Chapter 7

“Oh, I see, Mr.Grey!” Della informed the old man-Grey. They had been talking for a while now.

Here’s the story.“H-h-how? H-how?” Elmi had stammered, usually the best at talking. “Oh, well it’s a long story… eh, I should probably tell you before you ask… which you will never do.” Apparently, Grey and his wife had worked at the orphanage that the cubs used to live at. (He twirled his little white tuft of hair in his finger as he explained) He had seen the girls sneak out, but he didn’t do anything. The conditions for the children were so horrible, he would even encourage kids to try to get out.

“Just Grey will do fine, Della,” Grey said.

“So… how come you’re not still working at the orphanage on the main island?” Annabel asked.

“Well, as soon as my wife Celeste and I had enough money to move out of our parent’s house, we bought a cottage here,” Grey replied. “It’s way quieter, calmer, less evil.”

“You retired early?” Kaylin asked, cocking her head.

“Actually, we started a fishing/critter catching business here,” answered Grey. “We only retired a few months ago.”

“Mmm,” Elmi nodded, showing she understood. They were all crouching by a tree by this time, chatting. Grey suggested they come to his house, and Elmi immediately put her arm out against her sisters.

“No, not if you give us a reason!” Elmi yelled. “How do we know you weren’t just lying? How do we know this isn’t just a trap? Anyways… (Not only Elmi, but all four examined Grey’s untrustworthy face.) You worked for… Them, and how do we know you don’t want revenge. We escaped and practically shattered your whole organization.” For what Elmi’s heard, many orphans from the orphanage took the cubs as a role model. Many had escaped after them, and the staff really stopped trying to keep them in after a while.

Grey’s face became very sincere. “Elmi I wouldn’t… Okay, how would I know your names?” He’s got a point, Thought Kaylin. “How would I make this all up? Why would I know your orphanage?” He’s got a point, Thought Annabel. Grey made a long, dramatic pause. “Why would I lie to you?”

Annabel scrutinized his facial expression, it looked completely true. Grey stared hard into Elmi’s eyes. I’m not lying, Grey told her in his head. She didn’t receive.

“How do we know that’s not you working your evil black magic on us?” Elmi asked, challenging him. She was feeling very protective at the moment.

Grey’s mouth peeled into a grin. It seemed to say So, you figured out my secret? Instead of death cursing them, he put a hand over his mouth. Snrk. Spit splurted through his fingers as he tried to conceal a laugh. Suddenly he burst out in a raspy laugh, leaning on the tree, trying not to fall down.

When he finished, he explained. “Sorry, just I... Oh, you wouldn’t know this either.” He paused for them to reply, but it wasn’t really a question he was asking so they remained silent. “Anyway, there’s a group of people on the volcano that believe… *heh* weird things. They do weird practices like sitting on wooden dinosaurs and using sharpened carrots to write old poems. Heh, Heh. They think that if they do certain things when they die they will come back as a black magic wizard. Hah.” Stupid. He added in a whisper.

“And that proves you’re not using black magic yourself?” Elmi asked. “Yes,” sighed Grey. “You’re pretty superstitious about this, black magic isn’t real.”

Elmi thought about this. “Well… I guess if you had magic you could’ve trapped us already, so. Sure, we will be no better off out here than at your house.”