Quigley's P.O.V.

We sat near the campfire for nearly two hours and we grew tired of listening to Carmelita's stories, "And then Cinderella told Prince Charming that she has an even more adorable sister who's name is Carmelita, so he married her instead, and then she divorced him and took all of his money! The End!" Carmelita finished. I wanted to let out a frustrated groan, but I kept my composure worried that Carmelita would lose her temper.

It was silent for a moment, and I thought that Carmelita had run out of stories to tell, but a split second later, Carmelita started to tell another story. "Carmelita, you've told nine stories already, let someone else have a turn, I'm sure mountain climbers have plenty of stories," Brucie sighed. Carmelita smirked at the two guests and I was wondering if they could hold the key to getting to the VFD headquarters.

"We'd rather not share," the girl answered. Then, the snow scouts started reciting their pledge, and Y/n and I did our best to make it look like we knew the words even though we didn't. "How can anyone be xylophone?" the boy with glasses asked. Carmelita went on a small rant about everything the snow scouts did over and over again. "And we always celebrate False Spring at the top of Mount Fraught!" she finished.

I had never heard of False Spring before, and I could tell that Y/n hadn't heard of it either. When the girl asked what False Spring was, Carmelita gave her a cold dirty look. "Anyone who's not a cakesniffer knows that it's when the weather gets unusually warm before it gets cold again, we climb to the top of Mount Fraught, do a special dance around a pole, and I get chosen as False Spring Queen!" she explained gleefully.

I had to know if the two strangers had any stories to share, maybe ones that involved the story Anna Karenina. "Are you sure you two don't have a story? I'd like to listen to a Very Fascinating Drama," I asked. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Y/n looking over at me. I could tell that she was a little confused by what I was doing.


"We know all sorts of stories, stories about Vastly Frightening Danger, and Vain Fashionable Divas," they answered. "Have you read the story Anna Karenina?" Y/n asked. The two guests looked at each other then looked back at us. "Our mother read it to us. We were very young, so she'd stop to explain all the words and themes-" But, before the boy could finish his sentence, Carmelita let out a loud sigh, silently telling us that she found it boring.

"Anna Karenina is a classic of Russian literature!" The boy called out. "Well, I'm sorry, that's another word for boring, and so are stories about dead parents!" Carmelita sneered. "Carmelita has a point, but it's getting late so we should all get some sleep," Scoutmaster Brucie said. The two teenagers went towards the entrance of the cave looking like they were going to leave, but Scoutmaster Brucie stopped them before they could leave the cave.

"You should stay the night here, travelers. we have some extra horse blankets you can sleep on," Scoutmaster Brucie offered. "You cakesniffers should sleep far away from us, those blankets smell like nail polish," Carmelita smirked. "Well, that's because you spilled nail polish all over them," Y/n spoke up. Carmelita looked over at her annoyed, but Y/n and I ignored her. I helped Y/n to her feet and we walked over to the two of them.

"Good night, travelers. The fire should die out in a few hours, some things are easier to find in the dark," I said. "Such as?" the girl asked. "Missing persons," Y/n answered. When they were about to ask us who we were, Carmelita once again interrupted the conversation. "Cakesniffers whispering in a cave, is there anything less adorable? Come on you two, we don't socialize with orphans," Carmelita growled. Y/n and I made it back to our spot near the campfire and we snuggled together underneath one of the large sleeping bags.

"Get some sleep, okay? I'll wake you up soon when the fire dies out," I whispered to her. "Okay, goodnight," she whispered back. I was so tempted to kiss her on the cheek, but the mask was in my way. So, instead, I gently rubbed her back and I watched as she fell asleep next to me. When I heard the sound of her snoring, I pulled out the small sapphire brooch I had taken from Y/n's mansion and stared at it wondering when it would be a good time to give it back to her.