It's a bit late, I should have finished this chapter on Thursday but it took a lot longer time to write this than I first thought o.O... Anyway, the summer is almost here for me and that means CAMPING TRIPS :'D! MAN have I missed those! But of course, I'll also have more time for writing too ;)
But camping... Man, that's what I live for x)!
*** Chapter Eight : Welcome To The Family! ***
"Hey! Wake up, little guy!" Ellie said as she happily skipped up the narrow, rickety staircase leading up to the attic. It was early in the morning, and Ellie had been given the mission to show the newcomer around. But to her surprise, he wasn't sleeping in the old, dusty bed in the corner of the attic when she reached the end of the stair. "Little guy?" She said and sneaked around, not seeing any signs of the little cub. "Ya don't have to be scared anymore, kid! We're a family 'ere, an' I bet ev'ryone has heard 'boutcha by an' are dyin' to meetcha!"
A faint rustling sound was heard underneath the bed and when Ellie bent down to look, she met the large, crimson eyes of Kiddo. She grinned, accidentally scaring him to crawl back further underneath the bed. She did a mental facepalm and a note to herself to not grin like a hungry wolf at the cub again. After a lot of persuasion and friendly words, she managed to convince the cub to come out, and follow her outside.
The slaves little 'village' looked a lot more cheerful in the daylight, even if the houses still looked close to condemned. Everyone they met all wore shaggy looking and worn out clothes, but they still happily greeted Ellie and Kiddo when they passed. Kiddo tried to hide behind Ellie when a full grown lion male walked past and nodded a short greeting to the two young hyenas.
She couldn't help but to laugh at the cub and step to the side. "Really? You're even scared of Church? Ya really are afraid of ev'rythin', ain'tcha?"
He really didn't understand much of what she said when she blabbered on and on about what would be his new home, but after a while he noticed that he wasn't as scared of her anymore and listened curiously to what she said. Not that many had the time to stick around and chat with the youngsters, but when they passed the washhouse, Kiddo suddenly noticed the cheetah female from yesterday, talking with two elderly meerkats by a big tub of water. He stopped, which made Ellie stop as well and when she noticed the cheetah her face beamed up in a new wide grin as she grabbed Kiddos hand and dragged him with her.
"Lucy!" She exclaimed happily and ran up to the cheetah and let go of Kiddos hand so she could hug her. "I thought they sold you off!"
The cheetah jumped in surprise before rolling her eyes and give the hyena a short hug back. "Well, they didn't, and this is the second time t'day I get randomly hugged by a little girl. Except that the first girl took the opportunity to steal my keys and hide 'em in the garden to punish me for bathing her against her will yesterday!"
Ellie pulled away and giggled. "Cornelia, huh? She's growin' up to be quite the troublemaker, is she?"
"Troublemaker? Hah!" Lucy snorted and folded her arms across her chest. "Try demonspawn!" Suddenly she spotted Kiddo standing a few steps behind them and nervously fumbled with his hands. "Hey, I know you! Didn't I see ya on the wagon yesterday?" Kiddo jumped when the cheetah suddenly spoke to him and looked at Ellie with a nervous and questioning look.
"Yeah, I saw him too yesterday" One of the meerkats agreed and looked curiously at the the cub, who began to feel uncomfortable with everyone suddenly staring at him like that.
Ellie nodded. "Mhm! He's new here! He arrived yesterday with Chuck!" Ellie nodded. "He doesn't speak English, however. And so far he's been terrified of ev'rythin' and ev'ryone we met!"
"Has he got a name, or should we just call him 'Hey, you!'?"
Ellie shrugged. "I dunno? He hasn't been able to tell us his name yet"
"Have you asked him?"
"Huh? Naah, not really actually..."
"See? How can he then know that ya wanna know his name, huh?" Lucy rolled her eyes a second time, this time with a low chuckle, and walked up to the cub. She kneeled down so she got in roughly about the same height as him. Kiddo tilted his head skeptically and took a careful step back, ready to run if the cheetah was going to do something bad to him. "So, hey there lil' guy!" She said, not sounding all that threatening actually. "Sorry if I startled ya, I work with the family in that big, pompous house" She pointed with her thumb at the huge wooden wall dividing them from the the Aventines residence. "So don't worry; ya won't have to see me that often. Only when I'm pickin' up an' leaving the laundry. I'm Lucy, by the way. Ya don't happen to have a name?" When Kiddo just gave her a confused stare and tilted his head to the other side, she pointed at herself. "Lu-cy" She said as clear as she could and then pointed at him.
