Wilhelm glared at Cerena.

Maeve shouted, "That was dangerous!"

"Sorry, I didn't mean it. But at least I'm fine. It's just the chair that broke!"

"Just the chair? It's more than that. You broke your cousin's legs."

Cai held Maeve back. "Aren't you exaggerating?"

"Mae is not wrong. For Wilhelm, that chair acted as his means to get around," Claude said.

Cerena sobbed as she ran away.

Kaleb set Wilhelm on the ground before running after the little girl.

"Can't it be fixed?" Cai asked.

"I can fix it once I get the parts." Wilhelm hung his head. "But it won't be easy to do that out here in the middle of nowhere."

"What parts do you need?" Claude asked.

Wilhelm looked toward the river. "The wheel broke. As did the handles. But those can probably be fixed as they are just bent."

Maeve grinned. "Dad can probably fix the handles. He works with hammers and metal all the time."

"He can probably make the wheel too." Cai paused. "Except for that black part."

Maeve sure hoped so. There was no telling how long Wilhelm would be out of commission without it.

"That's rubber." Wilhelm sighed. "It comes from trees, but processing it is another story."

Maeve nodded.

Claude squatted in front of Wilhelm. "Here, let me carry you to your place."

Maeve blinked. "You know where he lives?"

"Yeah, I walked him back home after Cai left with his bucket of fish."

Wilhelm wrapped his arms around the older boy's neck. "Where did you go after that?"

"To see my parents. Did not want them to get worried."

Cai furrowed his eyebrows. "You never did tell us where you were from."

Claude just laughed.

The group began to walk back to Wilhelm's house.

Cai furrowed his eyebrows. "Come to think of it, Dad might be able to make the rubber part too. We just need to get him some of it."

"He can?" Maeve asked. "How? Did he know how to process it?"

"Yeah, with his construct magic. He can probably use the existing parts." Cai frowned. "But, it might tire him out depending on how hard it is to make."

"He gets super hungry?" Claude asked.

Cai nodded. "And sleepy."

A tall man with big muscles came out of the door. He took Wilhelm out of Claude's arms. "I'm glad you got home okay, Wille."

Wilhelm snuggled up to the man. "Me too, Daddy."

A girl who was a head taller than Cai stepped out of the house. "So, Cerena did break your chair..."

Cerena poked her head out of the doorway. "Sorry, Willie..."

"Aww." Wilhelm smiled. "I forgive you, little elf."

The girl patted his head. "Would you like me to ask Mommy to make you some tea?"

"Maybe later."

"My dad might be able to fix the chair. Would you like to come with us to meet him?" Cai asked.

The man's eyes widened. "You carried that chair all the way here?"

"It wasn't too hard. That thing is a bit bulky but it was worth it to help a kid out."

"Please take us to your dad then. Things will be difficult once we get back to the city if we can't fix that chair," the man said.

Cerena waved. "Bye, Uncle Wilfred. Bye, Willie."

Cai saluted before running out of the house.

Wilhelm giggled as his dad chased Cai. Did he enjoy it because it was the closest he could get to actually running?

Maeve held the door for everyone since her hands were free.

"Dad!" Cai shouted. "Can you help us with something?"

Their dad had black smudges on his cheeks. "What is it, son?"

"Can you help us fix this chair?"

"What is it for?" he asked.

Cai motioned to Wilhelm. "It helps him get around."

"I'll take a crack at it. I've never worked on something like this before, though."

"That's fine," Wilhelm's dad said.

Cai and Maeve's dad then took the chair in the back to work on it.

"How did you like the river, Willie?"

"It was nice to spend time with KB, but I like pools better."

"I don't blame you. You worked out how to move in the pool, but that doesn't mean it works in the river."

"Did he do that himself?" Cai asked.

"For the most part, yeah. There aren't a lot of kids like Willie. Their families reject them or they don't live very long. I'm grateful Willie will get to see his seventh birthday soon."

Maeve choked back a sigh. It was unfortunate. Earth was like that for a long time, too.

"I'm Wilfred. What are your names?"

"I'm Mordecai, and that's my sister, Maeve."

"Thank you for going to the river with Willie and his cousins."

"It wasn't a problem. Maeve and I were already going, anyway."

The dad grinned as he returned. "Try this out for me."

Cai gaped. "You're not snoring!"

Their dad flexed his muscles. "I have been at this since I was your age! You think a little broken metal and rubber will break me?"

