Secret Keepers

Chapter 19

I wanted to question Tracker properly, but whenever I wanted to, he was with someone else. Luckily, my day finally came. Cutter advised me that he and all the others were going down to the river to fish. Slice wanted to go so badly, bored with his job as door watcher, that Cutter obliged and the only one in charge of me was Tracker.

As I watched them leave, Tracker stood by the door waiting to close it. Once he did and he turned, he jerked when he saw me staring at him. "Uhh? Do you need anything?"

I shrugged. "Well I want to know your history. You're the only one I don't know about yet."

He sighed and walked past me. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"Is it worse than anything any of the others have gone through?"

He sighed as he walked into the living room, sitting down in a chair. "No. In fact, it's the exact opposite. If you wanna know that badly, I guess I'll comply."

I smiled and sat down across from him, crossing my legs like a child waiting for a story. He sighed and pulled a long golden necklace from his shirt pocket. He held it out and I took it wirelessly, feeling it's heavy weight in my palm. On the chain was a large golden locket. I clicked it open and inside was a small silver ring. I cocked my head. "What is this?"

He shrugged and looked off at the fire. "A family heirloom. My dad was I guess what you would call...filthy stinking rich. In fact, he was...uhh...he..."

He dropped his head and then he shook it. "My dad was the king okay?"

I gasped and the memory from Runner's story cam back to me. They were friends and partners with the king's son. I stared at him in fascination and confusion. "But why leave your throne and inheritance?"

"Haven't you listened to Cutter? Or anyone? Nobleman are out for our blood. If I stayed I'd be dead in a week."

"So you miss being a prince?"

He shrugged and brushed his hair back with his fingers. "Well of course. Everyone misses luxury. But I guess it was easy for me to leave it behind because I was leaving with friends."

I smiled at him and handed him back his locket with the ring inside. "That's really sweet."

He laughed and put the locket in his shirt again, giving me a playful look. "That's not sweet. What's sweet is the fact that everyone looks at you like a mother."

Once again I was shocked. "What is it with that? Why is it that all of them see me that way? Do you see me like that?"

He laughed and shrugged. "Sorta, but not as much as them. And the reason behind it is that...well...all the rest of them grew up or lived part of their lives with no mother. Dagger and Slice were orphans, Cutter's mom died of sickness, Runner's mom got killed by his stepdad, and Rage's mom also died when he was very young. They don't have fond mother memories. In fact, the mother memories were forgotten as their dad's abandoned or beat them. My dad was pretty nice. Sure hewasnt perfect, but no one is. Mom was kinda sour to everyone. Even her only child. But she treated me okay and I don't hate her. My point is that they look to you to give them the mother role they lost as kids."

Overwhelmed realization hit me like a lightning strike. That was why. And it made a lit of sense. I sniffed and wiped my eyes. "I didn't realize it went that deep."

He shrugged and stood, helping me up and leading me towards the kitchen. "With these guys, almost nothing happens in this cave without having a deeper meaning. Cutter taking you in, the way we all talk, the way we all behave, the way we all think, and especially the way we all see each other. It all has deep meaning behind it."

As he poured me a cup of tea, I cocked my head at him. "They way you all see each other?"

He took a sip of his own drink and leaned on the counter. "We all see each other differently. Therefore we only accept certain people as friends. Dagger is the only one who accepts Rage. Slice accepts everyone. Rage accepts only Dagger. Cutter accepts only Runner and me. I try to accept everyone. But Runner. Runner is a different story. He doesn't accept anyone. Nobody. Not even Cutter anymore."

I sighed and sat at the table. "This sounds like something that will take a while."

He shrugged and sat beside me, staring at his tea. "Well, Runner's always been a hard man to please. He feels nothing anymore. I haven't seen him smile ever. Like I don't even know if the guy has teeth he never smiles at all. And when people talk to him, he gets quieter and quieter until you realize he isn't even responding anymore. It's like talking makes him more and more uncomfortable as the minutes go by. But you won't find a faster sprinter within a five hundred mile radius. The dude can outrun any of us and keep that speed for up to three miles."

I tested my cup on the table and glanced at him. "You said you've never seen him smile, but he sorta grinned at me once."

He whirled on me. "Really?! When?"

"That day all of you guys gave me a royal salute."

He shook his head in amazement. "Really? God. You really must be magic. You made Cutter happy. You can calm Rage. And you can make Runner smile. Do you understand how magical that sounds?"

I shrugged. "All I did was come here and talk to people." He chuckled. "Now I have no problems really. But maybe you can talk to Slice about his fiancè. Oh and when you see Dagger by himself, just ask him about Greenwich. He'll know what you're talking about. And maybe you can fix that problem too."

With that, he stood and walked out towards the cave door. I sat still for a minute and thought over that. What problems did the twins have that I could fix? What was Slice's fiancè problem? And what was Greenwich? I guess I'd find out sooner or later.