Kiddo nodded when he realized that she was asking for his name and he opened hos mouth to answer her, but didn't say anything. He slowly closed his mouth again and earned a confused look from the others.
His name. He still couldn't remember his name. Everyone on the ship had called him Kiddo, but he knew that wasn't his real name. His face scrunched up as he tried to remember what it was and Lucy sighed and stood up from the ground. She was about to turn back to the laundry when Kiddo opened his mouth again. "Gone!"
She turned back to the cub with a raised eyebrow. "Huh?"
"Is gone!"
"Did he just say that his name is Gone, or that his name is gone, as in like, English, lost?" Ellie tilted her head and blinked in confusion.
Lucy shrugged, bent down again and pointed once more at herself, repeated her name, then pointed at Kiddo and asked: "Gone?"
Kiddo shook his head so his overdimensioned ears flapped. "Gone! Wamekwenda!" He threw his little arms out. "Gone!"
"I think he's lost his name?" Lucy sighed and stood up once again. "Poor lil' guy... I don't think he remembers his own name..."
Ellie frowned and folded her arms. "How can ya forget yer own name?"
"Amnesia perhaps?" The same meerkat that spoke before suggested, and earned a agreeing nod from the other meerkat.
"Yeah! I heard that a hard hit to the head can get ya to forget things!"
"Or somethin' real' bad an' traumatizin'..." The cheetah frowned sadly and shook his head. "He's straight outta the wild right?"
Ellie nodded. "Chuck told me he came with Tip just three days ago!"
"As I said; poor lil' guy... He's gotta been through some real shit b'fore he came here..." Lucy shook her head again and turned to the finished laundry, which had been strung up on a line to dry in the sun. "I think I should head back with this now, before they start to wonder why Miss Cornelia is all by herself..."
"An' we should continue! I'm showin' this lil' guy 'round t'day, since they want him to start workin' t'morrow!" Ellie stretched out her hand to ruffle the hair on Kiddos head, but he was frightened by the sudden motion from the spotted hyena and yanked his head away. Ellie shrugged. "But granny Ama thinks that's way too early for him. She's probably negotiating with Mr Aventine now an' tryin'a get him to give him a few extra days!"
"Oh, so THAT'S where she was going!" One of the meerkats said with a chuckle.
"Did ya see her leave?" The other one asked the first and frowned. "I didn't see anything!"
"Yeah, I saw her alright! Marchin' straight off to the residence with the wooden spoon in hand! Boy, Mr Aventine probably ain't even had his first cup o' coffee yet 'til Ama showed up and began wavin' the spoon 'round!" She chuckled. "That would'a been a sight for sore eyes!"
"Actually, I thought I heard her when I left to leave the laundry" Lucy piped in with an amused smile. "She sure didn't sound happy!"
…
Ellie and Kiddo continued for a while, but already by the stable they came to a short stop when a striped hyena, probably just above his twenties, come out from the stable. He didn't notice the two young hyenas, luckily, or else he would probably have had a heart attack from the look Ellie got when she saw him. She was trying to question Kiddo about his knowledge in English, but as soon as she spotted the Striped One exit the large stable with an empty bucket in his hand, her face cracked up in a huge, blushing smile and before Kiddo had registered what happened, she bolted. The Striped One just turned around and barely had the time to scream in fear before the younger hyena had thrown herself at him and wrapped her arms around his waist, knocking him out of balance and sending him sprawling to the ground. He lost the grip on the bucket, who fell out of his grip and rolled away.
"E-Ellie?!" The striped hyena exclaimed in fear and stared at the young female, who still had her arms wrapped around him and hugged him tight. "Ellie, w-what...?"
"I missed ya yesterday, Toby!" She said and nudged her face into his shirt. "Lasher ain't been too mean to ya now, has he?"
"W-what? L-Lasher? N-no, he ain't! Ellie, git offa me!" Toby, the Striped One, blushed and tried to pry the huggish girl away from him so he could get up on his feet again. "I-I got work to do! Or Lasher WILL be mean to me!"
