Laresn - Alien Girl

CHAPTER 2
KENT AND MARIE LEWIS


When Kent came in, he saw Laresn sitting there and went in giving her a big smile. He looked at the book and told her, “Looks like you are interested in earth science? Very good, very good,” he said. He had put approval in his voice so she would know that he didn’t mind her looking at the book, even though all the books were antique. Everyone used a Research Device these days.

It looked as though she thought he was asking something and didn’t know how to answer him. He held out his hand to her, waiting on her to take it. She was very hesitant, just staring at it, but Kent didn’t move his hand, so she reached up and he pulled her up, taking her to the kitchen. He pulled a chair out at the table for her and then sat down himself. Marie came in giving him a quizzical look. Then she smiled at him and got out some cookies and milk. She poured both of them a glass of milk and then even one for herself, sitting down next to the Kent. He took two cookies off of the plate and passed them to Laresn. She took two also and he passed the plate back to Marie who helped herself and set the plate in the middle of the table. Laresn looked at the cookies and wondered what they would taste like. She smiled shyly as she took the first small bite. Hmm, they were good; she wanted to gobble them down. But she remembered her manners and continued with small bites. They watched her silently and gave each other sideways looks and a smile. They could tell she liked them and wondered if she had never had these kinds of cookies before.

“These are really good chocolate chip cookies. It tastes as though you made them yourself,” Kent was saying as he reached for another one.

“I did, I made them yesterday before you came home from work,” Marie answered.

After Laresn finished her two cookies and glass of milk, she sat quietly in her chair, not knowing what she should do. Kent stood up and talking to Marie said, “I’ll take her back to the living room, then I’ll come back and tell you what I found out at the sheriff’s office.” He gestured for Laresn to follow him. She got up and walked behind him. He gave her the book she had before and motioned for her to sit in one of the recliners. Happily taking the book, she began looking at it again.

Kent walked back to the kitchen and began talking to Marie. He had gone to the sheriff’s office to check and find out if there were any reports of a missing girl in the area.

“Sheriff Collins wasn’t there so I talked to Mr. Williams.”

“He’s the undersheriff, isn’t he?”

“Yes, and he checked his computer, but couldn’t find anything.”

“So what are we supposed to do with her?”

“He said he’d talk to Sheriff Collins and one of them would call us. Meanwhile, he said, keep the girl here, and don’t let her take off.”

“Well, she seems a little more comfortable here than she was when you brought her in.”
“Yes, I think she loves books and seemed very excited about the one she was looking at. It even looked like she was trying to read it.”

“Really? I wonder what her language is. What did you think when you heard her?”

“Mostly, I heard her screaming. She did say a few words, while I was dragging her to the house, but I didn’t understand a word or recognize which language it could possibly be.”

“We’ll just see how it goes. Maybe I should keep her clothes until tomorrow.”

“Might be a good idea. She surely wouldn’t take off in those oversize clothes you gave her.”

“That’s what I’m thinking.”

“I need to go to work for a while. Think you’ll be okay with her today. I get off at 5 this evening, so I’ll be here for dinner. I’ll take a lunch with me and work through my lunch hour to make up for the time that I took off this morning.”

“Okay, I think she’ll do fine with me,” she told him. “I’ll fix you a ham and cheese sandwich to take along.”

“Thanks, I’ll go get dressed for work.”

*****