I only own Kira, anything else you may recognize is not mine. I just play.

Mummy's little helper

After Lord Ashfordly left Kira went back inside. It looked like it was going to start raining soon and she really had to get dressed. Gina would be here soon. She decided to wear dark blue form fitting jeans and a loose worn out T-shirt that had once been black. She looked at her image in the mirror and pulled her hair up into a ponytail. Dio looked at her accusingly.

"Dio, you know you are the love of my life, so you can very well stop staring at me like that." Kira grinned and kissed the dogs head, Dio barked happily and licked her face. She laughed. "That's better."

The two played for awhile. Kira was stalling; she really didn't want to go back to unpacking. Suddenly Dio stopped and listened. He started barking as a car turned to Kira's front yard and stopped. "That must be Gina" Kira said to Dio. "Behave, she's nice." she told him as she opened the door. "Hey Gina, Welcome to the McCay asylum or Oak Garden, take your pick." Kira grinned.

"Asylum, eh?" Gina laughed while trying to stay on her feet as Dio greeted her enthusiastically. "And who would you be?" Gina asked as she stopped to scratch him behind his ears.

"This gentleman is Dio, my fierce guardian." Dio barked as confirmation.

Gina laughed. "Well it is very nice to meet you."

Then she got up and followed Kira to the kitchen. "You can leave your jacket and your stuff here. This is the only room I have gotten completely ready. My bedroom is almost ready, but I'll finish it later." Kira shrugged her shoulders. "I really hate unpacking."

"Well I am here to make the unpacking funnier and I have a welcome gift for you." Gina told as she presented the basket she had been carrying to Kira. "It's from me and Oscar." she added.

Kira blushed."You really didn't have to," she said shyly, but took the basket and peeked inside. "Here's some bread, coffee, apples and do I smell a blue berry muffin?" She was smiling when she looked at Gina.

"And that's not all. Look to the bottom." Gina instructed her new friend. Kira did as she was told to "ooh, a bottle of Mortlach. You gave me a bottle of 21 years-old whiskey. Thank you" Kira was touched that two almost complete strangers had given a gift so precious.

"I don't know where Oscar had gotten it, but he figured you would appreciate it." Gina smiled.

"I do, Mortlach is my favorite label." Kira said smiling bashfully, tears in her eyes. She put the bottle and the basket to the table.

"Oh I didn't mean to make you cry." Gina said and hugged the younger woman.

"It's just that… you and Oscar and Lord Ashfordly, you have all been so nice to me. People usually look at me with hostile looks and the kids keep calling me a witch and things like that. I am not used to kindness." Kira's said still hugging Gina.

Gina was taken aback with the confession. "Well I think you are great." Gina said. "But what do you think, should we get to work?"

Kira smiled and wiped her tears away. "Yes, I think we should. I guess that we should start from the library since I need you to keep me in line and stop me from reading and make me go and unpack." The two women walked to the other side of the huge house. Oak Garden was not a manor, but it was still bigger than most houses around Ashfordly and Aidensfield. The house was made of grey tiles and ivy was using most of the walls as a support system. When you looked at the house, it looked like it had three floors when in reality it had only two floors where one could live and the third floor was an attic. The house also had a cellar and connected to it was a smaller cellar that was used for wines. Kira was absolutely delighted for she loved fine wines as much as whiskey.

When the two women reached the library, Gina's jaw almost hit the floor. "I see why you agreed to let me help you."

The room was big; it had a fireplace and few windows. The bookshelves were going around the room so that every now and then there was a small gap in between to where Kira had put some paintings on display. The bookshelves were made from Oak, what else, and she had designed them herself for this room and had them made by a local carpenter. But what made Gina's jaw drop was the fact that the big room had almost no room to move, the floor was filled with boxes of varying sizes.

Gina's look of astonishment made Kira giggle like she had lost her mind. "Don't be scared. I am very thorough when it comes to my precious books. I packed the boxes in alphabetical order. There are five 'A' boxes and they have been marked as 'A' box one and two and so on. All the boxes have been marked so, to make my or in this case our job easier. So how about we attack the boxes?" Kira said after her laughing fit. "You're not scared are you?" she taunted good naturedly.

