Argent Eye IV

48

I woke the next morning with the house to myself, as mum and dad had to work. I took my time getting out of bed, and took even longer to change out of my pyjamas- they were just too cosy, and I was feeling rather lazy. I spent the morning painting in the garden, which was something I hadn't really had a chance to do lately, before making myself some lunch. Again, I sat and ate it outside, listening to the birds tweeting loudly and the slight rustling of the trees. It was sunny, and cloudless, with a slight chill in the air- it was cooler than it had been in a while, and the green leaves were beginning to turn various shades of brown and orange and yellow.

"Are you still in your pyjamas?" I heard Ronan say, and looked up to see him standing there. "At this time of day?"

I smiled. "Yep."

He chuckled. "Fair enough." He sat down opposite me, at the little metal table we had on the patio.

"I'm gonna go and see Stella in a bit." I said. "Wanna join?"

Ronan pursed his lips. "I would, but I said to Luke that we were training soon." He said. "I just came by to say hi."

"Oh, okay." I said, finishing up my sandwich. "I'll tell Stella you said hi."

"Thanks." Ronan smiled, squinting against the sun, and vanished as I went back upstairs to change and make myself a little bit more presentable. I then returned downstairs, shoved my house keys in my pocket, and locked up.

__________

I'd reached the centre of the village, having walked down the hill, when I bumped into my next door neighbours. I'd seen them walking the last time I was home, so I realised it must be something they did often. Maybe it was to calm the kids down if they were being hyper. Or maybe they just enjoyed the outdoors.

The two girls, Dina and Kara, smiled when they saw me, as did their mother, Anika.

"Hi, Millie." Anika said. We'd stopped walking just next to a junction.

I smiled. "Hi." I said, and looked at both Dina and Kara. "How's things?"

"Ah, not too bad." Anika said. Kara, the youngest, huddled against her mother closely- she was still just as shy as when I'd last seen her. Dina was also shy, but not as much as her little sister. "Say hi, girls."

Both girls grinned. "Hi." Dina said quietly.

"Dina! Kara!" I heard someone say- I turned to look behind me, and saw that there was another child, over the other side of the road, waving at the girls.

"Mummy, can we go see Ella?" Dina asked.

"Yes, but what do we do when we cross roads?" Anika asked.

"Look both ways." Dina said, and then took her sister's hand before crossing the road to see their friend. Anika was stood facing the other side of the road, and watched her children cross safely.

"Anyway, how have you been?" Anika asked. "Last time I saw you, you were looking for a job. Now your mum is telling me that you have one!"

I chuckled. "I'm good, thanks." I said. "I'm working for the MoD at the moment."

Anika's eyebrows went up. "Ah, wow- that sounds exciting. Is that doing digital forensics?"

I nodded. "Yeah- amongst other things." I said, technically not lying.

I was about to ask Anika what the girls were currently up to, just to keep the conversation going, when Anika's face changed. She was looking over my shoulder, I assumed at her two kids, but there was fear in her eyes. She quickly ran past me and into the road, before I even had chance to turn and see what was going on.