She tightened her grip around him further and gave him a sly smile. "Say the magical word!"
Toby sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine, DEAR Ellie could ya be so unearthly kind to please r'move yer arms from my torso b'fore I suffocate?"
"That'll do!" She nodded and let him, he immediately stood up and began to search for the bucket. "What're ya doin' 'ere in the stable anyway?"
"Huh? Oh, G-Gabby got sick last night" He said and picked up the bucket and made sure it hadn't gotten damaged. "Chuck a-an' Finn told me they would n-need my help t'day, s-since Gabby gits unruly when she has to b-be separated from Ecarg, a-and it's bad enough that they've been away from each other since last w-week!"
Ellie giggled and turned to the by now severely confused, Kiddo. "Gabby an' Ecarg are the two javelinas. We named 'em after our masters, Mr Gabriel an' Mrs Grace Aventine. Luckily, they haven't noticed!"
"Yet!" The striped hyena added with a mutter, causing the spotted female to roll her eyes.
"Why do ya always have to be so paranoid, Toby? It's not like they'll kill us for it!"
"T-they might! Y-ya never know with these people! I mean, y-you've heard what the Jaspers do to their slaves when they're unruly, right?" Toby paused and shuddered by the thought. "Electricity! Zap!"
"Yeah, yeah. But the Aventines ain't like the Jaspers, they'll just let Lasher do his job, an' all he got to work with is the whip!"
Toby snorted sarcastically. "Yeah, 'just the whip', woho! Lucky us!"
Ellie frowned. "Why do ya always have to be such a pessimist, Toby? You're makin' a hen out of a feather! Besides, basically the only one of us Lasher whips anymore is Finn..." She stopped and looked at the stables. "Speakin' of which, Finn is still in there, ain't he?"
"Yeah" Toby nodded. "B-but ya shouldn't go to him right now, him an' Chuck a-are tryin' to hold Gabby calm while I go an' fetch..." His voice trailed off as he realized he was supposed to fetch some water. "Oh great!" He winced and dashed towards the well further away.
Kiddo watched the striped hyena run with the metal bucked in his hand. "That's Toberon, but we all call him Toby" Ellie said, causing Kiddo to jumpin surprise and turned his head to her. "He's a bit skittish, stutters an' just like ya he's afraid of his own shadow, but I think he's really cute!" She added with a giggle and began to continue walking. "We're gonna git married one day! I just know it!"
Kiddo frowned and had to sprint to catch up with the young spotted female. Married?
They had been walking for a while, and she had showed him pretty much everything in the slaves quarters, but didn't dare to take him further out into the fields in case they would run into Lasher. Her shift at the cotton 'gin was about to start, and she was on her way to leave the cub back to granny when he suddenly stopped. She stopped as well and was about to ask him what was wrong when she saw that he was staring at the fence. A tall wooden wall, whose thick, sun-bleached boards isolated them from the Aventines garden, only the roof of their giant, white villa and the tops of the lush trees peeked up above the fence. On the slaves side, thick, thorny bushes grew.
"That's the wall" Ellie explained and Kiddo curiously turned his head to hear. "Behind that wall lives the Aventines, our masters."
"Lucy?"
"Yeah, her too! Lucy is one of those who lives an' work in the house. But she's still just a slave, just like the rest of us" She paused and looked around before she spoke again, this time in a lower voice. "I ain't sure what I think 'bout the Aventines. I mean, I guess they're good masters, they don't let us starve an' if we work hard an' well we might git some time off, but... But sometimes Mr Aventine is very cruel an' forces us to work even harder, an' they let their overseers do whatever they want with us! They seem to think it's fun to torture us! Finn, my brother, has been whipped more times than anyone 'ere! They call him disobedient an' a rebel, but he ain't! He's just braver than the rest of us, an' is the only one who dares to say no to the overseers, but they call it talkin' back an' that gives ten lashes from the one called Lasher. Lasher is the worst..." She shuddered and corrected the shoulderpiece on her oversized dress, which had slipped down slightly. "He's always lookin' for excuses to give us a hard time, an' I just know he hates me an' wanna hurt me! He hasn't whipped me yet, though. Finn won't allow it, an' always takes my place. Finn has always stood up for me against Lasher, but I guess that's what brothers are for, huh? I don't know what I would do without 'im..."
