The kids stared at the three grownups heading their way, wondering what their fates could hold for them.
Helga stood there and looked out at the crowd before her. Norbert stood still, watching as she inspected the crowd. Through it, Norbert saw Korn slowly wading his way through to the front, the kid staring Norbert down.
Waiting for him to come to the front, Korn crossed his arms, waiting to hear what the adults would say. Slowly turning his attention from Norbert to Helga, waiting for the first person to say something between them.
Helga finished her inspection with a nod as she stepped back from the crowd. Norbert turned to her, wondering if she would speak, and only received a nod of her head and a hand beckoning Norbert forward.
With an audible groan to the crowd, Norbert stepped forward as indicated. Clearing his voice with a cough, Norbert looked out, opening his mouth before speaking, "Talking with Helga, someone important in the town of Flare-dew. And after a brief discussion, you were allowed to join the town."
WHOOOOOO!!!!
Cheers erupted out of the crowd, and tension and nerves brought tight were finally released when the truth was told to them. The promise that was made before they made the trek over here was now fulfilled. Korn turned around as he tried and failed to quiet the crowd before the cheering was completed.
Norbert stood there, waiting patiently. The more sound they made, the fewer people he would need to talk to about it. He knew all these kids would need to go to families and would sadly be unable to continue living in this field, although that would be the easier option.
Turning to Helga, stepping towards her as the crowd died, she said, "How are the kids going to the families?"
"Spread the word, and they head around to pick them up. I'll mark down who it is for two kids each house for two kids each house and give out compensation accordingly."
"And if there are some kids left?"
"We make sure there aren't." Helga told him sternly.
With a nod of his head, Norbert looked back at the crowd. "I hoped to get some time off and stroll around town."
"Maybe next time, don't bring over a hundred children that need to be housed," Martitia said from the side. Norbert was blowing out steam from his nose as he calmed down. The children quieted and looked at him as if there was something else to say.
"Word will be spread to the families able to take a few more. I will then come down and pick you up. And I say one thing. I will not leave until everyone has a full stomach and a roof over their heads!" Norbert shouted to the crowd, putting some energy into it as his voice echoed around the town and the fields around it. Birds flew off into the sky, fearing what had caused the large and abrupt sound. Dogs barked in the houses as the kids in front of him covered their ears in shock.
Obsius, coming over to see the noise, landed on his head and pecked him on the forehead for his actions.
***
Norbert looked at Mord and the teenager with him. Everyone else has been collected quite quickly. Norbert was surprised at the speed at which a hundred children would get picked up and collected. The sounds of the town as he walked around with the two of them. Even the leader, Korn, had someone already picked him up, and the boy slowly defrosted as the responsibility of so many was finally lifted from his shoulders.
Turning to his two escorts, Robert asked, "Why don't you like anyone? Plenty of people have come over?" Norbert asked them.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
The older kid just shrugging, pointing to Mord, the younger boy just shaking his head "Not right" Was the simple explanation given.
Norbert sighs in response, shaking his head as he wonders what to do. Both Martitia and Helga have left them. One wants to enjoy the town as much as she can, while the other feels the chores of the family and the extra responsibility of making sure the kids are properly looked after now weigh on her shoulders.
They were leaving Norbert alone with only two ugly ducklings. They looked around the town, unable to hear or see Count von Count anywhere. They wondered what tavern the vampire had locked himself into. He probably drank the place dry. I'm not even sure if the vampire could get drunk.
Coming to the next place, Norbert did not even knock on the door as he looked at the two kids, giving a quick jerk with his thumb to indicate the place. Mord shook his head as Norbert continued on. They were no longer in the central parts of the city, and the available houses were getting less and less.
Norbert breathed out his nose as he continued walking around. “Is this some ploy so I don’t leave?” Norbert asked them, quickly turning around on his feet to look at Mord, trying to judge his reaction.
All he received in response was a stone-cold kid whose face raised an eyebrow at Norbert’s question. Sighing and shaking his head, Norbert continued walking around, Obsius on his shoulder, tapping it twice to let him know the kid was grinning at him.
Norbert is happy that the kid is still a kid at heart, even though, for whatever reason, he tries to play the big game with Norbert.
Continuing their walk around town, people wave to him and say hello, people that Norbert had never seen before. Or sure that he had seen them but never tried to remember their names. He gave an awkward wave as he continued past them. He was making it to the edge of the town, over the other side being the fields, with the people tilling the land and moving the herds about.
Stopping on the bridge, Norbert looked down and saw the fish swimming around again. Norbert stopped and stared at their colours as they darted past one another, trying to climb over the other until something happened, and a fight broke up. The actual rainbow appeared around them as water was splashed everywhere.
The two kids next to him were captivated by the flowing water running underneath them and the fish fighting each other. Suddenly, the two of them ran to the other side of the bridge. Norbert quickly looked, but nobody else was crossing the bridge at the moment.
Staying on his side, Norbert watched as the two kids followed something up, pointing at something as it continued going up the river. Norbert followed until he spotted a man on the side of the river, fishing rod out as it bobbed up and down in the river's waters.
Norbert stared at the man for a moment. The man was far enough away that he had to squint as he placed energy into his eyes, trying to magnify his vision as much as possible.
Norbert now realised the man was older. His bald head reflected in the sunlight, and a grey moustache covered his mouth, trying to hide it so it wouldn’t get bronzed and slightly leathery like the rest of his skin. The man looked to Norbert, the moustache slightly raised, as he beckoned Norbert and the two kids over with a wave.
"Come on, have something to show you," Norbert told the two boys, walking off to the other side of the river where the farms were.
The two boys, looking at Norbert for a moment, caught between the fish and the person they were meant to follow to find someone to look after them. Realising they were meant to be indifferent, they quickly walked away from the edge of the bridge, following Norbert, and the two of them followed after him with a stone face.
After seeing Norbert's movement, the fisherman looked back to his task of fishing. His boots crunched through the grass, the slight warmth and moisture from crushing it making the outside of his boots slightly wet. His pants were slightly damp as they brushed by. The path Norbert was following was misused, only one wide as it followed along the river.
The boys see who they are walking to, but the fisherman does not give the three guests a care in the world. Obsius, intrigued by the old fisherman, takes off into the air and lands on the fishing rod's edge. This causes it to dip slightly into the water, and Norbert sees the fish aiming for the bait, having missed it; the unnatural motion scares them away momentarily.
The bird chirped to the fisherman, staring into the older man's eye, which he had seen more than he would ever tell. A slight nod of his head, so small that Norbert nearly missed it himself as he walked down the path.
Stopping at the man, Norbert turned to Mord, "This one up to your preference?"
The old fisherman looks to Norbert, "So, you're the one trying to do charity work?"
Norbert shrugged. "And an excuse to come back here. It is a very pretty town. I have several memories made here that I don't want to lose."
The older man nodded slowly. "That is the way of life. Now scram while I talk with these two." The fisherman said, indicating to the two boys subconsciously shielding themselves behind Norbert.
Stepping to the side, Norbert pushed the two boys slightly forward as he looked about. "Well, have fun, you three," Norbert said with a wave, pushing energy into his body and legs. He leapt to the other side of the river, his destination clear in his mind.