*** Kerrigan's POV***
"Eibhlin! You came!"
Kerrigan watched the little girl run up to her and take her hand. She smiled dumbly and squeezed, "Wh- What? Eibhlin? Who is Eibhlin?"
"You are silly. Come and see."
Kerrigan let Reilynn wheel her after the little girl who let them to a wall with several pictures drawn in chalk.
"What is your name?" Kerrigan asked.
"I am Hannah, this is Maggie." Little Hannah said, pointing to Maggie, who had followed them.
"Hello, Hannah. What do we have here?" she asked gesturing at the chalk drawings.
"This is Miss Cara. That one is Mr. Johnathan. We added Mr. Peter in next to miss Cara. He is nice." Explained Maggie.
Hannah pointed toward two other figures standing next to each other, "That one is you, Eibhlin, and that one is Mr. Conor."
"Me? You keep calling me, Eibhlin." Kerrigan asked cautiously."
"Yep, the lady with the green eyes, Eibhlin." Hannan said, pointing to the drawing, where Kerrigan saw they had indeed drawn in green chalk eyes.
"Has Mr. Conor mentioned me before?"
"No, but Celia mentioned you."
"Celia?" Kerrigan's eyes went wide. "She is near?"
Hannah winked at her and pointed to her temple and then to her heart. "she is always with us." The Hannah held up her finger as if to hush Kerrigan and rushed off to play with her friends leaving Kerrigan in pure shock.
Reilynn leaned down, "Eibhlin?"
"Hu?"
"So, you do answer to that? Interesting."
"What?" Kerrigan asked, confused. "No, I don't know where they came up with that. did you hear, she said Celia speaks to her. Celia and her Deinmaar must visit this community center often. She must have a goal for this place and these kids."
"Perhaps the leader, Mr. Johnathan?" Reilynn asked.
Kerrigan pondered. "Possible. But I believe Conor mentioned he has been here for some time. He would have been stationed here long before priestess Rania died. I think it would be more likely someone else. Keep your eyes open."
They made their way over to where Cara was working with a small group of kids on a set of string bracelets.
"Care to join us? Hannah and Maggie are experts at the bracelets. They can make all sorts of patterns." Cara asked, handing Kerrigan a pile of brightly colored strands to choose from.
"Oh, umm. I guess? What do I do?"
Maggie came over, "Pick your favorite colors. You can have at least three."
"Ok, well, I see a green, this black, and a gold."
Maggie spend a few minutes teaching her how to tie the knots and the order to tie them. Kerrigan was impressed how fast the young girl was and they soon had a band forming.
"Maggie, may I ask you something?"
"I suppose."
"Does Celia talk to you too?"
"Sometimes."
"Is there anything she says?"
Maggie paused for a minute and then looked up at her with a big grin on her face. "Celia says to mind your own business. HAHAHA!" Maggie darted off to the other side of the gymnasium then, leaving Kerrigan stunned yet again. Were the kids playing games with her or was Celia here now speaking to the kids even now? How Kerrigan wished Abrasax was conscious enough to sense Celia.
Kerrigan eyed Cara speculatively. "That one. Her uncle is Colonel Eli, right? He has deep ties to the Dovari order. She is one we should keep an eye on. From what Conor was saying, she is the one who introduced him to this place."
Reilynn nodded. "We will need to be cautious. I will see what I can find out. But prying into the personal lives of the Colonel's family is risky. Be careful."
Cara drifted over to them then. "Are you two enjoying yourselves? I know this place is still a bit of a mess, but we try to mix clean up with play when we can. Older ones do a good job when I can keep their siblings out of their hair."
"It's fine. I think I got this down." Kerrigan said, holding up her haphazard bracelet.
Cara grinned with a hint of humor in her eye, "Don't worry. If you come back to visit, I am sure the girls will help you improve. I must have fifty of those by now."
"Cara, right? How long have you been coming here?"
"Well, years really. I remember when Hannah over there was born and her brother was just a short kid. He is that tall one helping pick up trash in the front area."
"Has this place always been so run down?" Kerrigan asked, looking around again.
Cara signed. "Four or five years ago, there was more funding but that was before the temple of Celia was destroyed. After that, it has been going down hill with very limited funds. Conor has been great though and if we can get the community on board, we might just be able to build a whole new facility for them. I saw the plans he has, and it will be amazing!"
"Do many from the office come down here?"
"From Volkrizin? No, not really. Mr. Nuri has been down a few times to meet with Mr. Johnathan, the director. But other than that, its been mostly Peter and myself. Well, Conor of course. I think Peter mostly comes down to spend time with me, if we are being honest." She said with a bit of a flush coming to her cheeks.
Reilynn then asked with a sneaky deadpan tone that Kerrigan knew right away, "Mr. Brantley's other executives don't visit? Miss brooks, or that Jarad fellow?" The tone was so casual and innocent. Kerrigan wanted to kick Reilynn if she could.
"Them? No, I don't think I have seen them outside the office much. Miss Brooks has come down a few times to pick Conor up, but to be honest, I think kids make her nervous. The rest stay rather busy."
"Well, I suppose we should go find Conor. Thank you for what you do here Cara. Even in the short time I have been here, I can see you are a blessing to these kids." Kerrigan said, realizing as the words left her mouth that she truly did mean them. This place, as run down as it was, had a charm all its own. Not the building, but the life the kids brought to it as they played and took care of this place they called their own.
"Thank you. Conor should be in with Johnathan. His office is just over there. Second on the left." Cara said with a smile, pointing to a hallway with a few doors with lit windows.