Waking up on the dewy ground in the middle of Sherwood Forest came as a shock and, at first, Chad assumed that he was having a nightmare, but the incessant whistling of "It's a Small World" felt like a jackhammer on his brain and he leapt to his feet, ready to kill his roommate.
A booming laugh stopped him in his tracks.
"Hey, Shang?" he asked, blinking rapidly, his chest still heaving with anger.
"Yeah?"
"Could you whistle something else for a while?"
"You don't like my song?"
"Not at this hour." Chad grunted, "I thought it was my roommate back at Prep."
"Okay, I hear ya," Shang laughed again, "I'll let you out of the torture chamber. How about we sing together—something with a little bounce it in, perhaps?"
"I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts," he started, grinning as he handed the teenager a bowl of oatmeal.
"There they are, a-standing in a row," Chad sang out, before he thought about how dorky the whole thing was, "Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head."
They burst into a laugh and they settled onto a hollow log to eat breakfast, speaking little afterward as they concentrated on filled their appetites and breaking up the campsite. The morning was warm as they got underway and they were both thankful for the cover of dense foliage as they moved steadily along the trail.
"Gosh, how did Robin Hood and the Merry Men ever live here all those years?" Chad grumbled a while later, stooping down to pull burrs off his socks, "I've never walked through Sherwood. How long until we get out of here?"
"You gotta go to the bathroom?" Shang teased.
Chad snorted, "I just want to help someone. No one lives in the forest anymore."
"Sure…" Shang laughed again, "We haven't been walking for that long."
"It seems like we've been walking for hours."
"Nah—we're just skirting the edge anyways. The Seven Dwarves don't live to far from here." Shang grinned, "With any luck, they will need help doing something. A family that big usually needs one thing or another."
Chad stooped to pick out more burrs.
"Don't bother about the burrs now," Shang grimaced, "It'll be futile until we're out of the woods." He paused, listening, "Hear that?"
"Sounds like someone is angry," Chad said, straining his ears to pick up the distant sound.
"More than one someone," Shang answered thoughtfully, "It sounds like the Seven Dwarves!" He broke into a run, crashing through the underbrush, "Come on, let's go see what's wrong! Maybe we can help!"
"What's up, guys?" he blurted out hoarsely, panting as they burst through the trees into a relatively small clearing.
The seven dwarves and six of their children whirled around, startled into silence, their jaws agape.
"Where's Doug?" Chad asked, counting then in the silence.
He is taking the morning shift at the market," Doc answered, rousing himself from the shock to speaking for his mute brother, "He'll come home to help in a few hours." His eyes bulged when he glanced at his daughter, Dorothy, who was carrying far many boxes, "Uh, thanks, honey."
"On the other hand," Grumpy continued, patting his son's shoulder, "we are trying to do some repairs! I'm telling you, this house is just a big money pit!"
Greg, who was his father's son, gave him a dirty look and wordlessly elbowed his way out of Grumpy's embrace.
"You used to like it," Bashful ventured to tease his brother, earning a cold stare.
"Dad," his daughter, Betty, said shyly, "Don't irritate him."
"Can we help?" Shang asked.
"I bet you could!" Happy answered, his eyes lighting up.
"Another sucker, come to help?" Hank, his son, asked darkly, grinning like a shark.
Sleepy yawned reflexively, "Why don't we get started?"
"You don't need a nap now, do you, dad?" his daughter, Sally, asked, throwing him a sympathetic smile as she skipped up to relive her cousin of her load. Being energetic and bubbly, she was the opposite of her father, "Whatcha got, Dorothy?"
"This box is soap and wax for the limo and the bus. This one is mop heads and rags. This is paint and paintbrushes for the hallway. This is—"
"Oh, never mind, just give me half of them and I'll look through them and get the stuff where it needs to go."
"You're a real lifesaver, Sally!"
"What are cousins for?"
"You mean, you guys don't hire someone to do repairs?" Chad asked, confused for a moment, "Oh, right."
"This box," Dorothy continued, as she handed several to Sally, "has tools—wrenches, hammers, screwdrivers, you name it. And this one has nuts, bolts, nails—small things like that."
"I got it, Dorothy," Sally reminded her, "Let me help you!"
"Oh, right. Sorry."
