*Discontinued due to lack of demand* Secrets of Skypeak (Wednesday Words)

#9

Raspberry gently floats down and lands next to a large mansion. Harper and Connor jump off of his back and slowly approached the front door.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Harper asks her brother.

Connor double-checks his map. "Unless Uncle Jeffrey gave us the wrong directions, this should be it."

Harper continues to approach the mansion. "She better be the resource we need. We're running out of time, and I don't think we can afford to stop here and waste precious moments listening to some lady that we've never met."

Connor rushes to his sister's side. "On the bright side, it'll be nice to get a break from all the peril we've been running into on our journey."

"Speaking of which, are you sure you have no idea who that girl was?" Harper asks.

Connor shakes his head. "Nope. No clue at all."

Before they even reached the door of the large habitation, it opens to reveal a woman standing in its doorway, her blond hair flowing in the slight breeze. She's wearing a simple, brown dress, and bright, blue eyes can be seen behind her round spectacles. She greets them with a large smile on her face. "Hello, children!"

Harper and Connor stop and look at each other in bewilderment before staring back at the woman.

"Oh! I suppose I shouldn't call you children; you're most likely not even two decades younger than me," the woman corrects herself, rushing down the steps with alacrity.

"I don't mean to seem impertinent, but how old are you?" Harper inquires the strange woman.

"I'm 32," the woman replies politely.

Connor's jaw drops.

"Is something wrong?" the woman asks with concern.

"I guess he just surmised that you would be older, considering we were told to come here for information," Harper explains as Connor continues to stare.

"Well, I've done a fair amount of reading in my time, and if there's something you would like to know that has not been stored in my brain, there are ample books in the house. I'm sure we'll be able to find something if we look hard enough," the woman says. "Why don't we head inside? I'm sure I have some food lying around for you two." She glances behind them and looks at Raspberry for a moment. "I think he'll have to stay outside, however."

"Understood," Harper says.

After a quick meal, the three of them sit down in the woman's study.

"Thank you so much for your magnanimity," Harper says.

Connor nods in agreement, his mouth full of homemade cookies.

"Oh, of course! I didn't want you to come and chat without having something to eat first," the woman says in reply.

"I suppose we should introduce ourselves," Harper suggests.

"Mm, yes," the woman replies. "I'll go first. My name is Nicole, and I inherited this house and all of its knowledge from my mother. Now I keep it safe in her place and use its knowledge for the good of others."

"Noble," Connor comments, having swallowed his mouthful of sweets.

"Well," Harper says, trying not to seem nervous, "I'm Harper. This is my brother Connor, and we are—"

"the infamous thieves known as Hawthorn and Silver," Nicole finishes.

Harper stares at her in silence before asking, "You've heard of us?"

"Oh, yes, of course. Who hasn't heard of you?"

"May I ask what you've heard?" Harper continues warily.

"Two children, overwhelmed by avarice and greed, were most likely abandoned by their parents at a young age and decided that their needs were more important than everyone else's, so they started stealing for a living. Insidious in every way and completely incorrigible, the two criminals wouldn't be able to reform even if they wanted to. They don't have a drop of good in them, and rectitude is beyond their comprehension."

The siblings are too stunned to say a word, so they just stare at the floor in shame-filled silence.

"Maybe that description was a bit superfluous," Nicole continues, noticing the embarrassed looks on their faces. "I know better than those stories, however. This isn't the first time I've met you two."

Connor looks up, confused. Harper continues to stare into the ground, pensive and lost in thought.

"You see, I knew your parents," the woman continues.

At that, Harper is taken out of her daze and stares directly at Nicole, hanging onto her every word.

"Yes, I did. My sister, Laura, was good friends with your mother, Ashly. Soon I was introduced, and the three of us became inseparable. Ashly helped me through Laura's death, and I encouraged her to marry Kyle, your father." Nicole pauses for a moment as she remembers the day. "I felt so lost when Ashly died and Kyle disappeared soon after. After a few years of living alone with only the books to keep me company, Kyle's brother, Jeffrey, came to visit me and keep me company for a little while."

Harper considers Nicole's story, lining it up with the things she remembered about her parents. Connor just continues to stare at Nicole, mystified.

"Now that introductions are out of the way," Harper states, returning her mind to the issue at hand, "would you happen to know anything about a certain artifact in Skypeak Mountain?"

Expedient- n; a means of attaining an end, especially one that is convenient but considered improper or immoral

Magnanimity- n; generosity

Superfluous- adj; excessive, not necessary

Ample- adj; more than enough, plenty

Surmised- v; thinking something is true without any information