Chapter 19 (Merry Christmas!)

Kaylin made a silent scream when she felt something behind her and saw what it was. A plump man in a collared shirt and tattered pants sat cross-legged behind her. Now that she looked, she could make out shelves, pillows, and old furniture all in this little, hollowed pile. He must live here.

The man looked as scared as the girls were. “Why are you…” He stuttered, in a low voice. Elmi gave him a look of sympathy. “I’m so sorry that we had to barge in here… Uh, we’re just being chased by one o’ those black magic…”

The man paused a moment with low eyebrows, looking like he was making a decision. Then, he popped to attention with a bubbling anger in his face. “Ugh! Those messed up little berries. Need something?” his skin turned a daring red.

Elmi was speechless. “I-I… I… we…” “Oh?” Annabel said with a smart smirk. “Say, you could do us a small favor.”

--<0>--

“Wake up, Bear!” Della squealed at the poor man, jumping on his bed. “IT’S CHRISTMAS!” He groaned, but listened and got changed. The four girls excitedly bounced around him as the drowsily lumbered downstairs.

Bear had insisted that the Cubs eat their oatmeal and apples for breakfast before opening presents and eating sugar cookies. They were -and mostly Della- hyped for the day. They gobbled down the food and jumped to the tree, spying gifts lined under the fir tree. Bear smiled at them as he walked in. “Let’s get started.”

Wrapping paper and bows lay scattered across the floor, cluttering the area. Nobody cared enough to pick them up, they were too busy enjoying and admiring their presents.

The memory flickered sadly in Elmi’s mind. We will find Bear. What luck.

 

Chapter 18

The girls were almost staggering back at the pound of his words. “We should play it dumb,” Annabel whispered into her adopted sisters’ ears. They all nodded.

“It’s who?” Kaylin asked. The man, Kone, was smiling and had wide eyes. He rose his finger and pointed at the kids. Their faces turned red and Della’s lip quivered with guilt. She didn’t know why, but she really felt bad for acting like she wasn’t herself.

Kone turned to Samantha, avoiding thier forcefully innocent looks. “They look just like the china dolls from Grandmas’!” Samantha put on a sad expression. “I-I thought I recognized them.”

Elmi puffed a sigh of relief. The others leaned together and smiled with a comforting feeling of safety. But, Annabel was still looking over to Kone and his sister. “What’s wrong?” She asked.

“Oh, just-” Kone interrupted Samantha. “Our Grandma.”

“What about her?” Annabel asked, confused.

“She had a shelf of amazing dolls, new and old,” Samantha replied. “There were three china dolls with blond hair and one with black. They looked just like you. (Samantha looked worriedly at Kone.) The smallest things can bring back memories.”

“Is she… or…” Annabel asked.

Samantha sighed heavily. “One day, Kone and I were playing with them. Grandma usually used a stool to get up to the shelf, but today we had pushed it into the playroom.” “We asked to get it, but she said it was okay!” Kone said in a voice that sounded almost like a sob. Samantha patted his hand.

“She slipped on her tiptoes, trying to put the dolls back on the top shelf.She tried to grab the shelf but it fell. On her. It was a solid wood shelf, holding heavy things there.”

“I’m so sorry,” Annabel said. “She wasn’t alright after that, was she?”

“No,” Samantha said. “It was all our fault.”

Annabel couldn’t think of anything else to say, so she backed into the crowd of her sisters. After the two siblings finished their sudden sadness, they tended to their patient’s wound. It was really not too bad, but she was feeling a bit woozy from the impact.

Samantha and Kone served the sisters some fruit shaped as owls with chocolate wafers as the feet and mini jelly tarts as the eyes. It came with a garden shaped dish of cabbage, candied carrots, and cream with lemon tea. Elmi, Annabel, Kaylin and Della were very grateful. “Its… Its-Its Scrumptious!” Della said happily, jelly smeared around her face. Clearly, Kone and Samantha had not adopted their mother’s cooking.

Just as the cubs were leaving and thought they would get out fine, Samantha asked the deadly question. “Where are your parents?”

The girls pointed all directions and talked at once. “At the store!” Annabel said without thinking.

“Fuzz!” Kalin said.

“Home!” Della squealed.

“Hawaii!” Elmi croaked, pointing with both hands in different directions.

At first Samantha looked serious and skeptical, but her face softened. A smile came further, and she smothered a laugh with her hand. By this time, people all over the room began staring. (They had left the busy kitchen) The plates stopped clicking against forks as the centre of attention slowly built to the cubs.

“It’s okay, I just want to know you’re not street kids,” Samantha assured them with a grin. The girls sighed. “We’re not.” Samantha nodded them out, and they quickly scattered away from the following eyes.

