Chapter 4:

The boys walked Greg inside, and led him to a couch. He looked around. The house was much bigger on the inside than on the outside. He sat in a living room with a couch, two rocking chairs and a fireplace. His eyes then brought him to the dining room, where they had a large round table next to a wooden staircase. It very much reminded him of pictures he saw in books of the early 1900's.

"I like your house," Greg said, admiring the different style of architecture. He didn't know how to phrase the question of whether they were from the 1920's, so he ended up saying, "Are you guys old?"

"Excuse me?" Said the mother. She wore what seemed to be some sort of bonnet and an apron. "No, no we're not old."

The two boys laughed again.

"Boys, this is not a laughing matter, you hear me?" They went quiet. "Listen, young man-"

"My name is Greg."

"Okay, Greg, this is extremely serious. I need to know how and why you're here." Now some more of the family was starting to file into the room. He soon realized how big of a family this was. There had to be at least nine of them.

"Wait, is that, Greg?" He sat up and looked around. The voice was so recognizable, yet there wasn't a bird in the house to be seen. Suddenly the girl, who looked about 15, ran up to Greg and hugged him, with tears streaming down her face.

"Greg, oh Greg! I can't believe it's you! I've missed you so much"

"Oh, um, I don't think I know you. Hmmm, you sound an awful lot like this bird I met last time I visited, her name was Beatrice. Do you happen to know her?"

"You dummy, I am her! Remember? The wings, and the scissors?"

Greg stared blankly, but then everything clicked like the last piece to a puzzle. He jumped up and hugged her back.

"Beatrice!"

After a long hug fest, and many weird stares from the family, Beatrice let go.

"Wait, where's Wirt?" She asked, looking around to try and see him.

"Oh, well this time he won't be coming, but I think that brother O' mine will join me sooner or later."

Beatrice's face went white, just as her mother's had.

"Greg, don't tell me that you… that you…"

"That you died?" Said the smallest girl of the bunch.

"Bella!" Everyone yelled.

"Don't worry, Bella. It's okay that I died, because everyone dies, and that's a rock fact!" Greg smiled, holding the rock that he (once again) stole from Mrs. Daniel's garden. The family's tension seemed to ease, and everyone started talking again.

"Well, Greg, do you have any place to stay?" The father asked him. He looked exactly like the boys, with red hair and freckles. He wore a green bowtie and had a curly red moustache.

"Nope!"

"You can't expect yourself to live in these woods alone!" Another girl said.

"Yeah! The Unknown has creatures that are, well, unknown!" Said another child. More chatter continued as they discussed what would become of Greg. After five long minutes of hushed chatter, Beatrice rose.

"You should… stay with us!" she shouted out. Immediately, all of the children started to nod their heads in agreement. The mother gave a sharp look at her husband.

"George, can we talk about this in the kitchen," She said in a stern voice. It reminded Greg of his own mother. He felt homesick.

Everyone stared off for a while, but Beatrice broke the silence once again.

"Well, since you're here for now, I'll introduce everyone," She pointed to an extremely tall boy, with a small beard starting to grow. "That's my older brother Billy, he's 17 and the oldest. Then there's Beth, she's 12. You've already met Bennett and Benjamin, they're 10. Bridget is 8, Blake is 6, Bella is 4 and Bo is 2," she breathed heavily, "Quite a mouthful."

"That's cool beans! My name is Greg, and I'm 6 and a little bit."

"A little bit?" Smiled Beth.

"Mm hmm!"

The children giggled and talked with Greg, who seemed to be getting along nicely with the bunch. Moments later, George and his wife walked back into the living room. They looked at Greg.

"Greg, we can't simply leave you in the forest forever. Lord knows what could happen to a small child like you," he sighed, "We're going to let you live with us. I'll set up an extra bed in the boys' room."

All of the children cheered. They hadn't had a guest in a very long time.

That day had been an action packed one for Greg. After the announcement of his permanent staying, he had gotten the full introduction of what was expected of him when he entered this family.

Chores were mandatory for everyone in the family, and they would start their day at 5:30 to get a head start. He was assigned the roles of fishing with Blake, who was nearly the exact same age as Greg. All of it was very new to him. He had never had to fish or hunt for his food, or get heat strictly from a fireplace or even dust furniture in general. However, Greg's determination never let him down, and he was sure to prove to his new family that he could do any task thrown his way.

Later that night, as Greg laid awake in his new cot surrounded by lots of snoring boys, he felt something. It was like a pain he had never felt before, coming from his chest, but this wasn't a normal type of pain. It was the pain of someone that had lost everything. Greg clutched his chest and rolled on his side, trying to ignore it. He clenched his teeth and squinted his eyes, trying to think of what could be causing this.

Greg wasn't too homesick, and in fact, didn't really feel that homesick at all. He had people that cared about him, even in the Unknown. But, as Greg was going through the possibilities, he thought of his brother. Wirt.

Greg sat up in his bed, panting. The pain he was feeling was from his brother. Greg only imagined what Wirt was feeling right now.

Even though Greg was much smaller and much less mature, he was always mentally stronger. He remembered the times when Wirt would just break down, whether it was because of school or family or Sara. Greg clutched his heart. He knew what he needed to do.

In his soft new socks, pants and tank top, Greg stepped out of the house into the cold, dark night. He shivered and closed the front door.

"Greg!" Beatrice whispered. Greg jumped, and turned around to see her sitting on a rocking chair, looking out into the night.

"Beatrice? Oh, tehehe, you scared me!"

"Greg, what are you doing out?"

"Hmm, looks to me that the question is what are you doing out?"

"Oh, me? I guess I just come out here to think. I've been doing it ever since you and Wirt came, now that I think of it."

Greg gave a blank stare, and said, "Well, you can think, and I'll be going."

"Greg."

All of a sudden, he started to tear up. "Beatrice, I promise I won't be gone for long, but Wirt needs me right now! He's hurting really bad!" Greg bawled. Beatrice looked at him with big, sorrowful eyes and nodded. She gave a small smile.

"Tell Wirt that I miss him," she whispered.

Greg nodded, and wiped the tears from his cheeks.

"Say hi to Jason Funderburker, or Benjamin Franklin, or George- gah, whatever the frogs name is."

Greg grinned, his classic, bright Greg grin. He turned and walked into the endless forest.

He was never told that this was possible. He never learned how to do anything like this. But, somehow, Greg knew exactly what needed to be done.

His feet carried through endless rows of trees and bushes and leaves, until he saw the clear opening where the river lay. He kneeled down on the riverbank, and looked up into the millions of bright stars.

I'm going to be brave, Greg thought. He smiled, closed his eyes, and with one deep breath he jumped into the river.