Thunderbolt of Laurels

Chapter 4-Aftermath

When we get back to the house, everything's a mess. The whole front has been ripped off and is now laying on the ground. "Woah, what happened?" I ask.
"Prince Average that's what happened," Arthur says.
"Why was that block head here?"
"Something about a birthday party."
"Merlin what took you so long? We could have used you here on the action," Jack says.
"Well it looks like you managed without me. Surprisingly," Merlin adds.
"Action?" I say.
Jack turns to me. "Prince Average came for Red Shoes."
"Right those wanted posters. We saw them at Aqua Maine." I turn to her. "Why are they looking for you? Are you a criminal? I won't hesitate to use this if you do anything to us." I signal at my bow.
"No! No need for that." She laughs nervously. "I just stole something that wasn't mine. That's all." We all look at her dumbfounded.
"What in the world did you steal?" I ask.
"Um. . .shoes."
"All that for shoes? And a birthday party?," I say.
"Are you guys alright?" Merlin asks. I can tell he feels a little guilty for not being there to help.
"We're fine, but we kind of destroyed our house," Hans says.
"Then let's fix it," I state.

We make plans to reconstruct the frame of the house. As we're all gathered around the blueprints, a question pops into my head. "How did you guys defeat Prince Average and his army?" The dwarves look at each other, looking for answers.
"Well like you said we're the F7's biggest fans so we know how to fight. . .right guys?" Merlin says. The others agree. "Heh, heh." I look at them suspiciously. I don't buy it. I face Red who just shrugs. There's definitely something they're not telling us. I don't want to intrude, it's not my business.
Soon after, we start building the frame using pieces of wood Hans brought from a nearby village that are already chopped and planed. We nail the pieces together which takes hours to do. When everything is finally firmly together, we attach ropes to the sides so we can pull it up and attach it to the house. "Red, stay in the middle and tell us when it's perfectly placed," I say.

"Alright." She walks back and stands at a good point.
"You don't need to help us with this," Merlin says. "We've got it."
"I don't mind helping. Besides, I can probably pull one side by myself." He looks at me with a face that says 'really?' I go to the right side and grab onto the rope, pulling. Pino, Noki, Kio, Jack and Arthur are on the other side pulling too. It's a lot heavier than I anticipated, so I have some trouble. Some rope slips out of my hand, but I quickly get it back. Maybe I shouldn't have boasted.
"Allow me to help Alaura," Hans says. I nod as he goes behind me and starts pulling, helping me a bunch. It's still a little tough but we manage, pulling it higher and higher. The load suddenly gets lighter and I look back to see what it is. I should have known; Merlin. He gives me a look of 'I told you so'. I roll my eyes.

The frame comes up and Red directs us which side to move it to be right in the middle. "There, that's perfect," she says and we gently let it down. We nail the wall to secure it onto the house.
"Okay, but we can't leave it like this," I say.
"What do you mean?" Jack asks.
"It's so plain. . .let's paint!"
"Yes! We can make it look so good!" Red agrees.
"Alright, let's do it," Merlin says. We spend the next few hours painting. In the middle of painting, the paint on my brush drips onto Merlin's head, right under me. His hair turns into white streaks. "Hey!" he exclaims.
"Sorry," I say. He smirks at me and drips blue paint on my shoes. I gasp in shock. "You did that on purpose! I like these shoes!"
"Well revenge is served best cold," he says, evilly but in a playful manner.
"Oh fine, it's on." I dip my brush in more paint and splatter it on him. He starts running and I chase him. I throw some more at him but he dodges and it lands on Jack, staining his clothes. We all gasp in shock. Jack's going to lose it. "Oh my, Jack I'm so sorry, I-" I stop talking when a splat of paint hits me.
"You get me, I get you, that's the rule," he says and laughs. It quickly turns into a paint fight as we all chase each other with our drenching brushes, laughing and having a good time. I catch Merlin looking at me from time to time and smiling, sending me weird vibes. When we're exhausted from running, I look at the wall.
"That actually doesn't look bad," I say. The wooden planks are covered in white and blue splattered paint. It looks, unique.
"I could get used to this," Merlin says.
"I cannot," says Jack.
"I think we all need to get cleaned up," Red says.
"Agreed," I say.

Red and I go inside to rid ourselves of the paint. "So, how was Golden Goose Avenue?" I ask.
"Oh, uh, it was fine. I mean we didn't find my dad but it wasn't completely horrible. . ."
"How come?"
"I don't know, I guess these dwarfs aren't all bad."
"Oh. . .?"
"They're just sweet, that's all. Arthur was being really nice."
"I think he likes you," I say.
"I think Merlin likes you," she says.
"I just met him. I doubt it."
"I guess so. You missed it earlier though. Hans made the best donuts in the world." She sighs as she remembers her heavenly desert. I laugh. After Red and I have changed and washed the paint of our body, we go meet the boys outside. Six of them have come back.
"Is Merlin still at the lake?" I ask them.
"Yeah," Hans replies. I nod. They all enter the house, but I hesitate. Something pulls me to go out to Merlin and talk to him. Why? I don't know. . .there's something about him that's familiar, yet distant. I sigh and let that feeling take over and walk to the lake.