Lesedi was sitting on the front porch again when Elijah pulled up in the driveway, over four hours later. A sour expression, akin to when one has just sucked on a lemon, darkened the woman's face, and her arms were folded before her as she leaned back in the rocking chair, pushing herself back and forth forcefully as she waited for his arrival. Elijah didn't have to be told that his sister wasn't happy. Given that she was fully intent on throwing that weathervane out the nearest window and had only agreed to wait because he'd asked her to, he surmised that she'd decided instead to remove herself from the house until he arrived instead. The situation had clearly become untenable to her, and whether or not he agreed with her superstitions, he knew he'd have to acquiesce to her soon.

"Hey Lesi," Elijah greeted her tentatively as he eased up to the porch, his hands shoved in his pockets and a look of remorse in his eyes.

Lesedi glared at him momentarily before she returned to her survey of the yard, trying her very best to appear unbothered. "Took you long enough, Elijah. I almost told those antique dealers not to wait on you, you know. Especially after the last time that thing went off."

Elijah lowered himself into the adjoining rocking chair and sighed. "I was hell and gone from here on a case, Lesi. Got here as soon as I could. Who are these people anyway?"

Lesedi produced a stiff, cream-colored business card from within the folds of her heathery shawl, and she handed it to him, her expression softening somewhat as he took it from her. "It's getting closer Elijah; I can feel it in my bones. I just don't want it to consume you. You understand, don't you?"

Elijah's eyes met with his sister's as he retrieved the card from her hand. There was a sadness there, and an apologetic, almost pleading message in her soulful eyes and behind her words, and his chest constricted somewhat. He'd never told her, of course, about the OZ, or what had kept him there for so long. It had somehow felt like it was his ordained mission to vanquish the beast that had first brought him to the OZ, and after that was done, he almost didn't come back at all. For he had slept with an uncomfortable twist in his gut almost nightly since he and Ezra had locked that thing down in the archives – safely encased in bronze and under Mistress Saul's impeccable supervision. He could never explain it, but his instinct had told him that it wasn't over, and Ardat Lilith wasn't as locked down as they all wanted to believe. So, he'd waited and found other missions to occupy him, until Matthew told him about his visions. Now, it was happening all over again it seemed, and he was afraid that it would consume him, or kill him, given that he wasn't a kid anymore. Lesedi could certainly intuit this about her baby brother, but he still couldn't talk about it for some reason. Maybe he wanted to protect her, but maybe he was just afraid to admit his own worries, but whatever the case, he nodded his head to her, at least giving her that much to ease some of the concern in her eyes.

Lesedi returned his nod with a tired sigh, and she sat back in her chair to resume rocking, while Elijah studied the card now in his hand. It was a deceivingly simple little card, with little else than a business name and telephone number printed in an old typewriter font. It seemed almost suspect, like something was hiding behind its simplicity, and there was something familiar too, like he might know its creators somehow.

Elijah read out the business name and shook his head, quickly piecing together the suspicions forming in his mind. "Warehouse Antiques, huh? Where did you find these guys?" When Lesedi opened her mouth to speak, he interjected, sounding almost humored, "Wait, let me guess. They knocked on the door."

Lesedi threw a surprised look at her brother and scoffed, "I thought I was the seer in this family, little brother!" She chuckled a little and shook her head, adding honestly, if not a bit superiorly, "as a matter of fact, they did, but I told them they'd have to come back so I could have time to dig through my closets. Can't make them think I'm easy, you know."

Elijah laughed genuinely despite the irritation rising within him. The Warehouse had come to call at his house. For a moment, he considered calling the phone number on the card so he could tell Artie off himself. My house! My house! He thought with a shake of his head and a minute frown at the card. Artie knows better than to try and play me, he continued to think internally, pausing only when it occurred to him that it might not have been Artie at all. After all, Ezra had said that the OZ was safe again until very recently, so perhaps Artie might not be calling the shots on this side now that he might be able to get back into The Archives. This led him to another, promising, thought: If Artie is the Curator now, as he should be, then he'd still have contact with Mrs. Frederick on this side. So maybe I can use these agents comin' by as an opportunity to get word to him about Lilith.

"What time did you say they're comin'?" Elijah spoke aloud, shaking his sister from her thoughts.

Lesedi looked out at the dropping sun and twisted her mouth into a thoughtful frown. "Day after tomorra. Just before lunchtime, I'd say." she answered thoughtfully, while Elijah pulled Ezra's notepad from his shirt pocket.

