It was dark when Skulduggery and Valkyrie finally reached the meeting place. Valkyrie looked around the empty park, searching for their latest lead in the investigation of a missing puppy.
"I hate how we've been reduced to missing pets" groaned Val.
"I hear that some can become severely emotionally damaged due to the loss of a pet. If we find Fluffy, we may save someone from going through that" replied Skulduggery cheerfully, walking towards a tall oak tree.
"Did you ever have a pet?" asked Val.
"No. I did pretend that one of my arms was a snake though, when I was in the Faceless Ones lovely home. But after I had a fight with Twitchy..."
"You named your arm 'Twitchy'?" Valkyrie whispered, unsure whether to laugh or run away screaming.
"Yes. He was a very dear friend. Anyway, I think we should continue with our investigation" Skulduggery replied, attempting to climb the oak tree.
"But don't we need to wait for Fletchers friend before we start? She is the one we are questioning" Valkyrie asked.
"What do you mean? She is right here" Skulduggery told her, looking at her as if she were mad.
"Umm... then only ones here are us"
"And Adeline"
"Adeline?"
"You don't have to keep saying my name, I'm right here" called out a voice cheerfully, causing Valkyrie to jump in fright.
Skulduggery pointed up to one of the highest branches of the tree where a bright yellow bird was sitting there staring at them. As Valkyrie watched, the bird transformed into a teenager with raven black hair and lime green eyes.
"What the...?"
"Hello, you must be Valkyrie Cain" Adeline held out her hand. When Valkyrie did nothing but stare, she sighed and went on talking.
"My name is Adeline Rosedrop; I'm a friend of Fletcher. He's told me all about you"
"You...Bird..."
"I am so sorry about my partner; she just never knows when to stop staring, although it is a nice change to be rid of her insufferable chatter" commented Skulduggery.
"Shut up"
"And there goes the peace and quiet. Shall we get on with the meeting?"
"Of course, should we do anything about her?" asked Adeline, looking at Valkyrie with an amused look on her face.
"She'll follow us; she can't stand being away from me for very long. It's quite disturbing really".
Valkyrie watched Adeline and Skulduggery walk away.
"I hate you Fletcher" she muttered before jogging after them.