The Bird and the Bee

Chapter 1

"Come along, little bee."

Matilda caught up to where her mother was, Miss Honey gently taking her hand to keep her by her side as they walked down the street of Cairnholm, Wales. With school being out for the summer and Agatha not being a worry for the woman at the time, her and Matilda had went to go on a short vacation to the island. The girl had been reading a few books from the library and Jenny wanted her to decide where they should go.

"What would you like to see first?" She asks, Matilda looking at her surprised.

"The library of course! Wales has a lot of bird books, especially near the island where the rocks and ocean is located." She explains. "We always have to visit the library." Matilda explains, sending her a grin and Jenny chuckled, looking up ahead.

"I should've known." She smiles, keeping a gentle hold on the girls hand as people passed by them on the sidewalk, the woman still a bit uneasy with being in a new area with just herself and Matilda, but did her best to manage it.

"The library is just up ahead, do you want to go in now?" Jenny asks, looking down at her and smiled when she nodded, her excitement very clear. The woman led her over to the building, opening the doors and allowed the girl to walk ahead, noticing not too many people seemed to be inside the building. Though the one in her hometown wasn't too popular either.

"Mom, look! They have so many history books about this place!" Matilda smiles, racing over to the aisles. Jenny watched her with slight amusement, walking over to where she was located, catching someone walking by in the corner of her eye. She glanced over but didn't see anyone.

"There's a few about the caves located here too."

Miss Honey's gaze moved back over to the girl, joining her by the books and glancing over them.

"How long can we stay here?" Matilda asks, drawing a small laugh from Jenny.

"However long you'd like, little bee." The woman says, Matilda briefly glancing over the different books and stands. The woman glanced around the different shelves, curious herself what the library had to offer.

"Will you be alright if I walked around? I won't be far from where you're at." Matilda nodded, the woman sending her a comforting look before managing to walk off. No one else was in the building, but she didn't go far. In fact, she only walked to the third aisle from where the girl was at and decided that was far enough.

She skimmed across the several books and shelves, not quite finding any that caught her eye. Unlike Matilda, she was a bit more precise about what books she preferred to read. Almost all the ones she had at home Matilda had read through and possibly had memorized by now.

Most of the books were of course about the island, the different ferrys, even some about the "Myths of Cairnholm" which seemed intriguing. Her attention was drawn away from the books when she heard somebody pass by, snapping her gaze towards the direction, but again seen nothing. Her nerves slightly getting the best of her, she turned to make her way back to Matilda, accidentally bumping into someone when she went to turn out of the aisle. She heard the books they were holding fall on to the floor, Jenny immediately kneeling down to pick them up the same time the other person did. Her hand brushed by theirs when she went to lift up the same book, glancing up and was met with a striking pair of blue eyes. Her hair was done up in a sort of bob, shades of dark blue mixed in with the dark black and seemed to be only a few years older than Jenny, in her early 30s possibly. She wore an unusual outfit, but Jenny simply took it as maybe people in Wales dressed differently because of the weather.

"Sorry, I wasn't paying attention I suppose." Jenny finally says, realizing she was staring and felt her cheeks burn, looking down as she handed the woman the books.