Kiddo noticed the sad tone in her voice and when Ellies shoulders slouched, he knew that whatever she was talking about made her sad for some reason. He hesitated before sneaking up to her and put a hand on her and smiled carefully. She replied by throwing both of her arms around him and pull him close in a hug. Kiddos eyes widened in momentary fear and his body stiffened, but then he allowed himself to relax and returned the hug.
"An' don'tcha worry, little one! I'll be yer big sister from now on, an' I won't let Lasher mess with ya either!" She said with a reassuring smile, but then she froze in fright and backed away, staring blankly at something behind Kiddo. "When speakin' of the devil..." She whispered almost inaudibly and gulped.
He turned around, afraid of what he would find, and saw a heavy built wolverine standing with his powerful arms folded across his chest. At first, Kiddo was reminded about Juno, who also had been a wolverine and wasn't too scared at first. But then he noticed the mean leer on this mans face, and Ellies badly concealed fear and realized that this wolverine maybe wasn't friendly like Juno. He had a threatening snarl on his face, revealing a whole lot of sharp teeth, the long, shabby fur seemed dusty and his shirt had a suspicious big, red stain on the chest, and the long whip he wore rolled up on his belt didn't do much to improve the image either.
"G-g'mornin', mister Lasher, sir..." Ellie carefully took a step back and fumbled after Kiddos hand. Her fear rubbed off on him and made him stagger back as well and hugged Ellies arm.
He bit his lip and stared wide-eyed at the wolverine. Lasher?!
"Mornin'?" Lasher growled and raised an eyebrow. "Ya still think it's mornin'? It's past noon already an' why ain'tcha workin'? If I r'member correctly, aren't ya s'posed to be workin' the first shift by th'Gin, eh?"
"Y-yes, sir. B-but granny Ama said I could take the mornin' off to show the new kid 'round." She hurried to answer and avoided eye-contact with the threatening overseer. "I-I was just 'bout to leave him with granny an' go to my shift. I-I'll work longer to make up for it! I swear!"
Lasher stopped snarling and straightened up, his bloodshot hazel eyes narrowed and an evil smirk appeared faintly at the corner of his mouth. "So, Ama told ya to take the mornin' off?"
"Y-yes, sir!"
"Too bad Ama ain't in charge 'round 'ere then! WE are!" The snarl returned and he loomed over the two, frightened cubs. "Ya should know by now that we don't tolerate any slackin' off! Not on this 'ere plantation, we don't!"
"I-I wasn't slackin' off, sir! I promise! I was just showin' this guy...!"
"An' who's this kid?!" Lasher suddenly turned to Kiddo, his eyes made Kiddo whimper and hide his face into Ellies arm. He really didn't like this guy! "How come I ain't seen him b'fore?!"
"B'cause he arrived yesterday, sir" Ellie placed a protective arm around the little cub. "Please, sir, you're scarin' him! W-we'll leave a-an' I'll go back to work, just stop scarin' him!"
"That's good! He needs to know who to respect! Unlike you an' that brother o' yers!"
Toby was on his way to the well for a second time, Gabby was drinking water like a sponge, when he saw the well known overseer walk up to the two cubs and shout at them for some reason. He came to a complete stop, stiffly turned around and walked as fast as he could back into the stables. The wild dog and another spotted hyena, about the same age as Toby himself, was leaning against the javelina sows pen and tried to figure out what was wrong when Toby marched up to them, obviously nervous about something.
"Back already, Toby?" Chuck raised an eyebrow. "Where's the water?"
"Huh? Oh, uh, t-the water..." The striped hyena looked down at the bucket before turning his head back at the two men. "C-can it wait? Finn, y-yer sister... I-I think she might be in trouble..."
The spotted hyenas ears perked and a frown appeared on his face. "Ellie? What's she done now?"
"I-I dunno!" Toby shrugged. "I-I saw Lasher walk up to her a-an' that new kid a-an' he seems royally pissed 'bout somethin'! I don't t-think she's done anythin' wrong though, i-it's just that Lasher is bein'... Well, Lasher!"
He had barely finished the sentence before Finn cursed something low to himself and brushed past the other hyena, marching straight out of the stables and didn't have to search long before he saw the wolverine harassing the two youngsters.
