When Cecilia stepped out of the terminal of Dublins airport, her heart skipped a beat.
In front of a expensive looking car - a Bentley maybe, but she wasn't very good with car labels - stood a huge eurasian, nearly two metres tall. He was build like a bear. But the thirteen-year-old forced herself to take a deep breath and walk calmly towards the man. He had to be it, he was the only person who fitted Mrs. Fowls description.
She cleared her throat.
'Um, excuse me, are you Mr. Butler?'
The voice of the man was a deep bass.
'Yes, that's right. You are Miss Cecilia? May I take your luggage?'
Cecilia used the short trip to Fowl Manor to get to know more about her new relatives than the few facts she remembered from the Wikipedia entrance about the Fowl family, especially about Artemis II. Of course she was thrilled to read in the article that her new cousin was highly intelligent. Finally she had someone to talk to about all the things her friends considered as too boring or too complicated, like physics, or literature beyond Harry Potter and Twilight.
She is kind of exhausting, Butler thought to himself. Just like Juliet when she was 13. Endless energy used for talking, Artemis, on the other hand, used it to plan and commit crimes...
As they got closer to the manor, Butler could see with a single glance into the rear-view mirror that the teen was excited. Frequently blinking, fast breathing, eyes flickering around absorbing the landscape outside the window - typical signs of anticipation.
The Bentley passed the big iron gate to the Manor grounds. Cecilia noticed the cameras and some of the other security devices, but there had to be much more.
Odd, she thought, What secrets does this family keep protected so well?
Artemis Fowl, pale, with raven hair and blue eyes, and, of course, wearing a suit, stood in the entrance hall. He was quite handsome. Cecilia had always had a weakness for blue eyes. The last thoughts she repressed, because she now belonged to the family. Sort of.
But looks weren't everything, after all. Cecilia's new family member greeted her, yes, but he did so very formally and with a cold voice. Obviously that boy wasn't very happy to have her here, and showed it.
The girl slowly drew her hand back after shaking Artemis's. Angeline Fowl must have felt the tension in the air, because she immediatedly began to show Cecilia around the entrance hall. There were many old oil paintings that probably showed the Fowl's ancestors. Cecilia was astonished that they all resembled her cousin and his father so much.
Another thing that surprised her was Artemis standing behind her, offering her to show her her room.