They arrived at the butchery. Mel was looking at Ed weirdly, perhaps thanks to his laughter.

“You registered now?” Asked Mark.

He got a sight of trainee badge as an answer.

“Okay, I already talked it out. You only need to sign, and receive money.

Which is exactly what Ed did. It more than covered his expenses so far. He couldn’t tell whether He got ripped off or not, but for now, He was gaining, not losing, so he figured himself to be on the right track.

“Let’s go home now.” Said Mark. Mel nodded enthusiastically, and they all exited the butchery.

“Our house is in a great place Ed.” Bragged Mel. “It’s right at one of the Corners.”

“The Corners?” Edward needed a clarification.

“It’s where town legs fall into the main crater.” “Let’s hurry up before nightfall, you will see something nice”

“Like what?”

“Like a surprise.” Mel wasn’t going to spoil anything.

The rest of the way through a southern town leg was uneventful.

“So, you guys live with your mother?” Linden’s new age allowed him to be a bit tactless. He almost forgot how good it felt to simply ask a bald man to explain all about his invisible hair.

“I’m not married, if that’s what you ask for.” Answered Mark. “And Mel is not either, obviously.”

“And even if I was… we live in a nice place, and a nice house. Expenses are lower when entire family lives together.” He added after a moment.

Right. Ed totally forgot that three generations can live together. It was getting pretty rare on Earth, but this wasn’t Earth.

“What’s your mom like?” This would sound mildly suspicious was Ed not a ten year old.

“She is a tailor, and a good mom.” Mel got straight to the point. “She should allow you to stay over.”

“Don’t be rude” Added Mark.

“Are my manners doubted?”

“A little” Confirmed older brother.

“Are women here stingy about their age?”

“They want to be forever young. Isn’t that everywhere?” Mel pointed out the obvious.

Linden knew exactly what to do. Talking to kids his age was once upon a time a torture. But conversations with adults? Also torture, but one he could enjoy if the individual was nice.

,,,

They arrived at the right southern corner.

The first thing Linden saw, was the town. It was a gigantic hole. A lake, and grassy plain was at the bottom, with houses on the walls. The Town of Promise was full of life, people were going about their days, and so were the animals, now in the process of being herded to their sheds and stables. It was visibly quieting down.

And then, on the left side, was the sunset. It painted the clouds, making them look like enormous flames dancing in the sky above. How beautiful.

Ed wanted to just sit there, and observe.

Unfortunately, the siblings had different plans.

“You okay? You’ve been staring for several minutes.” Asked Mark.

“Oh? Oh, yeah. I’m okay, it’s just that it’s pretty.” Linden turned to look at them. Strangely, Mel was staring into the wall.

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Before Ed could think deeper about a reason, Mark called out again.

“Our house is right this way.” Pointed Mark. “Let’s go, before mother goes to sleep.”

“Right, maybe we’ll eat something.” Added Mel, who already lost interest in a beautiful piece of construction engineering.

….………

Couple of minutes later, they were all standing at a door of a house. It was indeed a nice place, even if not the newest, or biggest. Mark knocked at the door, and called out to his mother, Mel and Ed right behind him.

“Mom? We are here.”

From behind doors, there came the answer “Who’s ‘we’?”

“A gang of comically evil murderers, and we are here to eat your soup!” exclaimed Mel.

The door opened. “Come in.” Said the inhabitant, most likely mother of the boys.

The brothers were greeted with a hug. Linden, on the other hand, with a raised brow.

“We picked him up on the road.” Said Mark.

‘As if that explained anything’ Thought Linden.

“As if that explained anything.” Said the lady aloud.

“We met on the way back, He helped a lot.” Added Mel. “And He is nice, but doesn’t have anyone. Can we keep him?” Asked Mel in a way you would normally speak about a stray cat.

‘ Let’s get in her good graces.’ Linden didn’t train his conversation skills for years just to stay silent.

He exclaimed: “Good evening, ma’am. My name is Edward Linden. Pleased to make your acquaintance”

He ten raised his brow, and added: “I don’t think Mel and Mark told me anything about having an older sister”

“I’m their mother. Hello” She answered with a smirk.