Sneezy's son, Seth, rubbed his arms, "Man, I'm starting to get itchy."
"You took your allergy shots this morning, didn't you?" his father asked.
"Of course."
"Don't try to get out of fixing up this dump, Itchy," Hank barked, using his cousin's nickname, as Greg silently sneered.
"I'm not," Seth retorted, "It's not my fault that I inherited something from my father." He glowered at Hank, "Mr. Darkside."
"Alright, you two, break it up," Doc clapped his hands for attention, "Let's get these chores divided up and get to work. Shang, if you guys are going to help then you're very welcome!" He grinned, "By the way, I think Man Camp is a great idea—can't wait to have one myself, whenever Dorothy gets around to picking someone!" He handed Chad a long sheet of paper, "This is a list of all the chores we need to get done today, son. I think it's only fair that you and Shang get first pick. What would you like?"
"Ah, well," Shang redden, unused to special treatment, "I'll be pleased with any kind of work I get, but you're the newbie Chad so pick something and I'll help you anyway I can."
"We all will," Betty asserted, smiling shyly.
Chad turned a little green as he scanned the list. Much like yesterday, he wondered if Man Camp was really essential before he got married. Surely, someone as charming as himself…
He shook his head, aware that everyone was staring.
"Uh, ah, I-I think that maybe I could mow the lawn? Yeh, I can do that! That's easy. I used to watch our groundskeeper do it. All you do is steer, right?"
"Uh, Chad," Hank sneered, "We have a push mower."
"Yeah," Greg rolled his eyes, "Dad is such a tightwad. He said that the newest version of riding mower was too expensive, even though everyone wanted it."
"Might I remind you that it was a group decision!" Grumpy growled, "You kids wanted the easy way out, but your betters' vote counts more because—well, that's obvious."
"You mean, our elders' vote counts more," Greg snapped, crossing his arms over his chest in contempt, "We all know that the only reason you guys' have a bigger vote is because you killed Evie's mom.
"Personally, I think it's a very good reasons," Grumpy retorted, smacking his son with his floppy hat, "That ugly old bat needed to die!"
"Oh, good thing Doug isn't here if you're gonna talk that way about his future mother-in-law!"
"Seriously, boy?" his father cocked an eyebrow, "We're talking about the Evil Queen here. Even Evie would agree that her mother belongs on the Isle!"
"Alright, enough arguing," Doc clapped his hands, "We're wasting daylight. Shang, I just thought of the perfect job for you—it requires someone tall. The rest of you, decide what you want to do and get to work."
"Come on," Dorothy approached Chad as the others crowded around the list and started arguing again, "I'll show you how to use the lawnmower."
"Thanks," he answered, his face turning red, "I've never done anything like this before."
"Of course, you haven't," she shrugged, pushing him towards a small shed in the backyard, "After all sidekicks have always done the work in Auradon, right?"
"Hey! Ben has given you lots of extra stuff since he became king!"
"True, true," she acknowledged, sighing as she pulled open the door, "Well, anyways, the last mower we had was probably older than dirt so Fairy Godmother got us a new one for Uncle Happy's birthday—it made us all really happy! Even Uncle Grumpy!"
"I'll bet," Chad smirked, gritting his teeth to hide his nerves, "So, where's the button? How do you start this thing?"
Dorothy laughed, kneeling down as she unscrewed the top off of something, "Well, you don't just hit a button. First, you've gotta check the oil. Oh, good, there's plenty."
"Next," she went on, "you turn this lever over to the choke position and pull this cord." She threw him a lopsided apologetic smile, "Sometimes it doesn't start right away and you have to pull and pull and pull, but I have high hopes that you'll be able to do it!"
"Well, I hope so," Chad muttered, as he began pulling, "I feel like a fool."
She laughed, "I know! It's embarrassing to have to pull and pull and pull!"
"Hmm," she nodded, "five pulls—not bed. Not bad at all." She pointed, "Now, push that lever there into the "pull" mode and off you go."
Walking beside him for a few minutes, hovering like a mother bird, she continued, "It's easiest if you go in a straight line to the edge of our property, then turn back and make another straight line, like you're surveying a grid."
"Hey, Dorothy?" Greg barked from the front porch, where he was filling in holes that had appeared under the front steps, "Are you gonna hold his hand all day or actually work like the rest of us have too?"