"I just think it's all VERY fishy" Lasher snarled lowly. "If the boss would've gotten a newcomer to the plantation, I'd be the first one to know! Then, how come I wasn't aware of him 'til now?"
"It ain't our fault that Mr Aventine failed to inform his overseers 'bout the new guy!" Finns sudden voice made Lasher twitch in annoyance and Ellie drew a deep sigh of relief. Kiddo carefully looked up from Ellies arm just as her brother walked up to them and placed himself protectively between them and the overseer. "We all know 'bout him by now, are ya sure ya ain't even heard 'bout it 'til now, sir?"
Kiddos grip around the female Spotted Ones arm tightened as he watched the new hyena. Not only was he a kinda creepy looking Spotted One, but he also reminded Kiddo of someone. Someone very bad. In fact, Finn looked a lot like a younger version of the Spotted One called Wasaki. And Wasaki had been the one who had tried to stop his father, and mocked him when he was weak. He immediately decided to not like this guy, even if he was Ellies brother!
"If I had known there was a new lil' pest 'ere, I wouldn't ask 'bout 'im now, would I?"
"Of course not, sir. But I hope ya don't mind me askin', whaddya want with Ellie? What's she done now?"
"She's s'posed to be down by th'Gin, but instead I find 'er slackin' off an' waltzing 'round with this so called 'new kid'." Lasher narrowed his eyes and bared his fangs at the slightly taller hyena. "An' ya know how much I hate it when ya lazy bastards frolic like we ain't got the slightest worry in the world"
"I-I weren't slackin' 'round, Finn!" Ellie protested and grabbed her brothers hand with her free one. "G-granny Ama told me to take the mornin' off an' show 'im 'round on the farm! I was jus' headin' back to grannys cottage to drop 'im off b'fore I go to my shift! I swear!"
Finn watched his sisters troubled face for a while, before squeezing her hand in a comforting gesture and turned back to the overseer. "Look, sir, I know that none of us have time for this; the sow is sick an' Chuck needs both me an' Toby in there, an' I know you're a very busy man so I've got a suggestion; if Ellie heads straight to the 'Gin now, you'll leave 'er alone, okay? An' if it would make ya feel better, go ahead an' give me a couple of lashes. Just don't punish 'er for it, she was just followin' granny Amas orders!"
"But that ol' hag ain't the one givin' th'orders here, hyena!" He let his eyes sweep over the three hyenas before snorting and unfold his arms and let them rest along his sides. "I'll let this one time slip, but only b'cause I'm in a good mood t'day! If I catch 'er outside 'er work one more time, not even the crazy lizard lady with the wooden spoon will be able to save 'er from my whip, is that understood, hyena?"
"We understand, sir. An' thank you, sir!" Finn said with a monotone voice and watched as the wolverine gave his sister one last snarl before turning his back to them and walk away. As soon as he vanished out of sight, Ellie let go of her brothers hand and let out another sigh of relief. Finn looked down at her and allowed himself to drop the hard look on his face. "Are ya okay, sis?"
Ellie nodded. "Yeah, but I think he might've scared the kid for at least five weeks ahead!" She added with an unconvincing chuckle and looked down at the cub, who was still hugging her arm and watched Finn with a wary expression underneath the thick, messy, dark brown bangs.. "It's okay, lil' guy! Finn is my brother, he's one of us!"
When Finn chuckled and kneeled down to the same height, Kiddo flattened his big ears to his neck and hid behind Ellie, still glaring at the older spotted hyena. "Lasher gave ya quite a fright there, didn't he? It's okay, he might be the biggest an' meanest man ever to work as an overseer, but he's just doin' his work." Finn paused and grimaced. "Although, I really wish he'd stop shoutin' so much, we can hear him perfectly fine anyway..." Kiddo didn't take his eyes off the older Spotted One for a second, but Finn ignored his wary stare and instead tried to smile reassuringly at the cub. "So, what's yer name, kid?"
"He don't know" Ellie answered when Kiddo didn't.
"He don't know?" Finn repeated and looked up at his sister with a puzzled look on his face.
Ellie shook her head. "We thought he didn't know any English either, but when Lucy asked for his name he answered that is was gone, so I bet he knows more than we think." She scratched the back of her head with her free hand. "They said somethin' 'bout possible amnesia, he might've forgotten his name durin' the trip here or somethin'..."
