The Ludicrous Escapade Pt.3

Fake News

The three of you crowded around the entrance for the tree, listening in on the little girl's mumblings.

"We're gonna see daddy very soon... And mommy's gonna be there, too... So let's make dinner and wait until then..."

"I think she's talking to someone." Whispered Gyro. "You two stay here for now. I'll go in first."

"No way. I'm going in with you." Considering how the man had behaved toward Lucy, you did not want to leave him in charge of conversing with the little girl.

So the two of you climbed into the tree.

"Don't play with your hair while eating dinner." The little girl held a doll made of sticks and torn cloth. She was talking in a voice that you assumed was meant to mimic her mother's. "Girls are supposed to eat less than their boyfriends. And you have to stop buying Lolita clothes and cutesie things. Potato chips aren't a meal. It's rude to bite your nails and it's rude to snicker."

She started moving the little arms of the doll as she spoke. "Be sure not to eat garlic or make excuses in excess. And stop pretending to cry all the time. Stop making those poor boys, who you don't even like, do your errands, too."

Gyro took a step toward her. "Hey, there. I guess it's kinda rude of me to say this after barging in uninvited, but who the hell are you? Who do you live here with?"

"Aaaaaah!!!" Shrieked the girl while pointing at the Zeppeli.

You pulled him back and gestured to the makeshift house blueprint on the floor. "You just walked straight through the walls, Gyro. You might want to enter through the front door instead."

"I see..." He cleared his throat as he put an arm around you and addressed the girl. "Sorry, we're a couple that just moved in nearby. We wanted to introduce ourselves to the neighbors."

The girl bowed her head to the floor. "Please do come in. My name is Sugar Mountain. The doll is called Candy. It's nice to meet you. Please make yourselves at home." She pushed forward some plates of leaves and mud. "Please, do eat something while you're here. Candy and I, we'll prepare the food for you."

"Hey." Johnny stuck his head into the tree. "It doesn't seem like anyone's outside. There's only one set of footprints in the snow and it belongs to her. Also, I think she barely has any eyesight. There are traces of a cane being used to feel her way around." He fully climbed into the trunk.

Gyro looked at the cane leaning against the wall. "But she was pretty good about running away after she took my goods. She's pretty fast, too."

"I mean, it seems like she's been here for a while." At least, that's how it felt to you. "I'm sure she knows her way around the area."

"Oh, could it be, my dear guest, that you dropped something in the spring?" She held a diamond and a lump of gold toward Gyro. "Was this what you dropped? Or was it this one in my other hand?"

"Hey, hey, hey, hey..." Gyro leaned forward, once again stomping through the fake house's  walls. "What the hell is up with this little girl? Looks like she needs more brains, not eyesight! I don't have to play dolly with you, all right?" He grabbed her by the chin. "You took my steel ball, didn't you! No, you stole it! Where the hell did you hide it?!"

"Steel ball? Oh." She reached into the wooden chest. "Is this your steel ball? What an honest man. For that, I'll give you all three! Here you go!" Sugar Mountain shoved the steel ball, gold, and diamond into Gyro's hands.

"Hey, you two, hold these for a second." The Zeppeli passed them off to you and Johnny. "Feel how heavy this is. And how this one shines..." He then towered over the little girl. "What is this?! Where the hell did you get this?! Do you even know what this is?! Why would a kid like you have a solid piece of gold?! This gem isn't just a piece of glass, either! Where are your parents?!"