"All right. We understand the situation, at least as it has developed so far," said Sara with a big smile. "The twins have proven before that they have an incredible ability to get the family involved in strange situations. First it was the orphans from Metz and now this."

She and Paolo both laughed then stood. "Very well. We'd best get upstairs and changed for dinner. Will you join us Kaho, or do you have other plans?"

"I shall be pleased to join you. I had no specific plans for my dinner, and this will save both time and the money I'd have to spend if I ate out. After we eat I can check Danica one more time before I go home."

She stood and headed toward the door, then looked back over her shoulder. "I'll send Jason over sometime tomorrow with my bill. I've been here several hours, so it will be substantial. Don't worry though, I'll make sure that he arrives before you get home for lunch. That way you won't have to listen to your mother complain about the amount."

They both chuckled, then took themselves upstairs to get changed, while Kaho headed down the hall to the washroom reserved for guests.

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Heidi had been delayed at school and had arrived home just in time for dinner. 'Suela was whispering in her ear as they entered the dining room, and continued to do so after they were seated. Based on the frequency of Heidi's nods, it was clear that 'Suela was filling her in on what had transpired that afternoon.

While it was indeed clear what 'Suela was doing in general, the adults present, with the exception of Miranda and Mimi, were extremely puzzled when Heidi suddenly blushed beet red and clapped her hands over her mouth, followed by Stavros suddenly dropping his head and blushing as well. Only Paolo noticed the wicked grin on 'Suela's face and that both Miranda and Mimi rolled their eyes and did the "Why Me?" gesture. He'd talk to Sara after dinner. Perhaps she'd have some idea as to what had just happened.

Miranda cleared her throat. "Heidi, you are NEVER, under any circumstances to repeat what 'Suela just told you. EVER. Do you understand?"

Heidi stood and bowed to Miranda. "Yes Ma'am. As of this moment, it never happened."

Miranda nodded, then smiled at Heidi. She was coming along better than she'd even allowed herself to hope in the beginning.

Thereafter, dinner proceeded as usual.

--------------------------------

After they finished, 'Suela, Heidi, and Sara trooped upstairs to Danica's room. 'Suela was carrying a substantial "snack" with her. After knocking, they entered.

Danica tracked them with her eyes and said nothing until after 'Suela had put the snack on the bedside table. "I presume that these two lovely ladies are the sisters you told me about. Heidi and...Sara?" Danica cocked her head to the side and waited.

"Yep. I'd hoped that you'd been awake enough to remember their names when I told you. You were still more than a little groggy then. Not to mention that you'd been through more shocks in a day than most people see in a year."

Sara suddenly saw the grin 'Suela usually wore right before she said something that totally embarrassed the person she was talking to, or, rarely, herself. She didn't always think all the way through her "jokes" and sometimes ended up skewering herself by accident. Since 'Suela rarely listened to anyone else, Sara hoped that embarrassing herself in public might eventually get 'Suela to think at least for a few seconds before she opened her mouth.

Not being willing to chance which way it would go this time, Sara stepped forward. "That's right. I'm pleased to meet you." She continued dryly, "Though I think both of us would have preferred it to be in a less unsettling manner."

Then she smiled, and Danica, like anyone Sara smiled at, smiled back.

"Indeed. It has been a most unusual and...indeed, a momentous day." Danica grinned wryly after speaking, and then shrugged her shoulders as an accent.

Sara lifted an eyebrow at the latter statement, but wisely forbore to say anything about it.

Instead she offered, "I trust that 'Suela explained how we tutor girls here?"

"Somewhat. Given that I shall be confined to this house for several weeks, I am certain that I shall understand in full within the next few days."

Noticing how Danica's eyes were darting back and forth from her face to the snack, Sara excused herself. "You three girls can get better acquainted for a while. I'll be back in half an hour to begin our first session."