"Well, I don't know, Greg," she retorted, hands on her hips, "It depends on how long Chad needs me!"
"I've got it now," Chad whispered, his face flaming, "You can go do something else."
"Are you sure?" she asked, "Don't let Greg the Grump get you down. I mean, you know how he is..."
"Yeah, I got this."
"Okay..."
Chad smiled with relief as he watched her hurrying towards the house, already scolding Seth for working in the flowerbed. Then he faced forward and got back to work.
"Can I help?" a girl's asked quietly, making him jump after he'd completed several lanes. The engine turned off when he stopped pushing.
"Oh, sorry!" Betty giggled, "I guess you'll have to restart it now. It shuts off automatically when you don't hold that bar down." She paused, then added, "Here, let me. It's my fault for startling you anyways."
"Thanks," Chad grumbled, as she started yanking on the cord.
He watched for a minute before his mind began to wander and was soon startled again, "Hurry, hurry, before it shuts off again!"
He sprang to life managed to do a few more rows before disaster struck.
`"What the—" he groaned, his eyes bulging at the sound of a hideous grinding noise. Looking down, he saw the blades hopelessly entangled in bramble weed.
"Great goblins," he swore, flustered enough to use an old swear that he'd picked up while he was pretending to be interested in Evie. Taking a fugitive glance at the house, he reassured himself that no one had noticed before squatting down to untangle the mess.
"Dang," he frowned as the picky weeds tore his flesh; blood made him queasy.
"Need a break?" Seth asked, walking up suddenly with a glass of lemonade in hand, "Dorothy was kind enough to relieve her little cousin and my nose from planting flowers."
"You know it!" Chad sprang to his feet, eager for refreshment..
"Looks like you need some help too…"
"Nah, I got it."
"Sure, whatever dude," Seth ignored him and knelt down, rubbing his itchy nose.
"I said, I've got this!" Chad snapped, flush with embarrassment.
"Oh my!" Betty gasped, running up, attracted by his outburst, "I hate it when I do that!"
Chad gave Seth a furious glance
"Hey, man," the younger boy shrugged, unfazed by the prince's rank, "I'm not the one who shouted."
"Seth," Betty lectured, "What are you doing? You know brambles bother your allergies—"
"They won't kill me," he protested, "I officially promise not to die, Betty."
She sighed, "Here, let me do it. Go get Sally; she can help me. You shouldn't—"
"Sally is washing windows." he retorted, "I'm perfectly capable."
"Chad can take over for her," Betty stood firm, glaring at her cousin as she pointed towards the house, "You don't mind, do you Chad?"
"Oh, course not," he answered, laughing weakly, feeling humiliated by all the attention that his mistake had garnered.
"Come on, Chad," Seth muttered, reluctantly coming to his feet, "I might need you to vouch the situation for me. Washing windows is a job that we all sort of covet around here so she'll probably think that I'm just bluffing to get her job." His voice dropped, "I'm always too young to wash the windows."
Dragging the mystified prince by the elbow, he stalked over to where his cousin was carefully polishing the newly-washed stained-glass window that memorialized Snow White's awakening.
"This is my family's most treasured possession." he whispered, "Our folks almost never let any of us near it."
Sally turned around when she heard them behind her, "It didn't make you jealous that they picked me, did it, Seth?"
For a moment, he rested his chin on his fist, like Rodin's statue, then rolled his eyes, "Hmm, let me think?" Then he got down to business, "Chad ran into some bramble weeds with the mower. I was helping him until Betty the Not So Bashful came by. She took over and wants you to help her."
"Why can't you help her?" she asked, defensively shielding her plum chore.
"She doesn't like the prospect of me sneezing all night. Sorry, Sal. Maybe she's been reading the Three Little Pigs again—you know, huff, puff, blow the house down." Seth bumped Chad and pointed at some regular windows that were still smudgy, "Can you get those?
"No sweat," Chad shrugged, trying to sound cool.
"Oh, you sound real sorry," Sally growled, "And who's going to finish the mowing if Chad is helping you wash my windows?"
"Oh," Seth started, turning beet red, "I guess I didn't think about that. Sorry, Sal—"
"Like I said, you sound real sorry."
"Maybe you could?" Seth suggested, "Washing windows is easier than mowing the lawn.'
