Rebel Children

Eli was glad to be back home, though now he had a handful of people he felt responsible for. He couldn’t just dump them in town and leave. Well, he could, but he didn’t want to be that person.

He waited until Tobias was done huddling up with Rose and Maria, standing there a bit awkwardly. Tobias finally turned to him and gave him a nod.

“Thank you,” he said. “We appreciate the guide back to Brimsey. We’ll have to sell out horses and some spare supplies, but then I’ll come find you when we want to meet the brothers.”

“Are you sure you want to do that?” Eli asked, furrowing his brow. “It’ll be hard to get around if you’re leaving Brimsey.”

“We can’t afford the stable,” he said. “We need what money we can get for an inn.”

“I know a guy,” Eli said. “He owes me a favor, and housing three horses isn’t asking much.”

“Can we trust him?” Tobias asked.

“With your horses, sure,” Eli shrugged. “With anything else… I dunno.”

“Regardless, we still need money for the inn,” he said.

Charlie popped up from nowhere with a big grin on his face.

“No you don’t!” he said. “You can stay with us!”

Eli wanted to clamp a hand over Charlie’s big mouth, but the words were already out and Tobias had definitely heard him.

“We wouldn’t want to be a burden,” he said.

“No burden,” Charlie said before Eli could say anything. “You guys let me stay with you. So now you can stay with me! Right, Eli?”

They both looked at Eli and he shifted awkwardly. He didn’t know if he had room for everyone in the shitty little house, but it would have been rude to turn them away. Especially if it meant they’d have to sell their things to barely afford the inn.

“Yeah,” Eli said. “I mean, it might be a little tight, but Charlie and I can sleep on the floor. There’s some spare sleeping rolls.”

“We won’t stay long,” Tobias promised. “Thank you. You’re a great help to us.”

Eli was still a little uneasy about it as he led them to the stables, where he knew the stable hand. Roy wasn’t exactly Eli’s friend, but they were children together and got into hijinx much like Eli and his “friends”. Roy had recently gotten into some trouble, and Eli had broken some noses to get him out of it. He did owe Eli, but Eli wasn’t about to tell Tobias why. They already looked at him like he was dangerous.

Roy seemed a little surprised to see so many people around Eli, but he didn’t ask any questions. Eli was a bit of a mystery around these parts, and most people feared crossing him. Once the horses were secured, Eli led everyone back to where he and Charlie lived.

Like most of the houses in Brimsey, it was a small and narrow structure that seemed like more had been vertically added over the years. It was three stories, but still felt tiny. He was embarrassed as everyone came in and started to look around.

“Um, sorry it’s so small,” he said. “I can bunk with Charlie in his room and get mine cleaned up a little bit. And I can put some clean sheets on the couch. Sorry. We don’t usually have, um, guests.”

Philip and Tobias didn’t say anything as they started setting their things down, but Maria gave Eli a warm smile. He was a bit startled when he felt a hand on his arm and turned to see that Rose was giving his arm a light squeeze.

“We appreciate everything you’re doing for us,” she told him. “You have a lovely home.”

“Oh. Thanks. I mean, you’re welcome. Any time.”

He was flustered at her touch and the way she smiled at him. Tobias and Philip turned back to Eli.

“Right, thank you,” Tobias said formally. “If you’ll excuse us, we have some business to attend to before we get to any of the rebellion things. We can get started with that in the morning.”

“Sure. Of course.”

“I’ll stay here,” Rose said, surprising Eli again.

“I think you should come with us, Rose,” Tobias said, his tone stern.

Clearly, he didn’t want Rose alone with Eli. And clearly, Rose didn’t care.

“Eli is doing a lot for us,” she insisted. “I’m not going to have him clean the place up by himself because we want to stay here. You go on, I’ll stay and help him.”

Tobias didn’t like it, but he didn’t argue anymore. He gave Eli one more skeptical look before heading out. Eli shifted awkwardly when the door closed and he was alone with Rose. It was the first time he wished Charlie was down there with them instead of holed up in his room.

“I really don’t mind cleaning up,” he told her. “You can go with them.”

“They can manage without me,” she said. “I’m sorry if Tobias seems a little standoffish. He’s a kind person, he just has a lot on his mind and he wants to protect everyone.”

“I understand,” Eli said. “I don’t take it personally. People don’t normally give me the golden treatment anyways.”

“How come? All because of the possession?”

“Mostly,” he shrugged. “They didn’t like me much before that, either. Street kids are usually up to no good. I’m no exception.”

“Were you a rowdy kid?”

“Nah,” he chuckled. “Not like Charlie. Quite the opposite. I was actually pretty shy and quiet. I didn’t have many friends. Maybe that’s why no one trusted me.”

“I can see you being a shy kid,” Rose grinned. “You’re still shy. It’s cute, honestly.”

Eli felt himself turn red again, but they were distracted when a couple faces appeared in the kitchen window. Eli scowled and rolled his eyes when he saw it was Nico and Henry.

“Woah!” Henry exclaimed. “Eli’s got a girl in there! And she’s pretty!”

Now Rose was the one blushing with an amused grin as Eli angrily closed the curtains on them. He moved to the stairs and called up for Charlie.

“Charlie!” he yelled. “The goblins are here. Please remove them from my property.”

Charlie came running down the stairs with an excited grin on his face, surely to brag to his friends about his big adventure in the woods. He could hear the boys chirping with excitement as they strolled off. Eli was glad to be rid of them, but he suddenly realized he was actually alone with Rose now.

“Not a fan of Charlie’s friends?” she asked.

“They’re all bad influences on each other,” Eli said. “To be honest, Charlie is the ringleader and makes the worst decisions of all three of them. After this whole runaway thing, they’ll revere him as a god.”

“You two really are polar opposites,” she giggled.

“You have no idea.”