Chapter 19

“Soo, yeah,” Navona muttered, kicking a pebble across the ground. The air was only beginning to warm up under the sun. Brandon was leaning against a tall, strong tree, the velvety leaves brushed his hands.

“You got banished because you stole a wooden peg?” Hal asked, incredulous.

“Well, it might not be as simple as that…” Kandel replied. “Oooh, there’s one!” He pointed at a bush full of plump, red berries. They were looking for breakfast and Kandel and Navona knew just what to eat. The four ran over to pick the treasure. Brandon’s itchy neck rubbed against the tree bark and pulsed with soreness. He ignored it when his stomach realized how long it had been since he last ate.

“I can’t believe we’re gathering with an alien… and a human,” Kandel grumbled.

“C’mon, Kandel,” Navona nudged him, angry, “we don’t know anything about them, they could be the nicest creatures you’ve ever met.”

Kandel was still suspicious. He pulled large bunches of berries from the bush efficiently, but aggressively. “Hey Navona, Maybe we shouldn't tell them a lot about us if… Navona?”

--<0>--

“I don’t think these guys will give us much information about our mission,” Hal whispered to Brandon. They had discreetly slipped away from the lourdwarfs to talk. Spy style.

“You’re just afraid of that candle guy,” Brandon argued.

“No really, they’re just a pair of rebels that stole a piece of wood and got banished,” Hal said.

“Wait,” Brandon said, pausing to think. ”If this Lord Coyote Bomsile is so smart and cunning, then why would he care about one wooden peg? He seems like a pretty careless guy, at least, in those terms.”

“You’re right,” Hal agreed, a smile forming on his face. “That means it was something important to him.”

“So, they were part of something important to him!” Brandon cheered, a bit too loudly.