Chapter 16

It was morning now, and they all were tired. Though, they had a whole day ahead of them and they decided not to sleep. Kaylin was the most worn out of the four, since she had been up the whole night before, deciding if she should run or not. Either way, she would not let her “sisters” know. She was always unique in her athletic ability and she wanted to keep it that way.

They were headed to find a boat rental or dock where they could get a ride to Ark and then home. They were more worried about navigating around Arrk because of its size and unfamiliarity. Only a few times had Bear brought the cubs to Arkk for an errand. Kenol they had walked the shorelines of countless times.

“Are you kids lost?” A man asked them as they walked by. They all debated on their answer in their minds. Annabel finally talked before any of other could make a mistake. “No, but we will be if we don’t catch a ride to Arkk soon.”

“So, you are being expected there?” The man asked. He looked like he was about forty or so. They paused again. “Well, not really, but we will be meeting someone there,” Kaylin said.

“So, there will be no one to mourn when you don’t arrive?” The man made a creepy smile. “No one to wonder when you disappear?” He raised a hand.

Elmi was tired, and being so, her brain was working slowly. It took a while to figure out something was fishy here. As soon as it clicked, she examined the man. He was tall and had smooth skin almost as if it were wet. His hair was combed but not jelled, and behind his ear was a pencil. His suit was more of a cloak than anything unusual.

“WAIT!” Elmi yelled and her arm automatically swung out once again. His pencil was all orange, just like a carrot. His suit was brown and a clock with a hood. “Black magicker!”

The man’s lips crunched up and slightly showed his teeth like you would when you smell a sour odor. “And I put on my dressiest cloak!” He said through angry clenched teeth.

Suddenly, his lifted had shot out and grabbed one of Della’s curly locks of hair. She squealed, and Kayin made a karate chop at the magic worshipper’s hand. He pulled away just in time. Annabel stepped protectively in front of Della.

There was one of those horrible, slow pauses of glaring between evil and good. Then, in a sudden (so sudden that it left the man in a twitching surprise) the girls sprinted off with Kaylin in the lead. Despite their fatigue, they ran like bullets and didn’t stop until they were sure they were not being trailed.

They seemed to be in a park. “Whoo! That was a tough race,” Della panted and fell back onto the bench. The rest followed and all sighed with exhaustion. “You’re right,” Kaylin agreed. “I’m pooped.”

--<0>--

Annabel woke up to a loud bird cry. A seagull was standing on her lap, it’s beak jammed into a granola bar that was shattered all over her pants. It must have been the one Della found in the bedroom while salvaging for food. That was the only source they had. “ARRGH!” Annabel yelled and brushed the seagull and oats off her. It grabbed a chunk from the ground and flew away, screeching as it went.

“Uuuh…” Elmi groaned. “What time is… AAAAH!” They had fallen asleep without knowing. “It’s already 12:47! Get up! Get up! We gotta buy some food with this money of ours... something relatively cheap.”

They were still pretty tired but got up with the help of their angry stomachs. Annabel led them to a street with restaurants pretty much all down each side. They walked on, nothing appealing until Elmi stopped them. The restaurant was called Bats and Eagles, and under: We’re bread smackin’ good!

“I remember Grey saying that before. Do you think…” Elmi started

“Yeah!” exclaimed Della. “Do you remember on the bus?”

“He lightly mentioned it,” Annabel remembered. “Bats and Eagles belongs to Grey and Celeste’s kids.”