Chapter 10: Dinner and Campout
Nighttime rolled in the darkened area. The green light from the hive dimmed down. Campfires were set up and each crew member was sitting around them.
Emily was over by the bathing area, deciding to wash up for dinner. A portable water pump was set up with a bucket beneath and a rectangular bar of white soap. The woman grasped her hand on the lever, and began to pump a few times until water began to pour out.
Emily's hands reached underneath the pouring water and soaked her hands from the tips of her fingers to her wrists. She reached for the soap and scrubbed her hands together against the firm bar until suds of bubbles appeared. The dirty blonde placed the soap down and moved her hands in a gentle movement. She worked on between her fingers, underneath her fingernails, and the dorsal and palms of her hands.
Once she was satisfied with her clean hands, Emily rinsed her soap-covered hands underneath the water until they were completely free of suds. She turned around on her heels to look for a towel until she stopped in alarm by a gentle tap on her left shoulder.
She spun around and in front of her was Sweet. The young woman felt very puny to be around the towering man as if he were a giant.
"Hello Emily," Sweet said, using his hands to communicate. "I just wanted to check up and see how you're doing."
The dirty blonde stared back at him and grew defensive. Her eyes traveled up and down from his head to toes. Despite the fact that Sweet was the first member of the expedition to be friendly towards her and Milo, she couldn't help but feel that she wasn't getting respect.
I'm fine, thanks,she responded. Emily glared at the African American man and turned away. What do you want? Do you want to send your friends over here to prank me again?
Seeing that the deaf woman was still upset over the incident, the medical officer had to reassure here. "No Emily. I just wanted to invite you to have dinner with us at the bonfire," Sweet said.
Is this some kind of trick? She asked. Mole and Vinny were so insensitive to act disrespectful towards me with that prank. You and everyone here had no idea of what I went through in my life… how it was for me. Nobody did… except Milo and my grandpa.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Emily!" the African American man said, waving his hands in the air. "I'm sorry that Mole and Vinny pranked you a few days ago. I agree that it wasn't a great idea for them to prank you, but it wasn't practical of you to attack them back."
Emily snorted through her nostrils in irritation. As much as she hated to admit it to Sweet, she did indeed felt remorse for slapping Vinny and kicking Mole in the groin. She wasn't so sure about opening up to those strangers, even if they did know her grandfather, Emily couldn't help but worry and fear that they wouldn't understand and listen to her.
Even if I did apologize to them and explain to them of why I did it, they wouldn't understand me. No one really understands me,the dirty blonde admitted, frowning in sadness.
Sweet looked at the young woman, beginning to realize that she was indeed stubborn and wasn't easy to persuade. The African American man remembered the stories Thaddeus told him of his grandchildren, and how the elderly man spoke about helping Emily find her place in the world and shielding her from cruel people. Ever since Thaddeus passed away, Sweet decided to return a good deed by helping Emily.
"I had a word with Mole and Vinny about your 'monthly' experience and about some of the people I helped who were either deaf, blind, or disabled also have a difficult time fitting in and they shouldn't be disrespected."
Are you sure about this?
"I'm sure," Sweet said. "I promise that no one will do anything to hurt you."
Really? She asked.
"Really, really," he nodded.
The dirty blonde thought for a moment, ran her hand through her front bangs, and adjusted her headband. If Sweet truly meant his word, she had to learn to try to socialize with the crew members and make friends out of them. Once again, it seemed like an offer she couldn't turn down.
All right, Emily agreed.
Sweet and Emily went over to the fire pit where Audrey, Vinny, Mole, and Mrs. Packard were sitting in their seats with trays in their laps. The French man grew apprehensive of seeing the dirty blonde arriving with Sweet.
"What's she doing here?" Mole asked with defense in his tone.
"Listen guys," Sweet said, his tone filled with firmness and placed his hand on the deaf girl's shoulder. "We haven't shown Emily an awful lot of respect and compassion to her lately. So, I invited her to have dinner with us as an apology to make it up to her. Be nice to Emily and show some respect to her." He looked at the Italian and French men with a stern expression. "That means you Mole and Vinny."
The dirty blonde sat down between Mrs. Packard and Vinny on a box with an American Red Cross sign. The elderly woman passed over an empty tray to Emily. The young woman took it and placed it on her lap. The Italian man flinched a bit from the dirty blonde, remembering what she did to Mole. Emily looked at him with a gentle and normal expression from her brown eyes, and Vinny averted his eyes.
