“Who cares about the monkey?” Blaire murmured irritably to herself, and then dropped to her knees so she could be at eye level with the girl.

“Where were you?”

“I woke up on a nice beach,” Anastasia said, frowning so she could remember what had happened. “And then I was hungry, so I went to look for something to eat, but there aren’t any plates anywhere…then I saw my monkey! So I chased him out here.”

The little girl was positively beaming. Blaire sighed, and pulled the child into an embrace. She noted that Anastasia called the monkey (which was staring at them intently) her monkey.

This could cause a problem.

“I’m glad you’re alright,” Blaire said, patting Anastasia’s head. “You’re not hurt, are you?”

“Nope! I’m A – okay!” Anastasia announced, smiling widely.

“Someone’s in high spirits,” Tray groaned, rubbing his head. “You just let me fall!”

“Yeah, well, you shouldn’t sleep on me,” Blaire retorted, and turned her attention back to the kid.

“What happened to mama?”