Wilhelm looked like he had stars in his eyes. "Cool!"

Wilfred hung his head. "Took us weeks to make it..."

"Yeah."

Their dad folded his arms. "Sadly, the rubber will probably break in a few days. It is a bit odd."

"It is a special process Willie and I came up with."

Maeve turned toward her brother. "Hey, Cai, can you use magic?"

Cai scoffed. "Of course I can!"

Their dad's eyes widened. "Wait, I can use my strengthening magic to make it last longer!"

"Strengthening magic?" Maeve asked.

Cai sighed. "You really are a moron." He picks up a thick stick. "Here, see if you can break this."

Maeve snapped said stick. "I did it. What now?"

Cai grabbed another one and closed his eyes. 'Here. Try to break this one too."

"Okay..." Maeve groaned. "It's harder, but it's the same as thickness as the other one!"

Cai chuckled. "That's strengthening magic."

"That's only one aspect of it," their dad said. "One can increase other attributes too. Such as heat resistance."

So it was like the enchantments from the RPGs Maeve was familiar with. "I see..."

Wilhelm grinned. "That's very handy!"

Wilfred hung his head. "I got stuck with healing magic... But I can't even fix my son's legs."

"It still has its uses," their dad said. "Mary lamented the fact that she didn't have healing magic when we found Mae. We just had to pray she would pull through."

Wilhelm's dad grabbed the boy and put him in the chair. "Maybe you're right."

"Mae was sick?" Wilhelm asked.

"It was months ago," their dad said. "We think Mae got lost. She wasn't able to tell us what happened. If she has any parents left, we've never found them." A sigh escaped his lips. "I didn't know someone could be so cold and still be alive."

Cai's eyes drifted toward the ceiling. "Mom was a mess. Maeve pretty much just ate, went to the bathroom, and slept. Molly had so many tantrums, because she was a jealous toddler."

"You don't remember that, do you, Mae?" their dad asked.

She shook her head. It was probably better that she didn't. She had no intention of telling anyone about the slave traders, either. That would just put them in danger.

"Now that the chair is fixed, can we go?" Claude asked. "The smell of the metal is making me dizzy."

Their dad grinned. "Bye, kids. Take care on the way home."

Maeve ran to open the door for Wilhelm and his dad.

Wilfred smiled at his son. "After we get back home, let's see how we can make your chair better."

Wilhelm nodded.

"When will you be returning home?" Cai asked.

"Tomorrow, should Magnius will it," Wilfred said, keeping his eyes forward.

"Well, not exactly tomorrow as it's a three day distance from here," Wilhelm said.

Mae frowned. So, they were leaving tomorrow.

"Do you guys have to walk?" Cai asked.

"No, we have a wagon," Wilfred replied. "It would probably be hard on us to take Willie on a trip like that."

Wilhelm looked at his legs. "Never mind if the chair could take that."

Maeve's eyes widened before she smiled. "Would you like to have dinner with us? You too, Claude! Feel free to invite your parents too."

Cai sighed in exasperation. "Hey, don't be inviting total strangers to our house. Wilhelm is at least the nephew of our neighbors and we met his dad. We still don't know much about this guy."

Maeve put her hands on her hips. "That's why we should get to know him better."

Cai narrowed his eyes. "Weirdo."

"Thank you for the kind offer," Wilfred asked. "Let's talk to your mom when we get back."

"I'll talk to them," Claude said.

***

Kaleb and a little boy came out from the backyard. The little boy rubbed his eyes but smiled when he saw Wilhelm.

Wilhelm had his arms out. "Asher, are you sleepy?"

"Yeah..."

Kaleb put Asher in Wilhelm's lap.

"Is Cerena at home?" Wilfred asked.

"Yeah, my mom asked me to check on Asher."

"Kaleb, could you help Willie? Maeve wants to invite us to dinner."

Kaleb smiled as he grabbed the handles and took him into their house.

"Mom, can we have the neighbors over for dinner?" Maeve gave her mom puppy dog eyes.

"It'll give your dad an excuse to get drunk," she mumbled. Mae's dad was goofy when drunk. "Sure, why not?"

"Yay!"

"I have to meet with more customers, so I need you kids to help with dinner."

Cai sighed before smiling at his sister. "Well, let's rest before then. I'm pooped..."

Maeve sighed. "So am I."

She smiled at her brother. Today began with her trying to get closer to him. While things didn't quite go as she expected, it wasn't a complete failure either.