Time was short, he considered quickly, and he'd need help the next time Ardat Lilth showed up. Who better than Warehouse agents, he thought pensively, for no one else had access to artifacts on this side of the rainbow that stood any chance of trapping or stopping the monster. He just needed to figure out how much time they really had and hope they might have brought an Artie-like bag of tricks with them. Looking at Ezra's notes, he soon calculated that there had, at one point, been weeks in between sightings. In the past few months though, the frequency of known events had increased, and twisters were now appearing every couple of days. I'll be pushin' it, he thought with an unhappy frown, feeling instinctively that he couldn't miss the next touchdown. Rushing the Warehouse to help him wasn't something he could afford to do, however. Hastiness would only ensure suspicion, and very likely lead to a resounding "no" for his trouble. I'm just gonna have to wait, he finally decided with an external sigh, before he sat back in his chair once more and resumed the slow rock of his chair.

Over the next day, Elijah consulted that notebook several times; repeatedly calculating and recalculating the times like he was determining how long he'd have to wait for a train to arrive. He was confident, at least, that he had the time to wait for the Warehouse agents, but he was still uncertain and anxious all the same. He'd cleared his schedule, at least, with the intent of being able to focus on the task at hand without the distraction of work, but this had only given him more time to ponder the situation, which he now did at a constant, tiring rate. Rocking in the chair outside with Lesedi was his only solace; the steady movement from back to front lulling him like a metronome, telling him to pace himself and breathe. He was doing this when a silver Prius slid up alongside the curb almost a day and a half later, and Lesedi stood up to wave to the pair exiting from either door.

Elijah had been studying the notebook once again and pocketed it quickly as he arose to stand beside his sister, his arms crossed and eyes sharp as he examined the two young people striding forward. The driver was a young man, probably no older than thirty, who stood tall and assured as he came forward; his hair was buzz-cut short, and his clothes casual yet crisp and clean on his thin frame, with nary a shirttail out of place. His cohort was something else altogether, and between her flaming red hair and punk-rocker attire – replete with torn jeans, a band t-shirt with the name "The Pixies" plastered across the front, a men's bowler jacket with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows with a patch sewn on one side that read "trouble," and an a raised, challenging eyebrow on her smirking face – he wondered how quickly she'd thrown out the Warehouse rulebook when Artie handed it to her. In many ways, she reminded him of the girl DG used to be, and a twang of bittersweet nostalgia hit him before he coughed and straightened once more, giving them his best apprising expression.

As they sidled up to the porch and opened their mouths, ready to greet him and Lesedi, Thomas interjected, sounding sardonic and unimpressed. "You're a long way from South Dakota, you know." When their eyes widened and they gave each other shocked looks, Elijah smirked and stepped down to their level while he held out his hand to the young man, "Agent Elijah Thomas. I'm KBI now, but I spent some time throwin' a football too, if you catch my drift."

The young man looked somewhat skeptical for just a moment before he grasped Elijah's hand with a sigh of relief, grinning when he answered first to the woman, "He's telling the truth." Then to Elijah, "Agent Jinx. ATF, technically."

Elijah turned then to the young woman who was still fixing him with her own skeptical expression while she folded her arms before her. Elijah held out his hand despite this while he fixed her with a raised, challenging eyebrow. She finally smirked as if he'd read her mind somehow and shrugged before she took his hand and shook it firmly. "Claudia Donovan, caretaker-in-training next generation, but my jacket -" she paused to show the backside of her intentionally aged jacket, "says IRS. Kinda boring, I know."

Lesedi looked between the trio, her expression completely confounded. "How do the ATF and the IRS end up hockin' antiques together? Who are ya'll really?"

Thomas winked at the pair of them before he turned to his sister and laughed nervously, scratching his head as he returned to the porch to stand before her. "Old cop buddy of mine's playin' a joke on us, sister. Don't take it personal."

Lesedi folded her arms and frowned at them all. "You mean I'm not gettin' rid of that damned weathervane after all?"

Elijah placed a comforting hand on both of her shoulders as he rumbled out kindly, "I'll get it to its home, sister. Don't you worry none." When her expression eased and her arms dropped at their sides again, Elijah sighed with her, and he asked her softly, "Now, will you get our friends some drinks while I take them into my study? We got some talkin' to do."