Finn nodded and turned back to the cub. "Don'tcha worry 'bout that, kid! You'll learn, we'll teach ya! An' maybe yer name returns after a while, who knows?" With that, Finn got back on his feet and nodded towards the stable. "I gotta go back now, ya leave the kid an' head straight for the 'Gin now, y'hear? Don't get yerself into more trouble, sis!"
Ellie nodded. "Yeah, I will!" When Finn was about to turn back and leave, Ellie writhed her arm loose from Kiddos grip and ran up to her brother. She threw her arms around his waist, making him stop dead in his tracks. "An' thank you! Thanks a lot, Finn!"
Finn chuckled and gave his sister a short hug back. "Anytime, sis!"
…
Three months passed slowly. Kiddo proved to be a fast learner when it came to switching languages and was soon almost fully able to be having a conversation with. Almost.
He got along pretty well with the other slaves, especially with the other hyenas and when it came to Finn, he was starting to change his mind about the Spotted One. Finn maybe was the spitting image of Wasaki, but he wasn't like the old hunter at all; Finn was nice, funny and whenever one of the overseers was picking on another slave, if he could, he would instantly came to the rescue.
Granny Ama had been the caretaker of everyone who had grown up on the plantation, especially the hyenas who were all nicknamed 'Amas Hyenas'. Even if everyone was close like a family, it was the hyenas, Ama and Chuck who stuck together the most, and Kiddo could proudly count himself as one of them.
But even if everyone seemed content and happy in the slaves little 'village', Kiddo soon learned that there were another side of the plantation. A much harsher reality; when working on the fields, which took up the biggest part of the Aventine Farm, life instantly became much harder. They worked from early mornings to late nights, breaks were scarce and if you didn't work hard enough, the overseers were obligated to use whatever methods they seemed fit to get you going again.
And the still furious Great Mothers blazing heat wasn't making things easier, and sometimes someone would faint due to the hard work in the afternoon heat. But a splash of cold water from one of the overseers and then it was back to work for the poor guy.
Kiddos main duty was to help on the fields, both planting and reaping, every day from dusk to dawn it was always the same thing. His hands hurt even after the first day, and a week later Ama had to help him holding the fork when he ate. Furious over that the cub easily took damage from the hard work on the fields, she managed to haggle with Mr Aventine and agreed on letting the cub get the Sundays off until he was ten years old.
And Kiddo spent the Sundays doing the same thing: hide from the others in the thorny bushes that grew along the high fences between the Aventines residence and the slaves quarters. He had noticed that if you got past the thorns and the thick leaves, there was like a tunnel of vegetation right by the boards that stretched all the way through. It was big enough for him to be able to stand up straight in, and that's where he hid from the outside world. There in the shade, sitting with his back against the wall, he sometimes spent the entire day just thinking and trying to remember his name and his family, or exploring the tunnel.
And one day when he was creeping along the wall, completely hidden by the thick bushes, which also seemed to block out sounds very well, he noticed something interesting with one of the thick, wooden boards: it was loose and could be moved to the side! He didn't dare to do more than to just peek through the hole, only to discover that the other side also was completely covered with thick, light green bushes. A couple of days later he also noticed tracks leading to and from the loose board, which only seemed a few hours old and already the next Sunday he met the one responsible for the tracks.
It was morning, everyone had already left for their work, and Kiddo sneaked out to the bushes as usual. He hadn't gotten much sleep lately because of the strange nightmares that suddenly returned every night, and the hard work was killing him, so he had decided to try to catch up on sleep. But just as he curled up on the ground with his back to the wall, he heard a scratching sound coming from the other side. It took him a couple of seconds to register the sound and realize there was actually someone trying to open the loose board.
Without hesitation, he quickly dove back into the bushes and hid in the thick, and thorny, vegetation, just as the board was shuffled out of place and a young mountain lion girl, about his age, peeked in. Her red hair stood out against the pale green and brown surroundings, and she looked both ways before crawling through the wall and put the board back in place. Kiddo suddenly recognized her: it was the same girl he had seen the same day he arrived; Mr Aventines daughter! He shuffled uneasily, accidentally causing the leaves to rustle and the girl quickly snapped around. Her sea green eyes narrowed suspiciously when she peered around the area, but when she didn't notice anyone nearby she shrugged and continued to walk slouched over along the wall. Kiddo couldn't stop himself from curiously following her. He had to use every single trick he had learned from his father to sneak after her and not make a single sound, even if the dry leaves were hard to not shuffle and the thorns scratched at his face and arms.