“Just need to get to a boat rental and get out of here,” Elmi said under her breath as they speed walked through the streets, hoping to get to the edge of the island. Annabel nodded. “You’re right. We’re attracting too much attention.”

“Speaking of attention,” Della whispered. “Someone’s been trailing us. Don’t look, but I think it’s that monkey from before.” Kaylin’s eyes widened, but she didn’t move. We’ll have to lose him.

Speed walking turned into jogging, which turned into a steady run. At every corner they peeked at the Black magic user. He blended in surprisingly well and could not be shaken off. “There!” Kaylin shout-whispered. She made a slight gesture towards an alley coming up. It was perfectly positioned next to a turning curb, so it would just look like the four rounded a corner.

Della was having a hard time keeping up, but would not let down for the world. The others suddenly made a sharp turn, but she halted in her tracks to see was was being done. They had dove into an alleyway, so she followed, but it was too late. The robed man had seen the early turn and the cubs knew it.

There was not much time. “Into that dumpster!” Elmi ordered. Kaylin had a better plan. “No, he’ll expect us to do that! Can you squeeze under there?”

Everyone squished under the low pile of lawn tables and chairs, a small opening to the enclosure inside was where they tried to fit. It was a rushed business, and the man wouldn’t have noticed their presence if he hadn’t caught a glimpse of Elmi’s shoe.

Chapter 17

“Should we go in?” Kaylin asked. Elmi was a bit suspicious still for she wanted to make sure they were safe and better off here then resting on a park bench for the night. “They may be kind of ticked off that we sneaked away from their parents in the night,” Elmi stated.

“Good point,” Annabel nodded. “Grey did say that he had talked to his children about us. What were their names? Kone the boy and ah, whatever the girl’s name was.”

“Wait what did you say?” asked Kaylin. Annabel looked at her oddly. “I said I didn’t know what the girl’s name was.”

“No, before that!” Kaylin said.

“Uh, Kaylin?” Annabel asked. “I said… er, that Grey had talked to his children.”

“How?” asked Kaylin.

“What do you mean?”

“How did he talk to his children?”

“With a phone, I guess.”

This is where Kaylin’s knowing smirk came in. “But they ‘don’t have a phone or mail.’ That’s why we could never contact Bear.”

The other three girl’s eyes lit up. “So, that means he was lying!” Della shouted. They all came to a realization, though they did not know why they were so happy about a lie.

“Yeah, lying about one of two things,” Kaylin said and rolled her eyes. “Either about him contacting his family, or him having no way to contact outside of his island. If it’s that, then he could have called Bear all the while.” “Awww,” Della said. “At least we’re on our way now.”

Annabel grabbed onto the door handle. “But, the other way, he never talked to Kone and… that’s it, Samantha. So, they never knew that we came, or that we escaped from their parents.”

“True,” Elmi agreed. “But we should not take chances like that. Anyway, there was the smoke alarm and that’s technically an electronic too right?”

“Yes,” Annabel seemed reluctant to pull her arm off the handle. It seemed really nice in there. “Okay fine.” She pulled away, but before she could step down off the stair, the door flung open and hit her on the side of her head.

“Oh, I’m so sorry dear,” said the grey-haired man who had emerged from the doorway. He helped her up to her feet (for she had fallen to the ground and down the step) and patted her on the back. In a horrible flicker, Annabel thought the man looked like Grey, but she took a second look and realized he was too tall and plump to be Grey.

“I-I’m okay,” Annabel stuttered and stabled herself. She then noticed that the door was propped open by a rock that was jammed between it and the ground. Everyone inside the restaurant was looking at her in disbelief. She quickly put her hand to her head and felt a rip in her skin where the door had hit her.

The tall lady behind the counter rushed out to help Annabel. The lady’s nameplate read Samantha and the cubs all stifled a gasp. “Are you okay?” Samantha asked worriedly. “Oh, it’s bleeding, I’ll have to take you inside.” She kicked the rock and lead Annabel through the staring rows of tables with Elmi, Kaylin, and Della following silently. The conversation in the room only resumed after the four children were brought to the back kitchen.

Samantha had light brown hair and a messy, black apron on. She sat Annabel down and yelled out onto the kitchen. “Kone! There is a hurt little girl over here! Could we get a warm cloth? (She tapped on a passing chef’s shoulder) Could you please get this poor gal a bit of salt water or hydrogen peroxide?”

It was a big bustle in the kitchen, with rusted, dirty ovens and tables blocking paths. The sink was overflowing with bubbles and dishes with clean pots hanging from the ceiling. Chefs and servers were speed walking in and out the kitchen door, holding as many plates both empty and full as they could carry. Finally, a man about the same height and hair color as Samantha walked up holding a warm cloth and a lemon. When he spotted the four cubs, his eyes flickered with recognition. “I-It’s you!”