"Don't try anything to upset her. She's already upset enough," Sweet added.
"As long as she doesn't touch me, I think I'll be fine," Vinny said.
"Come an' get it!" Cookie announced, ringing a triangle that echoed in the area. He arrived at the crew's fire area carrying a large pot on a dolly to serve them dinner.
"For the appetizer, Caeser salad…" Cookie said, spooning some muddy-looking goop onto Sweet's tray.
"…escargot," the cook said to Audrey and spooned more of his goop onto her tray. The teenage girl stared at her serving in disgust. Mole's eyes from his headgear glanced at Audrey's dish. Escargot, also known as 'cooked snails', was a popular food in France and Mole grinned at the thought of being served the same dish like Audrey.
"… and yer oriental spring rolls," Cookie finished, serving his goop onto Mole's tray. The French man looked at his tray in disappointment. Audrey on the other hand, found Cookie's food to be rather disgusting.
"Yuck," Audrey said, frowning.
"I wanted the escargot," Mole said to her.
Not wanting to eat her dinner, Audrey passed her tray of supposed 'escargot' over Mole's tray. "Knock yourself out," she said.
Mole grinned and slide his own tray away. He took Audrey's tray, grinning with delight.
Cookie went over to Mrs. Packard, served her dinner, and traveled over to Emily. The woman looked around to watch the grossed-out expressions of her companions. She looked up when the old man arrived.
"There ya are, Emmers," Cookie grinned.
He scooped up a ladle of his goop and plopped it down on Emily's tray. The dirty blonde glanced down at the slop, raised her eyebrow in skepticism and disgust, and her lips went into a frown.
This is food? She asked.
"What's she sayin'?" Cookie asked, not understanding her signs.
"Emily's asking if this is food," Sweet translated.
"Yup, fer you, this is spaghetti and meatballs," Cookie grinned to the woman, talking of his cooking with pride.
Spaghetti and meatballs?The dirty blonde signed, stabbing her spoon in the slop. This is practically food that should be served to pigs.
"Beg yer pardon?" Cookie asked, frowning at the signs of her hands and facial expression.
Sweet recognized what Emily was saying and his brown eyes widened. He had to come up with a different saying for the dirty blonde before Cookie could get offended.
"She says that your food is a work of art," Sweet added in.
"Well, thanks for the compliment, Emmers," the elderly man said, giving a toothy smile.
Cookie left Emily and went over to Vinny and served him the slop. The Italian man looked up and gave a blank expression and frown. Emily looked over and could tell that he was completely done with eating Cookie's nasty food.
Once Cookie walked away from the group, Sweet stared at Emily with a frown.
What? She asked. Sweet, why did you lie about what I said to Cookie?
"Because if Cookie had learned what you said to him about his food, he might've shot you in the leg," the African American man said, signing to her.
SAY WHAT?! Emily signed with shock covering her face. Cookie shot who in the leg?!
"Sweet's serious, Emily," Vinny added and Sweet translated. "Years ago, Cookie used to work as a chef at Waldorf Astoria Hotel. He got into a fight with this customer who complained about his food. Cookie grabbed his shot gun, shot the customer in the leg, and got fired afterwards."
Good lord! Emily signed. I had no idea that Cookie did that! Did the customer live?
"Oh, the customer was fine. Mr. Whitmore was able to bail Cookie out of jail," Sweet said.
"What did you actually say about Cookie's grub, Emily?" Audrey asked.
Emily repeated the sentence she said to Cookie as Sweet translated for her, "She says that Cookie's food is practically food that should be served to pigs."
Vinny, Mrs. Packard, Mole, and Audrey looked at the dirty blonde with shock and couldn't believe that she really said that about Cookie's food. But after recovering from the revelation, they looked around the area at the turning of their heads and noticed Cookie was making his way to Milo. Being quiet as mice, they smirked and snickered at Emily's remark.
"Food for pigs? That's exactly what I'm thinkin'," Mrs. Packard muttered.
Milo was sitting back in his study area to study more of the Journal. Cookie arrived at the young man's area to serve him his dinner.
"There ya go Milo," Cookie said, passing a tray to the young man. "Put some meat on them bones."
The old man scooped up some slop and served it on Milo's tray.
The young man stared at it with mild disgust. "Thanks, Cookie," Milo said, politely. "That looks… greasier than usual."
Cookie smiled at the young man's compliment.
