Death in the Water

Meeting Katharine

It was nine thirty exactly when Henry and Miao arrived at Katharine's home. Walking up to the front door, Henry knocked on it while Miao stood on the step to the porch. Smiling to himself, Henry waited patiently. Spending time with Katharine was what he was looking forward to the most, even if the day would have to involve showing Miao around Actaea.

Soon Katharine answered the door. She was the same age as Henry and an inch taller. She was a slender, light-skinned girl with large reddish-brown eyes and red hair that was long and straight. Her mouth was cute, her face honest and her legs good. Overall, she was fairly attractive. She was wearing gold earrings, a red lei necklace, a red hibiscus in her hair on the right side of her head, a red sarong as a dress and a pair of chunky white sandals with thick soles, heavy buckles and wide Mary-Jane straps. This time she was wearing a pair of sunglasses, something that Henry had not seen her wearing the previous day, yet that could have been a case of Katharine having forgotten them at home. She also had a black purse with her, something that she must have forgotten at home as well, for Henry had not seen it with her the previous day.

"Good morning, Katharine." Henry said, going to tip his cap to Katharine, only to realize he did not have his flat cap on. A small blush appearing on his face, he gestured to Miao, saying: "This is my new neighbour Alexandra Sheung Miao, my dad arranged for me to show her around town since her brother has already been recruited into the local baseball team. Miao, this is Katharine Sharp."

Giving a curtsy, Miao said: "How do you?"

Smiling and nodding her head, Katharine said: "Very well, thank you. It is very nice to meet you, Miao." Noticing the digital phone in Henry's hand, she then inquired: "What's that for?"

"Oh, the phone?" Henry asked. "Just for me to report to my dad what we have discovered."

"Henry told me about what you two encountered last night on the way here." Miao commented. "A fiery disc, an alien named Moloch, men in black, Carchemish coming back to life it is all so fantastic, but still, I can understand why Chief Administrative Officer Riel would be so skeptical."

"I told my dad about it and he thought it was a crazy story I told to justify me being out with a boy past curfew." Uttered Katharine as she proceeded to walk from the porch, Henry and Miao walking with her. "Something that I am not in the habit of doing."

"So, you told him about me?" Henry asked, curious about what her father's reaction would be. Katharine had told him that her father had no problems with boys unless they had bad reputations or came from bad families, so Henry was alright. The only bad thing any member of his family had done was when his paternal grandfather Humphrey had walked out on his father and grandmother when the former had been Henry's age and that had been thirty-four years ago, most people currently believed Humphrey to be dead. His maternal uncle Manuel McNeil was, in his own words, "a milksop, a deceiver and a charlatan", but he was otherwise trustworthy.

"I did and he thought I was joking at first." Katharine replied, playing with her right earring a bit as she smiled at Henry. "When I told him I was serious, he asked where you took me for a date, immediately inquiring if you took me to the art gallery."

"Ooh! Can we go there after the zoo?" Miao inquired.

"Those sound perfectly nice." Katharine agreed. "Something more relaxing after we check to see if Carchemish's skeleton is still there."

Chuckling, Henry nodded and said: "It's a plan." Running a hand through his hair, he thought this would turn into a pretty fun day.