"I could help you do stuff, if you want." Jesse said. "We can't just stay here without paying you somehow…" Marsha's dad thought about it.

"I think I'll take you up on your offer." he said. "We could use some help. Come on." he walked along the side of the house from the door, which was where they'd met him. It was early evening. Jesse followed Mr. Keppler, while Marsha led Timothy inside.

Marsha's mom was inside, along with her baby brother Kish. Stewart, about Jesse's age, was helping their father. Timothy and Marsha played with Kish, tickling him. Kish shrieked with laughter the longer they tickled him, and he'd roll over to try to get away. At one point, he rolled almost completely off of Marsha's lap.

"Whoops." Marsha caught him before he could fall off. She sat him in her lap again, then Timothy leaned over and tickled Kish on the leg. He shrieked again, and Mrs. Keppler shook her head. Timothy and Marsha tickled Kish again, and Timothy found himself laughing, which he hadn't done since…

Timothy shook his head to get the memory out of his mind, deciding to concentrate on the happy present. Which had a very happy Kish in it.


Jesse and Stewart walked along the rows of wheat, harvesting and replanting the crop. Stewart talked constantly, although Jesse didn't say anything. Farming was harder work than he'd thought, and it was taking all his energy to keep up with Stewart.

The sun was setting when Mr. Keppler walked up. "Stewart, would you go and get some apples from the forest? And you can stop, Jesse." Jesse stood up, holding the hoe in one hand, and he shook his head. "I'm not done yet. Let me finish a couple more rows."

Mr. Keppler laughed. "You've got a good work ethic, Jesse. If you're ever looking for a permanent job, I might be able to help you." Jesse smiled and went back to harvesting the wheat as Stewart and Mr. Keppler both left. The sun dipped below the horizon as he worked, and he didn't stop when he'd reached the end of the row, or the next. Working felt good, for some reason.

There was a crash, and then a scream. Jesse jumped, and then he ran towards the sound. As he ran, he prayed that the sounds didn't mean what he thought, but he was right.


Marsha had decided to show Timothy her room in the basement. Carrying Kish, she showed Timothy how her bed was tucked in amongst all the boxes, and then she showed him the neat little hidey spaces she'd made. Then there was a crash from upstairs, and Mrs. Keppler thinking, both Timothy and Marsha ran upstairs. At the top of the steps, Timothy froze. It was the dragon boy. He had found them.

Timothy may have been scared motionless -and so was Stewart, who had returned from getting apples- but you could not say the same thing for Marsha. Marsha had handed Kish to her mother, and then grabbed a frying pan. She raised it over her head. "What do you think you're doing here?" she asked the boy in the doorway.

He didn't bother to say anything. He grabbed Marsha by the front of her shirt and pushed her out of the way. "Hey!" Marsha yelled. She swung the frying pan, but the boy just pulled it out of her hand and threw it on the floor. "Hey! What do you want?" He looked at her. She was fighting to make him let go of her shirt, but it wasn't working.

Marsha and the boy made eye contact, and then she watched in amazement as he pointed at Timothy. Then he pushed her away and turned towards Timothy, who was too scared to scream. He stood, flat against the wall, as his hunter came closer.

"Don't you dare!" Jesse yelled. He hit the dragon kid with the hoe, a blow that should have shattered his collarbone. As it was, it merely seemed to make him angry. Timothy watched as Jesse fought the dragon boy, and he stood there, paralyzed, until Marsha tapped him on the arm. She pulled him around the edge of the fight, and soon Timothy was outside with the Kepplers.

"What," Marsha asked. "Is going on?" Timothy took a deep breath. "That kid is trying to kill me because my dad killed the Enderdragon. Jesse's my guardian angel. Sort of." Marsha looked at him funny, then she raised the frying pan, which she'd brought outside with her. "Marsha, what are you going to do?" Mrs. Keppler asked nervously.

Marsha smiled. "I am going to go in there and give that dragon a piece of my mind."


Jesse was losing. The dragon boy had taken the hoe, and was pressing it against Jesse's chest, squeezing him between the hoe's long handle and the wall. Jesse struggled to breathe as he tried to get away, but the boy was that much stronger than him.

"Hey!" there was a clang as Marsha hit him with the frying pan. The boy let go of the hoe, and Jesse took a grateful breath. Marsha hit the boy again, and when he turned around, Jesse grabbed him from behind. Jesse got him in a headlock, which he only knew how to do from watching wrestling on TV. Marsha bashed the boy in the face with the frying pan, which Jesse was willing to bet was not a standard wrestling move. She hit him again, and he teleported.

Jesse and Marsha ran outside, but the dragon boy was nowhere in sight. "Are- are you alright?" Timothy asked. Jesse didn't feel alright, but he nodded. Then he turned to Mr. and Mrs. Keppler. "I'm sorry. I don't know how he found us. We should go." he said.

He turned to Timothy, but Timothy said "We should tell them. We just wrecked their house, they deserve it." Jesse sighed and reluctantly answered; "The dragon boy is trying to kill Timothy as revenge for Steve killing the Enderdragon. I'm protecting Timothy."

Jesse paused, looking slightly guilty. "Tim… there's a bit I haven't told you, either. Don't know why." Timothy looked at him. Jesse shuffled his feet nervously. "My dad's Notch…" he said quietly.

"What?!" Marsha and Timothy said at once. Even Stewart looked surprised. Jesse flinched. "Yeah. But hey, if you can believe that Steve and the Enderdragon have both had kids, does this really take a lot of imagination?" he asked.


She walked through the forest, wondering where the dragon was. She'd long since lost sight of him, and she hoped that he hadn't made a move already. "No point in following you if I don't get to whup your ass at some point." she said, mostly to herself. There was a thump off to her right. She turned, looking between the trees, and received a shock. It was the kid. He'd teleported.

"Take that, you worthless piece of dragon!" she said. She jumped on him, pinning him to the ground, and her eyes glowed white as she kept him from teleporting. She hit him a couple times, then she sat back to look at him. "Should I kill you?" she asked.

Then she stood up, smiling. "Nah. I'm never going to get to hit you again if I kill you now." The dragon kid teleported, and she continued her walk, humming to herself.


"Are you absolutely sure you two want to come?" Jesse asked apprehensively. Both Marsha and Stewart nodded; Stewart hesitantly, Marsha enthusiastically. Jesse wasn't sure why they'd been allowed to come, but they were refusing to be left behind. He gave in. "Have it your way." he said.