Part 15 (1/2)
The young Observer quickly grabbed Ransom's other arm and gravely said, ”Please, come this way. It is a matter of some urgency.”
”If you say so,” Ransom relented. ”Geez!”
They ran all the way to Harken's, bursting through the door in a tinkle of chimes. While Koji firmly closed the door behind them, Prissie puffed, trying to catch her breath. Still clamped onto Ransom's arm, she carefully enunciated, ”Good evening, Mr. Mercer. Sorry to barge in so late, but it's getting bad outside. Can we wait in here?”
Harken's smile was rea.s.suringly familiar. ”Of course, Prissie! Won't you introduce your friend?”
At a sudden loss for words, she looked blankly into her companion's face and quickly let go of his arm. He quirked an eyebrow before speaking up for himself. ”Ransom Pavlos, sir. Mr. Pomeroy has mentioned you some. I work at his bakery.”
”Jayce's apprentice!” Harken exclaimed, smiling broadly. ”It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance! Make yourselves comfortable,” he urged. ”Prissie, you should call your father to let him know you and Koji are here. We don't want him to worry.”
”Yes, please. Thank you.” She hurried through to the back room and placed the call, then returned to announce, ”Dad says if it's okay with you, we should stay put. He and Uncle Lou have the chess board out, and they're making do over at the bakery. The boys will come dig us out tomorrow.”
”You're most welcome,” Harken a.s.sured. ”Are you expecting a ride, Ransom?”
”Nope. I walked.”
”I see,” the old shopkeeper murmured. ”Would you like to place a call to your parents?”
”Sure, yeah. I'll let my dad know where I am,” he agreed.
Just then, Milo strolled through the back room's door and said, ”We've got a blizzard on our hands!”
”Hey, Mr. Mailman,” Ransom greeted.
”The name's Milo,” he reminded with a chuckle.
Ransom grinned. ”I remember. Which way to the phone?”
”Through here,” he said with a courteous sweep of one arm. ”It's on the corner of Harken's desk.”
”Gotcha.”
While her cla.s.smate put through his call, the Messengers compared notes. Harken said, ”I've conferred with Jedrick. Half a legion is mobilizing, but they cannot fight a storm.”
Milo heaved a deep sigh. ”Abner says he hasn't been Sent. There's nothing he can do.”
Prissie wandered over to where Koji stood looking out the window. She could barely see the streetlight on the corner, let alone the bakery. A pickup truck edged past at a crawl, snow up to its hubcaps, but it was soon lost from view. ”How bad is it?” she whispered.
”I do not know,” he replied honestly. ”However, we are safe here.”
”What about Dad and the others?”
A series of loud pops startled her, and she looked up and down the street. ”There,” Koji offered, pointing at sparks arcing into the air from a transformer. Just like that, the power went out. The lights and furnace stalled simultaneously, plunging the bookstore into eerie silence.
”Hang on,” Milo ordered. ”I know where to find some light. Everyone sit tight.”
A clatter and thud of falling books came from the back room, and Harken called, ”Ransom?”
”Sorry, sir. I b.u.mped into something-or-other.”
”Are you hurt?”
”Nah, I'm fine,” the teen a.s.sured.
They lapsed into silence while they waited for Milo to reappear, and Prissie's eyes strained for some trace of light. The blackness was so complete, it reminded her of being lost in the tunnels that had led her to the Deep. s.h.i.+vering, she mumbled, ”It's too dark.”
”Indeed,” Koji quietly agreed.
Prissie was disappointed when he didn't reach for her hand. More than anything else, she didn't want to feel alone, so she reached for him, her fingers finding the rough cloth of his coat sleeve. ”Can you see?” she whispered.
”The storm has blotted out the stars, but even so, I can distinguish more than you are able.”
Tugging on his sleeve, she edged closer to her friend. The scene on the street haunted her memories, and she couldn't seem to stop trembling. ”I think I'm scared,” she admitted.
”We are safe,” Koji repeated. After a short pause, he announced, ”Milo is returning, and he is not alone.”
In the next moment, light s.h.i.+mmered from the direction of Harken's office, and Prissie gasped. She could clearly see Ransom's profile now; he leaned against the wall, hands in pockets, head down, and he didn't react at all when a flood of tiny angels streamed past him, bringing their brightness into the room. He was blind, but she could see.
Only when the beam of a flashlight cut through the dark did Ransom react, turning toward the sound of Milo's cheerful hail. ”I found what we need! Hey, Ransom, did you get through to your family before we were cut off?”
”Yeah,” he replied, accepting a spare flashlight and clicking it on. ”I told Dad I was hanging out with you guys until the storm calms down. He didn't care.”
”I see,” Harken replied gently, taking a box of candles off Milo's hands. ”I'm sure you put his mind at ease.”
Ransom shrugged and looked at Prissie. Holding up the flashlight, he asked, ”You want this?”
”N-no,” she stammered, trying very hard to act naturally. Abner's entire flock seemed to have escaped into the bookstore, and their antics were more than enough to make her forget her fears. Many of the manna-makers danced acrobatically through the air, while still more explored the odds and ends Harken had on display. The little dears were so distracting!
Oblivious to the small angels whirling just over his head, Ransom quirked a brow at her. ”What are you smiling about?”
”I'm just glad there's light,” she fudged.
”Afraid of the dark?” he guessed, cautiously working his way across the room.
”Not usually.”
”'Cause you can have this if you are,” he insisted.