"Alright then," she grumbled, "but only because you're gettin' that thing out of here." Her head swiveled to get around her brother's hulking form, and she added graciously, "Ya'll come inside now, I'll make ya somethin'. I bet you, young man, like a good green tea with honey, and you – you drink a nice, strong coffee I bet, with cream and caramel."

She didn't wait to see the surprised expressions on the young agents' faces, and instead marched inside, leaving the screen door swinging behind her. Elijah turned to them now and huffed. "You two had better come in. I'll show you what got your computers pinging, and maybe, besides taking in off my hands, you can help me with what's causin' it to go off."

"For coffee, I'll do anything!" Claudia announced brightly, bounding up the steps after Elijah, while Jinx followed behind, shaking his head to the sky.

Once the trio were all inside Elijah's study, Elijah closed the French doors until only a sliver of light from the adjoining hallway peered through. Turning to face the young pair, Elijah could only shake his head: Rather than taking to either of the two armchairs flanking the hot air balloon painting directly opposite his desk, they both stood open mouthed, looking torn between wanting to ask Elijah a storm of questions and looking at every odd bit that adorned his shelves. Elijah decided to sit at his desk while they continued to absorb what they were seeing then, patiently waiting like an old schoolteacher for his students to return their attention to him.

Elijah laced his fingers together before his stomach, and he leaned back in his chair as he spoke, "I guess I don't got to tell you that Lesedi don't know nothin' about the Warehouse. She sees enough on her own – never wanted to know anything about my work there or anywhere else. Just seemed to accept that I was meant to do it."

Jinx tore his eyes away from the Ahamo's painting and nodded understandingly, "I understand that, but you said you had a problem. It's not her, is it?"

Elijah almost laughed out loud when Jinx fixed him with a very cop-like expression. Probably thinks I want to have her memory erased or somethin', he thought with a smirk. Instead, he shook his head and indicated to the weathervane with his index finger. "No matter what my sister says, that thing up there is completely harmless."

Claudia dropped into one of the armchairs. Her brow was furrowed, and Elijah could see the question coming even before she opened her mouth.

"It's what it's warnin' me about that isn't quite so friendly, and to be honest with you, although I've caught this thing before, I'm not so sure of myself this time. No alone anyway." Elijah interjected.

"And what's that, oh great Sphinx?" Claudia asked, now completely unable to mask the sarcasm in her voice when she pinned him with her sharp eyes, "I mean, no offense, but do you think you might spell it out a little more clearly for the class? I like taking good notes for the big test, you know."

Shoot, no wonder you're training to be the next Mrs. Frederick, Elijah thought, you're gonna be downright scary one day, the way you're readin' my mind.

"Cool your jets Mrs. Frederick," Elijah shot back with a laugh in his voice. "Before you go getting all suspicious, why don't we settle this with a call. You got your Farnsworth?" Claudia nodded silently without moving a singular muscle, and Elijah explained further, "Can you call Artie? He'll confirm who I am once and for all, and not only that, he'll confirm what I'm about to tell you. Go on."

Claudia's eyes were still narrowed on Elijah despite his suggestion. Clearly, this girl had been through a couple of the Warehouse's ringers already, even though she couldn't be older than twenty-five – Elijah's curious nature was almost peeked by this idle thought, except the urgency of the matter overrode this notion, and he sat back and waited patiently instead while Claudia retrieved a silver case from her bag and opened it with an unhappy huff.

"What is it, troublesome girl?" A familiar voice barked from the small case. "Wait, where are you? Are you not doing inventory like I asked?"

"About that Artie, do you remember the ping we got in Kansas?" Claudia asked with false brightness.

"Yes," Artie returned suspiciously, "the one I told you to leave alone?"

"Well, yeah, but I just couldn't. I mean, weather pings, Kansas, and now a haunted weathervane? I'm getting a little giddy, like I'm about to discover that OZ is real or something." Claudia spewed out in defense. When Artie remained wholly silent however, her mouth dropped, and her face came within inches of the screen while her voice got very low and excited. "No, it's not. Is it?"

Artie cleared his throat suggestively and she backed away, allowing him to speak again. "You said something about a weathervane. Tell me now before I decide to take away your field privileges."

"Alright gramps, keep your shirt on," Claudia grumbled under her breath before explaining, "So we got a couple of different pings in Kansas, but the weathervane ping was from this old lady – Lesedi Thomas – who was calling around, looking for someone to take a haunted weathervane off her hands. Said it kept going off inside the house, but the best thing is, it was going off at the same time as the other weather pings according to the dates she gave me."