"You like it? Well, have some more." Cookie picked up the pot and poured the rest of it on Milo's tray. The young man moved his left hand as it was covered in slop and shook it off with disgust. "You're so skinny, if you turned sideways and stuck out your tongue, you'd look like a zipper."
Cookie took his dolly and walked away to serve the others their dinner. Taking a few tastes of her dinner, Emily looked over to see her brother sitting alone. She felt ashamed of being the only one to leave Milo out of the circle. She glanced over at Sweet, and motioned her brown eyes over to Milo. The African American man looked over at Milo and realized what Emily was thinking. Since, Sweet decided to let Emily come into the group, he decided that her brother should join in, to make it up to Milo, as well.
"You know, we've been pretty tough on the kid," Sweet said to his friends. "What do you say we cut him some slack?"
"Yeah, you're right," Audrey agreed, smiling.
The Puerto Rican girl looked back as Milo was eating his meal and reading the Journal. "Hey, Milo! Why don't you come sit with us?" She called.
Milo's eyes lit up when he heard the invite and he stood up, beaming, "Really? You don't mind?"
"Nah, park it here," Audrey said, and gestured to a rock for the young man to sit at. The young man took his dinner and the journal over, feeling happy of making new friends.
"Gee, this is great," Milo said. "I mean, you know, it's an honor to be included in your…"
As Milo was sitting down on his seat, Mole snuck a big red hot water bottle underneath the young man's butt. When Milo sat down, the hot water bottle made a loud sound of flatulence like a whoopie cushion.
Mole fell to the ground and busted out laughing!
"MOLE!" Vinny, Audrey, and Sweet scolded, not finding the French man's prank hilarious, while Mrs. Packard gave him a no-nonsense look.
Seriously, Mole? Emily asked, as she raised her eyebrow and her lips went into a straight line. She took a deep breath and remembered what happened from the last prank.
"Ah, forgive me!" the French man said, giggling. "I could not resist."
Despite of sitting in a group and socializing, Milo couldn't help but continue to read the Journal and eat his dinner at the same time.
Audrey looked over and noticed what Milo was up to. "Hey Milo, don't you ever close that book?" she asked.
"Yeah, you must've read it a dozen times by now," Sweet added.
"I know, but this… this doesn't make any sense," Milo muttered as he looked through the pages. "See, in this passage here, the shepherd seems to be leading up to something," the young man said, pointing the end of his spoon to a certain page. "He calls it the Heart of Atlantis. It could be the power source the legends refer to." Milo used his spoon to turn to the next page. "But then, it just… it cuts off. It's almost like there's a missing page."
"Kid, relax. We don't get paid overtime," said Vinny.
"I know, I know," Milo said, "Sometimes I get a little carried away." He placed his tray on the ground, and picked up the book, smiling at his sister and companions. "But hey, you know, that's what this is all about, right? I mean, discovery, teamwork, adventure." Milo noticed the looks of disinterest. "Unless, maybe… you're just in for the money."
"Money," Audrey shrugged her shoulders.
"Money," Mrs. Packard added.
"Money," Sweet said.
"Money," Mole piped in.
"I'm gonna say… money," Vinny admitted.
I don't really care about money, Emily signed.
"What's she saying?" Mrs. Packard asked.
"Emily says that she doesn't care about money," Milo said.
The dirty blonde glanced at each member. Deep down, she was disappointed that they only care about earning some cash, instead of having a new learning experience on an adventure and making a big discovery. But she hoped that once they find Atlantis, they would forget about the money and enjoy the moment of their discovery.
"Well, I guess I set myself up for that one," Milo said. His hand reached to the back of his neck, rubbed it, and groaned. Over the course of the adventure, the young man has gotten sore muscles within his neck, and the tension hasn't gone away on its own.
Sweet stood up and walked over until he was behind Milo to examine him.
"What, is something wrong with your neck?" Sweet asked, placing his large hands on the sides of the young man's face.
"Oh, yeah, I must've hurt it when…" Milo started to say, until Sweet began to twist the young man's head to each side. Cracks were heard from his neck. "Ah! Ow!"
Emily's eyes widened in shock and gave out a quiet gasp. Once the medical officer finished, he released Milo's neck.
"Better?" Sweet asked.
"Yeah!" Milo said, grunting. He rubbed his neck and it felt better. "Hey, how did you learn to do that?"
"An Arapaho medicine man," Sweet answered, as he sat down and crossed his legs and arms.
"Get outta here," the young man said in disbelief.
