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“Asta stop it. You know that Matthias hasn’t eaten since yesterday. You got to eat the scraps from the bakery today.”
“But Alexis I’m hungry again! And Matti didn’t want to come with us anyway. He stayed with Emilia and Iason in the den.”
The dark haired boy turned back to the younger girl, a frown etched on his face. He knew he shouldn’t obviously display his favoritism for his younger brother, but sometimes he just couldn’t help it. Matthias wasn’t the youngest of his pack, but he sometimes acted like it and Alexis was loath to make him lose that childhood innocence that everyone else had given up on.
“All right Asta, just save some for the rest okay? You know Matti and Emilia will cry if we don’t bring them back something.”
The girl smiled up at him, lacing her fingers with his and pulling him along towards the covered alleyway that the local street kids called home. She laughed and lightly teased him,
“All right Alexis, just save some mothering for the rest okay?”
Groaning at her sass, he let himself be pulled along for a few streets before he felt that familiar prickling feeling at the base of his neck that signalled someone was watching him. Whipping his head around, he caught a brief glimpse of two men sitting outside one of those nice cafes before Asta pulled him farther down the street.
“It looks like their hideout really is in that covered alley.”
Levi turned towards Erwin, motioning with a slight gesture in the direction the dark-haired boy and blonde girl had rushed towards. They had been in town more often in the past week than they had been in the last month, always on the lookout for the children. Erwin had already a small notepad with their movements and descriptions that he had taken to carrying with him at all times. Always the strategist.
Erwin breathed a sigh of relief, it had been a very long day filled with numerous visits to different restaurants and shops around the town, but it had been worth it as he had finally narrowed down the possible locations to the ‘den’ as Levi had called it. He was still unused to the animalistic terms that seemed common among street folk, but he was determined to incorporate them into his vocabulary, it would be one of the many ways he could make the children trust him. Or at least that’s what he told himself.
Their only problem now was finding an appropriate way to engage in conversation with the children without frightening them away. According to Levi, these kids were just as skittish, if not more so, than the small pack he had grown up with. It seemed that now, even in times of so-called peace, these children were unused to kindness from others.
“For now all we can do is keep observing them, if we can figure out their patterns, we might be able to casually intercept them.”
Levi looked over and snorted lightly at Erwin’s words.
“Erwin, they’re children. They don’t have patterns, they just go wherever they want. Mostly wherever their stomachs lead them. You can’t track or predict their movements, all you can do is stick near one of their favorite haunts and hope you’re in the right place at the right time. For now we’ll stay here, we know this cafe lets them take the leftover bread at the end of the day. As long as they don’t find another place to get food, they’re bound to stop by here in a few hours.”
With that decided, they both turned their attention back to their tea. Erwin pulled out his notepad and began jotting down more observations of the two children they had seen pass by, while Levi perused the newspaper a previous patron had left on a nearby table. All they could do was wait.
“Alexis! You promised I could go with you this time! You promised!”
The ridiculously loud screams emanated from a small pile of ratty blankets and an even smaller child hidden underneath them. Alexis sighed and gently lifted the topmost blanket, revealing the knotted and dirty mop of hair that belonged to his little brother Matthias, who at the moment was having a minor tantrum.
“Asta got to go already! I wanna go to! I wanna! I WANNA!”
His little fists beat on his lap with every word, and Alexis knew that the screaming would continue if he decided to leave without him. Rather than leave Asta, Emilia, and Iason to deal with his younger brother, he wearily got to his feet and pulled his brother up with him.
“All right, all right Matti, you can come with me. But you have to promise not to talk to anyone okay? You can’t trust the people out there. They’re not going to help you.”
Alexis waited until Matthias looked him in the eye, before continuing,
“If you don’t behave, then I’m not letting you out of the den until tomorrow.”
“Okay, ’lexis, I promise. I’ll be good.”
The crooked smile and runny nose did little to reassure Alexis, but he resolutely make his way into the street, Matti’s hand clutched tightly in his own.
With any of the other kids, even four year old Emilia, Alexis would have been more lenient. But most of the time Matthias was just too friendly for his own good. Alexis had heard enough stories from the older kids about what happened to any sweet, friendly, horribly naive street rats and he was determined to keep his little brother from any harm. Sometimes Matthias’ natural charm helped win the others more food, but more often than not, it would only cause Alexis to lose his mind with worry and shoo the pack back to the den, leaving all the food or supplies behind.
While all of these thoughts repeated through Alexis’ head, Matthias was happily walking alongside him, chatting about the games he and Iason had been playing before Emila had woken from her nap. They continued on this way for a few blocks, pausing only when Matthias wanted to pick up a particularly shiny rock that he was convinced was some sort of treasure. By the time they reached the small cafe that often let them take their stale bread, Matthias was convinced he would be able to buy half the shop with his ‘treasure rock’. Sitting his younger brother down outside the shop, far enough away that he wouldn’t bother any of the patrons, Alexis knelt down and once again tried to get his brother to pay attention,
“Matthias, listen to me. Listen. You have to stay here. Wait for me to come out and don’t talk to anyone. Play with your treasure rock, but stay right here.”
Taking Matthias’ small nod as confirmation, Alexis stood and made his way into the cafe, sparing a glance at the two customers seated outside. Feeling slightly unsettled, where had I seen them before? Alexis stepped past them and into the shop, the small bell attached to the door tinkling merrily to announce his entrance.
His treasure rock was amazing. It sparkled and glittered just like the jewels in the stories Asta told him. Matthias was convinced that he could sell it and they would all become rich.