"Wait!" Artie called out excitedly, "a weathervane that tells you that bad weather is coming? Amazing!" Claudia sat back and sighed, finding herself to be, once again, the victim of Artie's rather dry sense of humor. "Don't tell me you ignored my orders and called me for that."

"No," Claudia replied dryly, "I called you for him."

Claudia turned the Farnsworth to face Elijah, and Artie's face instantly brightened. "Elijah!" he cried out in surprise, "What are you? How did you? Wait. The weathervane. Lavender?" When Elijah nodded deeply at every disjointed thought blurted out by his old friend, Artie visibly deflated as he collapsed back into his chair. "I'm going to take a wild shot in the dark that you know exactly what's calling these travel storms, and you conned Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum here to call me so I might authorize their assistance in capturing him?"

Elijah nodded again, and Artie leaned into the screen, "You do realize that no one is supposed to know about the OZ, don't you? That was part of the whole agreement between Ozma and the Warehouse."

"He's already killed Ezra, Artie, and he's makin' a b-line for the Gale farm. I don't know what his angle is, but I'm pretty sure we don't have time to ask nicely, and I don't gotta tell you what all these trips in between are doing to the barrier between our worlds. We need to act now, or this is gonna get a lot worse than a couple of Warehouse agents being in on the secret." Elijah answered in deep, chastising tones.

Artie sighed deeply, indicating with that small movement that he knew exactly what was going on, if not a bit more than he was willing to elaborate on just then. "Fine. Luckily for you, I might have already had a chat with Mrs. Frederick at the Queen's behest." he answered instead before barking out, "Girl, turn me around!"

Claudia rolled her eyes deep within her skull and scoffed as she turned the Farnsworth around, "I have a name, you know, Artie."

"Thank you, Claudia. Now, I need you and Boy Wonder – who I surmise is lurking off-screen - to listen carefully." While Artie paused for breath, Jinx came to stand at Claudia's side, peering down at the screen when Artie continued in a fast stream, "To answer your most burning questions: Yes, OZ is real. Yes, Agent Thomas can be trusted, and yes, you're to do what he says until I meet you at the Gale farm. Understood?"

"I have so many more questions Artie," Jinx replied through an almost giddy scoff, "Gale Farm? You mean, that's real too? Mind blown."

Artie huffed and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Pointing at Jinx through the screen, he continued in a chastising tone, "Remember Alice Lidell, Agent Jinx? Don't. Get. Too. Excited." He paused to watch both Jinx and Claudia turn instantly serious and apologetic, to which he continued. "Suffice to say that there's a lot more to that very real story than I'm willing to get into right this moment. What I can tell you is that the endless wonder that is the Warehouse only pales in comparison to the Outer Zone, and that is all at stake because of the creature that's making that weathervane go off. If that happens, we're going to have a lot to deal with here."

"So, what do we do, Artie? Shoot this thing with our teslas?" Claudia asked seriously, every hint of sarcasm gone from her expression and her voice.

"No, standard-issue weapons of any kind won't do more than slow him down for maybe a second," Elijah cut in. "What we need is some real old, strong magic to fight him. Don't suppose you still have Ozma's light hangin' around the Archives, do you Artie?"

"No," Artie called back as Claudia flipped the screen around again, "but Mrs. Frederick and I have been working on replacements. How much time do you need to get to the farm?"

"Three hours, but maybe less if we use lights and sirens." Elijah called back without pause.

"Good, do it." Artie replied, "see you then."

When Artie had apparently closed the connection, Claudia closed her Farnsworth with a snap, her expression a mixture of disappointment, confusion, and concern. Her eyes lifted to Elijah then, and when she spoke, there was a pleading quality there that he hadn't expected. "Please tell me you're going to fill us in before something real hits the fan."

Although Elijah had nodded and opened his mouth to reassure the young woman, Lesedi pushed through the door at that exact moment, breaking his concentration with her friendly tones. "Alright you three. I've got drinks for all of you, and I made sure that they're good and caffeinated for the drive."

Claudia and Jinx looked mildly shocked that the woman had placed all their beverages in travel containers – lids secured on the tray she brought into the room – while Elijah merely thanked his sister with a nod, taking his drink from her with a smirk.

"Fourth generation seer, young woman," she explained secretively as she handed a cup each to Claudia and Jinx.

"Thanks," Claudia replied woodenly to Lesedi as she took her cup, looking utterly flummoxed and uncertain of what to say.