"You don't need to coddle me!" Chad's face reddened; grabbing the hose he turned it on and aimed at the house.
"Chad!" Sally shrieked, "Those windows are open!"
"I thought they were just really clean," he yelled, whirling towards her, soaking her with the hose on full blast.
She shrieked again, throwing up her hands to defend the stained-glass window from the hard stream of water, "Turn the pressure down!"
But, to no avail. A golf ball sized hole appeared where the Prince's head used to be and the three teenagers froze, their mouths agape in horror.
"Oh, goblins!" Seth breathed, using the phase that he too had picked up from Evie. He looked left and right, horrified at the idea of getting caught, and sighed with relief.
No one had seen.
"C-Chad—" Sally began, her voice stuttering, "S-Seth—"
"Hey, don't lay this all on me!" Chad snapped, interrupting her.
"What, really? Are you kidding?" she snapped, her cheeks flush with sudden anger.
"I only turned around because you were screaming at me!"
"You had the hose going full blast through an open window!"
"You could have said it nicely."
"I was startled!"
Okay, okay, guys," Seth broke in, "Do you want everyone else to know about this or do you want to fix it quietly?"
"And how do you propose we do that?" Sally spat, turning her wrath on her cousin.
Seth shrugged helplessly, "One of the fairy children?"
"Oh, good idea! I hadn't thought of that!" Sally sighed with sudden relief. Glaring at Chad, she snapped, "Just keep your mouth shut!"
"Hey, I can keep a secret!"
"Well, you'd better or we're all toast!"
"Don't guys!" Seth pleaded, "Keep it down. I'll call Jane right now!"
"We've got to keep the others away from here while he calls," Sally worried, "I can't believe no one noticed yet!"
""What do you want me to do?" Chad asked, mortified by the thought of more negative attention.
"Nothing-you've done enough!"
"Then why'd you ask?"
"I didn't! I was just thinking out loud!" Her cheeks flushed, "I'm sorry, Chad. It's just that this window is so important to our family."
"I'm beginning to see that."
"Bad news, guys," Seth's face was pale, "Nobody is available. They're all helping at the outdoor market like Doug. They can't get away until their shift ends." He turned to Chad, "Jane said to tell you that your mom and Lonnie are shopping though."
"Great! Lonnie is a terrible cook," he made a face, "But my mom will straighten her out!"
"Hey, no standing around on cleaning day!" Greg scowled, suddenly coming around the corner carrying a rack, a shovel, and a pitchfork, "What do you think this place is? Auradon Prep?"
Chad cracked up, "Good one, Greg!"
"I didn't say it to amuse you."
"Why don't you get lost, Greg?" Sally snapped tensely, silently pleading that he wouldn't notice the window.
"Because I want to know why you're all just standing around while I'm slaving like Cinderella." he retorted cynically.
"We were, uh," Seth tired to think, "Giving Chad some pointers. He's never washed windows before."
"Nice try," Greg smirked, "What are you really doing?"
"It's true!" Sally vouched, her voice squeaking unnaturally; Greg's eyebrow arched.
"What's wrong, Sal?"
"Never you mind, Greg!" She tossed her head in defiance.
"Holy cow!" he gasped, her movement allowing him to catch a glimpse of the broken window, "You guys are in so much trouble!"
"Why don't you just get lost?" Seth growled.
"Oh, oh, if only you could be so lucky," he chuckled, "On second thought...maybe I should leave. After all, the others—"
"Don't you dare breathe a word about this!" Sally snapped, "It was an accident and we'll have it fixed before-"
"Before I can give a little whistle?" Greg mocked, "or say supercalifragilisticexpialidocious?"
"Well, it wasn't my fault!" Chad asserted, sticking his chin out stubbornly.
"Shut up, Chad!" Seth hissed, "This isn't the time for that."
"Hey, Greg!" Hank called, coming around the corner, awkwardly hoisting a large box, "What's the hold up? This thing is heavy!"
"Oh, just great," Sally muttered, closing her eyes for a moment, "Both of them."
"Lookie what I found, Hank" Greg answered, pointing to the window.
"Holy cow!"
"Greg," Sally hissed, "Why can't—"
"Whoa, are you guys ever gonna be in trouble!"
"We're aware of that, Hank!" Seth snapped, "Thank you!"
