have a tour at another house."

"The estates don't tour again until three." They turned around a corner of the mansion laden with wisteria.

"Wow, that smells nice." She slowed down, "wait! I don't play well with others." This she conceded as they mounted stairs. He simply showed her two lines of perfect teeth before guiding her through the door. Here Daniel was met by two sets of eyes. "Erm, hello." She said brightly.

"Oh Tawny, I was wondering what happened to you." A slim woman with large light brown eyes that shimmered gold in the sunlight, came towards them.

But Daniel only had a second to notice, "sooo, your name is Tawny?" She chided as he passed by to give the woman a cheek. He spared her a sidelong glance before ignoring her.

"Hello mother. This is Daniel Winters."

"Not exactly my dear, it's a nickname that caught on when he was little. Daniel Winters welcome, my name Mir." Mir was flawless grace in motion. Her eyes alert and trained on Daniel, but not with malice, more curiosity. "Please let me apologize in advance for my son's rough behavior. I thank you for putting up with it."

Daniel looked to her capture for an explanation. He seemed to have totally forgotten her existence. "No no, we just met."

"She tripped me up in the birch woods." He said from the finger basin across the way.

"Tripped you up?" Mir's head swiveled from him to her.

"Yes, you see I dropped my lens. I borrowed the camera from a friend so I was trying to find it." Daniel offered politely.

"Your lens?" Mir looked over the camera, "where is it?"

"He still has it." She said flatly.

"You are a spoiled little Bağlıco, always have been." The other occupant in the room walked up to her capture and tugged his ear.

"Nana, please." He reddened a slightly.

"Well, welcome to lunch Daniel. This is My mother-in-law, we call her Nana." Mir answered smoothly, "now that you have arrived, we are waiting on your brother and his guest."

There came a grunt, but Daniel couldn't pinpoint who from.

"Sorry to be late." In swept a distinctly gaudy woman with large blue eyes. She was big boned, but not overweight by any means. Her hair was jet black, lips red, fingernails bubblegum and earrings large and gold. "I simply could not get away from my meeting. They depend on me so."

She was followed by a man who could be taken for Mir's son. "What happened to the trainee? Coming late like this is embarrassing."

"Oh, don't be cross with me. I do so enjoy the family lunch and...who is that?" Her sweep of the room landed on Daniel.

"Adonia, please welcome Daniel Winters. Daniel, Adonia Mavijek." Mir introduced them.

Daniel waved, "How do you do?" She extended a hand.

"How do you do?"

Lunch continued without much flare. Adonia, in Daniel's opinion was one of those very-pleased-with-myself types. She talked all through lunch ingratiating herself on everyone, except Daniel. Mir a few times tried to find out more information about Daniel's situation with little success. Nana ate quite a bit, but did not reflect the same voracity in regards to speech. Her capture said little and only when forced, otherwise nothing at all.

With lunch mostly over and mindless conversation prevailing Daniel rose to excuse herself. "Thank you very much for lunch. The food was excellent," she paused, "but I really must go. I have classes early tomorrow and a textbook I've been trying my best to avoid these past three days."

"Uni days! So long ago." Adonia mused. "I think it's immensely brave of you to attend after so long. I couldn't imagine attending in my..."

"Thirties, thirty-eight to be exact. I'm not ashamed or embarrassed, no courage required. It has nothing to do with bravery. There were other things I wanted to do more, so I did them. I'm very proud of what I've accomplished." She shrugged.

"There is no need for you to be so defensive," Adonia looked to the others for confirmation. 

"Pretty typical for a that hum?"

Adonia's face dropped, "that is not what I meant."

"Oh, I think it is." She took a moment to soak in Adonia's translucent skin, the faint signs of aging. "I have a hard time believing that a woman of your stature, education and breeding wouldn't fathom the implications of referring to a person by an indicative pronoun. It was undignified and cheap way of separating me from you." Daniel raised her chin while Adonia's face became more ashen by the minute as she listened, then reddened considerably. 

"Who are you to talk to me in such a way?" She too stood.

"Daniel Winters. D A N I E L, W I N T E R S. You pompous shrew." With that, Daniel calmly walked out the way she came in. As she descended the stairs she fumed, of all the stupid...

"Daniel!" Her capture's voice called behind her. She didn't stop.

"I told you this was a bad idea."

"My dear." Mir's call made her turn around. "You must forgive Adonia, she's lived a sheltered life."

"I mustn't do anything of the kind. Maybe if she had been held accountable more in her life she wouldn't be an insufferable bore."

"Still, come to dinner tonight." Mir tapped her chin.

"I won't apologi...what?"

Mir turned to head back to the house, "Adonia won't be there. Come at seven." Daniel watched her glide back up the stairs and into the house.

"She can't be serious."

"She is." He amble towards her.

"Now you decide to speak?" For the first time, she paid attention to him. His build was more athletic than brawny. His hair thick, the front the color of hayseed which became progressively darker as it reached his neck. A very few grey hairs graced his temple. His forehead wide, nose straight, eyes though luminous, slanted slightly and his lashes were simply enviable.

"I don't know what you mean."

Daniel decided not to engage and paraded around a bit until she realized she had no idea how to get back to the front entrance.

"Lost?"

She glowered at him. He held up his palm to the right. He was thoroughly amused.

"Where is my lens?"

"In the house. It's safe until you come for dinner. Dress is casual."

Daniel squinted, "casual how?"

He shook his head, "wear whatever the hell you want."

"You're a real piece of work..."

"Kurtarıcı Öküz. K U R T A R I C I, Ö K Ü Z." 

They both erupted in laughter as he walked her to her bike.