Suddenly the girl came to a stop and dropped to her knees. He curiously leaned against a thin branch to get a clearer look through the leaves. He watched as she quickly dug a hole in the ground, pulled out a ring with keys from a pocket in front of her green dress and dropped it into the hole before sealing it up with dirt again.
"Hah! Try to find it now, Lucy!" She said mockingly and reached out tongue out at the buried keys.
Suddenly, the thin branch Kiddo had been leaning his hand against snapped, almost sending him crashing out from the bushes. The noise made the girl instantly spun around, Kiddo barely managed to stay undetected.
"I HEARD YOU!" She growled loudly, making Kiddo nervous for a while that someone would hear her. "Show yourself, coward! Or I'm gonna find ya! I ain't afraid of ya!" She balled her tiny fists and held them up in front of her face. "Who are ya, an' why're ya spyin' on me, creep!" Kiddo hesitated and didn't answer. "Jus' get outta there an' fight like a man! I can hear ya, y'know!"
Kidd bit his lip before he nervously crawled out from the bushes and stood up, brushing the dirt off his clothes. She tilted her head and slowly lowered her hands when she noticed he was just a kid like her. He awkwardly fumbled with his hands as they both silently watched each other, and he noticed that she was slightly taller than him and had to hunch over slightly in the tunnel. Suddenly she snarled and raised her hands again, causing Kiddo flinch.
"Who are ya, buster?! An' what're ya doin' 'ere?!" She bared her small, yet sharp, fangs at him.
"I... I dunno... I just..."
"Why were ya spyin' on me?!"
"I-I wasn't spyin' on ya, Miss! I... Followed ya"
The girl stopped snarling and tilted her head. "Yeah, an' that changes a lot!" She snorted sarcastically and lowered her hands and placed them on her hips. "Whaddya think you're doin' 'ere? No one's s'posed to be 'ere! This is my place!"
"I'm sorry, Miss. I was just...!"
"An' stop callin' me Miss! I hate it, it ain't even my name!"
Kiddo slowly looked up at the girl. "What's yer name then, Miss?"
"Cornelia, AND ENOUGH WITH THAT MISS!"
"I-I'm sorry, Mi.. Um, Cornelia!"
"That's better!" Cornelia said with a snort and folded her arms. "What's yer name then?"
"Uh, my name?"
"No, the name of the President, of course YER name!"
"I... I don't..."
Cornelia slowly raised an eyebrow. "Ya guys don't even have names?"
"Yes! Yes I do! I just..." Kiddo looked away and scratched his neck. "I... I just can't remember it..."
"... How do ya even manage to forget yer own name, moron?" She gave him a bemused look, but before he could answer she waved him off with her hand. "Never mind, don't answer! Anyway, we gotta have a name for ya..." She leaned her weight on one foot and rubbed her chin as she studied the hyena cub from head to toe. "Ya kinda look like my teacher, Mr Bentler..." Kiddo gave her a confused look. "But he ain't one of ya hyena guys, he's just a dog." She snapped her fingers, causing Kiddo to jump in a startled fashion once again. "I know! Bentley!"
"What?"
"Now when I think 'bout it, Bentley seem to suit ya!"
"B-but I already...!"
"Then it's settled! From now on we'll just call ya Bentley, at least 'til ya remember yer old name, capische?"
"Huh?"
"COORNELIAAA!" Suddenly a mans voice was heard from the other side of the fence, now it was Cornelias turn to flinch.
She slowly shook her head and groaned. "Oh, man! That was my dad!" The cub nodded, he had recognized the voice as Mr Aventines heavy, dark voice. "Do ya have any idea how much trouble I'll be in if he would know I've talked to one of ya like this? You mustn't tell ANYONE we've met! Capische?!"
"Why not?"