"Hey, what about Mal?" Chad asked, a huge smile lighting up his face, "Since the good fairy children can't come!"
"Chad!" Seth whirled around, his face alight with gratitude "I think that would work!"
"Oh course, it will!"
"I'll call her now!" Seth continued, fumbling with his phone in his delight.
"Don't you think everyone should be here to witness the restoration?" Hank asked.
"If you ever tell anyone about this," Sally snapped, "you'll be living happily ever after in the mine the next time we go down! And that's a promise!"
"Mal's on her way!" Seth announced, hanging up.
"You mean Mal is here,"
Everyone whirled around as the purple clad VK smiled with a shrug.
"I may have donated my spell book to the museum, but mom made me commit a few to memory. Teleportation was one of them."
"Fairy Godmother won't like it," Greg shook his head.
"She need not know," Mal glared then turned to the window, "Uh-oh…"
"Can you fix it?" Sally squeaked again
"Unfortunately, the spell to fix that is not up here." she tapped her head and snapped her gum.
"Told ya," Hank laughed, he looped an arm around Greg's neck, "Maybe Greg and I ought to-"
"No!" Seth, Sally, Mal, and Chad yelped in unison.
"Stop right there!" Mal continued, her eyes flashing green for the first time in months, "You three," she glanced at Sally, Seth, and Chad, "Stand well back."
"B-I-T-E What does that spell?" she continued, waving her arms, mesmerizing the boys, "Bite, bite, bite. Speak no words will cause a fright. What's a bark without a bite?"
Instantly, Greg and Hank started yapping and barking, growing more hysterical when they realized that they couldn't speak.
Mal laughed, "Mom used to say that to Evie and I all the time. Of course, it didn't work on the Isle, but I know it by heart." She turned to the boys, "Sit, stay."
"That ought to hold them until I get back."
"Where are you going?" Seth asked urgently, bordering on panic.
I'm just gonna teleport to the museum, grab my spell book, and be right back to fix this."
"Well, alright…"
"Trust me—I'm a VK. No one will ever know. You want me to fix the window, right?"
"More than anything!" Sally pleaded.
Okay, then!" She spoke through a purple mist, already gone.
"What do we do with them?" Chad asked, pointing at the barking boys, "If they keep it up—"
"Quiet, boys!" Seth hissed, "Or I'll tell Mal not to change you back!"
"Kind of seems like an improvement," Mal said laughing, spell book in hand.
"Wow! That was fast!" Sally gasped.
"Auradon security is a joke," Mal shrugged, "I've been trying to get Ben to upgrade it but...well, anyways, here goes…Piece of cake, fix this break!"
"Oh, wow!" Sally gushed, gawking at the restored window, "You just don't know how much this means to us!"
"Boy, you saved our skins," Seth added, heaving a sigh, "I don't know what they would have done if-"
Mal chuckled, "It probably wouldn't have been as bad as anything my mom would've done."
"Well, maybe not," Sally countered, "but we're not from the Isle so…"
"No, you're not." Mal agreed, then waved, "Well, then, I guess I'm off-wouldn't want any awkward questions about what I'm doing here, right?"
"No, don't go!" Sally pleaded, holding out her hands, "Stay for lunch. We'll eat when Doug get here. Any minute, I'm sure. No one will mind!"
Suddenly an explosion of barking sounded behind them.
"Oh, yeah." Mal grinned wickedly, "I forgot about them, didn't I? Have they been good boys?"
"Well—" Sally smirked.
Another explosion of barking interrupted her.
"Okay boys, repeat after me. Bark, woof, bark, bow wow, bark, grr."
"Boy, are you ever gonna be in trouble, Mal," Hank snarled a moment later, "Trespass, stealing, using spells-"
"Whoa, hey," she held up her hands, "First off, using spells is not against the law around here and, second, if I hadn't trespassed and stole, you guys would still be barking. Her eyes flashed green, "Don't make me regret changing you back!"
"Hey guys," Doug interrupted, coming up from behind, pulling a small red wagon heavily laden with food, "What are you doing here, Mal? Chad?"
"Oh, you know me, Doug," she answered, spinning around with a nervous laugh, hoping that he hadn't heard her threats, "I just like to pop in every now and again-royal girlfriend and all, you know?" She laughed nervously again.
