B"SD
Neither Assassin's Creed, nor Harry Potter belong to me.
Chapter Ten
Working quickly, the ensemble collapsed the two tents, and packed into the wagon. By packing most of the crates of luggage into Hermione's beaded bag, the wagon bed was marginally roomier. However, Leonardo had refused point-blank to allow Hermione to stuff his precious machine into the bag.
"Absolutely not," he had said, standing in front of the wooden and paper bat with his arms thrown out protectively. No matter how much reasoning, pleading or cajoling they tried, he wouldn't budge. "This machine may revolutionize the thoughts, lifestyle and very existence of humanity," he insisted. "I cannot, in good conscience allow it to be placed at such risk."
"You sound like Beccar," Shaun muttered, though quietly, so that the tiny engineer didn't hear what he said. "And we all know where her baby got us."
"I agree with Leo," Rebecca said, "Magic and Genius do not mix." Hermione opened her mouth indignantly, but Harry cut her off before she got started, rolling his eyes.
"Alright fine," He said, waving them towards the wagon "Just get moving, can you?" Hermione rounded on him, but he added, "Being a little cramped won't kill us. But staying here too long just might."
"Oh alright," Hermione huffed and clambered up onto the wagon.
It was still just after sunrise when they reached the road they had been following the previous day. Though just as boring and crowded, there was little complaining. At first, the entire group was still nervous about whoever was tailing them. Ezio drove the horses hard, his face tense beneath his white hood, as Leonardo navigated, occasionally checking the map the he had open on his knees. But the emptiness of the surrounding area-and the fact that no attack came, eventually calmed them all. By lunchtime they were traveling at a sedate pace, rocking along the stone road peacefully.
"I'm bored," Desmond observed, staring out at the landscape, which was beginning to all look the same.
"Don't care," Shaun groaned from his cramped position on the floor. There was silence, and then Desmond's voice came again.
"Wanna play a game?"
"No," Shaun shot back, before Desmond had even finished the sentence. Desmond frowned, looking out around him.
"I spy, with my little eye-"
"Shut Up!" Shaun snarled.
"-Something green." There was a pause, then Hermione spoke up.
"That tree?"
"Nope."
"That tree?"
"The grass?" Ron asked.
"Damn." Desmond said. "You're turn."
"I spy with my little eye something…." Ron searched around, drawing out the last word, "Blue."
"The sky?" Lucy asked, stretching as she sat up.
"No."
"This shirt?" Rebecca said, tugging one of Leonardo's vests out of one of the crates that they had forgotten to pack into Hermione's purse.
"No," Ron said, "I didn't see that, did I?"
"Um…that stream up there?" Hermione said, pointing far up on one of the mountains behind them.
"Nope."
There was a silence. "Okay, we give up. What was it?"
"Oh come on!" Ron said, staring around. "It's really good," he said enticingly. Nobody answered. "Fine," He said in exasperation. "It was my eyes."
"You cheater!" Rebecca bawled. "It has to be something you can see. You can't see your own eyes!" Ron looked surly.
"Fine," He said, "I'll just go again."
"No you won't!" Shaun snapped. "We're not playing this inane game." His tirade was interrupted by Ezio's voice drifting back from the driver's seat.
"I spy with my little eye-"
"Oh for the love of God!" Shaun yelled in frustration, throwing up him arms.
"-something silver."
"Um….the road?" Hermione said, looking down at the stones below them.
"Those are gray," Harry said, giving her a strange look.
"Is it money?" Rebecca asked.
"He has to be able to see it," Desmond said.
"Can I be the one to tell them when they're wrong, please?" Ezio snapped. "It is my turn."
"Fine," Desmond said. "Is it….that cloud?"
"Nope," the assassin said happily. "And it's not the other one either."
"Uh…" Rebecca looked around. "Is anyone wearing any jewelry?" They shook their heads. "What is it, Ezio?"
"It's this!" he said brandishing his left hand behind him. There, half-hidden beneath his sleeve glinted a wicked-looking blade.
