Young Lincoln was very excited to go on the trip to Tanzania with his family, along with Luke and his friends. Deep down, he wished that Clyde was apart of it, for he was his best friend and a person he would come closest to a twin brother. Still, he didn't know if Clyde and his fathers could afford an expensive trip. Not to mention that it will add extra to the princes of the plane tickets. More people would equal extra cost in a group.
He wondered what it would be like if he was over at the East African country with his sisters, parents, and family members.
The safaris, the animals he will see when he is in one. Luke also mentioned a boat safari with rivers or trying to look for hippos or crocodiles in Lake Tanganyika or Victoria, and what the food would be like. Not only that, but he was thinking of what the other African countries would be like if he goes on more trips in the future.
Granted, the Rogue Lion, and his family were a rather... not-so-poor type of family, but it is not always about the money, it was about timing, and finding out the best times to visit these nations, and how many days everyone would be staying in a hotel.
Lincoln did not need to worry about that at the moment. No. The Tanzania voyage was still months away from now. Besides, everyone had plenty of time to get their shots or vaccinations for the diseases when they go over there, along with visas to enter. For now, he just decided to just wait untim the time was right, and he might suggest it to Clyde and his dads.
Still, he couldn't help but feel sorry for Ronnie Anne and her family for losing the bet. However, they alm did lose fair and square to the whole Pride, now they have to pay them for the trip. "Maybe I can ask Luke if he can get the Casagrandes to pay for Tanzania too." he said to himself while pausing his video game.
The doorbell suddenly rang and he answered it. It was his big brother, who gave him his usual smile. "Hey Lincoln. Listen, I have a favor I want to ask."
"What's that, Luke?"
"My cousin Artie is visiting here from Connecticut and I want him to meet you guys. My uncle Albert and aunt Beatrice are coming to visit the Inside Africa park, and Artid is just so excited. I want him to feel as comfortable and safe as possible."
"Cool. No problem. Where is he?"
Luke looked behind him, and there was a boy with a red shirt with short sleeves and some jeans as his pants. he had a few freckles on his face and he had hair the color of Rusty's. He looked extremely timid and hid behind Luke as Lincoln was looking at him.
"Did I scare him?"
"No no no, it's nothing like that. Artie's... just a little shy around meeting new people." he looked back st his cousin. "Come on, Artie. You'll have a good time with Lincoln."
"Um, okay." the boy said very quietly. he slowly peeped his head out and Lincoln had a small peek of him.
"Hey there, little buddy." Lincoln said softly to him, trying to be as gentle and tender to him as possible. Artie slowly got in front of him and he slowly shook Lincoln's hand, although he was a little week in doing so.
Luke smiled, knowing that Artie is making a new friend already. "Don't worry, you' a good time with Lincoln and his sisters."
"Wait, sisters?" Artie asked, "h-how many?"
"Hey Lincoln, can I borrow your toenail clippers? I need-" Lynn noticed the little boy and smiled. "Hey there, little buddy." she said to him.
Artie his behind Luke again and he was shaking a little. "It's okay Artie. Lynn's a nice girl. Well... mostly a nice girl."
"Oh. Feeling shy huh? I get it." Lynn realised it. "You'll like me. Hey, wanna watch a trick I've learned with a basketball?"
"Wait wait wait, Lynn!" Luke stopped her. "Wait, Artie is sensitive and I don't want you scaring him. This is Artie, my cousin from Connecticut."
"H-hi." Artie said quietly.
"Nice. Name's Lynn."
The other sisters came in the living room and noticed the boy. "Oh, hello there." Lori said.
"Don't hurt me!" Artie said, panicking when he saw the girls looking at him. All of them were confused.
"What did we do?" asked Lana
"You guys didn't do anything," Luke reassured. "This is my cousin Artie, and he is a very shy kid. So j want you to be gentle with him. I want him to meet you guys. It was just then, Charles for off the couch and walked up to Artie, sniffing his face and legs.
The poor boy was scared silly and he was beginning to cry.
"Uh-oh. It's alright, Artie." Luke gave his cousin a hug. "That dog's not mean. He is a nice doggy."
