Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 44984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
When Lalani turned the page, it was blank. The rest of the pages were blank as well until she got to the final pages. There, her mother had posted a printout of their emailed conversations.
Lalani closed the album and set it to the side. Flopping back against the bed, she allowed herself to cry for them both. Thank goodness she’d gotten to meet her mother.
Lalani? Are you okay?
I’m fine, Khadar. Just a bit emotional reading a letter in an album.
Do you need to come back another day?
No. I’m good. These are good emotions. I want to look around some more.
I understand, Princess. I will come get you at dark if I don’t hear from you.
Thank you, Khadar.
She put that album in the box with the other, suspecting they were of family members. My family, she reminded herself. She’d take those with her as well. Pushing herself off the bed, Lalani headed back into the closet to find new treasures.
Chapter 14
Lalani stopped and listened. There were some wood creaks that sounded like footsteps downstairs and then again, a few minutes later, on the stairs. She shook off her silliness. All the houses in the historic area around the square were old. There were always squeaks in old construction as the wood contracted and expanded.
She was on the last box. It was filled with legal and financial documents. Insurance policies, banking information, her mother’s will. Most were worthless if all the technology never returned. She’d hold on to it for now.
A quick look outside told her it was late afternoon. Her stomach growled to tell her she missed lunch. Lalani decided to grab a quick bite of peanut butter and crackers before lugging everything downstairs and organizing it into something Khadar could grab to fly home.
She picked up one box she wanted to take, figuring she might as well carry something to the entryway. As she descended the stairs, the sunlight angled through the nearby windows and glinted on the entryway table. She could see her finger mark drawn in the dust. There was a clean circle in the middle, as if something had been taken away recently. She replayed her arrival, trying to remember what had sat in that spot.
The image of a silver candle holder popped into her mind. It had just been there. Was someone in the house?
“Hello? Is someone here?” she called bravely into what she hoped was empty space. Had someone broken in to steal things that could be valuable?
No one answered.
Khadar. Something’s wrong. I think someone is in the house with me.
Get out. Go to a neighbor’s house.
She nodded and then felt silly. He couldn’t see her. Trying to be quiet on the last few steps, Lalani went slowly. The very bottom step groaned noisily under her foot, and she froze.
“You must be Loulou.”
“Lalani,” she corrected the young man who’d come out of the kitchen. “Who are you? Why are you here?”
“I’m just gathering a few things that the neighbor owed us. Hopefully, we can pawn it in the next town,” he told her openly.
“You’re a neighbor?” she asked. That bit of information caught her attention. “You can’t just take other people’s stuff,” Lalani said indignantly.
“You can if they’re dead. She doesn’t need it.”
“But these things don’t belong to you. You can’t just help yourself.”
Lalani! Are you out of the house?
Not yet. There’s a man stealing things here.
Get out!
Khadar’s tone made her take a step toward the door before her exasperation at the unmitigated gall of this man forced her to whirl back to face the jerk stealing things. She set the box in her hands on the narrow table with an angry thump. “You need to leave. There’s a gigantic dragon on his way and he’s not going to be happy. You look crunchy—like a perfect dragon snack.”
“Barbie Ann said you were a wimp in her note. She didn’t say anything about a dragon,” the man said nervously before he straightened. “Dragons sound like they’re rich. I think I’ll take you instead of the stuff. He’ll pay a lot of money to get you back.”
“Look, if all you want is money, take this.” Lalani thrust her hand into her pocket and pulled out the three gold coins Khadar had insisted she take.
“Yep. He has a lot of money. Come on. That’s real justice. Your ransom will pay the smoke man to kill him.”
The man rushed forward to grab Lalani’s arm hard. She dropped to the floor, losing the coins as she tried to make it tougher for him to take her anywhere. Her mind whirled inside her brain.
He dragged her toward the basement stairs. “Walk if you don’t want me to bounce you down the stairs.”
When she didn’t move, he walked down the stairs, pulling her after him. Her hip hit the first hard wooden stair, making Lalani gasp. “Wait. I’ll walk.”