Gina had recovered soon enough and grinned "You wish. I am up for the challenge." and with that the two women got to work. While they worked they talked about things, men, clothes, work and shoes. Kira had gone a little quiet for a while when Gina had asked why she had moved here. She muttered something and changed the subject. Gina was little baffled at Kira's behaviour, but she figured that Kira would tell her if she wanted to and when she wanted to.

After two hours and four stopped reading attempts later Kira winced as she straightened her back. "Well that sounded like a break is in order. Don't you think so?" Gina agreed "I'll just put the rest of the books in this box to their place."

"Alright, my box is empty so I guess I'll put the kettle on. I am so waiting to taste those blue berry muffins." Kira rubbed her hands together like an insane scientist looking more than a little deranged making Gina double over with laughter.

Gina finished the box and put it aside to the neat pile they had created. She looked around and was proud; they had been able to put most of the books to the shelves. She decided to take a closer look of the paintings. They were all about some fantasy figure or another; there were elves, dwarves, wizards and fairies. The atmosphere was dark in all of the paintings, but not sinister. Gina was drawn to one painting in particular. A male elf sat on a throne, his head was bent in despair, his beautiful features hidden by the dark hair. It was a sad painting, but it gave off a promise of hope.

"You like it?" Kira asked making the other woman jump.

"Yes. But the word like doesn't even begin to describe how I feel about it. It's sad, like the elf is going through something painful, he despairs, but he is not without hope. I sound like I have lost me marbles, don't I?"

Kira was smiling. "No, not at all, I know what you mean." She was silent for awhile. She noticed that Gina's eyes were returning to the painting quite often. "You can have it, if you want to." She told to Gina.

"I couldn't possibly… It's too much." Gina said, her eyes had gone big as saucers.

"Nonsense, you like the painting." she raised her hand as Gina was opening her mouth to interrupt. "I painted it a few years ago when I was still living with my parents. I loved to read and I still do as you have noticed, but I loved to paint too. Reading and painting offered me a way to escape from reality. This particular painting… I loved, and still do, the Lord of the Rings by Tolkien… the elf in the painting is Elrond or the way I saw him. He has given me hope through the years, now let him give hope to you." Kira finished and took the painting off the wall. "Think of it as a thank you gift from a friend." Gina hugged her again and took the painting.

"I don't know what to say… thank you." Gina whispered. Kira smiled when the kettle gave a shrill whistle.

"Sounds like it's time for our tea. And muffins." Kira giggled as she skipped to the kitchen, Gina followed her still a little bashful. When she entered the kitchen, she noticed that Kira had not only put the muffins on the table, but there were also sandwiches. "I figured we could eat something also, but sandwiches are pretty much the only thing I can make without poisoning anyone, so sandwiches it is."

Gina giggled and sat down. Kira poured them both a cup of tea. The two women were silent, both deeply in thought. Then Kira couldn't help herself.

"Gina?" she started.

"Yeah?" Gina asked

"Who was the guy I collided with last night? I gathered that he is from Scotland."

"How would you know where he is from?" Gina asked curiously.

"The way he speaks, it's so obvious that he is from Scotland and judging by his accent I would bet that he is from Glasgow."

"I'm impressed." Gina said. "He is from Scotland. He is our current sergeant. Dennis Merton is his name. He is in his early forties. The rumour has it that he was a C.I.D. guy, but was demoted. I don't know the reason, but what I have seen him I would bet that it had something to do with his temper. He is also dating Jenny Latimer, the pharmacist." Gina told to Kira.

"Shame." Kira said.

"What? Are you interested in him?" Gina giggled. "He's so old."

"Hey I like men with a few miles behind them. Most of them know who they are and they aren't insecure about everything. They know what they are doing." Kira winked at Gina when she said the last bit. Then she added "and yes, he interests me. An alpha-male like him makes me interested."