"Shang and I stopped by to help," Chad answered, "You know, Man Camp."
"Well, I best be going," Mal waved, hoping to depart without further delay.
"No, no, don't go. I brought lunch," Doug, hastily invited, "Fairy godmother said it was on the house because I did such a great job helping Lonnie. I'm sure they'll be more than enough for you to eat with us."
"You helped Lonnie?" Chad was incredulous, "Isn't that my mom's job? Wife Camp, you know…"
"Their list was long so she split it with Lonnie," Doug explained, "and I just happened to be nearby so she asked me to go with her.'
"Evie said that you do all the cooking around here anyways," Mal interjected.
"Excuse me?" Greg asked.
"You're excused, Greg," Doug answered pointedly.
"What about the time—" Greg started.
"Everyone got food poisoning that night," Doug snapped. "Now," he continued, moving forward, "we can continue this discussion but I'd much rather do it while we're eating. What do you say, Mal?
"Well, okay," she sighed, as if she was still reluctant, then she beamed, "I mean, sold!"
"Alight!" Sally whooped.
"I'm back," Doug called, leading the little troupe into the front yard, "Fairy Godmother gave us a good lunch because I was very helpful at the market this morning."
"Free food?" Doc applauded, "I like it!"
"Bah!" Grumpy snorted, "Nothing is free."
"It is if Fairy Godmother says it is," Happy retorted with a giggle in his voice, slapping his ill-tempered brother's back
"Bah!"
"Now, Grumpy…" Sleepy said, trying to stifle a yawn.
"Bah!"
"Well, let's eat!" Shang intervened, an elated look in his eyes as he wiped the sweat off his face with his sweaty arm, "Man, I'm starved! I don't think I've done as big project as that since Lonnie was a toddler-I love it!"
"How'd you do, Chad?" he added, looking expectant.
"Uh, oh, good—great!" His face turned beet-red.
Shang grinned, "That's great! I hope you can be spare yourself this afternoon though because I need your help to paint a hallway."
"So, what's in that wagon, Doug?" Happy asked, patting his ample stomach, "I'm ready to eat!"
"I hope it's nothing that Seth and I are allergic to." Sneezy added, wiping his nose.
"Dad…"
Sleepy yawned, "I just want a quick bite and then a nice little afternoon nap after the work is done."
"You'll sleep better if you don't nap during the day," Doc admonished.
"I always sleep well, no matter what."
Doug and Dorothy began setting heavily laden dishes on a picnic table while Doug read off the menu, "I've got several kinds of hot sandwiches: roast beef, grilled cheese with ham, pulled pork, and spicy chicken. For sides, there's artichoke salad, pea salad, macaroni and cheese, ambrosia, quinoa, potato salad, and crab cakes. Drinks include, iced tea, both sweet, unsweet, and flavored, lemonade, limeade, orangeade, hot tea. I told her not to bother with bottled water."
"I can't believe Fairy Godmother got all that food into this wagon," Bashful ventured to say.
"It's magic, Uncle Bashful," Doug answered with a grin, "Her specialty."
"Well, not exactly her specialty nowadays!" Chad answered.
"Everything looks great!" Doc took charge, "But, I think it's only fair to let our guest go first...Shang, Mal, Chad?"
"No problem there!" Mal bounced forward, quickly piling her paper plate high, as if she was on some sort of raid. Then she stopped, sensing the uncomfortable silence in the air, "Oh, sorry: I was having a Isle moment. Man," she laughed, "you didn't offer to let someone butt you in line there, unless you wanted to starve!"
"No problem," Happy waved away the faux pas.
"No problem?" Hank growled, in Chad's ear, "Is he kidding? That girl is engaged to our king; she's going to be our queen one day and she's still having Isle moments? Are you kidding?"
I know, right?" Chad agreed, snorting incredulously.
Chad…" Shang warned.
But the prince had turned away and quickly found a seat between Hank and Greg.
"Hey, Chad!" Shang jogged up to him an hour later, after lunch was cleared away, "Can we talk?"
"Uh, sure…"
"Good, come on. We can talk while we paint."
"Oh, yeah," he suddenly remembered the windows and the mowing, "I wasn't done—"
"Happy sent Hank to finish the lawn," Shang waved aside the objection. He chuckled, "I heard you got it caught in the brambles."