"Born and raised with 'em. My father was an army medic," Sweet said. He pulled out a piece of paper and showed it to the Thatch siblings. It was a photograph of a couple. The man was African American with a mustache in an explorer's suit. He was holding the hand of a Native American woman with long waist length black hair tied into two braids. On her back was a cradle board with a baby boy glancing back. Emily realized that this baby was none other than Sweet. "He settled down in the Kansas Territory after he met my mother."
"No kidding," Milo said.
I didn't know you were also Indigenous American, Emily said, her eyes widening.
"Nope. I got a sheepskin from Howard U.," the medical officer said, putting his family photograph in his pocket and he pulled out a necklace. On the thread was a roll of tree bark, a bird feather, a blue pendant, and a bear paw with claws, and Sweet smiled proudly, "and a bearskin from old Iron Cloud. Halfway through medical school, I was drafted," he put his necklace back underneath his shirt. "One day, I'm studying gross anatomy in the classroom, the next, I'm sewing up rough riders on San Juan Hill."
Milo turned back to Emily, and translated the rest of Sweet's story to her.
About the herbal tea you made for me Sweet, did you learn about it from the Arapaho? She asked.
"Sure did," he responded, signing back to her. "I also learned about many plants and herbs to create new pharmaceuticals for treatments and cures for diseases, especially improving women's health."
I see. Emily smiled. Your tea and ginger root really did help a lot and my cramps were gone in less than five minutes. Thank you for making it.
At that moment, Cookie came back with another pot of food. "Main course!" he announced.
However, since everyone had Cookie's appetizer, they decided that they had enough for the night.
"I couldn't eat another bite," Vinny said, holding up his hands.
"Thanks anyway. I'm watching my weight," Audrey added.
"No, no, no. Don't make me, don't ask," Sweet said.
I'm good, Cookie, Emily signed.
Milo held up his left hand and shook his head, not wanting to eat more of the elderly man's food.
"Ha, ha, ha! Don't you worry," Cookie said, before he walked away. "It'll keep, and keep, and keep."
Everyone sat around the campfire in silence, waiting until Cookie was out of their sight. Mrs. Packard took out her cigarette and placed it in her tray of slop. "Thank God I lost my sense of taste years ago," she said.
Everyone - except Mole - reached their trays over the campfire, tipped them down, and the food landed on the fire, putting it out and creating a mini explosion.
Later in the evening, everyone began to pitch up their tents to prepare for bedtime. Sweet tied a rope around a post into a knot and his tent was up. Vinny was in his tank top and boxers, and underneath his left arm was his sleeping bag. He glanced at Milo in skepticism.
"Aren't you going to pitch up your tent?" Vinny asked.
Milo's tent wasn't properly pitched up, and his belongings and books were spread around in a mess. The young man had already removed his sweater and was currently in an olive-green tank top. He looked back at Vinny with embarrassment.
"Uh, I did," Milo answered.
Vinny threw his sleeping bag in Milo's arms and went over to pitch up Milo's tent properly. Emily exited from her tent that was pitched next to her brother's. She was in a white tank top and had on her skirt and boots.
"I guess I'm still a little rusty at this," Milo admitted. "Em and I haven't gone camping since... well, since, the last time our grandpa took us."
Audrey was in her overalls and tank top as she kneeled by the entrance of her tent and looked at the siblings with a gentle smile.
"I never got to meet your grandfather. What was he like?" the teenage girl asked.
"Where do you start?" Milo asked. He rolled out his sleeping bag and laid prone on it. Emily came over and sat next to him. "He was like a father to Emily and I, really. Our parents died when I was a little kid and shortly after Emily was born, and he took us in."
He sighed and grinned, chuckling at a memory from his childhood.
"What?" Audrey asked, wanting to know what the young man was laughing about.
"Well, I was just thinkin'," Milo said, and began to talk about a memory. Emily looked at him and read his lips. "One time, when I was eight and Emily was five, we were hiking along this stream, and I saw something shining in the water. It was a genuine arrowhead." He gestured his fingers as if he grabbed a tiny item in between.
Audrey looked at the young man and smirked.
"Well, you'd think I'd found a lost civilization, the way Grandpa carried on about it. It wasn't until I was older that I realized that the arrowhead was just some compressed shale mixed with zinc pyrite that had fractured into an isosceletic triangulate," Milo finished.
Oh, I remember that! Emily signed, grinning at the memory.
Mole walked by them and smiled from hearing Milo's story. The French man was dressed in white, red, and blue striped pajamas and accompanied with blue slippers. In his arms was a stuffed animal of a mole.
