Everything in the Forest-home was unusual, but something truly unusual marked Harry's eighth day with the twins: the routine was broken. He did not know what to make out of this. The twins seemed to be fond of routine, aside from teamwork, 'lounging-time' spent together, and discussions. Today they should have been starting their second week together, and Harry had been promised to train in a few skills that would make his survival more achieveable. But on 3:30 pre-dawn, he was woken up by a grim-faced Ariana and told to change and wait in the front porch.
Half an hour later Ariana arrived on the designated point, carrying a backpack over her shoulders and sans Ardila. By then Harry was feeling rather jittery, as he noticed how tense and alien the atmosphere felt, and how silent the nature was. Hedwig 'the chattery' did not even hoot a greeting to him this time!
The whole area was tied to Ardila, as she was its official owner, so something wrong must be happening to her. Ariana's lone appearance just proved the point. (He had never seen the twins separated except for bath-time and bed-time.)
"What's wrong?" he asked the morose girl. Ariana's distant and gloomsome attitude just clinched it. Unfortunately, she refused to answer.
"What ought we do now?" He tried a different tactic. This, she responded to, by patting the backpack and positioning herself unerringly on the start of their running track. Oh well. At least some things never changed.
He thought so, at first. But when they stopped by a freshet spring deep among the trees, Ardila's favourite, he had to amend the statement. Asking Ariana only resulted in a sad smile and a request to help her find a suitable spot to settle down. Harry began to think that she was channelling Ardila when, out of the blue, she said, "We have till 9 to ourselves, Harry. What do you want to know about us? Or anything in general, for that matter."
The twins had never been inclined to answer questions about their strange family…
And he did have one burning question that he thought was the most important. – "Why d'you always say you can't be seen by anyone, especially attached to my name?" – It had been eating at his mind since the first time he had heard it. Initially it had even made him feel hurt and disappointed. What secret did they hide that would terrify or excite people?
Ariana's ccountenance went wry. "Secrets, indeed," she said.
Then Harry remembered that she could involuntarily pick up his thoughts as if he shouted them, if he was not careful with his mind-shielding. "Sorry," he muttered, blushing. That skill was the first that the twins had taught him, since Ariana had claimed that his thoughts were quite loud and driven, distracting her. (He had found out later that her mind was quite sensitive to thoughts and feelings; perhaps a compensation for her blindness?)
Still, he needed some clarification. "What secrets?"