Monday, June 18, 2007

Hell's Bells...Part 2

The reunion of mother and daughter was all tears and hugs from mom and giggling laughter and ticklish hugs from daughter. Alexa had come alive as we neared Naomi’s room and erupted from my arms with bubbly exclamation of “Mama!” as she bounded towards the huddled, still sleepy form of Naomi.

Naomi gave me a teary-eyed glare over Alexa’s pig tails.

I held up my hands as I backed out of the room. “I’m back in control, Naomi. I’m sorry!”

Between my protestations and Alexa’s energetic, giggling hugs, her glare softened. She nodded before hugging her daughter back.

Ravyn touched my shoulder. “Let’s leave them alone, they’ll need to get some rest.”

I followed her back out into the hall and towards the small office that she kept at the Coop.

“So did you receive that package from Drake?”

Ravyn nodded as she settled behind her desk and pulled out a large yellow and red DHL box that rattled as she moved it. “Yes. I haven’t seen keys like this since I was a child.” She reached in and pulled out a large ring of skeleton keys, each one slightly different than the others.

I shook my head. “You wouldn’t believe where this stuff is hidden…”

“The Angel-people are coming.”

We both turned to look down at the small, figure of Alexa standing in her nightgown and bunny slippers, a teddy bear dangling from her left hand.

Ravyn was the first to recover. “What was that, Sweetheart?”

“The Angel-people are coming, soon.”

Naomi padded in behind Alexa, her hair unkempt and her face stained with tears. “She keeps repeating this phrase. She also insisted on coming and telling you herself. She refused to go to bed.”

“Auntie Ravyn, the Angel-people are coming. Can I ride on Betsy?”

I leaned forward. “Alexa, do you mean that the An’girasii are coming here soon?”

She nodded.

“How soon are they coming?”

“They are almost here. We need to go bye-bye. Can I ride on Betsy?”