"That's not fair!" Desmond whined. "How were we supposed to guess that if we can't even see it?"
"I could see it," the Italian shrugged. "Aren't those the rules?"
"Let's play something else," Desmond grumbled.
"You're just sore because you lost," Ezio gloated, just as Shaun broke in again.
"No, we are not playing something else. We are not playing anything. This is stupid and childish and we are stopping now." The rest of the group fell into silence. "Thank you."
There was a full five minutes of silence as the Italian countryside rolled past. Then, slowly at first, then with strengthening enthusiasm, Rebecca began to sing:
"Are we there yet, are we there yet…" She grinned.
"Don't touch me! Don't touch me!" Lucy exploded in giggles, catching Rebecca's eye.
"No!" Shaun glared at the two females, "ABSOLUTELY NOT!"
"Can we find a bathroom, can we find a bathroom?" Desmond played along, sending the Brit a vicious smirk.
"SHUT UP!" Shaun screamed in aggravation, "SHUT UP!"
"I'M HUNGRY! I'M HUNGRY!" Harry and Ron joined in, rolling with laughter.
"Everybody!" Rebecca gigged, spreading her arms. Laughing, the whole back seat of the wagon broke into chorus:
"ARE WE THERE YET, ARE WE THERE YET, DON'T TOUCH ME! DON'T TOUCH ME!"
"CAN WE FIND A BATHROOM, CAN WE FIND A BATHROOM, I'M HUNGRY! I'M HUNGRY!"
When the song was over everyone fell over, clutching their stomachs in hysteria.
"That was great!" Ezio wiped a tear from his eye, "Do you guys do this all the time?"
"Only on the really LONG car rides!" Rebecca grinned, elbowing the assassin in the ribs.
Shaun put his palms to his face and cried.
"Wait-" Lucy frowned, "if you're down here…who's DRIVING THE WAGON?"
"Oh, Leonardo," Ezio shrugged, disturbed by her worry.
"LEONARDO?" Lucy repeated, eyes widening, "He can't DRIVE!"
"Nonsense," Ezio snorted, "I'm sure he's perfectly capable of-"
WHUMP!
All the passengers of the back of the wagon were knocked out of their seats as the vehicle seemed to hit an abnormally large bump. The larger shock gave way to a stream of smaller bumps until Ezio called up to the inventor telling him to stop the wagon.
"What was that?" Desmond asked irritably.
"Don't know," Ezio grunted as he hopped out of the back. He kneeled down to inspect the bottom of the wagon.
"See anything?" Hermione asked worriedly.
A small 'oh' escaped the Italian Assassin.
"Ragazzi," he announced, "we are missing a wheel."
A chorus of groans and moans followed.
"You mean a wheel?" Ron grumbled, "You mean those little things that we use to get around?"
"Leonardo, what did you hit?" Lucy asked angrily.
"I…I think it was a small animal…" The inventor replied hesitantly.
"Well," Ezio sighed, climbing back up to the driver's seat. "San Gimignano should only be another hour or two on foot- we can tow the wagon there and get help."
"Tow?" Shaun repeated, jaw dropping in disbelief, "You mean, like tie ropes to the thing and pull it all the way there?"
"That is precisely what I mean, Amico." Ezio replied, unhitching the horses, "bouncing around on three wheels will only hurt the wagon more."
"Why don't we just leave the wagon here and one of us goes to San Gimignano?" Harry suggested.
"Not only would this involve us being separated," Leonardo pointed out, "but San Gimignaonians are notorious for being stubborn- they won't come all the way out here to deal with our wagon."
"Besides," Ezio said, "there's a good chance it'll be dark by then."
With no shortage of grumblings and complaints, the group filed out and proceeded onward, dragging the vehicle as quickly as they dared.
A/N: No Italian here either. No new Italian, anyway. I'm particularly proud of the I Spy game here. The "Are We There Yet?" song is to the tune of "Are You Sleeping?"
