The Hidden Deep Read Online Free PDF

those they served. It was their job to make manna, the food of angels, and in Prissie’s opinion, they were the cutest things
ever.
    This particular little manna-maker had chin-length blue hair tucked behind pointed ears. His translucent wings reminded her of a dragonfly’s, and his pixie face was dominated by a pair of slanted eyes that had no whites. When he blinked, their faceted depths swirled with jewel-like colors. “Hello,” she said with a soft smile. The little fellow considered her for several long moments, than sat down on her palm, tucking his knees up under his chin and wiggling his tiny toes as he smiled back. Prissie was completely smitten.
    Eventually, Harken cleared his throat and gently prompted, “Wasn’t there something you wanted to ask us?”
    “Oh! Yes,” Prissie hastily answered, glancing from Harken to Milo and back again. “Maybe. I mean, if you’re not too busy with … everything?”
    Milo rolled into a sitting position and crossed his legs, gazing at her expectantly. “What did you have in mind, Miss Priscilla?”
    With a glance at Koji for moral support, she replied, “I’d like to make you all dinner.”

3

THE MODEL
STUDENT
    I asked around, sir. None of the other Flights have noticed an additional yahavim in their flocks.”
    Abner frowned somewhat, then announced, “You don’t need to call me
sir
when we’re not working.”
    “Yes, sir,” his apprentice replied pleasantly.
    “Where has my lamb gotten himself off to,” grumbled the Caretaker.
    “If you don’t mind my saying so, he is less a lamb and more a lion.”
    “It took more courage than sense to leave the safety of the garden,” Abner conceded. “Was that all?”
    “There
is
one more thing, sir. Harken wants you to know that he passed along your message to his former mentor.”
    Gray eyes sharpened. “And?”
    “He says, ‘God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.’ ”
    Abner slowly removed his glasses. “I wonder why that never occurred to me before?”
    “What, sir?”
    Shaking his head in a solemn manner, he replied, “Perhaps Lavi was
Sent.
”
    Prissie liked school. Her teachers had always put a great deal of faith in her, and she tried her best to earn their approval. Over the years, she’d climbed through the ranks, from gerbil monitor to crossing guard, from model student to class representative. A few people called her a goodie-two-shoes and the teacher’s pet, but Prissie didn’t care. She worked hard to maintain her rank and reputation within the classroom, and she walked through the school halls with her head held high.
    “I still can’t believe your locker
just happened
to be next to mine,” Prissie said as she stowed her math things. “Did someone somewhere pull some strings?”
    Koji twirled the dial on his combination lock. “It is a providential placement.”
    Social studies was their last class of the day, and she reached for her textbook. Excited voices and slamming doors filled the busy hallway, but it was easy to tune out the clamor. “It’s been a week. How do you like school so far?” she asked curiously.
    “It is very interesting.”
    Prissie lowered her voice a little and asked, “Is it like the school you used to go to? In heaven?”
    Koji pursed his lips, then answered, “In some ways. There was more singing.”
    “You could join the choir, I suppose,” Prissie suggested.
    “Are you in the choir?”
    “Obviously not,” she said with a careless shrug. “I’ve never been very good at singing.”
    He mimicked her shrug, saying, “Then, I will not.”
    The young angel’s class schedule was identical to hers, right down to the electives, which bothered her a little. Frowning, she pointed out, “You don’t have to do
everything
I do.”
    “I am here so that I can be with you,” he replied with a smile.
    She couldn’t help smiling back. If Koji had been anyone besides himself, Prissie probably would have been