Conrad and Piper

Chapter 1

THIS WILL ONLY MAKE SENSE IF YOU HAVE READ THE GIRL WHO COULD FLY (which is quite an amazing book) SO I SUGGEST YOU READ IT. And I realize it SAYS chapter 1, but I don't honestly know how many chapters this will be.

Oh and also I won't be doing Piper's southern accent 'cause I just can't write like that. I can do it to a certain extent, but I draw the line at stuff like 'ain't'. (Unless it just really fits and I've got piper's accent really in my head)

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Piper flew through a small cloud. The moisture was cool, refreshing her after the hot sun beating down on her skin. As she lowered herself slightly, she caught sight of a small figure far below, and sped up a little.

"CONRAD!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. His head shot up, and she waved furiously, grinning. He had just finished a summer program at Cambridge, and had been away for a month. He hadn't even had to pay for it, because rather than being one of the students there, he had been one of the teachers. At 17, he was the youngest professor to have had his own class.

Piper had missed him intensely, it was the first time since they'd met that they had been apart for so long. She flew straight as an arrow and tackled him in a hug, knocking him to the ground as he grunted with an 'oomph'.

"Ahh, Piper. Can't breathe. Piper."

"Sorry." She climbed off of him and giggled a little. He sat up and caught his breath, holding his hand over his chest.

"I think... You knocked... The wind out of me," he wheezed.

"Think? I don't believe it. For once, the great Conrad doesn't actually know, he THINKS!"

He let out a little breathy laugh. "Okay fine. You DID."

He sat there for another minute before getting himself up. "So. Now that we've got that over with, how about a proper hello?" he grinned, holding his arms wide. Piper ran into them and squeezed him hard. Then she disentangled herself, grabbed his hand, and started running back toward the house, talking excitedly all the while.

"We sure have missed you round here, Conrad. You missed Kimber, she convinced the Cirque du Soleil to make a visit here, of all places! It was more low-key, of course, but everyone in town went and it was great fun. And Ma and Pa have actually figured out how to use that new computer you got, isn't that grand? They're still fuzzy on the details, but they've got the simple stuff down. Oh, and Violet's coming in a couple days, says she's got some big news about somethin' her team found, somethin' 'bout Mongolian Khan tombs. Says there's never been one found before, her team's the first. And then - "

"Piper."

She stopped short, looking at him curiously. "What?"

"Would you do me a favor, and just be quiet for a minute?"

"Oh." That kinda hurt. She frowned. "Okay."

"Oh no, not like that, I didn't mean it like that," he quickly apologized. "It's just, I've kinda missed the farm, too. Has anything happened HERE?"

"Oh!" Piper's features immediately brightened. "Well, the cows are healthy as ever, the youngens are all growin' up strong, and I get to keep special care of all of 'em. Some of the goats have gotten this strange virus thing, but Jasper came over and fixed 'em right up. Uh... Everything else is pretty much just the same as ever."

She smiled brightly. "So whatcha wanna do?"

"Well, I think first I should say hi to your Ma and Pa, don't you?" he laughed.

"Oh! Well, of course, what was I thinking!" She grinned mischievously. "I'll race ya."

He pointed a finger at her and gave her a stern look. "No flying, missy."

"Oh, that'll be no problem." And then Piper took off running.

Conrad immediately jumped after her, pumping his arms and legs furiously to try and keep up, but try as he might, he was out of practice, and soon enough he was winded.

When finally he reached the house, hunched over with his hands on his bent knees, he stared at Piper incredulously.

"Since when did you run that fast?" he gasped.

"Well, you know how you was always saying that I couldn't fly 'cause it was an unfair advantage? I figured it would certainly be fair enough if I won on foot, so I've been practicing while you were gone."

She grinned while Conrad shook his head in disbelief. "Piper McCloud, you are something else."