Now that he was up close, it was clear to Vincent that this woman was not Susanna.  And yet even now as he stood right in front of her face, Vincent was struck with how eerily similar her facial features were to his friend’s.  She possessed the same dainty nose, the same hazel eyes, the same smile.  Truly the only difference was that instead of Susanna’s auburn hair, this young woman wore a mane of bright red that cascaded down to her shoulders like a fiery waterfall.  Also, her visage was dotted with light freckles, which Susanna did not possessed.  She appeared to be a few years younger, as well, probably just old enough to no longer be considered a girl.  If Vincent had to guess, she was eighteen years of age, compared to Susanna’s twenty-one.
“Wh-who are you?” she whispered softly in amazement to the man levitating in front of her eyes.

“Me?  Um, my name is Vincent.”

“Hi.  I’m Rebecca.” 

“Hello, Rebecca,” said Vincent, quite unsure of how to continue this increasingly awkward conversation.

To Vincent’s surprise, Rebecca plucked him out of the air with her thumb and forefinger, then proceeded to examine him from all sides.  She was not as delicate as he would have wished, though she did lighten her grip upon his torso when he started squirming.

“Are you real?” she asked inquisitively.  

“What do you mean?  Of course, I’m real!” he replied, somewhat indignantly.

 
“But you are not like any real thing I have ever seen before.  You look just like a young man...but you are so little!  You’re barely the length of my pinkie finger!  And you can fly?  How can I be sure that I am not just imagining all of these?”  

Her voice trailed off near the end as she continued to study Vincent’s miniscule features.  She was mesmerized by the shimmering gleam of his shirt, just as Susanna had been.  Rebecca was greatly amused when she slipped off one of his very tiny leather boots.  She had to hold it very close to her eye to make out its details, as it just barely took up any space on her fingertip.

“Hey!” Vincent protested.  “Give that back!”  Though he was reluctantly complying with this examination, he was growing weary of this experience.

“Oh, sorry!” she replied, returning it back to him.  “I think my fingers are too large to put it back on your foot.  Here you go.”

Vincent grumbled to himself as he retrieved his shoe from her finger.  Where was Susanna?

“Well, it was truly nice to meet you, but I have to meet a friend.  Good day, miss.”

“No, don’t go!” Rebecca pleaded.  “I simply must show you to my sister.  She won’t believe my story if I told her!”

“Your sister?”

“Yes!  She’s probably still at the manor.  She’s moving into it and I’m helping her.  Well, I’m supposed to be helping her.  As soon as we got here, she rushed into her room with her suitcases.  She told me she had something she wanted to show me.  I grew tired of waiting for her and wandered off into the forest.  It’s been years since I wandered among these trees...”

Vincent pondered this news.  This young woman and her sister must be related to Susanna in some way if they were at Cairnbridge.  It was likely, he thought, that they were Susanna’s cousins.  This would explain the family resemblance, as well.  Susanna had not spoken of her family much, but he had noticed a sense of disfavor when the subject of her cousins was brought up.

Vincent really did not want to linger or spend much time Rebecca or meet her sister, preferring much more to be with their cousin, Susanna.  Susanna had not mentioned her cousins visiting the last time they spoke--perhaps even she did not know it at the time.  He was considering asking Rebecca of Susanna’s location, but decide against revealing their prior relationship, allowing Susanna to do so if she so chose.

“I really don’t know if I should do that,” Vincent repeated.  “Encountering you was not intentional and I apologize for the disturbance.  I do have a friend I am meeting up with, so...”

“A friend!” Rebecca interrupted.  “Do you mean that there are others like you?  Oh, please show me!”

“No, it’s not like that!  She--”

“A she?” Rebecca’s eye lit up.  “Is she your girlfriend?  A wee little missus?”
“No!  She’s not my girlfriend!  Well, at least I don’t think she is...and besides, she’s not--”

“You don’t know?  Oh, how adorable!  I’d love to meet her if you would please.  Is she around here?”

“I, uh, well...” Vincent stammered, thinking of ways to get out of this situation.  He pondered simply taking off into the skies, when another voice called out:
“Rebecca?  Rebecca, are you out here?  Young woman, I swear, I cannot take my eyes off of you for a minute.”

The voice was feminine and sounded as if it was approaching from the direction of the manor.

“Oh great...” Vincent thought.

“I’m over here!  Sister, hurry!  Meet my new friend!”

“A new friend?” the voice replied, sounding curious, yet concerned.

Vincent was seriously considering making his escape.  Rebecca no longer had a hold of him and he could have easily taken off.  Before he could do so, however, Rebecca noticed his eyes darting around.  She quickly cupped her hands around him, entrapping him in the prison of her hands.  On all sides, Vincent was surrounded by flesh.  Though there was room for him to stand, it was very dark and warm and he was not comfortable there.

“Yes!  But I’ll tell you: you won’t believe your eyes!  Come, meet Vincent!”

“Did you say Vincent?!” the sister replied.  She was very near now, on the edge of estate’s lawn by the treeline.  The sister’s voice sounded very familiar to Vincent, but it was difficult to discern, as Rebecca’s hands were muffling all the incoming sounds.

“Rebecca, be very careful with him!” he could hear.

Vincent squirmed around, trying to pry apart Rebecca’s fingers, but to no avail.  There was small hole near her thumbs that she had left open to let in the air (fortunately) but it was too small for even his little body to fit through.  He could feel the movements and vibrations as Rebecca carried him away towards her sister, each racing footfall sending a reverberation through her body that he could feel.

“Come and see, sister!”

“Rebecca, come away this instant!  I don’t want any harm to befall upon--”
The sentence remained unfinished.  Rebecca was no longer running, but standing still.  Vincent was suddenly overwhelmed with the flooding in of sunlight as Rebecca spread open her palms, exposing Vincent to the day...and to her sister.

Rebecca’s sister stood speechless.

Meanwhile, Vincent’s eyes were growing accustomed to the light and his blindness was wearing off.  He could see before him the form of another woman, towering above him just as his captor was.  He craned his neck to see the sister’s face.  

“...him,” Susanna said, slowly finishing her sentence.

Vincent was overwhelmed with confusion.  All three stood awkwardly, making no sounds, until Rebecca enthusiastically made introductions.

“Vincent, meet my sister Susanna!  Susanna, meet my new friend Vincent!”