Professor Layton and the Rewritten Return –Part 7—
Hershel stepped out of the gondola, offering a hand to Clive. To his surprise, Clive ignored this gesture and brushed past, glancing down the line.
"It appears your wards have returned," he said.
"O-oh, yes, m'boy," Hershel replied, hastily adjusting his collar. "Hello again."
"Professor!" Luke shouted. "Professor! She made me go on all the princess rides! It was terrible! What took you so long?"
"That wasn't as bad as what you made me go on!" Flora cried. "I had to go on all those awful roller coasters! My ribbon nearly blew away! It's my favourite one, you know!"
"Don't wear your favourite ribbon to a theme park, then, Flora! You know it gets bumpy! This is why we never take you on any adventures," Luke scolded.
"You horrid little beast, I'll—"
Hershel expertly pulled Flora away from Luke before she could claw at his face. Clive grabbed the back of Luke's sweater and hoisted him back.
"Oi! Don't touch me!" Luke batted at Clive, but the angle was rather awkward and all he could do was flail helplessly. Clive grinned.
"Now, now, pipsqueak. Be nice to the ladies."
"Flora's crazy!"
"I'll let you in on a secret, shrimp. They're all crazy."
Luke wasn't quite sure what to think of this and stopped for a moment. Clive just chuckled. Luke may not have understood why, but he was sure that he was being laughed at.
"Stop that!"
"You can let go, Clive. I'd rather we didn't start a full scale war between the two," Hershel said with a smile.
"As you wish, professor." Clive released Luke and stepped back before the boy could kick him in the shins.
"Let me talk with the boy a moment. I'm sure we can get this all smoothed out."
"Indeed." Clive returned to Flora, who eyed him suspiciously. "What?"
"I don't know what you're doing, but I'm not sure I like it," she replied.
"What are you saying? I haven't the foggiest," Clive replied. "Oh, your ribbon-"
Flora had a moment of panic and slapped her hands to her ponytail. "You wretch! It's right here."
"No, I know. It's undone. Here, I'll fix—"
"Don't touch me!"
Clive frowned. "I know we've had our problems, but—"
"You kidnapped me!"
Clive shrugged. "Water under the bridge and all that."
"You weren't the one that kidnapped!"
"Well," Clive said with a sly smile, "you didn't put up much of a fight, now, did you?" He sidestepped her purse as it swung past.
"You…you…you…!" Flora growled, getting terribly red in the face. "Beast!"
"There's no sense in getting angry. Now, let me fix your ribbon. You don't want to lose it, right? I'll tie it so that it doesn't come undone as easily."
Flora was conflicted, but eventually relented. "Fine."
Clive undid the bow and straightened Flora's ponytail, then retied it, making sure to loop it once under the hair tie. "There. Now it should be more secure."
Flora mumbled something and hurried back to the professor. Clive smiled after her. As much as they all fought, he knew that they really were good kids. He was really beginning to truly enjoy his days spent with these people.
If only he had known them before. Perhaps things would have been different then.
