It was the first week of August when Scott Tracy saw his next door neighbour's car pull up into his drive way. Unlike other times when Scott had seen the silver car come home, this time it had a trailer on the back. He couldn't tell what was in it with the tarpaulin covering the steel cage. He refocused on his little brothers John and Virgil.
Naomi undid her seat belt and got out of the car seat her uncle had provided.
"Welcome to my house Naomi," Uncle Dean said "And yours now," Naomi nodded. She understood that she had to live her uncle but she didn't understand why she had to move to America. She was perfectly fine living in New Zealand. There she had friends and her school was a good one. Now she would have to make new friends and go to a new school.
"You want to pick your room?" Uncle Dean asked. Once more she nodded and followed her uncle into the house. They went up the stairs. Along the wooden hallway, there were six doors.
"This is my room Naomi," Uncle Dean explained "If the door is closed, please knock," They continued walking.
"That door is for the shower and bathroom. There's a lock. It will come in handy especially when you get older," Naomi sent a confused look at her uncle. Uncle Dean just smiled and laughed a little. The two relatives moved on.
"That's the upstairs toilet. It also has a lock," Dean stopped outside two doors "And these are the two rooms you get to choose from,"
"That one," Naomi said automatically, pointing to the one on the left.
"Okay then," Uncle Dean said surprised at his niece's quick reaction "Why don't you go in and I'll grab your suitcases," Naomi did as she was told and went to explore her new room.
Dean unloaded the three suitcases containing his niece's clothes, toys and other personal positions that could fit in the suitcases from the trailer. Everything else was coming by boat before being shipped to his home town. He put the last suitcase on the ground and stood up. He stretched. That plane had been too crowded for his liking and the guy in front of him had put his seat back, meaning Dean couldn't stretch his legs. He looked over into the garden of his next door neighbours. He knew that the married couple had three sons. He was pretty sure that the oldest was the same age as Naomi.
"Hello Dean," A friendly voice snapped Dean's thoughts in half. He blinked to focus his vision and saw the blue eyed, blond haired Lucy Tracy.
"Hello Lucy," He said, smiling.
"You enjoy your holiday?" She asked, looking at the suitcases.
"These aren't mine. They're my niece's. She's moving with me. Her parents died a few weeks ago and I was appointed guardian," Dean explained.
"Oh. I'm sorry for your loss. How old is she?"
"She turned six last week. Didn't want anything to do with her birthday this year,"
"She'll be in the same grade as Scott then. I hope she settles in quickly," A crying sound was heard from the porch of the house.
"I better go settle whatever argument John and Scott have started," Lucy said, smiling. She moved away from the fence between the two gardens.
"What have I gotten myself into?" Dean muttered to himself.
Scott soon started to notice the person in the room facing his. The young girl was nearly always sitting by the window, looking out. Sometimes she had a book with her and other times a snack but more often than not she looked into the sky; blue, grey and black. When she did get out of her room, it was with Scott's next door neighbour. Normally they would go walking at night and come back eating ice cream or carrying bags of shopping. Scott did notice that one day the girl was helping the older man plant something in the ground near the fence. He didn't know who she was, but was betting that he would see her at school when it started up in over a month's time.
Naomi noticed the boy whose bedroom was visible from her window. She had seen him watching her a few times. Sometimes a smaller blond haired boy would come into the room where the black haired boy slept. They were brothers and Naomi felt a sharp pain in her heart. She had had a little brother once. And he was now with the angels along with her mum and dad. Sometimes she saw the two boys outside with their mother and a baby. Their father went to work a lot but whenever he was home the man spent it with his three children and wife. It was clear how much he loved them. The oldest boy would always keep a close eye on his younger brothers. Naomi was very scared to go talk to him at this point in time but she knew that if she ever went to school, she was sure she would find out more about the black haired boy next door.