“Treasure rock, treasure rock, gonna buy me a house with my treasure rock! Rock… Rock… Treasure rockkkkk!”
Matthias sang softly to himself, holding his rock up to the last few rays of sunlight and letting them shine on his rock, throwing dazzling rainbows and flashes of light onto his face and arms.
“That’s quite a beautiful quartz you found, if you don’t mind me saying so.”
Matthias turned around, wondering who was interested in his rock, and his eyes landed on a man seated outside the cafe. Or more accurately, on the shiny dangly stone that the large man was wearing as a necklace. It was even prettier than his own treasure rock, no wonder the man was wearing it as a necklace! Standing and brushing off some of the dirt from his pants, Matti walked over to the small table, holding his rock up for the man to see.
“I found it today! It was there, over there! And Alexis let me pick it up and now it’s my treasure rock. When I get big enough I’m gonna sell it and buy a house for everyone!”
The big man had slowly held out his hand and Matti put his treasure rock into the large palm, trusting that the nice man would give it back when he was done looking at it. Meanwhile Matti was still mesmerized by the shiny green rock and was slowly edging closer, hoping to get a better look at it.
“Oy Erwin! Share your own ‘treasure rock’, the kid’s eyes look like they’re gonna pop out of their sockets.”
Matthias quickly turned his head to search for the source of the second voice, and finally noticed the second man sitting at the table. He wasn’t smiling, but even so Matthias flashed him a toothy grin, and turned his attention back to the yellow haired man. He watched as the big man glanced over at his companion, then down to his own green rock before pulling it up and over his head. Even before he had offered it to Matthias, the boy had already extended his small arms forward, excitement lighting up his dark eyes. He only half listened to the man, most of his attention focused on the heavy pendant he now cradled in his palms.
“That’s my own treasure rock I guess. It’s very special to me, with it I managed to get a family, a home, and lots of friends.”
Matthias looked at the dark green stone and wondered how much it had cost the man to buy everything he said it had gotten him. He was about to ask, when the not-nice man interrupted his train of thought.
“Hey kid. Are you hungry? My friend here ordered too much food and I don’t think we can finish it.”
The dark haired man motioned towards the tabletop and a large loaf of bread and wedge of cheese. Matthias knew Alexis would be mad at him again, but the food looked so good. Keeping the pendant in one tiny fist, he quickly nodded his head and held out his other hand for a piece of food. Most of the time when people offered food they gave Matti only a small piece, or the scraps from a finished meal, so he figured he would be able to hold the food in one hand and continue admiring the pendant.
“Kid, you can’t eat with just one hand, sit in that chair and put the thing down all right?”
Not-nice man was already slicing off a large piece of bread and placing it on a napkin in front of the third chair. Looking to make sure the nice man still had his treasure rock, Matthias scrambled to sit at the table and eagerly reached for the slice of cheese as soon as the darker haired man offered it to him.
That was how Alexis found him, munching happily on bread and cheese, as the yellow haired man complimented his treasure rock once again.
“MATTHIAS!”
The younger boy turned guiltily towards his brother, cheese and crumbs smeared across his face. Oh boy, Alexis was really mad this time.
“What have I told you about talking to strangers? You were supposed to wait for me over there!”
Alexis marched over to the table and glared daggers at the two men who had dared to talk to his little brother. If they thought they could just take Matti away from him, well they had another thing coming.
The huge blonde man had focused his attention on him, and with a jolt, Alexis recognized him as the the man who had been watching as he and Asta ran through town earlier. Looking at the other man seated, he could also vaguely remember him being there as well, but nothing was as distinctive as the blonde man’s piercing blue eyes. Alexis knew he would recognize them anywhere. Nobody had such an intensity to their gaze, and Alexis felt as though the man was reaching into him and reading all of his deepest thoughts just by looking at him.
“You must be Alexis. Matthias, is that what you called him? He’s been nothing but delightful. Levi had just offered him a snack while he waited for you and I was comparing treasures with him. You’re more than welcome to have some food as well.”
Alexis nodded stiffly in response to the blonde man’s words,
“Thank you for your kindness sir. But we have friends waiting for us, so we can’t stay.”
“Oh, of course. Did you want to bring the food back with you instead? That way you can share it?”
The other man seated at the table had been busily wrapping bread and cheese in one of the cloth napkins and when Alexis turned towards him, he offered the bundle to him without a word. Alexis knew there had to be a catch, but right now the bundle seemed very, very tempting. Coupled with the hard rolls already in his pockets, his pack could have a feast tonight…
Warily he plucked the food-filled napkin off the table and helped Matthias out of the chair. The blonde passed Matti’s rock and a small slip of paper back to the smaller boy, and Matthias reverently returned the pendant to it’s owner.
Alexis was ready to run for the alleys, but the smaller man quickly grabbed him by the arm,
“Listen kid. That big guy won’t want to embarrass you or hurt your pride, but I’m not afraid to do that. Take that grub back to your pack and share it with the other kids. Keep your den safe for the night and tomorrow we’ll be here again with even more for all of you. I know you’re hungry, and I know you’re probably going to give up your share of that food so the other kids can eat more. There’s enough in there that you don’t have to do that. Eat your share and tomorrow meet us here for more. And don’t try and lie to me, I know what you’re going through. I’ve been there too.”
With those final words, the man let Alexis go, and both he and his brother scurried away, Matthias loudly proclaiming them to be the ‘nicest of the nice’ as his brother pulled him along back to their den.
Levi turned to Erwin once the two boys had disappeared around the corner, a tiny smile tugging at the corners of his mouth when he saw Matthias wave at them one last time.
“Well that didn’t go as terribly as I thought it would.”