Linden made a face that screamed:

‘Impossible, such a young person, already a mother of two?’

She looked at Mel.

“Is He always like that?” She shifted her sight to Mark. “I thought I told you not to let your sister get enthralled by some smooth talker.”

‘Ha, She called me a smooth talker. A good start.’ ‘Ah. Were my suspicions correct?” Linden thought the obvious.

“So Mel is a girl after all?” He exclaimed.

Mel and Mark looked at Ed.

Their mother looked at all three of them. “I remember telling you to pretend Melodia is a boy before strangers, but why would you lie to someone you were planning to let stay in our house?”

“….We, erm… forgot to tell him?”

Their mother sighed like only mothers can.

“It’s okay, I already suspected that.”

“What gave me away?” Mel wanted to know.

“You never peed standing.” Clarified Ed.

Their mother laughed aloud.

“He has new shoes, but is dressed in rags. I suppose you told him that I’m a tailor and He can get some clothes here?”

Mel nodded with innocent expression.

Her Mom shrugged.

“Alright, He can stay. As for clothes, I’ll get him something. Can’t have your friend walk around in rags.” “Put those backpacks away, and let’s have a meal.”

………………………………………….

Lisa was rather overjoyed her kids got home safely. She heard there was a nasty storm near the town, and they weren’t home yet, so of course she was worried. Instead of losing children however, there was a 50% increase, as they arrived with a boy in tow.

She was skeptical about letting a stranger sleep in their house, but Mel said something about the kid ‘helping them a lot’

She knew her children would never inform her if they were in mortal danger, but the timing pointed to them being outside the town when the storm hit. There was a possibility she owed this boy a lot.

‘I suppose there is no chasing this one out.’

He was around Mel’s age, dressed in weird looking pants and obviously new boots, He had a big backpack, and a gun strapped to it. His hair was blonde, pulled into a messy bun. The face was cute, even if his gaze was a bit wild. She would need to watch him and Melodia, because there was a strong possibility of this boy becoming a lady killer.

She became certain of this when he started complimenting her right after a greeting.

It was an average compliment for an adult man, but for a ten year old? Down-right smooth.

But once everyone started eating, and when she saw Ed trying not to get emotional over a bowl of soup. Lisa was reminded of the second thing Mel had said about him.

‘He is nice, but doesn’t have anyone’

She would need to talk about it with Mark. He was already an adult, if only barely, and she would have him tell her everything.

“So, how did it go?” She asked everyone at the table.

“Pretty well. Almost no delay, except for the fact that the client was late.” “There was a slight hiccup during the storm, but it got resolved quickly. Having Edward there helped a lot.” Reported Mark.

“Awesome. Ed told me lots of stories and jokes.” Added Mel.

“Some of them may have been mildly inappropriate” Added her brother. Mel showed him her tounge.

“Mildly, huh?” She didn’t believe it on bit.

Ed made a face like he knew She was going to chew him out.

After the meal, Lisa had to decide where to make him sleep. They didn’t have enough rooms, so he had to sleep with one of them.

She would need to talk with Mark first, to decide the best approach here.

“So? What can you tell me about that kid?” She asked her eldest son after they found themselves alone. (Because Mel went off with Ed to show him around the house.)

“He apparently ‘wandered here and there.’ Excellent shot, smart, and his resistance to bad air is better than mine. ” Answered Mark.

Description like this shouldn’t fit any child. Lisa started to feel bad for Ed.

“What about his personality?”

“We figured he must’ve been through a lot, so we hugged him.”

“And the reaction?” Lisa asked. You could tell a lot about a person by the way they hugged.

“Hesitant at first, but hugged us closely after a moment. Cried some, and was as hesitant to let go as he was to hug us back in the first place.”

“So fairly normal for someone without a family.”

Mark nodded.

Good. This kind of reaction meant Ed is most likely just hurt, not crazy.

And young enough to even put him in Melodias’ room. They were friends already, and being close to someone their age might be good for both of them. It was decided.

A moment later, another mattress was prepared.

She would also talk to Ed, but that could come after he got dressed.