Phoebe pulled on a pair of dusty red pumps that lay perpetually by the back door. She left the house, making sure that she locked the back door securely behind her. “After what I’ve seen of angels and demons coming and going through ceilings and walls, locking the door seems a bit pointless,” she thought to herself, and smiled wryly. So much had happened since this time yesterday, and she had to remind herself that although ‘yesterday’ had started out as Friday 20th August, ‘today’ was Thursday 15th July – the day that had changed her life in the worst possible way. Phoebe knew that if she thought about it all too much she would make herself dizzy, and instead she chose to focus on the present. Angels. Demons. Light. Dark. Time travel. Her life read like a scene from a movie right now and she imagined that the best thing for her to do was just go with it. She was starkly aware that the next forty eight hours held incredible significance for her family, and the severity of the situation threatened to overwhelm her at times.
“I need to get round to Dem’s,” Phoebe thought, “He always knows how to make sense of everything.” Phoebe put an inch to her step and in a few short minutes she rounded a corner and the Otonnos’ house was in sight. Phoebe could see Martha on the porch, sweeping the dust off with a homemade broom. Martha smiled and waved when she saw Phoebe. “Come on in, Phoebe,” she called, “Demetrius will be glad of your help, you know what men are like when it comes to packing!” Martha winked at Phoebe. “Go on through, he’s upstairs.”
“Thanks Martha,” smiled Phoebe, as she climbed the steps to the porch, pushed open the front door and went into the house.
“Dem? Demetrius!” Phoebe called, preferring to be invited upstairs rather than just presuming to wander about through someone else’s house.
“Up here, Phoebs,” came the reply, and Phoebe followed Demetrius’s voice as she climbed the stairs and walked down the short hallway to his room.
“Hey Phoebe,” grinned Demetrius, looking up from an overflowing suitcase. Phoebe looked around Demetrius’s room. It looked as if the entire contents of all his cupboards and wardrobes had exploded around his room, and there was barely a spare inch of floor to stand on.
“Oh boy, Dem,” whistled Phoebe, “You’ve got a lot to do…”
“Not really,” said Demetrius with a wink. “I have almost finished packing all that I can take with me. Anything else I may need will have to be shipped over to Ireland later. The main thing now is to get all this other stuff that I don’t need back into cupboards.” He paused, smiling wryly at his friend. “Do you think you can help me with that, Bird?”
Phoebe laughed. “You’re such a nerd, Demetrius Kwanga!” she said, and threw a pillow at him, catching him off guard and causing him to stumble backwards.
The pair worked in comfortable silence for a while, and soon the chaotic scene had diminished and the room looked inhabitable once more.
“I wonder when Cosain and the others will show up today? Surely we’ll see them before we leave tomorrow?” Phoebe mused out loud.
“I guess so,” answered Demetrius. “I expect they’ll show up soon to tell us our next move.”
The teenagers were correct in their assertions, and did not have long to wait before Lasair appeared through Demetrius’s bedroom window.
“Lasair,” gasped Phoebe. “We’ve been expecting you – but you startled me! I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to the way you guys just appear and disappear!”
“Greetings,” said Lasair, “I bring word from Cosain.” Lasair’s green eyes looked earnestly at Phoebe and Demetrius. “He has much to tell you, and would like to meet with you by the Klipspruit River in an hour. Can you do that?”
“Sure,” replied Demetrius, “We’ll be there. But why so solemn? What has happened?”
“Cosain will bring you up to speed, and I cannot stay long. We will all be there in one hour. See you soon.”
And with that, Lasair left through the window by which he had entered, leaving Phoebe and Demetrius puzzling over his cryptic message.
“Hmmm. I reckon we’ve got a crazy couple of days ahead of us,” said Demetrius, “Whatever Cosain is planning, it must be big.”
“And I’d bet on dangerous too,” murmured Phoebe, who had furrowed her brow tightly and was chewing nervously on her bottom lip.