"That is so cute!" Mole said, giggling and walking away to his sleeping spot.
"What about Emily?" Audrey asked. "What's her story?"
Milo turned back to his sister and signed Audrey's question to the dirty blonde. Emily's eyes widened in nervousness and grew a bit worried. She may have been glad to make some friends, but was always hesitant to bring up her past and didn't want her mind to be stuck in it again. The only people who knew about it were Milo and their grandfather. The dirty blonde looked back at her big brother and nodded that she wanted to tell.
Emily began to sign her story as Milo spoke out to translate.
"Emily says that she's been deaf since she was seventeen months old," Milo said, and began narrating her story, speaking for her in first-person. "I got sick with an illness and it destroyed my hearing and left me deaf. Grandpa was worried about my future and my place in society, but thanks to the advice from a doctor, he decided to dedicate himself to give me an education and help me find my place. I was enrolled in the New York School for the Deaf, and I learned American Sign Language. Grandpa hired a tutor for himself and Milo in order to learn ASL. The school was a good place, and I made friends with my classmates who were like me. I was happy there. We were assigned with teachers that were supposed to be kind and patient to those with special needs and use sign language to communicate with us. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case for me back then."
"What do you mean?" Audrey asked, frowning with concern.
"When I was about ten years old, I had this one teacher… who wasn't really a nice person. Her name was Mrs. Eden Caine. Rather than using sign language, compassion, and patience to teach us, she forced us to use oralism, gave us hard subjects, beat us, and made us fail our studies on purpose," Milo continued, translating.
"What?" the Puerto Rican girl exclaimed.
"You had a teacher that abused you?" Vinny asked, his eyes widening with shock.
Emily signed her hands to them, and Milo translated. "She says, I'm afraid so. I had it the hardest due to myself being mute. No matter how hard I try, I can never speak a word and that made it a lot worse. My teacher forbade me and my classmates from telling anyone about this, or she'd get us expelled."
Emily felt her eyes filled up with tears, and she signed again. Her face was expressing the emotions of sadness and anger.
"After three months, I came home to Grandpa with a black eye, and he asked me what happened. Knowing that there was no point in lying, I told him the truth. He was horrified, shocked, and angry. We came up with a plan to expose my teacher's cruelty. I was told to leave behind one of my school books at home and go back to the school. Grandpa brought over my book and visited the headmaster. They walked to my classroom and overheard the yelling. They hurried over and saw Mrs. Caine beating me with a paddle and my classmates huddled in a corner. After they watched what my teacher was doing to us, both my headmaster and Grandpa came in and confronted Mrs. Caine. The headmaster was enraged and he fired Mrs. Caine on the spot. My friends and I all breathed a sigh of relief when we also learned that Mrs. Caine had lost her teaching license and can never teach again."
"Good lord," Sweet said.
"I had no idea that you went through that experience," Audrey said, her voice filled with shock, sadness, and anger. "How could a person like that teacher mistreat someone like you?"
Emily signed again, and Milo translated, "She says she doesn't know. Ever since Mrs. Caine was fired, Em's been traumatized mentally and emotionally. It caused her to have trust issues with other people and especially anger issues. It made her realize that some people aren't meant to be teachers and be around children, including those with disabilities."
Sweet, Audrey, Vinny, and Mole stared at the dirty blonde woman. They couldn't believe that one of Thaddeus's grandchildren had a difficult life of trying to be herself in society, but only to be turned down and seen as a worthless nobody. Audrey couldn't help but feel angry about Emily's teacher, and wished she could punch Mrs. Caine right in the face.
"When Mole and Vinny pranked me, I got flashbacks from my past when Mrs. Caine, Mr. Harcourt, and others outside of school, or work abused, put me down, and humiliated me. When those memories come back, I end up feeling rage and can't help by attacking them back. When I see someone who is deaf, blind, or disabled getting harassed or bullied by heartless people, I jump in and beat the dickens out on the attacker!"
"So that's why you attacked me and Mole," Vinny said, with realization in his voice and his eyes widened.
"Oh, what a tragedy," Mole said, tears emerging from his eyes.
Emily continued to sign with her hands, and her face has remorse.
"She says that she's sorry for attacking you and Mole back, she wants to know if you'll accept her apology," Milo said.
"No, we're the ones who should be ashamed," Vinny said. "We're very sorry for that prank. I think Mole and I deserved that."
