Key of Souls: Twisted Wonderland

Chapter 23: A Tart for a Tart

Dawn's POV

We went back to the woods and started collecting the chestnuts needed for the tart. As we were working, Grim went on to explain what happened in the Botanical Garden and the encounter with the lion-eared stranger. "...That's what happened.", Grim said as he finished telling the story to Ace and Deuce. The teen boys looked at me like I was crazy for nearly picking a fight with a guy like that, but were glad that nothing physical happened to me.

"There is absolutely no way that was the caretaker.", Ace said.

"If I think back now that I've calmed down, that guy was wearing a yellow vest, so he must be from the Banana Dorm.", Grim said, remembering the colour of his vest. I giggled a bit at how he completely messed up the name.

"Banana... I think he meant Savanaclaw.", Deuce said. I notice him looking away from us for a brief moment. "Is it just me or are there a lot of delinquents at Night Raven College...?", he said in a soft tone. I wanted to ask him if he was alright, but I decided not to intrude on what was bothering him for now.

"Okay, our chestnut pile is pretty big. Let's get them back to Trey!", Ace declared as he lifted the basket of chestnuts.

"Nyaha! This tart is going to be awesome.", Grim cheered as he threw his paws into the air.

At that time, I place my hand on Deuce's shoulder to get his attention and said, "Come on Deuce, let's go make a tart! I'm sure it'll be fun." "Oh... Um... Of course. Let's go!", he told me as he held my hand and shyly smiled. I blushed a bit, but I didn't mind and we walked back to the campus. For some reason, Ace seemed pretty peeved about seeing me holding hands with Deuce.

--------------------------------------------------------------

3rd POV

The group carried the basket through campus and to the school's cafeteria, where Trey was waiting for them. "Welcome back. You picked quite a lot.", he told them. Trey also acquired all the tools needed to make the tart for the Unbirthday Party.

"With this, we can make a huge tart!", Grim said with excitement. The group placed the basket on the table to get ready. "Peeling all this is going to be a challenge but... Let's get to it.", Trey said.

"All of this... There's no end in sight...", Deuce moaned. Looking at all the tools and ingredients needed is already making him feel exhausted; this could take them all day. "Making sweets is all about preparation.", Trey explained.

"Don't worry too much Deuce, just take things one at a time and we'll be having Mont Blanc in no time.", Dawn said as she took off her blazer and rolled up her sleeves. "Yeah, yeah, we get it! I'm so ready to get this over with!", Ace yelled. All that mattered to him was getting this done so he can bet this blasted collar off. The group gathered around the chestnuts and Trey provided them with bowls.

-------------------------------------------------------

Under Trey's directions, the first years started peeling chestnuts for the Mont Blanc. Deuce, Trey, and Grim used their magic to peel the nuts, while Ace and Dawn had to do it hand by hand. Ace was having a bit of difficulty with peeling, but Dawn was doing it quickly and cleanly with barely any effort; of course, they had to quickly stop Grim from snacking now and then.

"You don't seem to have any trouble with this Miss Baldwin. These look really good.", Trey said as he examined her bowl of peeled chestnuts. Dawn looked up and gave her senior a nod before resuming her work. "Thanks, this isn't the first time I peeled these. My dad taught me how to for when we needed chestnuts for a soup recipe", Dawn explained.

"Really? I always thought that nuts were only used for certain desserts. I didn't know they can be used to create soup.", Deuce said, intrigued. Dawn looked at him with a smile and said, "Sure they can, certain nuts can be used to create cream soups once they're properly pureed into liquid  and boiled down."