She stood and then pointed at 'Suela. "You'll be joining us today. Stavros brought your classwork with him, and he's already finished. Once you complete it, I'll review it. Pointing out your mistakes should help Danica understand it better."

Danica noticed a momentary look of horror on 'Suela's face, which was quickly followed by a resigned smile. Heidi turned away briefly, coughed several times, then said, "I'll go get our things. It's fortunate that there's a folding table large enough to work on already in our room."

Sara nodded then went to their room, where she and Paolo compared notes. Some of the priests were FAR less flexible than he was. They'd have to fill in Archbishop Comfort about Danica living with them first thing in the morning so she could be prepared to stomp on the more difficult clergy should the need arise.

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Contrary to what Danica had expected, Sara was far from being a strict taskmaster. Instead the "tutoring" was more like a game than studying. Oh, yes, she was very firm about what they needed to do, but she also exchanged small jokes with the others and even laughed briefly several times.

When they were finished, she was more than tired. Regardless, duty called and she forced herself to sit fully upright. She bowed to Sara. "I thank you for giving of your time to aid a stranger who has washed up upon your doorstep. It is most gracious of you."

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Gracious? Not at all. Both the Quran and the Bible instruct us to aid strangers who are in need. You are, for the moment, a stranger, and you most certainly are in need. We are blessed to have the opportunity to put what we have been taught into practice.

"Now that I've said that, you need to relax. Quit with all the formal language and just be yourself." Sara reached out and gently stroked Danica's head.

"I'll plan on seeing you tomorrow after dinner. For now, you three girls can gossip about whatever it is you've been trying so hard not to talk about in front of me."

Sara strode to the door and turned as she put her hand on the knob. "Oh, and don't worry. I won't tell anyone that instead of 'resting' you're going to be gabbing. Fortunately you, at least, can sleep in tomorrow."

She glared at Heldi and 'Suela. "You two had better not be sleep deprived when I see you at breakfast. If you are, I shall be happy to chew on you for a while after your mother and Mimi have finished."

She flashed them an impish grin then left the room and gently closed the door. All the way back to her room, she was smiling. She had no idea what was going on with the three of them, and wouldn't speculate about her ideas with anyone anyway, but she did intend to let Paolo know that they were already getting along well.

For a brief moment, she thought about telling Mimi as well, then bopped herself on the head. Hah! The idea that Mimi might not know, in detail, about something going on in her house was ludicrous. Sara shook her head at her stupidity. Perhaps she was the one who was most in need of sleep.

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"Oh my!" Heidi gasped. "You WALKED all the way here from Nubia? You didn't take a boat even once?!"

Danica shook her head in exasperation. "I know, right? We'd have arrived at least a year earlier if we had. However..." A distracted look passed over her face as she stared at the ceiling.

Then she blushed and murmured, "Maybe that's what the Wise One and my mother were whispering about after the others had left..." Her voice faded out and she continued to stare at nothing.

Although she said nothing, her body spoke volumes as 'Suela and Heidi saw Danica's blush deepen and move all the way down to her neck.

After a while 'Suela couldn't take it any more and she said in a teasing tone, "You're thinking about Stav...ros."

Danica shook her head to gather her thoughts, and awareness returned to her eyes. She turned to face Heidi and 'Suela once more and saw that both of them had the same expression of excited anticipation -- the one you'd see on a kitten just before it pounced on a mouse.

Realizing that she was trapped, she decided to tell them what she'd deduced. "All right. All right. I'll tell you, but you must solemnly swear to never, ever tell another living soul."

Seeing that Dani was absolutely serious, the others composed themselves, looked at each other, nodded, then laid the palms of their right hands over their hearts, "We so swear."

Danica looked at them for several, long breaths, then nodded. They'd just met, but she could feel their determination.