Emily stuck up her right pinkie finger for the letter 'I', held up her left hand, and used her right fingers to brush her palm twice, and point at Vinny. A small smile appeared on her face.
"Emily says, that she forgives you two for the prank," Milo translated.
The dirty blonde used her hands again to create more signs to finish up her story.
"Ever since I was freed from Mrs. Caine, I continued with my education and later graduated from high school and college. I worked at the museum as a janitor and Milo's assistant. When I had some time off, I took part-time work as a tutor for deaf children. When there were families who couldn't afford to pay for their children's education, I told them that their gratitude was enough for me. Someday, I dream of opening a school for the deaf, blind, and disabled, I want to give all children and adults an education, no matter their gender, orientation, age, color, religion, or status, the same way Grandpa gave to me. I want my dream school to be a safe place where no one sees themselves as a burden," Milo said, finishing up his sister's story.
The dirty blonde breathed a sigh of relief, it felt that a heavy rock was lifted off of her chest. She couldn't help but feel much better about it, but now that she and Milo told their stories, they want to learn more of their friends.
"Say, Audrey. Uh, no- No offense, but how does a teenager become the chief mechanic of a multi-million-dollar expedition?" Milo asked.
Audrey smiled and took off her boots as she began to tell her story. "Well, I took this job when my dad retired. But the funny thing was he always wanted sons, right? One to run his machine shop, and the other to be middleweight boxing champion!" the teenage girl punched her sleeping bag if it were a punching bag. She rolled out her sleeping bag in her tent and crawled in. "But he got my sister and me instead."
Oh wow, Emily signed.
"So, what... what happened to your sister?" the young man asked.
"She's 24, and oh, with a shot at the title next month," Audrey said, rolling her eyes and lay down on her sleeping bag. "Anyway, I'm saving up so my papí and I can open another shop."
Mrs. Packard walked by the three. Her face had a green mud mask, pink hair curlers in her gray hair, her brown overcoat, white socks, and pink slippers. She carried a pillow in her right arm and a magazine in her left. Both of them noticed that there wasn't a nightgown or a pair of pants underneath the elderly woman's robe.
"Forget your jammies, Mrs. Packard?" Milo asked.
"I sleep in the nude," she muttered, before making her way to her tent.
The Thatch siblings stared at the elderly woman dumbfounded. Sweet came over and tossed two black sleep masks to Milo and Emily. They both looked at the masks with confusion, and Emily looked up to see Sweet sign, saying, "You two are gonna want a pair of these. She sleepwalks."
Milo looked up and his eyes widened in shock and disgust.
Vinny laid down on his sleeping bag and his eyes were covered with his sleep mask. "Well, as far as me goes..." he said, placing a match behind his ear. "I just like to blow things up."
Sweet walked over until he stood over the Italian man and pulled on Vinny's sleep mask to uncover his eyes.
"Come on, Vinny. Tell the kids the truth," Sweet said, before releasing the sleep mask and it landed back on Vinny's face. The Italian man glanced up with one eye uncovered by his sleep mask.
"My family owned a flower shop," Vinny began. "We would sell roses, carnations, baby's breath, you name it." He stretched the back of his neck and pulled out his sleep mask.
Milo and Emily looked at Vinny as they listened. The young man grinned and listened intently. The dirty blonde's eyebrows raised with interest and curiosity, having no idea that the Italian man had suck an interesting backstory.
"One day, I'm making about three dozen corsages for this prom. You know, the one they put on the wrist. And everybody, they come. 'Where is it?' 'When is it?' 'Does it match my dress?' It's a nightmare. Anyway, I guess there was this leak next door of gas or what. Boom! No more Chinese laundry," Vinny said and made a fake explosion sound. "Blew me right through the front window." The Italian man turned over and faced his companions and lit a match. "It was like a sign from God. I found myself that boom."
Vinny placed his hands to his ears and the match went out. Behind the Italian man's tent, Mole began to dig up a hole and made grunting noises. Everyone looked over to watch as the French man burrowed deeper into the ground and he shut off his light and chuckled with content.
What about Mole? Emily asked.
"What's Mole's story?" Milo asked.
"Trust me on this one, you don't wanna know," Sweet said to the siblings in a serious tone. "Audrey, don't tell them," he said, pointing to her. "You shouldn't have told me, but you did, and now I'm tellin' you, you don't wanna know."
Without wasting any seconds, Sweet picked up a lit lantern and blew out the flame, and everything went dark. Everyone began to fall asleep.