The Enchanted Forest of Mangga

13. Where the kapre lives...

Danaya tapped her toes forward impatiently. Her arms crossed in a tight-rest over her chest. "Don't tell me you don't know where your house is."

The kapre scratched the side of his head. "Ummm..." His finger pointed to the north then shifted to the east. "I think it's this way?"

Kaloy sighed. "We shouldn't have trusted a kapre."

"I forgot things a lot." The kapre pouted. "And don't just call me kapre. I have a name you know!"

"No one wants to know," replied Kaloy in a bored manner.

"I do!" Sez raised his other hand. Bea tugged on his other hand, but Sez ignored her. "My name is Sez!"

"Don't give out your names!" groaned Kaloy. "What do we do with this boy?"

Ali introduced himself and gave a big thumbs up and pointed to himself. "You don't scare me!"

Bea sighed. "I'm Bea."

"What about you mango fairy?" the kapre asked.

"Humph!"

"Be nice, Danaya," whispered Bea.

"So it's Danaya?" the kapre said her name happily.

Danaya glared back. "You shall call me Princesa Danaya."

"A princesa! My humble apologies!" The kapre stopped and bowed. "I did not know you were Hari Barios and Reyna Sampaguita's daughter. I especially owe your mother my life because she and a mortal helped me in my...troubled times. That is how gardening became a big part of my life. They were also the ones who gave me a name."

"What is your name?" Bea asked.

"Alonzo," the kapre said pridely. "The name fits me doesn't it."

"Meh," Kaloy said.

"I like your name!" Sez said. "Alonzo!"

Alonzo beamed at the boy. He and Sez shared a high-five.

"You said my mother and a mortal gave you your name? Not my father? I've never heard of this story before," Danaya said.

"Yes, a mortal. I forgot his name, but he was quiet unlike your mother."

"What about my mother?"

"She was...veryyyy brash." Alonzo raised an eyebrow. "Like you."

"Pfft," Kaloy giggled.

"But she was also fearless!" Alonzo added.

"Che, che! Now where is your tree house?" Danaya said.

"Ummm..."

Danaya groaned. "We are lost again!"

Back at Lolo's small hacienda, Lola had been sitting on a bench outside the house while listening to Yaya Rosa's solo bickerings about the missing children and that once the children's parents come back from their work, she was going to tell them what had happened to them.

"Yaya Rosa?"

Yaya Rosa didn't hear Mang Jose.

"Yaya Rosa!" He raised his voice louder.

"Ay! Yes, sir!" Yaya Rosa shot up from her sweeping and rushed to Mang Jose's aid.

"Can you tone down your voice?"

Yaya Rosa blinked confusedly. "Sir?"

"I would like to have some peace during the lunch hour."

"Pero, sir!" Yaya Rosa was worried. "How can you be calm at this time? We must find the kids! They don't know anything about this country. This land!"