Chapter 13
The Visitor
In the woods, on the path that led to the mansion, with the basket of apples on arm, Dartz let out a low cackle. "Atem has gone back to his former home, the Egyptians and those two foolish boys will be away at work, and he'll be all alone" taking out the red apple from the basket, Dartz smirked at the poisoned fruit, "with a harmless old peddler man."
On a near-by tree, two man eaters grinned wickedly as they watched the disguised king walk by their tree, cackling. Turning toward each other, the man eaters smiled huge smiles as they sensed that someone is about to die as Dartz repeat, "A harmless old peddler man!" Then the giant insects buzzed quietly after Dartz.
At the mansion, in the kitchen, Yugi is preparing the dough for hazelnut cookies, a favorite to the Egyptians with his spirit friends helping. As he made the dough pyramid shaped to bring a little bit of the memories of their former home to them, Yugi sang to himself and his spirit friends.
Some day my prince will come
Some day we'll meet again
And away to his castle we'll go
To be happy forever I know
With the dough of each of the cookies in the perfect pyramid shape and placing them on a round cooking stone, Yugi continued to sing as he place the stone inside the oven.
Some day when spring is here
We'll find our love anew
And the birds will sing
And wedding bells will ring
Some day when my dreams
Come true
With the heat on, Yugi and the spirits suddenly felt a shadow appear from the open window, making Yugi jump at the sudden appearance of an elderly man with a almost toothless smile across his face. After letting out a low sinister chuckle, the old man said, "All alone, my pet?"
Looking away from the gaze of the old man, Yugi answered, "Why, why yes I am. But…"
Glancing around the kitchen as if looking for something, the old man said again, "The…the Egyptians are not here?"
Noticing that the old man has known about the Egyptians living here, Yugi reply again, "No, they're not, neither are my friends. But…"
Sniffing the air, the old man said with a gentle tone, "Are you baking something?"
Smiling back at him, Yugi said, "Yes, hazelnut cookies. It's the Egyptians' favorite."
"I hear that sometimes the Egyptians would have a piece of apple with the cookies to add a bit of fruity sweetness. Apples like this one." Taking out the red apple at the top from his basket, he offered the red fruit to the young Prince.
Peering from around corners of the mansion and from their hiding spots in the trees, the spirits watch with suspicion at the old man.
His mouth watering slightly, Yugi said, "They do look delectable."
"Yes! But wait until you taste one, dear boy."
Looking up high of the tree, the small spirits saw two man eaters sitting on a higher branch. Sensing that the old man really is Dartz in disguise, the spirits mumbled to themselves confirming that it is the king that they loath and know who is after the young Prince's life. "Like to try one?" Offering the apple closer to him, the old man said with a smile, "Go on, go on and have a bite."
As Yugi slowly reached for the apple, the spirits sensed that the apple could be poisoned! Not wanting the prince to even touch the fruit, the spirits hiding in the trees flew down to the old man and attacked him, making him drop the apple.
To see his spirit friends attack the man, Yugi ran out of the mansion and shooed the spirits away from him. "Shame on all of you, frightening the poor old man."
Then the spirits gasped when they saw the old man pick up the apple and clean the dirt off of it. Reaching his hands and placing them gently on his shoulders, Yugi said with a gentle voice, "There there, on behalf of my friends' behavior, I'm sorry."
Pulling a quick smirk, Dartz pulled off a small act, "Oh, my heart! Oh my… my poor heart." Gesturing toward the mansion, Dartz continued his act, "Take me inside and let me rest. A drink of water, please." and Yugi kindly led him inside, shutting the door behind them.
The spirits rushing from the trees and the side of the mansion to the window that showed inside the kitchen, Yugi had just helped the disguised Dartz into a stool and quickly went to get him water. With his back turned on him, Dartz smirked at the prince. Looking at the apple, Dartz's smirk became wider as he thought of how close he is to poison the young Prince.