Aldric opened his mouth and tried to think of a response that made any sense but couldn't form any words. "I suppose?" he finally said. It seemed to be enough for the girl since she nodded in understanding and reached to turn the knob.
"You are a very brave child, Miss Kaylee. I have been a warrior my whole life and I have known adults who have less poise in the face of such a situation."
Kaylee turned and glanced up at him, very seriously. "Mommy says that panic never helped anyone and that if I'm in a scary situation I need to stop, think, and listen to the people who know more than me."
"I cannot wait to meet your mother. She sounds like a remarkable woman." Aldric was beginning to think this whole family was remarkable. If all three of these women could use magic... Aldric frowned. In that case, then it was likely that all three were in a great deal of danger. "Miss Kaylee, do you see that black truck? Would you be so kind as to go open the back door for me?"
Kaylee giggled but nodded. "You talk funny. I don’t know a lot of the words you use,“ she said before she scampered over and yanked the door open.
"Others have remarked upon that trait in previous interactions," he said, keeping his face as serious as he could while spouting the most pompous phrase he could think of on the spot. He winked at her as he carefully maneuvered Faith into the back seat and wrapped the middle seat belt around her waist so that she was as safe as could be while lying down across the back seat. It was fortunate that the drive wasn't terribly long.
Kaylee's eyes lit up. "What does that mean?"
Aldric carefully closed the door on Faith and pulled the front passenger door open. "It means that other people have also told me that I talk funny."
Kaylee cracked up, and he lifted her into the front seat. "I know that this is extremely irregular, but it is the best I can do, with your aunt still asleep. My home is not far, and if I remember correctly, my friend Marc and his son are home today as well. Jake is near your age, I believe."
"I'm five years old!" Kaylee was very proud of this. "And a quarter!"
"An excellent age. Jake will also be six very soon," Aldric said. He made sure that Kaylee was buckled in as well as she could be and closed the door. His mind was trying to spin wildly with theories and guesses, but he needed to focus. Once Faith and Kaylee were safe at the clan house he could go look for the missing sister and hopefully all three women would be safe and protected by dusk.
After he climbed into the driver's seat of his SUV, he started the engine and hit a button. The cab was filled with the ringing of a phone, then, a woman's voice.
"Aldric Donnelly, what the hell do you want this time of day? Weren't you planning to be out brooding over the northern borders?"
"Please take care with your language, Tamika," Aldric's tone stayed serious. "I have passengers. Miss Kaylee, this is my friend and assistant monster hunter, Tamika Jones. Tamika, this is Miss Kaylee Francis Latham, and she is five and one-quarter years old."
Kaylee gasped. "You remembered all of everything!"
"Of course. You told me important things."
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the call. "It's a real pleasure to meet you, Miss Kaylee Francis Latham. Well, meet you over the phone anyhow. However did you get mixed up with that old grump?"
"He's not a grump, he's a helper. He saved me and Aunt Faith! He's a monster fighter, which is like a firefighter except for monsters and not fire.” Kaylee turned to peer at Aldric. "How did you fight those monsters? Did you use a big sword? The heroes in one of the cartoons that I watch fights monsters with a big sword."
"Um, No. Just a knife," Aldric said, and Kaylee's face fell in disappointment. "But it is a large knife if that is any consolation."
"I suppose that's okay," she agreed.
Tamika's gleeful laughter filled the truck. "Oh, Miss Kaylee, you and I are going to get along just fine."
"Please don't be so loud, Tamika. Kaylee's aunt is sleeping in the back. I will explain that later, but right now we need to find Kaylee's mother. I tracked some rogues to the Latham's cabin and interrupted an attack. I fear that there may more that I didn't dispatch, and Miss Kaylee’s mother was in town and unaware of what happened.”
"Whereabouts?" Tamika's voice was serious now, as well.
"The cabin is just over two miles from the north border where I was headed. Kaylee's mother was in town and heading to the grocery. Miss Kaylee, what does your mother look like? And the car she is driving?"
"Mommy looks like me, mostly, but much taller and her eyes are the same as Aunt Faith’s. And our car is blue and not very big and Mom always says that she wants to trade it in for an SUV, but car shopping is a pain in the ass," Kaylee delivered this statement with not a drop of humor.
Tamika cracked up again.
"Well, honey, what do you look like then?" she asked.
"Miss Kaylee has curly, very dark brown hair and green eyes, but her aunt’s eyes are hazel. I would guess that her mother has an athletic build if they resemble each other that closely. What is your mother's name?"
"Christina, but nobody calls her that unless they've never met her. Everyone calls her Crissy."
"Okay. An unfamiliar dark brunette lady named Christina Latham, driving a blue car in town. Shouldn't be too hard to spot the car I