"Charles," Leni scolded. "What did you do to him?"
"He didn't do anything. As I have mentioned, he is just very shy around strangers."
It was just then the parents came in, hearing the crying and commotion. "What's going on here?" Rita asked, then she and Lynn Sr noticed the child Luke was with. As usual, Luke introduced the boy again and told the parents how timid he was.
"Well, nice to meet you, sweetie." Rita sweetly said.
"You see, Artie had been through a really... tough ride."
"What's wrong?" Lola asked. "Did something happen?"
"Yes." the Rogue Lion replied.
"But I don't want to talk about it." Poor Artie teared up, wiping his nose with his hand. "It makes me cry just thinking about it."
"Look, would you like anything?" Lynn Sr offered. "I have lemonade if you want some."
Artie didn't say anything at first, but he nodded his head, telling him he did want some lemonade.
"Perfect. I'll be right back.
"Artie, you need to use the bathroom?"
"Yeah. I do have to pee."
"Okay, I'll follow you upstairs and show you." after he was gone, the kids looked at one another with concern, and they feel great sympathy on the poor child. Whatever happened to him was very awful.
"I've seen any kids," Luna admitted, "but, wow."
"I know, right?" said Lori
"Timidity is common in a very young homo sapiens," Lisa reminded. "He provably jusy needs some new adjusting."
"I would like to know what happened." Lincoln said.
His sisters all agreed with him, but Lynn Sr came back with a glass of lemonade, and said: "just give him some time. And sometimes, it's best not to know some things in life. Ignorance is bliss."
Luke came down upstairs and waited for his cousin to be done with the bathroom. "You guys want to know why he is so shy and scared?"
I am getting curious." Lucy answered.
Luke sighed and stood in front of the whole Loud family before closing his eyes and clasping his hands. "Okay. Years ago... Artie was.. a victim to the Sandy Hook massacre." everyone gasped in horror hearing those words.
"Sandy Hook?" said Luan. "With the school kids?"
"Yes, Luan. The same event that played all over the news this year ago. You see, the scumbag shooter killed one of my cousin's friends. Ronan Spears was a one of a kind boy. They were best friends that would play in the sand box together until the teacher said it was time to go back to class. They were... inseparable like they were brothers."
Everyone in front of him had sad looks on their faces.
"But, when the shooter came, he just... opened fired and gunned down so many kids in a second. Artie survived, but Ronan... Ronan wasn't so lucky. Ever since it happened, Artie's been so depressed and more skittish lately."
"Aww, poor little guy." Luna said.
"That's horrible." Rits had her right hand on her chest, where her heart is. We are so sorry about that."
"It's not you guys' fault. That shooter is the one at fault here. The point is, Artie was scarred for life after that tragic day. He likes to isolate himself from other people at times and he cries from time to time. That day was very hard on him. That's why he's very sensitive about it, so it's best not to mention that thing to him." he looked upstairs worryingly. "I want him to be okay."
"Well, don't worry, Luke." said Luna.
"Yeah, we can help him out." Lana added. "What can we do with him?"
"Just play with him, and make him feel comfortable. No roughhousing, no violence, and no shouting or screaming at him."
"Don't worry, we'll be gentle." said Leni. "The poor thing is just so sad right now."
"He's been sad ever since that day happened, Leni." Luke remarked.
Artie got out of the bathroom and went back downstairs to drink some lemonade. "Artie, we won't hurt you. We're nice people." said Rita. "You'll have lots of fun here."
"Do you like video games?" Lincoln asked him.
"Yeah. I like those." Artie quietly admitted. "What games do you have?"
"Well, many. I'll show you."
"I'll leave Artie with you guys for a few hours. Keep an eye on him."
"Where are you going?" asked Lola.
"His parents are going to get some food for the hotel and they asked me to be in charge of him for a little while and suggested me and him bond together as a family. I'm going to go feed the animals at the Inside Africa place. See you guys soon."
They all smiled at Artie, who still looked a little nervous about meeting new faces.
"It's okay, Artie, don't worry." Luna said. "We'll have fun together."
"Okay." said the boy, William to try and warm up to these people.