Lesedi nodded kindly to the young woman and turned again to her brother, who'd arisen from his chair and walked around to meet her. "You're goin' then, ain't you brother?" When Elijah nodded, she added with a sniffle, "Now, don't you worry about me none. I'll be fine for a while. You just come back when the work's done. Alright?"

"Yeah, Lesi, you know I will," Elijah rumbled deeply, pulling his sister into a tight hug that lasted long enough for Claudia and Jinx to gather behind them, waiting patiently to say their own goodbyes.

When Elijah stood back, Lesedi turned to the pair of agents and smiled. "I never know exactly why I do some things the way I do, but I always trust my instincts. They've never led me wrong. You two should too."

Claudia and Jinx merely nodded and quietly thanked her again before they shuffled out, leaving brother and sister alone again. Lesedi's eyes were like sharp points on her brother as he pulled the weathervane down from its perch, her tone mystical and full of warning. "Darkness is coming brother, and you may have to go headfirst into the storm to snuff it out with the light, I can feel it." She paused to sniffle unhappily, swiping at her face. When she spoke again, her voice was rough and wavering, her eyes wet with tears. "This is what you've always been meant to do, Elijah, and I'm proud of you."

"Thank you Lesedi," Elijah returned softly, "I'll be back, I swear it."

Lesedi could only nod and watch her brother leave, feeling instinctively that it could very well be the last time she saw him, and her ability to speak leaving her as a result.

Outside, the sun was high and unkind with blinding, sweltering rays that beat down on the concrete and made Elijah wince even from the protective shade of the porch. Through narrow slits, he could see Claudia and Jinx standing at the base of the porch, looking up at the door and waiting on him to appear, and he slid his sunglasses on before joining them, knowing that the harshness of the sun's rays would only increase the moment he stepped down onto the dry grass baking at their feet.

"Look," Elijah rumbled out as he stepped down before them, "I know you don't got much reason to trust me, and as usual, Artie didn't explain too much back there, but I appreciate what you're doin'. Not sure I could face this thing without help."

"Yeah, about that," Claudia cut in, "I'm going to want a little more detail, especially because Artie started doing his bluster-shtick when you told him where's its headed to next."

Elijah nodded, humming in agreement, and he answered by pulling his cell phone out of his pocket and replying matter-of-factly, "Well, that's a long story, and seeing that we got a long drive, why don't we just exchange phone numbers right now, and I can tell you on the way."

Despite Claudia's continued look of skepticism, she shrugged approvingly before also extracting her own cell phone from the depths of the carrier bag on her shoulder. Her opinion of Agent Thomas seemed to improve by leaps and bounds by his directness – something Artie didn't excel at of course – and in the few moments that it took to exchange numbers and the address of their destination, the disapproving wince on her face changed to one of concern. It was still the ever-present mask on the young woman's face, however, when they parted for their separate vehicles, and Elijah surmised that he'd have to give her a great deal more information before that look of concern shifted once again to determination. It was a long drive, at least, like he'd said, and he'd have plenty of time to do just that.

For the first time in many years, Elijah allowed himself to tell the entire story, from start to finish as they drove in a northwestern direction towards Gale farm: he described who he'd been that summer before getting drafted into Vietnam, and who'd he'd become after years – or annuals – on the other side had changed him, and everything in between. Ahamo and Lavender, Ezra and Artie: friends and co-workers, but family too. They'd been the only family he'd had for so long, and although he would still do anything for them, but Ardat Lilith was the mission that had kept him in the OZ for so long. He even expressed his frustration that his mission had apparently been a failure, despite knowing in the back of his head that this was an occupational hazard of the kind of work he did. If either of the two young people in the car behind him had been agents for long enough, they'd experienced similar frustration. It was one of the most common things that tied all law enforcement officers together, of course, and he wasn't disappointed when they both expressed understanding.

"Not sure how four agents are going to be enough to stop this thing though," Claudia grumbled when they finally climbed out of their car.

Jinx stood beside the car and peered around the deserted farm – it was quiet, like most places would be so set apart from the rest of humanity, and the only sounds were the grasshoppers beginning to tune their instruments for the oncoming sunset, and the distant moo of a cow. The farmhouse itself seemed in decent enough shape, and apart from the cobwebs that adorned the upper corners of its wide, wrap-around porch, and he'd never have guessed it was uninhabited. The grass around the old wooden homestead even looked like it was regularly kept up, and judging from the work truck tucked into the shade of the adjoining barn, he guessed that someone periodically came by at least to maintain the property, given that its windshield was clean and free of any dust or debris that might have gathered on it had it been left completely fallow.