"Very well. In Alodia, it is customary to consult a Wise One before making any major decisions. One prays about it first, of course, but we still believe in the ancient customs of our people. It was she who said that we must walk the entire distance. She explained it by saying that, since we weren't rich, we would need to stop now and then so my father could work long enough to earn money to pay for our needs on the next part of our journey. By walking, we would meet and get to know the people along the way and would then be able to tell where it would be profitable, and safe, to stop.

"My father, being a very rational person, immediately agreed. A silversmith deals with a valuable commodity after all, and revealing to the wrong people that we were carrying a substantial amount of silver with us could have been deadly."

The other girls nodded, excited anxiety on their faces, but said nothing. They didn't want to accidently get Danica sidetracked.

"My father and brothers hurried out after the Wise One spoke. Now that she had agreed that our planned venture was not just a fool's dream, they had much to do to finish preparing. They didn't see that the Wise One had taken my mother's arm and pulled her aside, and she...."

Her voice faltered, and she looked pleadingly at the other girls. "You promised, right? I'll absolutely die of embarrassment if anyone else EVER hears about this."

Wordlessly, the girls stood and walked to either side of the bed, whereupon each took one of Danica's hands. They held her hands over their hearts, leaned forward, and in turn kissed Danica on the forehead.

They glanced at each other, then Heidi nodded. This one was 'Suela's to answer.

"Dani, it's like this. We have secrets too, and we'll share one with you to prove both that we trust you and that we'll keep yours as long as we live. Our mother works secretly for Duchess Henrietta. I've been taught how, and why, to keep secrets since I was able to understand what a secret was. You need have no fear that either of us will ever reveal yours."

Danica, who had been looking at Consuela while she spoke, turned to Heidi for confirmation. Before she could ask, Heidi said seriously, "It's true. Have no fear." Then she grinned and added, "Future sister-in-law."

Gently freeing her hands, Danica lifted her arms and wrapped them around the other girls. It was definitely time for a hug. They did likewise and none of them moved for quite some time. Finally, they disengaged, Heidi and 'Suela sat down again, and Danica nodded.

"I'm reasonably sure that neither my mother nor the Wise One knew I was behind a screen at the side of the room. I was picking up something that I'd dropped. When I heard the whispering, I froze where I was and listened. You never know when what you hear by accident might be important, and you can't hear it if you're distracted, right?"

Heida and 'Suela glanced at each other, nodded, smiled, then turned back to Danica. When they were able to talk later, they'd bet on how long it would take their mother to recruit Danica as one of her informants.

Danica, reasonably, thought that they were just agreeing with her, so she continued her story. "Anyway, what the Wise One said was that we could travel part of the way by boat, safely, and arrive as much as a year earlier. Then she said that if we did, my father would marry me off to some cousin or other shortly after we arrived as the one I was destined for would still be too young to make a favorable impression on him."

The girls nodded. This time it was Heidi's turn to ask, "Have you already fallen in love with him then?"

Danica was through with blushing. If nothing else, she was too worn to do it any more. She lifted her chin and said, "No. Nothing like that. At least not yet. All I know so far is that he is strong, reliable in times of trouble, and that, probably, his middle name should be 'Mischief'."

There were giggles all around, after which Danica continued, "But, when we were in the bath, and he held me against his heart, I could feel it. It was like I was a key that had finally found the lock that it was meant to open.

"That is why I performed the Chant of Binding. Were I wrong, nothing would have happened except that I would have become somewhat more tired, and I was already so weary that a little more would have made no difference.

"But, praise Allah, I was not mistaken. I could feel our souls touching. Neither of us will ever feel completely alone, ever again, no matter the distance or how many years separate us."

Not even Danica had the faintest idea of what that last part meant, but the part they all did understand moved them in ways that they could not yet comprehend. Without thinking about it, Heidi and 'Suela stood once more, sat on either side of the bed, wrapped their arms around Danica and each other, then all three cried happy tears.

About half and hour later, Mimi was passing by the room. Hearing giggling, she paused and smiled warmly in the direction of the door. It looked as if things were going to get more complicated...and even more fun!