"Because my dad will KILL me, DUH! I know he's told me I can never, EVER, go to this side alone, since y'all are mindless savages who could hurt me whenever ya git the chance, but I dunno..." She tilted her head at the confused cub and for the first time, he saw a faint snicker tug at the corner of her mouth. "Ya don't seem so bad, in fact, I think I like ya!"
"CORNELIA! COME BACK 'ERE RIGHT THIS INSTANT!" Mr Aventines voice boomed once again, this time he sounded closer. And pissed off.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah! I git it!" Cornelia replied with a low mutter and brushed past Kiddo/Bentley in the narrow tunnel, almost pushing him into the bushes. "I bet uncle Matt ratted on me 'bout that piece o' cake in his drawers..." Suddenly she stopped and turned back around. "By the way, meet me 'ere again by t'morrow, 'kay?"
The cub blinked in confusion. "Huh? What?"
"So far ya seem like the most sensible person I've ever met, it's good to see that SOMEONE has the brains to keep his mouth shut when I'm 'round!"
"S-sensible?"
"Yeah, an' I wanna see ya t'morrow again, duh!"
"But t'morrow I'm on the fields all day an'..."
"Then meet me 'ere after sunset! Anyway, gotta go or my dad will KILL me!" She turned around and jogged towards the loose board, but before she crawled through she stopped and waved at him. "See ya t'morrow night, Bentley! An' don't tell a single soul 'bout this! 'Kay?!"
"W-wait! I...!" He started to stutter, but then she vanished through the wall and the rustling chunk of the board falling back in place was heard. He let out a sigh. "Uh, o-okay... See ya, Cornelia! I guess..."
…
"So granny, did'cha hear that Lucy's lookin' for her keys? She says they've been missin' all day an' she just can't find 'em!"
"Yeah, I heard that alright. And I can bet it's that little rascal who's hidden them again! She's just like Mr Aventine when he was that age, and when I worked in the house! He'd hide my keys as well, and once I found them in the creek! Maybe she should go look there?"
"I think she already has, granny. She was covered in mud when she came 'ere askin' 'bout 'em!"
Later that evening, by dinner, the cub was staring down at his food, poking sleepily at a piece of bread. Chuck and Finn was finishing up their work in the stables and Toby was back on the fields so it was uncertain when he would be back, so yet it was only Ellie, granny Ama and the nameless cub sitting around the table in grannys cottage. Granny Ama tilted her head with a concerned frown on her face at the cub.
"Are ya feelin' alright, hun?" She asked, the cub looked up the spiky old lizard and nodded.
"Yeah... I was just... thinkin'..." He answered with a low voice and went back to poking at the piece of bread.
Ellie hurried to swallow a spoonful of soup. "Whatcha thinkin' 'bout" She asked curiously after the loud gulp.
"I dunno..." He shrugged. "'Bout my name, I guess..."
"Ya still don't remember, huh?" Ama said and when the cub replied with shake of his little head, she sighed and turned back to her soup.
"Ya better hurry up an' remember that name, 'cause we can't go on an' call ya Kiddo all the time now, can we?" Ellie said with a chuckle and leaned her elbow on the table and placed her head against her palm, a few drops of soup was dripping down from the spoon still in her hand. "Ya ain't gonna be a kid all yer life, y'know!"
The cub didn't reply for a while, he was still thinking back about the meeting with Cornelia. She seemed odd and kinda rude, but he still couldn't help but to like her, somehow. "Bentley" He suddenly thought out loud to himself. He noticed the puzzled looks he got from Ama and Ellie. "That's a name, ain't it?"
"Yeah, I guess so" Ama nodded slowly. "A bit odd, but I guess it counts as a name... I does sound a bit familiar, though!"
"Then I guess that's my name now..." The cub said with a shrug. "I mean, if you think it's better than Kiddo..."
"I have no idea where ya got that from, but I think it's a LOT better than Kiddo!" Ellie nodded and gulped down the rest of her soup. She wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeve and eyed his still untouched bowl of soup. "An' if Mr Bentley wanna eat somethin' t'night he better gobble that soup up b'fore it gets cold! Or else I might take it, I'm hungry as a wolf right now! Runnin' the 'Gin all day is hard work, y'know!"
Sorry, had to cut his meeting with Corny a bit short since the introduction of the other slaves and Lasher took way longer time than I thought :/... But the little sassy redhead will play a huge role anyway, so don't sweat it :P