"What else did you hear?" the prince asked realizing that his mentee didn't know about the window incident.
Looping his arm around the teenager's shoulders, Shang put the question off as paranoia and half dragged him into the dwarves' large cottage, "Say, I was just wondering, why were you picking on Mal at lunch?"
"What?"
"Come on, Chad, don't do that. You know what I'm talking about."
"Well, she has no manners, for one thing," he began, "I mean, how will an Isle moment look at the Cotillion?"
"I don't suspect that Ben is concerned about that, nor anyone else. I'm certainly not." Shang had a tiny edge in his voice, "The VK's are a special bunch, Chad, I really respect them for what they've accomplished in such a short time." He chuckled, "It took Mulan longer to get used to boot camp!"
"But, anyways," he changed the subject as they entered a long hallway; its green paint faded and badly chipped "This is the hallway that needs repainting. You with me?"
"I've never done it."
"Good, new blood," Shang grinned almost sardonically, "Come on, I'll show you." He pulled a bottle out of his pocket, "First we fill in all the little holes with caulk, then we sand it down so it's nice and smooth, and then we paint."
"Okay, okay," Chad steeled himself, "I can do this!"
"That's the spirit!"
"How did it get all these holes?" Chad asked, "My mom would kill me if our walls looked like this."
"Not necessarily," Shang shrugged, "They could be nail holes where a picture or photos were hung. Or maybe there was a shelf. You can't paint a wall with stuff hanging on it. I bet no one did anything in violence. Can you imagine what the seven dwarfs would do if someone was violent in the house?"
"No, I guess not," Chad admitted, looking at the floor for a moment, then he glanced both ways, "What color do they want it? I think we've got all the holes."
"Same as what's up here already. Help me lay newspapers down the length of the hall to catch the drips and we'll get started." He pointed, "Sneezy told me that there are some step ladders in that closet over there. I already got the paint and brushes from Dorothy."
"So, how do we begin?" Chad asked, returning with two ladders in hand, "The most that I've ever painted is in art class."
"That's a good place to start," Shang replied, "Basically, we start at the top and paint down. There's one color and nothing elaborate. It's simple and straightforward."
"It sounds like it..." the teenager answered doubtfully.
"That because it is! Don't worry!" Shang checked the time on his phone, "Oh! We ought to hurry. I hear the grand finale of cleaning day is washing the bus."
Chad's eyes grew as big as saucers, "That's the grand finale? Seriously? What kind of grand finale is that?
Shang smirked, "I have no idea, but I can't wait to find out!"
They worked steadily for what seemed like hours, enjoying the coolness of the house after being in the blazing sun. Then the front door slammed shut and they heard the shuffling of footsteps.
"Hey, guys?" Bashful's soft voice questioned rather than commanded, "You ready to wash the bus?"
"Of course!" Shang enthused, hopping down, "We can let this coat dry while we do that. Come on, Chad! I've been waiting for this!" He bounded after Bashful, missing the grimace Chad made as he surveyed his paint smeared shirt.
"Great…" He was not looking forward to wearing it for the rest of the week.
Excitement was clearly in the air as they emerged from the house to join the others, "Why are you still here, Mal?"
"Are you kidding?" she replied, "Evie told me about this tradition and I'm not gonna miss out! I've been busting my dragon tail all afternoon for this!"
"Evie washed the bus?"
"With Doug, yeah. She had a blast!" she laughed, "I didn't believe it at first, but she had photos on her phone. Just wait, there's a surprise at the beginning!"
"Oh, goodie…"
"Okay, newbies!" Doc clapped his hands loudly and waved for attention, "Front and center!"
"Here it comes!" Mal clapped, almost gleeful and she took her place between Shang and Chad.
"What the—?" Chad started to whisper, but Doc spoke again.
"As you may or may not have heard," he said, while turning on the hose, "we seven dwarves and our children have a special initiation when someone new comes to help us clean house. All three of you have done an amazing job today and so I am pleased to do...this!"
And with that, he soaked them.
Author's Notes: I'm sorry for the long delay, but here's the next installment!
I finally read the Isle of the Lost books! They're awesome! I know "Greg" is "Gordon" in the books but when I started this chapter, I hadn't read the books.