Eliot Strange and the Prince of the People

23) No Ice Cream Today

Gus Lancaster is a secret agent who traveled half way round the world to stop a plot to end the world. He hid undercover for years and embedded himself in the camp of the worst enemy of my generation, the man to end a world. Gus Lancaster is a master liar and a charmer who can charm your pants off, literally, but he does not compare to my prince. 

Prince Torin was raised from birth to charm, to please the masses. He is a natural negotiator and leader and this is why a few minutes after he arrives, my prince is not trussed up and carried off to be traded for canned food. My prince is in charge.

The kids have the real prince now, but they don't care. I'd like to think they learned their lesson from being betrayed by Mr. Thomas, but there is something more here. It's Torin.

As Torin and Loud Leader Boy discuss siphoning off gas for the jeep, Steven explains why they are here.

"I couldn't leave you, Eliot. You are my best friend, and you know Cindy, she seems to think she is our official rescue squad."

I look over at Cindy who is passing Baby Christopher around to be kissed and tickled by an adoring fan club of young girls.

"She might think she is our official rescuer because she has saved us."

"A lot," agrees Steven as we share a much needed laugh.

"And Torin? How did he escape Clay and the other bodyguards?"

"He snuck off. We tricked Clay."

Did Torin come to rescue me too? Why does everyone seem to think I need a rescue? I hold my aching head. Maybe, it's because I do need one.

Torin joins us. He doesn't say hello or ask me any questions. He looks at me and smiles. He looks adorable, his arm in a sling that someone has fashioned from what looks like a little girl's bedsheet. Torin washes my face with a wash rag that doesn't feel like sandpaper. Children scramble over each other and search their camp for a bandage. They gather around to see a real prince. A few of the little ones reach to touch him, as if he is not real, as if he might disappear before their eyes. One of the little fellas is looking at Torin's bandaged hand with sympathy. He has a bandaged hand too. He sits beside Torin so close that he might as well be in his lap.

The children encircle Torin like he is going to tell a really good ghost story. Torin talks to them in a hushed tone. He asks them questions and listens to them. Loud Leader Boy talks much quieter now. He listens, they all listen.

They are children after all. Torin knows his audience. He talks to them like a parent, or a teacher who loves and cares for his kids. Torin cares about these kids, and they intuitively know it. He has them wrapped around his finger. They all want to be on his team. They would follow him into battle.

Torin finishes bandaging my face with a quick kiss to my forehead. I notice a few of the girls shyly grin. Before I can ask him why he is here, Torin, asks, "Where's Gus?"

I tell him what happened. I tell him about the kids and Mr. Thomas. Torin listens to the story, and I notice a few of the older kids are hanging their heads and looking away like they are caught doing something bad. I feel like a tattletale. One of the boys hands me my gun back, another gives me my knives with a sorry, not sorry, shrug.

Torin knows exactly what to say, he says it to Loud Leader Boy. "I understand. Times are hard. You have done a remarkable job taking care of these kids." He looks at the other, older kids. "All of you have."

"Thank you, sir," says the boy with the long hair and the hopefully fake tattoo on his face.

"Yes, thank you, your highness" says one of the girls blushing and curtseying in one move. She and the other girls are already in his spell. A few giggle.

"Sir," says Loud Leader Boy. "What do you think we need to do next? We could join you. Fight for you. We're good fighters."

Torin looks like he is thinking it over, weighing the options.

"There's no food here," adds a girl. "We can't stay here."

Chloe speaks up and says, "Eggs, do you have any eggs?"

Cindy Lou speaks up. She reaches for a bulging pillow case inside the ice cream truck. "We don't got ice cream. But, as a matter of all facts, we got eggs out our ears. Does anyone want one or two or three?"

Steven joins the fun by handing out jars of homemade marmalade. Jamie opens a jar of what looks like strawberry, and I see Chloe stick her whole tiny fist in the jar. She slathers it on her boiled egg and creates the first ever boiled strawberry egg. She claims it is the best thing she has ever eaten. Her look of sheer delight declares this delicacy a success, other children try it.

After hunger is satisfied and little ones have licked sticky fingers, it is decided. There's no need to stay and fight. Torin convinces the children, that while he could use their fighting skills, he plans on leaving soon himself. There's still time to catch the convoy leaving for safety, so that is the new plan. Some of the children, mostly the older kids, say they still have family at home, including Loud Leader Boy whose real name is Luke. They plan to get their family and join up in Dobson. Before they drive off I notice Luke wave Jamie over, and he and Chloe join them too. Good, that means they still have some family left.

"We'll wait for you until day after tomorrow. We'll leave around noon," says Steven to Luke. I know he is talking to me too. He doesn't want to leave, but the kids need a ride and Torin convinces him that is where he is needed now.

Suddenly, I don't want to go help my mother. My prince is here now, he came for me. And besides, my mother has chosen her path, and it doesn't include me. I glance over my shoulder at Torin with his broken hand. That's all the evidence I need that my mom has gone rogue. If Gus wants to go back to find my mom, so be it, good luck to him. I am not sure I care about helping her at all anymore.

Steven is reluctant, he doesn't want to leave me. I explain - one quick look for my dad and Agent Lancaster and a possible rescue for Gus, and I will return. Steven is holding my hand and swinging it when he finally agrees. "I'd slow you down," Steven says. "And besides, I left without Tommy. He was the decoy, the way we got away without Clay. He told me he'd wait for me."

"Ah, Tommy, how is he?" I ask.

"Can't wait to catch you up."

"Some good stuff?"

"A gentleman never tells," says Steven and then adds with a laugh, "but you know I do."

"I got some things to tell you too," I say almost, but not quite, blushing.

"Can't wait," says my very best friend in the whole world.

Steven is my best friend, my best friend forever. I wave goodbye to him and an ice cream truck packed with kids waving back and blowing kisses. As they drive away, Baby Christopher lays on the horn.