Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 3)

"Yes!" She bounced off her mother's lap, hair a third of the way braided. "Let's go looking! It's like a treasure hunt!"
"I'm coming too!" Mattathias jumped up, followed by Oscar.

Ky grinned at them, but hesitated again. They were still the wrong people to be answering her question. She looked between the Ashes, trying to read their body language — but was coming up as short as she had been. “… that’s okay?”

"Of course!" Sara nodded to her.
"Just see to it you don't harass the cat," Gaius said, addressing the twins. "Be polite, let it sniff your hand before you pet it. I'm sure Ky will reiterate all this."

Ky smiled and nodded, then stepped toward the door, beckoning to the kids. “C’mon!”

The trio dashed ahead of her, jostling each other to get ahead. Mattathias probably could have shoved his way to the front but he hung back a little.

“Alright, now, he’s an iron kitten.” Ky opened the door for them and then held up her hand to estimate size. “He’s about this big. So you all gotta help me look, okay?”

"Okay!" Marcella ran off with Oscar.
"Where does he like to hide?" Mattathias asked.

Ky stepped into the hall and closed the door behind them. “He likes hiding in little nooks. Under chairs. Behind cabinets. That sort of thing. But he answers pretty well to his name… sometimes,” she admitted. “His name is Petrir.”

"That's a human name!" Mattathias looked around as if expecting something in the hall to be concealing the kitten. Then he started off in the direction his sister and cousin had gone.

“It was my Papa’s name,” she agreed, starting after him. She looked up the hall at the nearly disappearing duo and called after them. “Hey! Guys! Let’s all stay together please!”

Oscar skidded to a stop, but Marcella kept going. Mattathias paused where he was to wait for Ky.
"That's confusing," he stated matter of factly.

“Marcella! Wait, please!” Ky called after her, then looked down at Mattathias. “What is?”

"The name! Cuz he's your dad and your cat!" Mattathias cupped his hands around his mouth. "MARCELLA!"
"WHAT?!"
"Come back!" Oscar called.

Ky smiled a little at the team work, then looked down at the boy again, trying to think of what was age appropriate to tell him. She felt stupid now that she needed to explain herself. “I miss my Papa so I named my cat after him, so I can say his name a lot and get snuggles when I do.”

"Where'd he go?"
Marcella came running back and crossed her arms impatiently. "Why did we stop?"

(That's my last one for tonight. See ya!)