The place was too quiet though, and Jinx felt distinctly alone as he studied their surroundings. "Not too sure about four," he replied uncertainly as he continued to scan for Artie's car, "where's Artie? I thought he was meeting us here."

Elijah and Thomas both scanned their surroundings as well at this observation, finding the surroundings lacking the Warehouse's chief curator, who'd seemed adamant that he'd be there at that time. The singular door to the farmhouse stood closed, and the only vehicles present seemed to be the two they'd arrived in, and the old farm truck in the barn – but then Elijah returned his attention to the farmhouse, where an additional door appeared suddenly alongside the front door. This one was startlingly red and two thirds the size of the other door, and a sparkling, brass knob was its only adornment, which twisted as it swung suddenly open, revealing Artie behind it.

"Help me with these," Artie puffed as he lugged a large, free-standing mirror onto the porch, revealing a cozy-looking home behind him.

When Claudia approached the open door to assist Artie, she stood gaping through the open door, baffled by what she was seeing. "Artie, how can this be the B and B? It's in South Dakota. Not Kansas."

Artie returned to the open door with another mirror, which he deposited into Claudia's hands, replying simply, "No questions. Just help me move these."

"Fine," sighed as she stepped away with the mirror, allowing Jinx and Elijah to come forward to assist.

When they were finally done shifting what appeared to be highly intricate, Egyptian styled mirrors made of polished metal from the B and B to the farmhouse's porch, there were five in all that crowded the front of the porch, with the three laborers puffing beside them.

Artie closed the scarlet door with a resounding 'snip,' and in doing so, pulled the knob from its face with alarming ease. With his back to them still, he struggled to shove the brass knob into his pocket while his hands were otherwise full of other artifacts. Having managed that feat of juggling, he turned and huffed at the group before him, seemingly oblivious to the door disappearing rapidly behind him. "Now, we wait."

"Wait for what?" Jinx asked sardonically, feeling somewhat lost between his boss's sudden appearance and the addition of what were clearly artifacts from the Warehouse on the porch before them and in Artie's hands.

Artie's bushy eyebrows furrowed, and he carefully placed the ancient sword and its brother shield on the floorboards at his feet before he extracted his pocket watch from his other pocket. He silently counted the minutes, his mouth moving without a sound as he did, before he pointed out at the field, seemingly in time with the appearance of a massive twister, which twisted and spun on the spot no more than ninety feet away.

"That!' He claimed matter-of-factly, while Elijah drew his gun and flew down the steps.

In the few seconds it took for Elijah to react, a flurry of things happened all at once: The weathervane, which Elijah had left sitting on the roof of his car, began to swing and creak wildly. Meanwhile the door of the truck parked within the barn suddenly swung open, and a once hidden Elmer Gulch appeared, gaping and alarmed at the storm, and looking suddenly torn between protecting Elijah and finding out the identity of the thing that had killed his father. In a fraction of a second, he'd rushed forward, deciding apparently in that moment that saving his father's partner was more important.

"Agent Thomas!" Elmer bellowed over the howling wind, "Get back!"

Elijah swung around in time to see both Elmer and Artie dashing forward from nearly opposite directions. Elmer, with a large rake in his hand and positioned like he intended to swing it as he marched intently forward, and Artie waving his hands at Elijah, beckoning Elijah to stand down as he rushed down the steps.

"Don't shoot, Thomas!" Artie screeched.

Claudia and Jinx could only watch it all unfold, mouths open and eyes wide – not sure which deserved more of their attention: The menacing twister which seemed oddly stable and unmoving, or the bizarre scene before them on the grass. It was with utter shock then that they all stopped suddenly to see two figures emerge from the storm instead of the one expected by Elijah, looking windswept but otherwise unharmed as they strode towards the farmhouse.

Elmer dropped his rake and gaped. "Well, I'll be damned," was all he could mutter, while all other thought or ability to process what he was seeing completely left him.

All the others, with the exception Artie – who had dropped his hands to his knees while he struggled to catch his breath-were completely surprised by the pair who was soon standing before them: A stern looking man in a grey fedora, looking somewhat suspiciously at the lot of them, and a brilliantly grinning woman with long, wild chestnut brown hair and startling blue eyes, who Elijah thought looked exactly like her mother had at the same age.