Carl all but marched into the room and stared at each person in turn before allowing his gaze to settle on Nicola.

"Who is that?" he demanded, a look of exasperation on his face.

"Angelo," replied Arene as she broke into a laugh.

The Cardinal joined in her humour and even Gabriel had a smile on his face as he looked at his confused friend. Only Nicola kept quiet. She was still a little shaken and was worried that she would make a bad first impression on the friar.

"I take it this is Nicola," Carl continued once Arene's hilarity had died down.

"Yes," answered the Cardinal. "The young woman will be staying with us for a while till we work out how best to deal with her...problem."

Carl returned his attention to the girl on the bed.

"Hmm...I can't say that I am happy to see you here with Arene but I hope that we will be able to help you."

"Carl," began Nicola. "I know we have not started off well. I am sorry about the deception earlier. Please can be begin again?"

As she said this she tried to get up from the bed. Everywhere hurt and it was a struggle. She was relieved when Arene and Van Helsing reached out to steady her and she leant on Van Helsing's arm as she moved towards Carl.

"I know that you want to protect Arene," she continued as she stood before him, "and I am pleased about that. She deserves to be happy and cared for and I think that she has found that here. I have no wish to ruin that for her but I was desperate you see so when she wrote to me..."

Van Helsing stepped in as Nicola's voice trailed off

"Come now Carl," he pursued, "that was the best apology I've ever heard and besides - monks shouldn't hold grudges."

"How many times do I have to tell you," stated Carl, exasperated, "that I am a friar not a monk!" Just then he saw the glint in Gabriel's eyes and knew he'd been caught. "Oh very well," he said, resigned.

He turned back to Nicola and looked her up and down.

"You look terrible," he declared at last, "but I have some salves that might help sooth those cuts a bit."

"Thank you Carl, I would appreciate it," Nicola replied. She liked this funny young man she decided. He clearly cared very deeply for his goddaughter and wanted to protect her. She could understand that.

"Good," said the Cardinal. "Now that everything is settled we can decide how best to proceed. I suggest that you all head up to the library first of all and see what you can find out. I leave you in charge of this situation Gabriel but I trust that you will make regular reports to me on your progress. I would also suggest, " he continued as he turned to Arene, "that you find our guest some new clothes. She cannot walk around like that."

This said the Cardinal left and the others were left together in Arene's room.

Van Helsing helped Nicola lean on Arene before he headed for the door, Carl at his side. He turned back and looked at the two girls.

"I'm going to head up to the library and start doing a little research with Carl. I suggest that you find some new clothes for Nicola, Arene," he said as Arene nodded.

"I'm sure I can find something," she declared as she smiled at her friend.

Van Helsing smiled too.

"Good. We'll meet you up there in about an hour."

Carl nodded in agreement.

"I'll bring those salves as soon as I can and...," he looked at his shoes, "perhaps I was a little too harsh with you, Nicola. I am glad you are here and I have a good feeling we can help you."

Nicola grinned at him.

"Thank you Carl. I like you too."

Both men smiled and left, closing the door behind them. Arene was also smiling happily, relieved that Nicola could stay and no one had a problem with it. She helped Nicola over to the bed and let her sit down as she started rummaging through her clothes. Nicola watched in interest as Arene started to dig through her drawer murmuring.

"No...not good...she wouldn't like that."

Finally Arene stopped searching and pulled out a lovely blue shirt with flowing sleeves, a pair of blue jeans with sequence stitched in at the bottom and a nice white poncho. Nicola had noticed that ponchos were a major part of Arene's style. Arene also held something small in the palm of her hand.

"What do you think?" she asked, showing Nicola the clothes.

"I think they are lovely," Nicola responded, taking them from Arene's arms. That's when she noticed the look on Arene's face. She was smiling, yet there were tears in her eyes. Nicola looked up in concern.

"What's wrong, mon cherie?" she questioned.

Arene sat beside her on the bed.

"It's just... what you said to Carl... that was the sweetest thing I have ever heard from a friend. Until I met you, Gabriel and Carl, nobody had cared for me since my parents died. You have no idea how much that meant to me," she continued and hugged her friend gently, being careful not to hurt her. Nicola hugged her back.

"You're welcome," she smiled.

Arene grinned back and held something out to Nicola.

"Here," she said.

Nicola looked at it. It was a lovely sliver necklace with a charm on it that looked like that of an angel wing.

"I want you to have it, so that you will always remember me," Arene explained.

Nicola looked at the object and then at Arene.

"It's beautiful, but I'll never need an object to remember you by."

Both girls hugged again and Nicola put the necklace around her neck. After that Nicola changed into her new clothes and the two of them started down the hall to the library.

"I guess there is a bright side to this," Arene said after a moment.

Nicola looked at her strangely.

"And what would that be?"

"After this is settled," Arene stated, "I think I can talk the Cardinal into letting you visit as much as you want."

Both girls had a break out into laughter at that.