From the upstairs window, Lady chuckled to herself as she watched the most entertaining scene unfold, unnoticed by a miserable Roy below. She sipped her coffee, reminiscing about the many run-in's with fate she had had during a very long life. It was too long in fact, to keep track of, but she could clearly recall enough experience for at least two lifetimes and forgotten plenty more. Therefore, she had recognized fate as one would greet a tiresome friend the moment Kirina had knocked on the door.
What was unexpected however, was the explosive dive the girl had just taken from the upstairs window... There were much tidier ways to travel! Oh well, no need for panic. Lady was quite sure she was just fine. Her people had a saying: one who is born to hang shall never be drowned! Sweet little Kirina, who seemed to have stumbled into their world cluelessly, would simply never have found their home, much less have been able to approach the portal if a much greater force had not been at work. One look at the her confirmed this for Lady. The girl was entirely ordinary, and needless to say no match for the powerful warding spell it was Lady's job to maintain. Perhaps one benefit of age: what seemed like a series of accidents appeared clearly to her as a straight path.
Roy however, was likely to blow a fuse at this development, and Lady was tempted to let him! It was important for youngsters to learn responsibility and Roy ~had~ been entrusted the key, after all. Having been created for that sole purpose, Roy had always been a little... two dimensional. It made for a boring house-mate. This was the perfect time for the boy to grow into himself a bit.
With that thought, Lady headed downstairs to the kitchen. She could sense that Adelaide was on her way back to the house. What a shame all her efforts to get back on the road would be in vain.
By the time Adelaide was shucking off her borrowed rain boots on the front porch, Lady was ready for her.
"Yoo-hooo! Ms. Addy, come to the kitchen! Don't make this old Lady run around!"
"Just a minute! I'm going to kick Kiri out of bed!" She yelled through the screen door. Giving her umbrella a last shake, Adelaide let herself in and turned towards the hallway. Out of nowhere, Lady manifested before her with a tray of shortbread cookies.
"Orange zest and dark chocolate!" Lady exclaimed. "Come and try them first. Oh, and I have herbal tea brewing that'll fix you right up!"
With an indulgent chuckle, Adelaide let herself be swept into the kitchen.
"I hate to trouble you, but can I borrow your phone book and phone again?" She asked as Lady pulled out a shawl to wrap around her shoulders.
"But of course! I'll go get it for you just as soon as I pop this next batch in the oven... What happened with the tow-truck?"
"My phone signal is too weak, so I had to call from your landline and run out to the road to meet him. We spoke when he was just five minutes away, but in the end he never showed up." Adelaide explained as she managed her temples. "I hope nothing happened...Did you get any calls while I was out?"
Lady shook her head regretfully and pressed a steaming cup into her hands.
"Poor dear, have some of this and I'll go fetch that phone book for you."
The tea was pungent but warmed her head as Adelaide sipped. It had already been a long day, and she hadn't even had breakfast yet! With that thought she plucked up another couple of cookies and went to wake her daughter.
The house was quiet as Adelaide made her way back to the guest room. Her feet were heavy and her head hurt suddenly. Maybe she ought to lie down for a moment before heading back to the kitchen, Adelaide thought to herself. Her whiplash from the day before could have been worse than she had realized. It wasn't until she had stumbled into the guest room and fell upon an empty bed that she realized something was gravely wrong.