"Village." said Bovril from atop Alek's shoulder, rolling the word around.
"Yes." said Alek. "But quite a special one. Are you excited to see Deryn again? It's been almost two years!"
"Yes. I miss her." said Bovril. Alek of late had become very imprest at the creature's ability to form meaningful sentences.
"Me too." said doctor Barlow's loris.
"As am I." said doctor Barlow. "I have had to pay a dog walker to get Tazza his exercise, and it has been most unpleasant."
Alek laughed at this. Dr. Barlow made it seem as though all Deryn mattered to her for was walking the thylacine, but anyone who had paid attention throughout their adventures knew that Deryn was much more than a beast curator to her.
As they walked through the streets of Glasgow's outskirts, Alek saw some of the newspapers being sold in shop windows. The headlines read, 'Decorated Airman Dylan Sharp Actually Deryn!"
The news was a bit old of course, but Alek could imagine it would be big news to Deryn's home. When it had been declared legal for women to serve in the air navy, Deryn had surprised him by telling the world her secret. Sure the was a bit of court trouble, but with some help from Dr. Barlow, and a ruling by queen Victoria herself, Deryn had avoided persecution. The Zoological society had given her leave time so she could get her 'disguise' in order.
In the meantime, Alek had worked mainly with Dr. Barlow, learning the ways of darwinists, speaking with politics, and helping the London Zoo with it's technical bits. As of late, Dr. Barlow had gotten divorced to her husband, and had been working herself thin to keep her mind off it.
They were currently walking down a winding dirt lane through farmland that would eventually lead them to the Sharp household. Alek spied a cottage up a hill on their right, and wondered if that was their destination. As the lorises babbled iddly, Alek struck up a conversation with the doctor. "How did you persuade Volger not to come along? Of course I'm glad to be rid of the man, but why is he not with us?"
The lady boffin gave him a sideways glance. "He didn't put up a fight. I don't even think he wanted to go. It was quite odd of him, but I'm sure he had his reasons."
There was something he hadn't expected. Count Volger trusting a darwinist with his custody? "Is he feeling alright? No offence meant, but your a darwinist. Volger doesn't even trust Bovril!"
The doctor shrugged absentmindedly, which Alek though stranger still. Dr. Barlow was always on point and focused. She was instead behaving like an absent minded cage sweeper.
The silence continued until they finally reached a cottage (not the one Alek had spied earlier) that had smoke drifting lazily away from the chimney. When they reached the door, Dr. Barlow composed herself into the sharp minded diplomat Alek knew best before knocking. When the occupants heard the taps there was clanging from inside, and they were then greeted by a plump blond woman with bright blue eyes. "You must be Alek and Dr. Barlow! Come in, come in!" she said in a kind motherly thrum.
Inside there was a living area as you walked in, a kitchen to your right, and a hallway to your left. In the living area, there were was a beat up old sofa, and an overstuffed armchair with a thick wool blanket on top of it. Sitting on the sofa was and elderly woman knitting away a long green scarf. In the kitchen, two women around fifty bustled about, making tea and preparing a meal for fast approaching lunch. The woman had ushered them in called herself Mrs. Sharp, Deryn's mother. She spoke with doctor Barlow in a friendly banter as they went into the kitchen. The old woman on the couch looked up to reveal bright blue eyes as well. "You must be Alek, yes? Deryn has told me all about you! I'm her grandmother. I doubt you want to hear anymore silliness about her family though." she nodded towards a back door. "Deryn's out there. We told her to go get carrots for lunch. Of you pop!"
"Thankyou." Alek said, managing to keep the excitement from his voice.
"Any time dear boy."
Once he was out of the door, Alek ran at a sprint into the farmland. The rolling hills weren't much help though. He tired quickly and slowed to a walk. Once he had reached the base of one such hill, he heard humming from atop it. Surely enough, over it rose a girl in a blue dress with with a bob of bond hair and bright blue eyes. She stopped mid step and looked down at him, a basket in hand. "Alek? Is that you?" she said in disbelief and excitement. "Barking spiders, it is!" she ran down the hill, but her long legs extended to far, and the dress stopped her. She missed the step, and tumbled down the rest of the hill, basket falling out of her grasp. Alek ran forward, and met her at the bottom as she stopped rolling. "BARKING DRESS! BARKING BOOTS!" she yelled.
Though her appearance had changed, this was definitely the same Deryn inside. After helping her to her feet, Alek embraced her with a long hug, and felt how much she had changed. Deryn had small tears forming on the sides of her eyes. "I've missed you soooo much! I wanted to ring that lady boffin's neck so bad for those two years, keeping you so busy we could never see each other! That clart sniffing sneaky beak!"
"I missed you too." said Alek, and he leaned over to give her a light kiss on the cheek.
He stepped back to examine her. Was it just him or had she gotten smaller? His head towered above hers now by several inches. Since she spoke in her regular voice, she seemed unusually high pitched. He noticed that her hair in it's longer state had a natural wave to it. The dress she wore was a bit small for her, as it was stretched rather tight around her bossun.
Bovril looked like he was having a fit. Her kept jabbering nonsense and running under Deryn's lengthened hair. Deryn stroked it's chin thoughtfully. "I missed you to Bovril!" she said.
"Missed you Mr. Sharp." it said, copying her lilt.
"Come on and help me pick up these carrots you daft prince! We need 'em for lunch."
"Right." said Alek.
Two years. Two years they had been apart. Deryn had come clean, become an operative of a secret science mafia, and willingly donned a dress. The world truly had gone mad. But it could go as mad as it wanted if Deryn was bay his side.